President Barack Obama said today (February 2, 2012) that his Christian faith is a driving force behind his economic policies -- from Wall Street reform to his calls for the wealthy to pay higher taxes -- the Associated Press website reports.
Obama's remarks at today's National Prayer Breakfast -- held at the Washington Hilton's International Ballroom -- were his most explicit account of how his personal religious beliefs factor into his decision-making on the nation's pressing problems.
Speaking to more than 3,000 people at the annual breakfast, Obama said "faith and values" should play as much of a role in tackling the nation's challenges as sound decision-making and smart policies.
He said, for example, that his own call for fairness in the tax code -- in which wealthy Americans would be required to pay more taxes -- is both economically sound and consistent with the teachings of Jesus. In the Bible, Jesus tells His disciples, "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God." - Matthew 19:24
