The proverb when in Rome, do as the Romans do, attributed to St Thomas, simply implies respecting the beliefs and practices of a local culture. Culture includes material culture and immaterial aspects of culture including practices of political organisation and social institutions.
US President Barack Obama is first an American regardless of what people from Nyang’oma Kogelo and Kenyans believe. Born and brought up in America, he consciously chose to do as the Romans do despite his primordial identity feelings to his ‘fatherland’.