Reluctant

Kathleen Parker, columnist for the Washington Post Writers Group, wrote about President Obama’s comments during the National Day of Prayer Breakfast. I was struck my Ms. Parker’s opening sentence, “President Obama gave a lovely speech at the recent National Prayer Breakfast – and one is reluctance to criticize.” I find it fascinating people are “reluctant to criticize” those things that fall under the umbrella of religion. It’s almost as though scrutinizing anything with a hint of religion is somehow scrutinizing God, or at the very least, God’s envoy. Jesus was not so inhibited or reluctant, “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full.” (Matt 6:5 NIV)