Moderators of Sunday’s faith forum spared the Democratic presidential candidates no mercy as they drilled them on difficult theological questions ranging from “Why does God allow people to suffer?” to “Do you believe that God created the world in six days?”
Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) took questions from moderators Jon Meacham, editor of Newsweek and respected scholar on faith and American politics; Campbell Brown, CNN Election Center anchor; and some of the nation’s most prominent Christian and religious leaders during the Compassion Forum held at Messiah College near Harrisburg, Pa.
At first, Clinton seemed taken aback by the unexpected question of why a loving God would allow good people to suffer, before remarking that the question is the “subject of generations of commentary and debate.”
She then quipped, “I don’t know. I can’t wait to ask Him,” drawing applause from the crowd.
But the candidate vying to be the first female U.S. president added that even though she does not know why God allows suffering, there is “no doubt” in her mind that man must respond.
“For whatever reason it exists, it’s a call to action,” Clinton said.
The former first lady was given another tough question that got her laughing when moderator Jon Meacham asked if she believed God wants her to be president.
“I don’t presume anything about God,” she answered after a good laugh. She then went on to say that she tries to put her faith into action everyday to help others.
Florida megachurch pastor Dr. Joel C. Hunter of Northland, A Church Distributed asked Clinton about what or who she depends on to do what is morally right, such as in the case of Darfur.
She said her decision-making process is rooted in her prayer, contemplation, study, and advice from others, which is needed because she does not know the answers to many of the questions.
“I am deeply aware that there are predictable and unpredictable consequences,” Clinton said, noting that part of making decisions is living with the consequences.
The New York senator was also questioned about life issues such as if she believes life begins at conception. She said she believes the “potential” for life begins at conception, and noted that her denomination the United Methodist Church has struggled with this issue. But she contends that it’s not only about potential life, but the other lives involved and the government does not have the authority to make the decision on whether a mother should keep her child. Clinton stated, as in other prior public speeches, her position that abortion should be legal but safe and rare.
After Clinton’s questioning, her political rival, Barack Obama, took the stage to answer his own set of hard questions.
Obama’s first question was about his controversial remark last week that decades of lost jobs and unfulfilled promises from Washington have left some Pennsylvanians “bitter.” He said they were “clinging to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as way to explain their frustrations,” according to CNN.
At Sunday’s forum, he sought to clarify his comment saying that “religion is a bulwark, a foundation when other things aren’t going well.” He also reaffirmed his faith saying, “I am a devout Christian” and said he wasn’t “demeaning” a faith he embraced.
Comments
I think this is pretty simple, Jesus asked the apostles" Who do YOU say that I am" See Matt16:13-17. Peter answered "You are the Christ". I have asked this question of others and gage if they are my brother or sister by their answer.
It is unfair to ask a question of faith and expect an perfect answer of reason.
Where reason is finite, faith is infinite. To make it simple, when one runs out of reason the next stept is to take a leap of faith…….and if you are a man of true faith, YOU will never fail. The reality is Faith do coexist with Reason. The real question is how to integraet and differenciate both to a common Good for the benefit of mankind.
Both of these pres. candidates would feel right at home with the antichrist.
........GOD HAVE MERCY ON AMERICA.......... the nation is goin down down down
Obama has said there is another "way" into heaven other than Jesus. He claims that his grandmother who was not a believer is in heaven. This is what the Bible says:
3 Grace be to you and peace from God the Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ,
4 Who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father:
5 To whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
6 I marvel that ye are so soon removed from Him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel:
7 Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ.
8 But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.
Needless to say that the answer from both presidential candidates always falls short of the truth
This effort to touch some of the basic questions from the Holy Bible seems to be another political PR effort than anything substantial.
From my perspective, their answers are pathetic. Always hedging and avoiding the real issue.
If this Q&A was on my TV, I would change the channel in 2 seconds. Yawn.
Let me make this simple:
Moderator Question: " Blah, blah, blah, God, Bible, abortion, etc., etc,."
Clinton Answer: I dunno.
Obama Answer: Ditto.
But, I did like Clinton's use of the phrase "potential" life. I guess that is like "sort of pregnant."
Obama and Clinton have absolutely ZERO credibility every time they attempt to talk about their religious faith. It's simply embarrassing and painful to hear them even try to converse about faith when everyone knows that are doing it for raw political purposes.
Howard;
Every human, including politicians and bureaucrats, have a religious worldview. Their worldview dictates what they say and do. Religion is in every aspect of our lives, be it Chrisitian, humanist, LDS, etc. It just depends upon the true religion Vs the false religions. Humanism is a false and devastating religion. We'll see some of that portrayed in Expelled. Both Hilary and Obama incorporate most of Humanism into their policies and proposals. They may or may not truly believe in an Almighty God, but they most definitely have placed the state in a position of a god as is the policiy of Humanism.
BTW; our nation was originally founded on the Christian Worldview principles; Declaration of Independence, Constitution, etc. We saw those principles whittled away through the 20th century to now we have a nanny state; here to tend to all our needs and plow us into bankruptcy and lead us into moral decay.
I pray Senators Obama and Clinton will have the courage to talk about Jesus Christ and mention the name of Jesus, not just say Christ, when they discuss their faith in depth like this. May they be filled with the Holy Spirit when they speak (if they are truly Christian) so we are not just charmed by them, but inspired by the Holy Spirit to have stronger faith in the Christ they have so much faith in. Tell Us His Name at least.
Say His name and demons are afraid. Mention his Blood and evil runs away.
Hope Page: http://itsallaboutjesusnotme.blogspot.com
Howard,
Why does Hillary and Barack have to explain their faith and what it means? Because they want to. They want to so they can relate to voters and get more votes. Hilary could pray once a year, and she would still say that in important decisions she always prays. Atheism makes up an extremely small percentage of the population, Christianity makes up a large percentage, thus they must explain their faith and it is vitally important. You can try to separate religion and politics, but you cannot separate people and politics.
Yeah, OK!!!! So Clinton and Obama answered some "religious questions." Both are "devout" Christians, but BOTH OF THEM approve of the murder of the unborn and the homosexualization of this nation!!! So much for faith....They are clouds without water!!!
REPENT, FOR THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS AT HAND!!!!
Jesus commanded us to "go into all nations" talling the "good news" that He shed His blood for the remission of our sins. If we keep our beliefs to ourselves, we are going against His
commandments.
The hard facts, that many Christian don't know, is that because we sent our army to Iraq, the
new constitution allows the people to become Christian without fear of loss of life and women
are having a new freedom there that they have not had since 6,500 AD. If our soldiers were martyred for those people for that reason, there is great rejoicing in heaven over those heros.
secular: "Not specifically relating to religion or to a religious body"
Unlike Iran, America has a secular government.