Obama Sends Out Inclusive Easter Greeting (focused heavily on commonality of all faiths)

President Obama sent an Easter greeting Saturday that focused heavily on what people of all faiths have in common.

The president made it clear that his family will be celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ on Easter Sunday, but made an effort to extend a Passover greeting to Jewish families and to address Hindus, Muslims and people of no faiths in his holiday message.

Most of his weekly address was focused on the dreams and goals that Americans, regardless of their faith, have in common. The president spoke about the dignity and security that comes with the ability to wok and support a person’s family, the value of health and the importance of education.

“All of us are striving to make a way in this world; to build a purposeful and fulfilling life in the fleeting time we have here,” Obama said. “A dignified life. A healthy life. A life, true to its potential. And a life that serves other.”

“These are aspirations that stretch back through the ages – aspirations at the heart of Judaism, at the heart of Christianity, at the heart of all the world’s great religions,” the president added.

Obama’s Easter greeting is starkly different from that of his predecessor, George W. Bush.

Bush’s Easter messages usually cited a Bible verse and was exclusively addressed to a Christian audience.

In 2004, Bush’s Easter message was entitled “The Lord is Risen Indeed” and cited Luke 24:34. The message was clearly about victory over sin through the love of God as shown through Jesus’ death and resurrection.

“I send greetings to Christians around the world as they gather to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ,” Bush had said. “Jesus’ life and teachings continue to speak to every generation, and Christians believe his miraculous resurrection provides hope for the future and offers us the promise of new life.”

“Through his ministry and sacrifice, Jesus demonstrated God’s unconditional love for us,” he continued. “For those who observe Easter, our faith brings confidence that good will overcome evil and that joy is everlasting.”

In 2008, Bush’s Easter message addressed the American troops in Iraq and he spoke about the “gift that took away death’s sting.”

"These brave individuals have lived out the words of the Gospel: 'Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends,'" he had said. "And our nation's fallen heroes live on in the memory of the nation they helped defend."

While Bush is known for his unabashed evangelical Christian convictions, President Obama has taken the route of affirming his Christian faith while extending a hand to people of other faiths as well as Americans of no faiths.

Obama asked Americans during this Easter and Passover season to be mindful of their common bonds.

“Happy Easter and Happy Passover to all those celebrating, here in America, and around the world,” Obama said.

Here is the full transcript of Obama’s Easter Message. April 2010 (note the date on the link is a typo) :

http://wcbstv.com/national/Obama.easter.message.2.1609494.html##EasterMessage

This is a week of faithful celebration. On Monday and Tuesday nights, Jewish families and friends in the United States and around the world gathered for a Seder to commemorate the Exodus from Egypt and the triumph of hope and perseverance over injustice and oppression. On Sunday, my family will join other Christians all over the world in marking the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

And while we worship in different ways, we also remember the shared spirit of humanity that inhabits us all – Jews and Christians, Muslims and Hindus, believers and nonbelievers alike.

Amid the storm of public debate, with our 24/7 media cycle, in a town like Washington that’s consumed with the day-to-day, it can sometimes be easy to lose sight of the eternal. So, on this Easter weekend, let us hold fast to those aspirations we hold in common as brothers and sisters, as members of the same family – the family of man.

All of us know how important work is – not just for the paycheck, but for the peace of mind that comes with knowing you can provide for your family. As Americans, and as human beings, we seek not only the security, but the sense of dignity, the sense of community, that work confers. That is why it was heartening news that last month, for the first time in more than two years, our economy created a substantial number of jobs, instead of losing them. We have begun to reverse the devastating slide, but we have a long way to go to repair the damage from this recession, and that will continue to be my focus every single day.

All of us value our health and the health of our loved ones. All of us have experienced an illness, a loss, a personal tragedy. All of us know that no matter what we’re doing or what else is going on in our lives, if the health of someone we love is endangered, nothing else matters. Our health is the rock upon which our lives are built, for better and for worse.

All of us value education. We know that in an economy as competitive as ours, an education is a prerequisite for success. But we also know that ultimately, education is about something more, something greater. It is about the ability that lies within each of us to rise above any barrier, no matter how high; to pursue any dream, no matter how big; to fulfill our God-given potential.

All of us are striving to make a way in this world; to build a purposeful and fulfilling life in the fleeting time we have here. A dignified life. A healthy life. A life, true to its potential. And a life that serves others. These are aspirations that stretch back through the ages – aspirations at the heart of Judaism, at the heart of Christianity, at the heart of all of the world’s great religions.

The rites of Passover, and the traditions of Easter, have been marked by people in every corner of the planet for thousands of years. They have been marked in times of peace, in times of upheaval, in times of war.

One such war-time service was held on the black sands of Iwo Jima more than sixty years ago. There, in the wake of some of the fiercest fighting of World War II, a chaplain rose to deliver an Easter sermon, consecrating the memory, he said “of American dead – Catholic, Protestant, Jew. Together,” he said, “they huddled in foxholes or crouched in the bloody sands…Together they practiced virtue, patriotism, love of country, love of you and of me.” The chaplain continued, “The heritage they have left us, the vision of a new world, [was] made possible by the common bond that united them…their only hope that this unity will endure.”

Their only hope that this unity will endure.

On this weekend, as Easter begins and Passover comes to a close, let us remain ever mindful of the unity of purpose, the common bond, the love of you and of me, for which they sacrificed all they had; and for which so many others have sacrificed so much. And let us make its pursuit – and fulfillment – our highest aspiration, as individuals and as a nation. Happy Easter and Happy Passover to all those celebrating, here in America, and around the world.

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