You don't go to a church for 20 some years without believing in the message that's being delivered and the methods thereof.
If you're a ruthless politician, you sit through whatever you have to, in order to procure the illusion that you
care about something, so that those who truly DO care, think you care, too. Sometimes, if you want your significant other to think you care, or that you agree with her religious views, you do whatever SHE wants you to, also, because as the bumper sticker says, "If Mama ain't happy, ain't
nobody happy."
I sat through MORE than 20 years of church messages, (was even married to a pastor for 17 years) and today I'm a hard core atheist. There was a period of about 12 years I would have put myself up for martyrdom for my faith, too -- I wasn't a luke warm Christian during those years; I was a true believer, I home-schooled my children, took part in abortion protests, stocked up on food in case "the evil liberals" came to put me in re-education camps, so I could hide from them in my basement....there sometimes comes a time when a person finds some flaws in the message they've heard for so long -- an epiphany, if you will, where a little bit of doubt takes root, and it doesn't necessarily have to come at the hands of any particular messenger.
I personally think Obama attended the church of Rev. Wright for purely political purposes. And when the message went contrary to those purposes...so did Obama's membership.