Family Life

02.03.11 | Sarah Harnisch

 President Obama talked about his Christian faith at the National Prayer Breakfast this morning.  He says he wasn't raised in a particularly religious home - but his mother was a source of great spirituality and his faith was born out of the Civil Rights movement. He said "a few years out of college, I signed up as a community organizer for a group of churches on the South Side of Chicago. And it was through that experience, working with pastors and lay people, trying to heal the wounds of hurting neighborhoods, that I came to know Jesus Christ for myself-- and embrace him as my Lord and Savior. That was over 20 years ago." Mr. Obama said today his faith journey has had it's twists and turns... but he is constantly compelled to pray. He said "the presidency has a funny way of making a person feel the need to pray. Abe Lincoln said, as many of you know, 'I have been driven to my knees many times by the overwhelming conviction that I had no place else to go.' " The president's faith has been a source of much debate. A recent poll found as much as 20-percent of the American people believe he is Muslim.