Posted on 08/16/2008 11:59:35 AM PDT by XR7
LAKE FOREST, Calif. — When John McCain and Barack Obama appear on the same stage today, they will vividly demonstrate the reach that has made the Rev. Rick Warren among the most significant evangelists of his generation.
He's a megastar who leads the nation's fourth-largest church and reaches thousands of ministers through the Internet and crusades against poverty and AIDS. That globe-trotting work and his successful book — "The Purpose-Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For?" — puts him at the vanguard of a movement that inspires young, socially conscious Christians.
But his willingness to soft-pedal political issues once central to U.S. evangelicals, such as opposition to abortion, has opened him to criticism that he has strayed from his calling to spread the Gospel.
Today's forum also is a sign of religion's importance in the 2008 presidential campaign, and the emergence of a new style of evangelical leadership on the national stage that is not tied to a single party and has broadened its social agenda beyond that of the religious right.
"This is absolutely a changing of the guard, and it suggests that the new guard of the evangelical movement is able to generate the attention and focus of both parties," said D. Michael Lindsay, a sociologist at Rice University and author of "Faith in the Halls of Power: How Evangelicals Joined the American Elite."
Warren personally invited the two candidates — "friends of mine" — via their cellphones. His event at the Saddleback Church will be broadcast live on CNN and Fox News Channel and streamed on the Web. It has among its aims "helping the church regain credibility and encouraging our society to return to civility," he said.
It's likely that fans and critics will be watching closely...
(Excerpt) Read more at seattletimes.nwsource.com ...
Drink every time he says UMMM.
You will die in ten minutes.
Rick, ask him if Jesus Christ is a NARAL supporter.
He’s mumbling through the “what does Christ mean to you” softball question.
After he stops talking about himself, he can’t speak on ideas and basic facts.
That was not the purpose of Warren’s charade. TThe reason this is being done is to give Obama credibility, to fool some of the people all of the time.
Does anyone else remember how the media got the vapors when Candidate Bush mentioned that Jesus Christ was an important guide in his life?
Obama is giving memorized answers just as a Sunday School child would give a memorized answer.
He has no clue about Christianity.
If Obama REALLY wants to protect the weakest, what’s he doing supporting abortion — and infanticide? this is just pure BS, and Rick Warren is a charlatan. Good grief, I can’t believe I was looking forward to this...
And did you see the audience give BO a Standing O? California leftists...
Uhhh, um, uh, iiit, ummm, uhhhh, ahh, um....
abortion q.................
Lets not forget Obama doesn’t have any notes he is talking off the top of his head.. uh uh uh
Here we go!
Abortion. here we go..
So now he asks the abortion question............
Make that five minutes. Geesh! This guy is a putz!
at what point does a baby get human rights in your view?
Obama says the question is above his pay grade
>No way this will be a fair hearing.<
I thought the same when Warren talked about McCain being placed in a “Cone of Silence”.
Sounds like a bad game show.
What he personally thinks about abortion is above his pay raise????
Obama ducks because he is a punk, a faux Christian and a, well, commie.
Specificity..
Above my pay grade? What job does he think he is applying for?
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