Posted on 09/08/2008 7:54:53 AM PDT by Gamecock
On This Week with George Stephanopoulos, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., expressed regret at his answer on abortion at Rick Warren's Saddleback Church a couple weekends ago.
"At what point does a baby get human rights, in your view?" Warren asked.
"I think that, whether you’re looking at it from the theological perspective or a scientific perspective, answering that question with specificity, you know, is above my pay grade," Obama said -- an answer that offended some people.
"Was that phrase too flip?" Stephanopoulos asked Obama today.
"Probably," Obama said. "Yes. I mean, what I intended to say is that, as a Christian, I have a lot of humility about understanding when does the soul enter into…"
"It goes back to Augustine," Stephanopoulos interjected.
"It does," Obama said. "It's a pretty tough question. And so, all I meant to communicate was that I don't presume to be able to answer these kinds of theological questions. What I do know is that abortion is a moral issue, that it's one that families struggle with all the time, and that in wrestling with those issues, I don't think that the government criminalizing the choices that families make is the best answer for reducing abortions."
**
Speaking of this debate, on Meet the Press last week, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., was asked about Obama's answer, and she ignited a firestorm of criticism among Catholic officials with her response.
"As an ardent practicing Catholic, this is an issue that I have studied for a long time," Pelosi said. "And what I know is, over the centuries, the doctors of the Church have not been able to make that definition. And St. Augustine said at three months. We don’t know. The point is, is that it shouldn’t have impact on a woman’s right to choose. Roe v. Wade talks about very clear definitions of when the child, first trimester, certain considerations second trimester, not so third trimester, there’s very clear distinct, this isn’t about abortion on demand, it’s about a careful, careful consideration of all factors that a woman has to make with her doctor and her God. And so I don’t think anybody can tell you when life begins, human life begins."
Pelosi said the "Catholic Church, for centuries, has been discussing this."
Cardinal Francis George, the archbishop of Chicago, begged to differ.
"The Catholic Church, from its first days, condemned the aborting of unborn children as gravely sinful," George wrote in a statement. "Not only Scripture's teaching about God's protection of life in the womb (consider the prophets and the psalms and the Gospel stories about John the Baptist and Jesus himself in Mary's womb) but also the first century catechism (the Didache or Teaching of the Twelve Apostles) said: 'You shall not slay the child by abortions. You shall not kill what is generated.' The teaching of the Church was clear in a Roman Empire that permitted abortion. This same teaching has been constantly reiterated in every place and time up to Vatican II, which condemned abortion as a 'heinous crime.' This is true today and will be so tomorrow. Any other comments, by politicians, professors, pundits or the occasional priest, are erroneous and cannot be proposed in good faith."
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
So he is saying he believes human rights are granted on the basis of theological considerations? Why don’t the lefties start screaming at him for that?
The guy JUST DOES NOT HAVE IT! Please, America, WAKE UP!
My apologies for the shouting.
OOOH! Does that mean I come to you to get my Holy Jalapeños?.............
Obama is for infanticide and we all know it. He’s to ashamed to admit it in the campaign. Shows what a coward and liar he is. I would never vote for him because of this even if I agreed with him on everything else.
This man who has supported infanticide and not just supported but relishes abortion (he won’t punish his daughter for a “mistake” and instead kill the child) is exposed as just another lowlife politician first and foremost.
He will say and do whatever it takes to enthrall the masses and seize power.
The amount of about-facing that has taken place is so over-the-top that no credibility can ever be gained on whatever he says in the future.
I had thought last year that McCain had no chance of getting the general public’s endorsement; now, I see an Obama burnout so immense that a rout on the proportions on the scale of Reagan appears inevitable.
Obama seems to be joining a long list of Dem hopefuls that were truly unrepresentative of Americans... Mondale, Dukakis, Kerry, etc.
“It’s a pretty tough question”
Meaning not one that godbama could answer without the aid of a teleprompter.
How does the candidate for the highest office in the country go into a nationally broadcast debate without having prepared an answer to this question?
Do you think it may be possible we have been looking at this the wrong way?
Maybe obama has been under his bus all along and he has been DRAGGING people under there with him?
Yes; He’s a man who is not even good enough for Single ‘A’ trying to make it in the bigs.
I loved the way George Snuffleupagus decided he could be helpful by handing Obama a lame excuse.
See? Obama was just being "flip". No biggie. A simple, common mistake.
Now let's move on....
Obambi is the definition of inauthentic, typical, and same old same old clintonisms.
Kinda like that deranged clown under your bed...
Thanks, already been reading up on it. It seems to bear a bit of "Judaizer" influence -- at least in places. But the warnings against abortion and infanticide are simply sane.
That’s a great post. Well done!
Perfect analogy of the Reagan position on abortion that it is better to err on the side of caution.
Stephanopoulos’ dad is an Orthodox Bishop.
What a maroon.
Just what we need for a Commander-in-Chief; someone who shoots his mouth off without thinking.
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