In characterizing Obama's metaphysics, Williams substitutes one term for another:
Taking the podium in front of thousands (but really, millions) of scared, confused citizens, the President made a case for a deeply theological understanding of human beings. Start with sin. Obama repeatedly stressed that crises like the Arizona shooting are inexorable proof of the presence of evil in the world.
It's true that Obama does point to the persistence of evil in the world -- here and elsewhere, notably in his Nobel Prize speech. But while he did exhort us all to be better last night, he never mentioned sin.
To do so might violate his own ground rules for bringing religious values into the public sphere: they must be universalized:
