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 ...
They panned over to Cindy and she looked so proud. I think I saw a tear.
Don’t recall AV
Asked about Evil - defeat it!!!!
As I have always said, McCain knows who the enemy is
Will follow OBL to the gate of HELL. I’ll get that SOB! Great line.
Mc should have said, rip it’s (&(&(&(& head off. LOL
evil = Osama
Wow.
I hope McCain can keep this up in all the debates. He’s blowing Obama out of the water.
McCain let's us know what side he's on. Clear as a bell.
"Radical Islamic extremism....if that isn't EVIL, you tell me what is."
WHAM!!!
Am I the only one with a long memory?
He is not perfect, I have not forgotten, we will not get 100% of our conservative issues with McCain.
Troops to come home with HONOR, DIGNITY, and VICTORY!!
There's one very big problem with that answer, and it's the full faith and credit clause...
the “my friends” are accumulating...
PLEASE, Sen. McCain ... NO MORE ...... ‘my friends!!!’
Again ...... FRINK!
Ha! So what did Obama say to that question?
You go John
Go get Osama
What kind of ‘total person’ will you have when the sovereignty of our land is up for grabs to the highest bidder????
Isn’t it crazy the guy who was just on is one letter away from being Osama.
I cannot believe how fired up I am getting....go figure.
Barack Hussein probably would have come out of this pretty well; if he wasn’t followed by McCain. I’ve heard enough. McCain’s won this and won large.
Embrace this feeling of like for McCain .
“Sincerity is everything. If you can fake that, you’ve got it made.”
—George Burns
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