Is President Obama secretly an atheist, who fakes being a Christian for political reasons?

[skepticscott]

70. I would tend to put Obama in the category

of a "habitual" Christian, much like the middle and upper-middle class, suburban, middle-of-the-road Protestants that the Midwest and Northeast are full of. They go to their nice Methodist, Presbyterian, ELCA or Congregationalist churches on Sunday morning because it's what their parents did and what they grew up doing, and because it gives them the social acceptability that being an open atheist wouldn't. Dad ushers, mom sings in the choir, they have the obligatory parties for Johnny's confirmation or little Susie's first communion, and they have their nice circle of church friends. But how much of what they mouth when the Nicene creed comes up in the service or when they say their habitual grace before meals they actually believe is another matter. A lot of them probably have more or less serious doubts about how much sense the whole thing makes, but they continue to go through the rituals because it's not an easy habit to break.