First Lady: It Also Takes Church To Raise A Child

It takes not only a village to raise a child - it takes a church to prod the villagers, first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton told black religious leaders Monday.

Addressing African National Methodist Episcopal Zion Church members, Clinton quoted a Bible passage in which Jesus tells his apostles to let children come to him. That passage, she said, means people must think of every child as if “he had the face of Jesus stamped on his head.”

“We ask ourselves: How could I deny Jesus health care or education? How could I deny Jesus a home that was safe and a neighborhood that was safe?”

“If all of us could begin to think like that, this nation would be a whole lot better off,” said Clinton, whose book is titled “It Takes a Village and Other Lessons Children Teach Us.”