At least eight major media outlets were covering Barack Obama when he cited the Sermon on the Mount to justify his support for same-sex civil unions – and rejected the condemnation of homosexual behavior in the Book of Romans – but not a single newspaper or news network ran the stunning story.
Only the campaign blogs on the Web sites of the Los Angeles Times and Washington Post mentioned Obama's sacrilege, and both blogs buried the information in the back paragraphs.
“People who are gay and lesbian should be treated with dignity and respect and the state should not discriminate against them,” said Obama on Sunday in a campaign speech at
Obama also said his support for abortion does not make him “less Christian.”
CMI's review of the sparse coverage of Obama's speech shows that the stories fall into three categories:
1. Two reports on what Obama said about homosexual civil unions being justified by the Sermon on the Mount, but buried deep in the story:
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Washington Post political blog “The Trail”
2. One report mentioning Obama's views on civil unions, but no mention of the Sermon:
3. Eight reports either delivering Obama's preferred message from the speech, that he's a “devout Christian,” not a Muslim, or in one case (Dallas Morning News) that he's an inspiration to biracial families:
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Associated Press, in four stories
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In total, 11 stories, and not a mention of a major Presidential candidate twisting one Biblical passage and rejecting another. Imagine if Mike Huckabee had cited Romans to justify opposition to civil unions. Wouldn't The New York Times have put the story on the front page, complete with dire warnings of impending theocracy?
CMI sees two possible explanations for this coverage. Either the media fail to recognize the significance of Obama twisting the meaning of the Sermon on the Mount and rejecting the book of Romans, or they are covering up for their preferred candidate.
Professional responsibility should impel the media to cover this story.