Barack Obama

===Religious views===
Obama is a [[Protestant]] Christian whose religious views developed in his adult life.<ref name="Christian" /> He wrote in ''[[The Audacity of Hope]]'' that he "was not raised in a religious household." He described his mother, raised by non-religious parents, as being detached from religion, yet "in many ways the most spiritually awakened person{{nbsp}}... I have ever known", and "a lonely witness for [[secular humanism]]." He described his father as a "confirmed [[Atheism|atheist]]" by the time his parents met, and his stepfather as "a man who saw religion as not particularly useful." Obama explained how, through working with [[black church]]es as a [[Community organizing|community organizer]] while in his twenties, he came to understand "the power of the African-American religious tradition to spur social change."<ref name="social change" />
[[File:Obamas at church on Inauguration Day 2013.jpg|thumb|The Obamas worship at [[African Methodist Episcopal Church]] in Washington, D.C., January 2013|alt=Obama and his wife standing in a crowded Church, looking forward, with their mouths open mid-sentence while reciting a prayer.]]

In January 2008, Obama told ''[[Christianity Today]]'': "I am a Christian, and I am a devout Christian. I believe in the [[Redeemer (Christianity)|redemptive death]] and [[resurrection of Jesus Christ]]. I believe that faith gives me a path to be cleansed of sin and have eternal life."<ref>{{cite news |last1 = Pulliam |first1 = Sarah |last2 = Olsen |first2 = Ted |url = http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2008/januaryweb-only/104-32.0.html?start=2 |title = Q&A: Barack Obama |work = Christianity Today |date = January 23, 2008 |access-date = January 4, 2013 |archive-date = April 28, 2019 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190428085526/https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2008/januaryweb-only/104-32.0.html?start=2 |url-status = live }}</ref> On September 27, 2010, Obama released a statement commenting on his religious views, saying:

{{blockquote|I'm a Christian by choice. My family didn't—frankly, they weren't folks who went to church every week. And my mother was one of the most spiritual people I knew, but she didn't raise me in the church. So I came to my Christian faith later in life, and it was because the precepts of [[Jesus Christ]] spoke to me in terms of the kind of life that I would want to lead—being my brothers' and sisters' keeper, [[Golden Rule|treating others as they would treat me]].<ref name="APbychoice">{{cite news|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/09/28/obama-christian-by-choice_n_742124.html|title=Obama 'Christian By Choice': President Responds To Questioner|last1=Babington|first1=Charles|last2=Superville|first2=Darlene|agency=Associated Press|date=September 28, 2010|work=The Huffington Post|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110511232554/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/09/28/obama-christian-by-choice_n_742124.html|archive-date=May 11, 2011}}</ref><ref name="ABCVideobychoice">{{cite news|url=http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2010/09/president-obama-i-am-a-christian-by-choicethe-precepts-of-jesus-spoke-to-me.html|title=President Obama: 'I am a Christian By Choice ... The Precepts of Jesus Spoke to Me'|work=[[ABC News]]|date=September 29, 2010|access-date=December 27, 2016|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120713041729/http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2010/09/president-obama-i-am-a-christian-by-choicethe-precepts-of-jesus-spoke-to-me/|archive-date=July 13, 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref>}}

Obama met [[Trinity United Church of Christ]] pastor [[Jeremiah Wright]] in October 1987 and became a member of Trinity in 1992.<ref name="Trinity" /> During Obama's first presidential campaign in May 2008, he resigned from Trinity after [[Jeremiah Wright controversy|some of Wright's statements were criticized]].<ref>{{cite news |agency = Associated Press |date = November 17, 2008 |title = Obama's church choice likely to be scrutinized |work = NBC News |url = https://www.nbcnews.com/id/27775757 |access-date = January 20, 2009 |archive-date = March 21, 2013 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130321122023/http://www.nbcnews.com/id/27775757/ |url-status = live }}</ref> Since moving to Washington, D.C., in 2009, the Obama family has attended several Protestant churches, including [[Shiloh Baptist Church (Washington, D.C.)|Shiloh Baptist Church]] and [[St. John's Episcopal Church, Lafayette Square|St. John's Episcopal Church]], as well as Evergreen Chapel at [[Camp David]], but the members of the family do not attend church on a regular basis.<ref>{{cite news |last=Parker |first=Ashley |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/29/us/as-the-obamas-celebrate-christmas-rituals-of-faith-stay-on-the-sidelines.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131230064130/http://www.nytimes.com//2013/12/29/us/as-the-obamas-celebrate-christmas-rituals-of-faith-stay-on-the-sidelines.html |archive-date=December 30, 2013 |url-access=limited |url-status=live |title=As the Obamas Celebrate Christmas, Rituals of Faith Become Less Visible |work=The New York Times |date=December 28, 2013 |access-date=January 15, 2017 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Gilgoff |first=Dan |url=https://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/god-and-country/2009/06/30/time-report-white-house-reaction-raise-more-questions-about-obamas-church-hunt |title=TIME Report, White House Reaction Raise More Questions About Obama's Church Hunt |work=U.S. News & World Report |date=June 30, 2009 |access-date=January 15, 2017 |archive-date=June 25, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170625064319/https://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/god-and-country/2009/06/30/time-report-white-house-reaction-raise-more-questions-about-obamas-church-hunt |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://washington.cbslocal.com/2014/04/22/first-lady-we-use-sundays-for-naps-if-were-not-going-to-church/ |title=First Lady: We Use Sundays For Naps If We're Not Going To Church |publisher=CBS DC |agency=Associated Press |date=April 22, 2014 |access-date=January 15, 2017 |archive-date=January 16, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170116174238/http://washington.cbslocal.com/2014/04/22/first-lady-we-use-sundays-for-naps-if-were-not-going-to-church/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 2016, he said that he gets inspiration from a few items that remind him "of all the different people I've met along the way", adding: "I carry these around all the time. I'm not that superstitious, so it's not like I think I necessarily have to have them on me at all times." The items, "a whole bowl full", include rosary beads given to him by [[Pope Francis]], a figurine of the Hindu deity [[Hanuman]], a [[Coptic cross]] from Ethiopia, a small [[Buddha statue]] given by a monk, and a metal poker chip that used to be the lucky charm of a motorcyclist in Iowa.<ref>{{cite news |title=Revealed: Obama always carries Hanuman statuette in pocket |url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/Revealed-Obama-always-carries-Hanuman-statuette-in-pocket/article14001552.ece |access-date=April 8, 2021 |work=[[The Hindu]] |date=January 16, 2016 |language=en-IN |archive-date=April 14, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210414074305/https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/Revealed-Obama-always-carries-Hanuman-statuette-in-pocket/article14001552.ece |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Obama Reveals Personal Faith-Related Items, Including Rosary Beads, Buddha Statuette |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/obama-reveals-personal-faith-related-items-including-rosary-beads-buddha-n497681 |access-date=December 20, 2022 |website=NBC News |date=January 15, 2016 |language=en |archive-date=December 20, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221220013126/https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/obama-reveals-personal-faith-related-items-including-rosary-beads-buddha-n497681 |url-status=live }}</ref>