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Obama, McCain, and the Faith Forum

Darren Grem

In case you missed the "Faith and Politics Forum" at Saddleback Church last night, here's a site with all the transcripts. YouTube videos are available as well, starting here.

If you did catch it, either in part or in whole, I'd certainly like to open the floor for debate on the relative value of this forum, the opinions presented by the candidates, the political/religious impact of the forum, the rhetorical strategies employed, etc. Personally, I'm not sure the forum offered much in the way of serious engagement by either candidate with faith and politics, mostly because Rick Warren's brand of evangelicalism loaded the questions. But it certainly made for interesting viewing nonetheless.
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Brad Hart said…
As far as the religious views of the candidates are concerned, both McCain and Obama played it relatively safe. Obama made his Christian faith clear by proclaiming that Jesus had died for his sins (hopefully this will silence the bogus Muslim terrorist nonsense but I doubt it), while McCain expressed his belief that he has been saved. Both men played their cards right, considering the venue and the "supercharged" role that religion has played in politics in recent elections.

But as one of my friends at American Creation has pointed out, I wonder what Rick Warren would have made of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, etc. had they been on the stage. One can easily imagine Washington, Jefferson evading the question of faith or the role Jesus Christ played in their lives. What a field day the media would have with them!
August 17, 2008 at 9:33 AM
John Fea said…
Thanks for initiating this conversation, Darren. You can read my rough take at

www.philipvickersfithian.com
August 17, 2008 at 11:31 AM
The History Enthusiast said…
Thanks for posting these links. I missed it the first time around, so I am looking forward to the transcripts!
August 17, 2008 at 6:09 PM
BlakeEllis said…
Personally, I thought the whole thing was frustrating because, as Darren alluded to, Warren's far-right brand of faith politics made it almost impossible for Obama to seriously engage the questions. I'll cite this fantastic blog entry from salon.com's Joan Walsh. It more or less sums up my thoughts on the forum.

http://www.salon.com/opinion/walsh/election_2008/2008/08/19/sandbagged_at_saddleback/index.html
August 20, 2008 at 5:32 PM
BlakeEllis said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
August 20, 2008 at 5:34 PM
BlakeEllis said…
Since that link didn't seem to show up, try typing in this:

www.salon.com/opinion/walsh
August 20, 2008 at 5:35 PM
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