Thank you for writing.  I appreciate your taking the time to share your thoughts with me.

As a Christian, I believe faith can play a positive role in our politics.  Faith helps us find the vision and strength to see the world we want to build.  It reminds us to love and understand one another, and to treat with dignity and respect those with whom we share a brief moment on this earth.  The particular faith that motivates each of us can bring us together to feed the hungry, comfort the afflicted, make peace where there is strife, and lift up those who have fallen on hard times.  Faith may also bring us to different conclusions about the issues we face, but these honest disagreements need not divide us.

I created the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships to support organizations that work on behalf of our communities.  Whether it is a secular group advising families facing foreclosure or a faith-based organization providing job training to the unemployed, these groups are helping Americans across the country.  This office strives to better our Nation without blurring the line our Founders wisely drew between church and state.

Our Nation’s proud tradition of religious tolerance and diversity is firmly rooted in our founding documents.  I honor these principles, and will continue—as many Presidents have before me—to partner with people of faith to care for our neighbors and strengthen our ties to one another.

Please stay in touch by visiting www.WhiteHouse.gov.  Thank you, again, for writing.

Sincerely,

Barack Obama