As the international community mourned the deaths of 21 Egyptian Christians who were beheaded in an Islamic State (ISIS) video released on Sunday, President Barack Obama spent the day golfing in Palm Springs, California.
Obama also played golf on Sunday when the videotaped slaughter of Coptic Christians went viral globally.
In response to the gruesome beheading video, Egypt began airstrikes in Libya against ISIS targets.
Pope Francis denounced the brutal slaying.
“Today I read about the execution of those twenty-one or twenty-two Coptic Christians,” said the Pope. “Their only words were: ‘Jesus, help me!’ They were killed simply because they were Christians.”
Obama hit the links before 8:00 a.m. local time and played the Porcupine Creek Golf Course in Palm Springs with three of his Hawaii buddies.
This is not the first time Obama has golfed amid beheading video releases. In September, just minutes after delivering a speech on the beheading of U.S. journalist James Foley by ISIS, Obama went golfing. Later, Obama said he “should have anticipated the optics” surrounding his decision.
On Sunday, CBS’s Bob Schieffer said he was “bothered” that Obama “goes off to California to do a fundraiser” after ISIS announced the death of U.S. aid worker Kayla Mueller.
How Christians will react to Obama’s recent golfing decision remains to be seen. A week-and-a-half ago, Obama ignited controversy when he lectured Christians not to get on their “high horse” in the wake of ISIS immolating a live Jordanian pilot in a metal cage. As Obama put it, “during the Crusades and the Inquisition, people committed terrible deeds in the name of Christ.”
In the recent ISIS video slaying of Christians, a man on the video with a North American English accent calls Christians “crusaders.”
After his golfing outing today, Obama is scheduled to fly back to Washington later tonight.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.