Freedom of Religion in the United States
The USA was established by people who wanted to escape the oppressiveness and forced religion of the Church of England. Because of that, (and contrary to many popular and limited beliefs), we do NOT have a "National Religion" in the United States.
The USA is a country in which EVERY U.S. Citizen has the Freedom to CHOOSE whether or not they want to worship, and the right to choose what they believe. NONE of us is bound to any specific religion, and NO ONE has the right to try to force ANY specific religion on other people, because to do so would be to violate the rights of others.
President Obama understands that he is a President of ALL American Citizens, of all races, religions, nationalities, Genders, Ages and also that if he were to prefer any religion over all the others he would NOT be representing ALL the people in this country.
Christianity encompasses less than one third of ALL religions worldwide. IF we were forced to defer to ONE religion, then we would be denying other people of THEIR right to religious freedom, and acting in accord with 17th Century England and the Church of England.
None of us has to agree with any other person's religion but we should respect their right to choose for themselves. NO one else can dictate to any of us what we should believe or whom we should worship. If you would not want other people dictating their religion to you,then don't try to force yours on others.
You don't need to hate other people just because their beliefs differ from yours. In fact, I am appalled at the number of people who claim to be "Christian" but instead of exhibiting the LOVE Of Christ for their fellow man, they HATE them because they are different in some way. This is a huge planet and there is room here for all of us.
I have friends of several different religions (NOT just from different denominations of Christianity) and I have learned much from them. The ONE commonality among the majority of ALL religions on this earth is "The Golden Rule", and most religions believe that we should all treat others as we want to be treated and respect differing beliefs, as long as they don't infringe on our own belief.
Sadly, many people do not know WHAT they believe or WHY they say and think they believe as they do. It is a good idea to study all religions and discover what you innermost belief is, and why you personally believe it, rather than just vaguely adapting to your family or friends' beliefs.
One cannot honestly defend one's personal religion when they do not know WHAT they believe or WHY they believe it, but each one of us is THE Best person to decide what our own religious belief is, or whether or not we want to believe in any religion at all. We do NOT want or "need" our Government to dictate to us WHAT we should believe or what religion we should choose,or even IF we want to "have" a religion.
Everyone should also read The United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR)
http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/ which reinforces the right of all individuals to have freedom of religion.
