Religious controversy burns Obama again
SMU Political Science Professor Cal Jillson talks about President Obama's lack of "a natural feel for the depth of emotion of how some people hold their religious views.”
By Niall Stanage and Amie Parnes
Chalk up yet another religious controversy on President Obama’s record.
The furor over contraception that consumed much of this week is just one more instance of the president having been put onto the back foot at the intersection of faith and politics. . .
Cal Jillson, a professor of political science at Southern Methodist University, said Obama has a blind spot of sorts for these types of situations.
While Obama has religious convictions, Jillson said, “he doesn’t have a natural feel for the depth of emotion of how some people hold their religious views.”
When Obama pondered the latest contraception decision, Jillson surmised that Obama and his aides may have looked at the polls and said “there might be a bit of a flap but we’re good here.
“But they missed the fact that the Catholic hierarchies had the emotion on their side,” Jillson said.
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