
Gaston Hall (photo courtesy of Georgetown Net News)
On April 14, 2009, President Obama spoke about the economy in Georgetown University’s Gaston Hall.
The University told CNS News that the White House had asked them to cover up the gold ‘IHS’ (Greek abbreviation for ‘Jesus’) in the pediment above the podium.
You can see the ‘IHS’ with a cross just beneath the middle window in the picture.
The White House wanted a ‘simple backdrop’ for the event and, well, Jesus would have got in the way.
Either this is just plain ignorance on the part of Obama’s team — a bit like the President’s remarks on what to him was a coincidental timing of Passover and Easter — or it’s censorship by stealth.
I know what I would have told the White House team to do with their ‘simple backdrop’.

Jesuit seal (image courtesy of Wikipedia)
Georgetown — a Jesuit university — shouldn’t have capitulated, especially since the Society of Jesus has used ‘IHS’ as their seal since St Ignatius Loyola founded the order in 1534. But then, they’re drinking the Kool-Aid in DC.
Jesus’s name was still covered in black when the CNS article was posted the next day.
Is the Obama team going to request similar ‘simple backdrops’ from other religions or just from the easy target — Christianity?
6 comments
April 16, 2009 at 2:37 pm
Georgetown Honors Obama, Not Jesus (There Can Only Be One Messiah….) « Peace and Freedom Global Future
[…] “Sermon on The Mount” At Georgetown, But Anti-Abor…Georgetown going Notre Dame?Obama team asked Georgetown U to cover Jesus’s nameBig Economic […]
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April 16, 2009 at 4:33 pm
Georgetown Honors Obama, Not Jesus (There Can Only Be One Messiah….) « Peace and Freedom Promises
[…] https://churchmousec.wordpress.com/ 2009/04/16/obama-team-asked-geo rgetown-u-to-cover-jesuss-name/ […]
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April 16, 2009 at 5:02 pm
tina
Obama: There can only be one, ‘One’.
Some people have argued that Obama does not want to use religion to further a political ideology. However, Obama did evoke the Sermon on the Mount, at this Georgetown appearance, to further his economic agenda. Although Obama failed to mention Jesus Christ by name for the Sermon on the Mount.
“There is a parable at the end of the Sermon on the Mount that tells a story of two men…‘the rain descended and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house…it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock,’” Obama said.
“We cannot rebuild this economy on the same pile of sand,” he added. “We must build our house upon a rock.”
The last statement is particularly ironic since building your house upon a ‘ROCK‘ means to build your house with Christ as the foundation. Obama decided to blot out the real foundation from the timeless parable.
See the hi-res pictures:
http://tinyurl.com/djtzgm
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April 16, 2009 at 6:24 pm
churchmouse
Thanks for this, Tina! I really appreciate your considered comment and the hi-res pictures. Wow. I can’t believe what Obama said about the Sermon on the Mount both to the audience and, in the comment from the blog entry you included, during the campaign. He must think he is The One. (Is that your blog, by the way? It’s excellent. I’m adding it to my favourites now.)
Thank you for stopping by and hope to hear from you again soon. All best wishes.
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April 18, 2009 at 12:29 am
northstarquest
If President Obama was speaking at the Islamic Center in Washington D.C., could we imagine the White House submitting such a request? What about a Jewish center or synagogue? Would we have the same kind of request? No, and there should not be.
By the way, was symbolism paramount for our president during his campaign? Does symbolism seem to be significant to him in the early months of his presidency? To my eye, symbolism and imaging are highly valued by this president. And it is this that makes the White House’s request to Georgetown officials give me pause.
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April 18, 2009 at 7:34 am
churchmouse
So true, northstarquest — the ever-present roundel and the faux seal of the President-elect of the US (?!) in Obama blue versus the traditional navy blue.
Thanks for your comment. Hope you will stop by again soon. All the best.
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