Obama: TD Jakes Makes Americans 'More Compassionate'
U.S. President Barack Obama recently shared his thoughts on megachurch pastor T.D. Jakes, saying the pastor has touched his life and made him and others "better as individuals."
The Commander-in-Chief made his comments in a recent Variety piece detailing the 20 year anniversary of TDJ Enterprises, an entertainment and media firm helmed by Jakes.
"I am fortunate to count myself among the countless Americans whose lives have been touched by the ministry of Bishop T.D. Jakes," the president told Variety, adding that the pastor has the ability to make Americans "more compassionate, and more loving as a country."
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"What makes Bishop Jakes special is that no matter your station in life, he's there to speak with you, to pray with you, and to see you as an equal in the eyes of God," the president added.
Jakes, who is head pastor of The Potter's House, has previously spoken out in support of the president's Christian faith. In 2011, he called on the Rev. Franklin Graham to apologize to the president after Graham seemed to question Obama's stated religion.
Graham had suggested that although Obama claims to be Christian, he has the "seed of Islam" and "the Islamic world sees the president as one of theirs."
"For him [Obama], going to church means he's a Christian," Graham said in an interview with ABC's "This Week" in 2011. "For me, the definition of a Christian is whether we have given our life to Christ and are following him in faith, and we have trusted him as our Lord and Savior. That's the definition of a Christian. It's not as to what church you are a member of. A membership doesn't make you Christian."
Jakes then spoke out against Graham's comments, telling Roland S. Martin, a syndicated columnist, that he was "disappointed" in the comments.
"We didn't question the Christianity of President Bush when he said he accepted Christ, and I'm disappointed in Rev. Franklin Graham in that regard," Jakes told Martin in 2011. "[...] And I would hope that he would see the rationale in apologizing for such statements — because if the president's faith is suspect, then all of our faiths are suspect, because the Bible is quite clear about what it takes to be saved and the president has been quite open about his accepting Christ and him openly confessing it before men. And if it's good enough for the Bible it ought to be good enough for the rest of us."
Joshua DuBois, former head of the White House's Office of Faith Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, previously told ABC News that Obama is "a deeply faithful president and didn't need a whole bunch of help cultivating that faith."
"He begins his morning with a devotional that I send him every day. He worships at churches [...] as often as he gets a chance to, but he also lives out his faith in the way he serves this country," DuBois added.
