The day after Father’s Day, President Barack Obama emphasized the vital importance of fatherhood for America’s youth. “Fathers are our first teachers and coaches…they’re our mentors, our role models” the President told a gathering.
However, Obama’s message has also created some controversy. This is because the President went on to openly acknowledge gay parents, stating "nurturing families come in many forms, and children may be raised by a father and mother, a single father, two fathers, a step-father, a grandfather, or caring guardian."
Tony Perkins, a representative of the conservative Family Research Council, challenged Obama by saying his message was “…proving that nothing is sacred- not even fatherhood- the President couldn’t resist a shout-out to his homosexual base, marring what should have been a powerful acknowledgment of the family’s importance in American life.”
White House Deputy Spokesman Bill Burton defended Obama’s address by emphasizing that he was “just trying to be inclusive of all sorts of families, just like he was on the Mother’s Day proclamation.”
John Sowers, who runs The Mentoring Project, a Christian mentoring group out of Portland, Oregon that trains Christian youth mentors, welcomed Obama’s message about fathers and did not object to the inclusive proclamation. "We pretty much work with Christian churches. We pretty much have a conservative base. We engage in faith based Christian training, based on love. We don't discriminate. We focus on the kids. We stay clear of all that. It's controversy we don't need."
Sowers' focus on training mentors for children arises from his own personal experiences of abandonment as a child. Sowers, who has written a book "Fatherless Generation", says he relates to President Obama, who was also abandoned by his father. "I had a father-shaped hole in my heart. The Bible says God is father to the fatherless. Psalm 68:5. One of the main ways God fathered me is through mentors. That's why I applaud Obama. I'm thrilled he would take time in this wild landscape of DC to focus on this. Oil spill, economy, wars. He takes time to say this matters. I'm pumped, I'm celebrating. I'll advocate for him all day long, advocating for the fatherless."
Obama, who is a father of two girls himself, told his listeners that if they could remember one thing about his message it should be that “our children don't need us to be superheroes. They don't need us to be perfect. They do need us to be present. They need us to show up and give it our best shot, no matter what else is going on in our lives."