Prominent evangelical leaders gave Sen. John McCain a thumbs up for his responses to questions posed by Pastor Rick Warren at Saturday evening’s Saddleback Civil Forum.
McCain was praised for clearly laying out his stance on divisive issues, such as abortion and the California marriage amendment, while opponent Sen. Barack Obama was criticized for what some saw as unclear or safe answers.
"I also thought Senator McCain did very well … I was particularly impressed by his answer on people he admired,” remarked Tom Minnery, senior vice president of Focus on the Family, during the teleconference with evangelical leaders following the forum.
“He went right to General Petraeus … And I contrast that to Senator Obama, who when asked who influences him the most, he mentioned his wife … his grandmother – those are safe nominations."
Minnery also criticized Obama for saying that he supports marriage between a man and a woman, but also stating that he opposed the marriage amendment in California.
"You cannot square the circle as he is trying to do,” Minnery said. “Either you support marriage or you do not. He says one thing. By his actions, he indicates another thing."
Janet Folger, national radio host and president of Faith2Action, commented on Obama’s response to the abortion issue. Obama responded to the question "When does a baby get human rights?" by stating that answering it with specificity is "above my pay grade." Folger believes his response does not accurately reflect his voting record.
According to his record, a baby never receives human rights, Folger charges.
“He’s the only Senator in the entire Senate in Illinois who actually stood on the floor and spoke against protecting babies that were completely severed from the mother, that had survived the assault of an abortion,” Folger emphasized. “That answer should have been ‘never.’ He tried to avoid it, and it tells me that he shouldn’t be getting the pay grade of President.”
Meanwhile, McCain “without hesitation” stated that life begins at conception, Folger pointed out.
She also praised the Republican candidate for making it “very, very clear” on who he would appoint to the Supreme Court.
Sens. McCain and Obama met at Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif., on Saturday for their first joint appearance as the two presumptive presidential nominees of their party. Some 6,500 people attended the forum as millions more watched it via live broadcast.
Minnery said he believes it was the first time that an event such as this has taken place at a church.
“[T]he idea that two presidential candidates would sit down with an evangelical pastor and answers questions like this is historic,” said the FOTF official.
Several evangelical leaders, noting their concerns prior to the event, applauded Pastor Rick Warren for not shying away from asking questions about the abortion issue.
Bishop Harry Jackson, who stands out from other evangelical leaders during the teleconference for being an African-American and a registered Democrat, said he believes Sen. McCain “closed the deal” at Saturday’s forum.
“I think he made a clear contrast between himself and Barack Obama. Many evangelicals will vote for him."
The teleconference was hosted by NewsGuests.com and included evangelical commentators: Tom Minnery, Janet Folger, Bishop Harry Jackson, senior pastor, Hope Christian Church and Chairman of the High Impact Leadership Coalition; and Colin Hanna, president of Let Freedom Ring. Martha Zoller, national radio host and Fox news panelist, was the moderator.
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As I posted elsewhere...
"Senator Obama did not personally kill anyone."
Didn't say he did. I said he did not vote to protect children who survived abortion. Then I said it looks like he lied about his position.
"Second of all, why do Republican leaders advocate personal responsibility when it comes to income, but ignore personal responsibility when it comes to abortion? "
I'm not a republican leader, but as for me, when the innocent baby can protect itself, I'll expect it to take personal responsibility. Until then, we need to protect it if possible.
As for the mother who wants the abortion, aborting a baby is NOT taking personal responsibility - it is attempting to abdicate it. I say attempting because while the baby may die, there are still negative consequeces to abortion.
Many people ARE working to end hunger and disease. This does not mean we should not work to end infanticide.
Many of us who are against infanticide are also against adultery and divorce; I wouldn't mind find a way to end those too.
"many of you talk and think the same and hang out with people who think the same. Me, I've read my Bible alone every day for 13-14 years and 8 years on and off. I listen to preachers as a supplement, like a person who takes a vitamin, but my meals or the meat of my learning comes from the Holy Spirit."
Um, I don't think this is the first time I've read you write this, and I'm sure you did not mean it to come out this way, but it sounds like a bit of pride. Kind of like in Matthew 6:5.
"Disgusting. How can we trust someone like this?"
I believe that question was a common one concerning the Apostle Paul who went around killing Christians. It's amazing how growing as a Christian can impact your life.
"the meat of my learning comes from the Holy Spirit"
Are you saying the Bible is not the word of God given by the Holy Spirit?
Diana626 -- "lying"
That would be that part where Obama keeps saying conflicting positions.... or would it be "I did not have sex with that woman!"
There's enough sin to go around....
First of all, Senator Obama did not personally kill anyone. Second of all, why do Republican leaders advocate personal responsibility when it comes to income, but ignore personal reponsibility when it comes to abortion? They blame the Democrats every four years so they can get the "evangelical vote" and do nothing to prevent the killings. Republicans controlled the White house and Congress for six years and there has been seven Republican appointments to the Supreme Court, but nothing done on abortion. Four different Gospel authors, but not one religious teaching exclusively on killing, much less abortion. There are many verses denouncing greed(idol worship) and some are a quarter of a chapter and more long such as Mark 10:17-27. Almost the entire chapter of Luke 16:9-31 is a parable and parables denouncing greed. Why, because tens of millions of people(including children) are starving to death slowly and slowly dying from lack of medicine and food and from treatable disease. Meanwhile people are buying seven houses and ignoring them. All life is precious to the Lord and he looks on the elderly as you do the young. They are still children in His eyes! We can save far more lives including far more children than are lost to abortion with a fraction of what we spend on an unjust war. By the way, both those chapters I cited also contain warnings against adultery and you can be left out of heaven for adultery as easily as you can killing. It's so sad how many people don't understand scripture. But many of you talk and think the same and hang out with people who think the same. Me, I've read my Bible alone every day for 13-14 years and 8 years on and off. I listen to preachers as a supplement, like a person who takes a vitamin, but my meals or the meat of my learning comes from the Holy Spirit.
Diane,
Where do you get your "facts" about the Bible?
diana, we know what your opposed to with regards to McCain, but where do you stand with regards to Obama and the presidential issue as a whole?
It's good for McCain most evangelicals know the bible just about as much as he does. Their bibles only have two sins... abortion and sodomite marriage...(seems those bibles are missing adultery, divorce, fornication, covetousness, greed, lying, cheating the poor, gossip, blasphemy of the Lord, etc...)
I can't find myself supporting a man who supports killing innocent babies. If you're talking about greater sin...which is worse? Cheating on your wife, or mass murder?
I don't see how family values voters like us can consider a candidate who cheated on his first wife with multiple women, then left her to marry a beer model flush with cash, and launch his political career. He filed marriage license papers for his new marriage before he even ended his first. Disgusting. How can we trust someone like this?
Add to this that he was one of the Keating Five, his wife misused charity and employee info to steal drugs, he keeps making attack ads that are demonstrable lies, however much I like their political effects. What does he stand for? I have trouble respecting a man like him, and am considering sitting this one out.
Odd Note: I may dislike Obama's policies, but at least he seemed to talk about a personal relationship with Christ.
Go MAC
Like many posts here, I now feel a little better about voting for McCain after hearing him at Saddleback. I had never considered voting for Obama due to his views on abortion, same-sex marriage, and his stated belief that Jesus is not the sole way to heaven. Anyone that has a RREAL relationship with Jesus Christ could not support Obama.
You can always tell when a canadate has been wounded, They start claiming that they have been cheated, Or that the forum was riged. blue1018, sorry, but obama will never be President.
I need to clear up something about my post to wrhalver, I'm not advocating not to vote and I plan on voting. I was responding to wr with regards to how I and wbmoore aren't really impressed by either candidate at this point and it may come down to voting for the lesser of the two evils. Then I suggested the only other two alternatives would be if a reputable third party candidate showed up or stay home and not vote, which once again I would neither advise or plan on doing.
Satan is very charmin, He charmed Eve into eating the forbidden fruit. He dresses up like an angel of light. That's why God established guidelines. Like when He told Samuel that He doesn't look at Man's appearance but He looks at the heart. Obama may be very charismatic but his heart is full of sin and deceit. He contradicts Himself constantly saying one thing but his actions say something else.
JOhn McCain is clearly the person that any true Christians should vote for. If you go to a Church and hear God's word and receive Spiritual guidance from a pastor. Which is what God established in His word for all believers than you need to vote for McCain. For many reasons like Pro-LIfe, Christians should not vote for a baby killer. The next reason is because of the Homosexual Agenda. Under Obama the Homosexual Agenda will be strengthened and their priority is to pass the Hate Crime Bill. Which will make it illegal to say that Homosexuality is a sin. This means that your pastor can be put in jail or fined and your church closed down simply for reading scriptures where God declares that homosexuality is a sin. If you vote for Obama you will be in agreement with the persecution of your very own church. Think about it!
for more info visit:
answers2why.blog.com
After watching the forum, I will feel better about voting for McCain, and I still think Obama is simply charming.
itsallaboutjesusnotme.blogspot.com
McCain like Bush is not a great speaker; HOWEVER, I will vote for McCain over a Baby& Embryo Killing Gay Marriage supporting raise your taxes Marxist Son of a Muslim ANYDAY!
Yes, I do have a hard time sharing what I really feel.
NO CHRISTIAN who values the 10 commandments can vote for OBAMA. Obama will vote more for intrinsic evils than anyone else in the Senate.
Blue 1018,
"There are no right answers." Oh, yes there are. There's a right answer on when life begins. There is a right answer on marriage. There is a right answer on the authority of scripture. There is a right answer on honesty. There is a right answer on homosexual practice. There is a right answer on whom to follow, our Lord, or man. There is a right answer on church attendance. There is a right answer on submission to the Will of God. There is a right answer on loving others. There is a right answer on helping the needy. There is a right answer on using the resources that we have. Finally, there is a right answer to a world shaped by values that give no answers.There are a lot of right answers. Confusion coming from those who haven't yet discovered the right answers is more and more obvious.
i am sure that you have never been in an audience with McCain, but he is so incredibly rehearsed. At my school, he came with the 'questions' already known, and answers already prepared. It was such a sad, sad disappointment. As president, one should be able to answer questions on the spot, not insecurely. So, 'My friends' doesn't work for me. And if you read your news, you would see that actually McCain left FOR the church half way through Obama's q&a.
blue1018, what in the world does graduating from Villinova have to do with anything you espouse. It that some sort of way of trying to support a rather weak argument. It doen't work for me.
Rick Warren, pastor of Saddleback Church, shot down your invalid argument. McCain had no way hearing or knowing what Obama said. Warren said what NBC reported was impossible. NBC is a part of the biased media coverage on the Obama band wagon. Saint Obama can do no wrong when it comes to those libs.
Can you say "itching ears" looking for anyone that will tell them what they want to hear?
Hypocrites!
Ok, first of all, McCain knew the questions before hand. 100%. Even NBC figured that one out minutes after the debate. I am a graduate of Villanova, and I can positively tell every one of you that McCain was told, in fact we heard him REHEARSE the answers to questions that weren't even created by students when he came to my school. He is so fake, and I praise Obama, on the spot and with an audience that doesn't agree with most of his viewpoints, for his quick, yet honest answers. And secondly, there are no 'right' answers. What I find most intriguing is how McCain's answers were all to please a conservative audience - life begins at conception, my moral failure with marriage - and yet he never addresses the moral issue of war. What about all of the innocent Iraqi children who die on a daily basis for 'our' benefit, McCain? Plleasee.
believer
you have said....
"......unless a reputable third party candidate is on the ballot, then the only other alternative is to not vote for any of the candidates. What other alternatives do you see?"
I see a candidate being offered by a Christian "Party".
If we really believe that only Evil can come from the current political system, and we offer no alternative, then our constant criticism is foolishness.
But given the climate that has surfaced even amongst the Christians, during this election season, it is doubtful that Christians could exhibit a unified Party.
This makes Christians look no different than the rest of the secular world. This does not make Christians look peculiar.
It's amazing how all these people are praising John McCain's performance at Sabbleback Church for giving the 'right' answers to Rick Warren's questions. I seem to recall that McCain only got 1% of the vote the 'Value Voters Debate.'
http://www.valuesvoterdebate.com/
The Obama Cover-up Unravels: Obama Tells CBN-CNN That NRLC is 'Lying,' but His Campaign Confirms the NRLC Charge the Next Day
http://www.christiannewswire.com/news/63567538.html
Interesting comments so far, I must say. While reading the comments of critics of McCain's short answers, I couldn't help but recall something somewhere that states "Let your yes, be yes and your no be no." For better or worse, McCain did a lot better in this respect than Obama. Also, dancing around a subject should not be confused with reflecting on a subject.
wr, we certainly first and foremost need to make this a matter of prayer, but unless one of these candidates really comes on strong on various issues or unless a reputable third party candidate is on the ballot, then the only other alternative is to not vote for any of the candidates. What other alternatives do you see?
To Scientist3 (nice name): You say you like quick answers. Al Queda, Nazis, and any other group of maniacs will happily spout out those for you. The ability to rattle off bumper sticker slogans is *not a virtue*. There's just so much bs about 'standing up for what one believes in' (again, Hitler certainly met that criterion). That's useless if you don't have a good and a carefully though through rationale for what you believe in. And much of what we're getting from McCain is unreflective dogmatic nonsense: Destroy Evil! Bomb! Surge! Drill! Quick little tidbits for those with short attention spans. After 8 years, more of that poison is the last thing this country needs.
It is so sad that Christians can spend so much time being critical of the politics the world throws at us, and not have a credible answer.
Instead the Christian conservatives have chosen to side with the Republicans, and now the Christian liberals are making noise this election season with the Democrats.
Why are Christians always so willing to accept the lesser of two evils? This is not being peculiar.
wb, isn't it sad that it appears that is what it will come down to, voting for the lesser of two evils. But like you at this point and time I'm not comfortable with either one of the candidates. It will be very interesting to see who each picks as his running mate.
I dont trust either one of them as far as I can throw them. However, we can use past action (voting record) to predict future actions. I choose McCain as the lesser of two evils.
No wonder the adulterer McCain and the second wife had no problems with adultery...
appears it runs in the family:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=93708729
Hypocrits R Us and the "professing" evangelicals of Christendom are all to happy to get in bed with this stink fest.
Wait... why be surprised... they jumped in bed with "all roads lead to the same gOd Bush"... adultery is such a little thing compared to that damning heresy.
Wow! Its hard to believe the many negative McCain comments & the positive Obama comments. Can you justify voting for someone who supports abortion on demand & gay marriage (excuse me, gay civil unions)before God? I'm not a strong McCain fan at all but I can NEVER justify a vote for Obama before God....or anyone who supports these 2 areas.
Its also interesting to hear that McCain's crisp, sharp answers were 'canned' & 'bumper sticker slogans' while Obama's indirect, drawn out answers were "thoughtful".
SLopez: Saying Obama was fumbling is ridiculous. While McCain offered weak bumper sticker slogans, playing to the crowd, Obama was honest and reflective. He thought about what he was saying; that is respectful. McCain spouted unreflective pre-packaged bits of his stump speech. (See my post below.) Obama thought about what he was saying, and most importantly offered reasons for his views. In short, Obama sounded articulate and thoughtful. McCain, sounded practiced and ultimately insincere, especially when it came to his pandering to the religious.
I found the forum to be very informitive. While Mr.Obame seemed to sincerely try to explain his relationship with Jesus to a nation where 12% still think he is a muslim(because of a middle name he had no choice in recieving),John McCain used his hour to shout repeated sound bytes and feint sorrow for infidelity in his first marriage.
It's funny to me how it seems as if everyone wants the "perfect Christian" in office. It just won't be the case. Obviously, no one, including those of this blog panel, are not perfect by any means (including myself). Here we have Diana626 using the term "evangelcal puppets" and making statements like "woe unto you blind guides" as well as quoting Revelation 3 and not using this Scripture in true Biblical context, is obvious support that no one is perfect. I do not agree with McCain in everything but I do think he did a whole lot better than the "fumbeling" Obama. By the way Diana626, in your definition, who are the "true Christians" that we should not be confused about?
I found Obama's response concerning his Christian walk "hopefully my sins will be washed away" very telling. McCain did much better in my opinion and apparently in view of the response and article.
The worst part about this spectacle: We all know those kinds of poser McCain type "Christians," who happily *tell everyone* they're "saved" (by an heiress?) and "forgiven" (lucky you!) and go to church to punch their tickets; but who don't live a reflective and meaningful Christian life, who don't let the Christianity of the bible bear the least on their actions and choices. McCain's unreflective canned answers show him to be, at the very best, a ticket-punching bumper sticker "Christian" ! Let's not forget, he wants to "inspire" the poor (gee helpful!), and wants everyone to be rich (marry big $$, like you, John!), etc. etc.) And Drill now! War now! POW last century! Nothing since! etc. etc.. McCain's version of Jesus is an oil tycoon in full body armor ready to drill into and bomb any . . . reflective thought . . . that gets in the way. (Certainly, nothing to do with what Christianity is supposed to be. . . )
Evangelical puppets laud the man who committed ADULTERY (one of the ten commandments) and never REPENTED, DIVORCED his first wife (something God hates) while she was incapacitated (and again never REPENTED), and married the woman he fornicated/adulterated with. He makes Bill Clinton look loyal.
And in all this, as these "professing Christians" fail to preach the Gospel but love to throw out what sins everyone else is violating (minus the ones that are rampant within their ranks), they still trot out their list of "sins" that they can agree with throwing in the face of society.
Woe unto you BLIND GUIDES!
Tell me again WHAT HAS ALREADY RUINED MARRIAGE IN AMERICA??? The sodomites and lesbians are only following the hypocritical lead that the American "Evangelical" Christendom (not to be confused with true Christians) is giving them (Divorce, ok... Adultery...ok, fornication...acceptable because we are doing all those...we only hate the sins we aren't doing in mass yet but don't worry, we will be doing those soon and if you hold out long enough, we may just change out mind like we have on all the others).
15'I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot.
16'So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth. (Rev 3:15-16)