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Obama and McCain to participate in Faith Forum Saturday, Aug. 16, at 8 p.m. EDT
(Saturday, Aug. 16, at 8 p.m. EDT, to be aired on CNN, MSNBC and Fox)
The forum will consist of an hour of questions to each candidate posed by the host, evangelical Rick Warren of Saddleback Church in Orange County, California, author of the best-selling book, The Purpose-Driven Life. According to Warren, "The primaries proved that Americans care deeply about the faith,
values, character and leadership convictions of candidates as much as
they do about the issues."
Warren is one of the new breed of evangelicals who care as much about social issues like poverty and AIDs as they do about the traditional hot-button issues, such as abortion and homosexuality, typically associated with the religious right. It's reported that Warren, who is anti-abortion in his own personal beliefs, is facing intense lobbying from the traditionalists to press the candidates regarding their views on abortion. But Warren is said to be not particularly inclined to focus on abortion in this forum, “I will be raising questions ... beyond what political reporters
typically ask. This includes pressing issues that are bridging divides
in our nation, such as poverty, HIV/AIDS, climate and human rights,” said Warren of the forum.
Obama may be able to do himself a lot of good with this. Not only does his participation undermine the "Obama is a Muslim" rumors, but he can make inroads with those younger evangelicals and religious independent voters who may not be entirely satisfied with McCain, and who are increasingly turning their attention to issues like the environment, poverty and education, areas where Obama should shine over McCain.
Comments (9)
I bet both campaigns wish this forum didn't exist. I think Obama is going to get blindsided with attack questions, while McCain is treated with kid gloves.
August 15, 2008 10:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
I don't know - I sure hope not. What I've read so far seems to be stressing that Warren is the new type of evangelical, more concerned about issues that would normally be considered liberal, like the environment and poverty. Warren has been running an HIV program in Africa, so he apparently puts his money where his mouth is, a good sign.
The Obama campaign seems to know what they're doing, so I actually have high hopes for this. I have to also admit to at least a little bit of trepidation about the kind of thing you mention.
August 15, 2008 11:10 PM | Reply | Permalink
We have to be prepared for that, but I think Obama can handle it. McCain has plenty of room for the kind of questions that might make him blow a gasket. I would love to see the guy actually backed into a corner where he couldn't just give his usual non-answer. But you're probably right.
As I said elsewhere, this will probably be one of those things that just confirms everyone's opinions going in. I don't think it will lose any loyalty on either side. It is just an exercise in pandering to the professional christians.
Can you imagine if they had an evening of questions by bonafide economists? Scientists? Foreign policy experts? Previous diplomats, with actual experience on the ground? Medial experts?
Why have this religious forum? Do we have a state-sponsored religion? Oh, sorry. We do. Too bad it goes against the constitution.
Never happen!
August 15, 2008 11:11 PM | Reply | Permalink
Hey CVille...thanks for dropping by.
I have really mixed feelings about this thing. I can't tell you how strongly I feel about the separation of church and state, and hate the way it's been undermined by Bush. OTOH, there does seem to be a new sort of evangelical whose religious beliefs inform his politics with a concern for the environment, poverty and other issues that are typically considered liberal. That seems to be not necessarily a bad thing to me. Think of the way that the Quakers were so instrumental in fighting slavery, for instance. I don't think people who are deeply (and genuinely) religious are the ones who the left needs to worry about; it's the phony ones who use religion primarily to promote their own power and wealth - that's the kind of politics-religion thing that causes harm.
Who knows, huh? I think it will be fascinating to watch the program, at any rate.
August 15, 2008 11:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
btw, I love this idea:
Let's start with the foreign policy experts, shall we? (all of them are good though)
August 16, 2008 5:05 PM | Reply | Permalink
There are lots of Christians who have a deep faith but are not evangelical or anti-abortion. Listening to Obama talk about his faith and his thinking with regard to that is to hear someone who has thought deeply on God's word and considered it carefully and they will appreciate that. He did great on the faith and values panel that CNN did during the primaries. They invited Obama, Clinton and McCain. McCain declined and the other two appeared. Both did well but Obama's faith is obviously genuine and he can speak that language sincerely when talking about his positions on issues. McCain won't be effective at this. He would have appeared at the previous one if he thought it would be a strength for him. He'll have to go to the buzzwords to fill in where the deep thought got left out. The faithful will see that. I'm looking forward to it.
August 16, 2008 2:04 AM | Reply | Permalink
I think you're right - there's a genuineness to Obama that I think appeals to people in general, but may be especially appealing to Christians, and as you say, he speaks their language.
I, much like CVille above, continue to fret a bit about separation of church and state with this sort of thing. But I guess you have to be able to talk to people before you can get around to issues like that.
August 16, 2008 5:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
I am so stoked about Rick Warren's forum! I expect both candidates to have their less palatable position held up to comment and explanation especially with regard poverty, health, stewardship of the environment and war. I would not put it beyond Rick Warren to ask about a year of Jubilee for third world debts. I would not find it beyond him to ask 'Who Would Jesus Bomb?" At the very least, this is going to be an entertaining bit of television and we will be talking about it for quite some time to come.
I've invited a bunch of Christians over to watch my big screen and we're popping pop corn. It's gonna be a BIG night.
August 16, 2008 3:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
WOACA: Do you know more about Warren? I don't really know that much about him. I worry about anyone who lives in Orange Co. - it's so deeply conservative there; OTOH, some of what I read says he's not your average evangelical. I'm looking forward to it too.
I hope your get-together is successful. Maybe you could let us know what your guests thought of the program in a new post if any have interesting responses, or here in this thread if it's easier. I'd suggest the former because nobody is likely to see what you wrote if you post it here, except me because I'll look for it. It would be very interesting to hear what your friends might say, and how they responded to each of the candidates (although I myself am a Christian, I don't think I'm a typical one at all, so my own responses won't count, at least in assessing the outcome of the forum!)
August 16, 2008 5:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
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