In Sinclair Lewis’ novel, Elmer Gantry, the main character is a traveling salesman, who tries to convince the townspeople that he is a real minister. President Barack Obama has attempted an evangelical con job of his own lately as he has jumped onto the religious front with both feet.

His recent speech at the National Day of Prayer in Washington, D.C. made it sound as if he was a regular Billy Graham! He alluded to his Christian faith and quoted from the Bible to support his stances on raising taxes, overhauling healthcare and regulating Wall Street.

Living by the principle that we are our brother's keeper. Caring for the poor and those in need. These values are old. And they're the ones that have defined my own faith journey,”

Obama said. Many Americans are probably shocked to learn that  Barack Obama had embarked upon a faith journey, since he has had a problem broaching the subject of his personal religious beliefs since he took office.

 Beyond blaming his regular absences from church on the fact that his personal security would be distracting, the President he has kept his religious beliefs or lack of to himself. That not a problem , though, for Americans will defend anyone’s freedom to practice or not practice religion-a precious freedom the Constitution’s Bill of Rights affords to all..

But where was President Barack Obama when questions arose as to his administration’s  treatment and attitude towards Christians? He managed to remain silent on most of them, except when he came right out and said at one point that “America is not a Christian nation.” Now, suddenly, he is a biblical scholar and is humbly trying to follow scripture teachings to be more like Jesus? “You can’t have it both ways, Mr. Obama!” Which is why he seems more like Elmer Gantry, the supreme con man(conning for the campaign) than he does the apostle Paul!

Obama has vacillated on the idea of National Prayer Day itself. During the first one of his presidency in 2009, he held no event at the White House and was missing in action from the National Prayer Day Breakfast. There was a massive outcry from Christians in this country and in the succeeding years since then, the President hasn’t missed one.

 Certain attendees at the Washington Hilton on February 2nd, found the the President’s National Prayer Day speech offensive. Georgia Congressman Phil Gingrey excused himself because he was “disturbed and offended” by the president’s use of prayer and reflection time for partisan politics and campaigning. President Obama had referred to his faith as inspiring him to “to give up tax breaks that I enjoy.”

It is not a huge leap to decide that Obama took the podium at the Prayer rally in an attempt to appear more sympathetic to religious people, most especially Catholics who are deeply offended their own federal government is trying to limit their religious freedom. A controversial clause in the Healthcare bill adopted by the Democrat majority in 2009 demands that all employers of charity, hospital, or schools that are affiliated with any religious group must provide employees with birth control and abortion services. Catholic employers will have to choose between not providing their employers with insurance under Obamacare’s provisions or intentionally going against the tenets of their faith.

The Obamacare policy goes into effect August 1, 2012 but all employers that don’t want to offer their female patients contraceptives, will have an extra year to meet compliance. New York's archbishop said that the President’s administration was giving Catholics "a year to figure out how to violate their consciences.”

The First Amendment guarantees every American the right to worship and practice any religion they so desire, unencumbered by the government. Phoenix bishop, Bishop Thomas Olmstead, is calling for Catholics in Arizona to defy the Obama healthcare requirement He said the issue is being “forced down their throats.” Bishop Olmstead wrote a letter urging Arizona employers to ignore the government mandate even though such lack of action will result in those employers  facing large fines.

“I’m telling them they have to be Catholics first; our beliefs are more important than anything else in our lives. We need to fight this with all means available to us so that this is not imposed, so we are not forced to violate our conscience", Olmstead said.

"When you push people of faith and you tell them the government is going to knock down the wall of separation of church and state and overreach like the Obama administration, you've got a war on your hands," Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League, told Fox News.

Last Sunday, archbishops from all over America had their priest read letters from their pulpits denouncing this mandate to go against their faith.

The pronounced organization of Catholics leaders opposed to this mandate and their commitment to winning the argument is strong and widespread. New York Cardinal designate, Timothy Dolan had this to say, “How about letting our elected leaders know that we want religious liberty and rights of consciences restored and the administration's mandate rescinded? We can't afford to strike out on this one."

Bill Donahue, head of the Catholic League says, said he's been contacted by Protestants, Mormons, Jews, and others who want to join forces with the Catholic League and the bishops to overturn the healthcare clause regarding religious institution employers. And now, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio has now entered the controversy by introducing legislation that would block the White House's move.

White House officials are downplaying any political fallout The Obama White House is trying to skew the message to seem like they are worried about the health and well-being of American women. “The issue here is we want to make sure that women, all women, have access to good healthcare,” White House Press Secretary Jay Carney

Although the current administration is basing much of its approach to a study showing  that the majority of Catholic women have used contraceptives despite the Catholic doctrine, bishops across the country refer to the fact that the new regulation includes the “morning after “ pill, which opens the abortion can of worms.

Catholic voters played a pivotal role in Obama election in 2008 and could be important again in November. Based on Fox News exit polling data, Catholics made up 27 percent of the electorate three years ago, which translates into an estimated 35 million voters.

Its ironic that President Obama says that his faith leads him to act with charity toward the poor while he ignores the fact that Catholics’ faith leads them to be opposed to birth control. Barack Obama is not being forced to choose between his religion and a new government rule. In fact, he gets to not attend church regularly on Sundays, consistently belittle the role of religion in American life and still claim a religious connection when its convenient to his 2012 campaign.

Unless the President took an wrong turn onto the Road to Damascus, American citizens are not buying that he has suddenly “got religion“! Barack Obama appears to be missing only the hip flask that Gantry’s character carried with him everywhere he went.

If he is not careful, the Republicans’ chosen nominee will not be Barack Obama’s biggest opponent. By continuing to “go to church” to find new supporters for his 2012 election campaign  while simultaneously placing his boot on the throat of religious denominations to enforce his policies, he may boot himself from his Presidential pulpit and end up vanquished to the vestibule.