Comments

Very well conducted interview. The main stream media should take a lesson from Rick Warren. Senator Obama came off rather shallow, lacking in true convictions. His inability to answer the question on when life begins was most disturbing. I was once a fan of the Senator, but have grown disenchanted at his inablility to discuss issues in specificity. He is great when speaking in broad generalities using a teleprompter, but he stutters and speaks like George Bush when he has to be more specific showing his lack of convictions and his inexperience. I'm now convinced he is too great a risk for the future of America.

Ken, taking your time to answer a question is not shallowness, it is the complete opposite. McCain's overly simplistic, quick answers show how impulsive he is, and while I respect the senator, I truly believe he would be a terrible president. I am sick of being played for an idiotic fool by the Republicans. I am pro-life, pro-marriage, and I am still voting for Obama. I don't agree with Obama on many things, but I have come to realize that my vote can no longer be thrown away to a party that has conducted itself contrary to my morals and beliefs. McCain is not going to change anything if elected. He is not a true defender of the right to life, and he will not bring judges in that will overturn Roe V Wade. Please wake up people. Are faith calls us to think intelligently, not to run around like sheep to a political party.

After voting in every election since I qualified to vote, I was seriously considering sitting out this election. I was not very happy with either candidate. Obama seemed to me to be smooth, personable, well educated and attractive. Unfortunately in my view, he also appears to lack humility and depth. And, I quickly became suspicious of the word "change" because of his constant repetition of the word and his failure to follow up on this promise with specifics. (Reminded me of one of my late father's expressions. When describing individuals who looked good, but lacked substance....he would say they are "all show and no go".)

After viewing the Saddleback forum, my less-than-positive opinion of John McCain improved significantly. He came across as direct, decisive, emphatic, specific, knowledgeable, and trustworthy. He will get my vote.

It reinforced my doubts and reaffirmed impressions I have had of Obama. To reiterate, Obama is a congenital liar. A man who would promise everything to achieve his end in view. A man who would mortgage his soul to satan to win this election. He joined the church he left to achieve influence and gain recognition and acceptance. Now, that his end is achieved he dumped the church. In similar fashion, once president he will dumped his promises to achieve other gains permanent he would want to achieve. He wants to give to those who have not strived by taking it from those who worked hard to achieve their place in society.

I PRAY OBAMA LOOSES AS IT WILL BE THE END OF AMERICA AND IT'S CHRISTIAN VALUES BY WHICH IT WAS FOUNDED!!!!

I'm not sure either one of them has genuine faith in the traditional evangelical understanding of that term, but I'm fairly certain that Obama isn't genuine, period. Whereas I think McCain's answers would be the ones he'd give regardless of the audience, I think Obama's answers would be much different, say, in a decidedly liberal crowd. McCain's answers came quickly and naturally, while Obama hemmed and hawed like he was trying to make sure he said the right thing for the audience. It was also readily apparent to me that one man (McCain) has served our country well for decades and is ready for the Oval Office, while the other (Obama) needs much more time and experience under his belt. Personally, he strikes me as quite arrogant.

I watched two hours of the Saddleback church and had the strange feeling that I’d seen this movie before. The two men could not have been more different. One man, long and lean, was earnest and halting in his answers. The other, square jawed and square shouldered with quips and well rehearsed anecdotes.

At the end, in my mind, I heard the crowd cry “Give us Barabbas! Give us the Warrior!”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZoIU9cImBw

This is a fictionalized story of Barabbas, the criminal who was chosen instead of Christ to be spared in honor of Passover. According to some theories, Barabbas was a rebel, a freedom fighter. He was imprisoned for taking part in an uprising to overthrow the Roman rule of the Jews (Mark 15:7.) Some of Jesus’ followers wanted him to be the leader of an uprising. They believed that Jesus had come to free the Jews. But he did not come to overthrow the Romans, he had a larger plan. He had come to free all humanity from the bondage of sin. He had come to fulfill the Old Testament and to begin a new covenant.

The story of Barabbas has always bothered me. Now it seems we are making the same kind of choice. NO! I'm not saying that I have any kind of belief that Barack Obama (Pat Robertson has taken to calling him "Barr-ick) is anything more than a mere mortal. But it a choice between these two types of men. The warrior and the philosopher.

In all religions we’re taught the stories as children, whether Jewish, or Muslim, Christian, Hindu or Native American. Some of the parables and the Bible stories I learned as a child have stayed with me and continue to guide my life. Some are stuck in my head, like a Zen koan (philosophical riddle.) My mind works on these puzzles till I can uncover the meaning. Then one day the light bulb goes on and I shout “OH! I desire mercy NOT sacrifice! OH OH!” Hopefully I am not in a crowded place when this happens.

As my life goes on, some of them come back to me to help me understand current events. Lately I’m remembering the warning from Jesus that we can know a false prophet by their fruits.

For a long time I have been troubled by the way my religion has been hijacked by the money changers. It has been turned into a “Brand” to be marketed and sold like toothpaste. It has been televised, evangelized and capitalized. I believe that it is this degradation of our faith that has brought us to the place we are now. A place where we are destroying the gifts that God gave us. This land that we live on, we are poisoning it. We are putting our planet and the lives of our children in danger because of our own self-interest. I see an eroding of American Values like justice, fairness and equality. I see instead a justification for preemptive war, torture and greed. Instead of promising whiter teeth, it promises prosperity and health. It prays for lower taxes and offshore drilling. Sometimes I am ashamed to be a Christian.

Today I got another one of those emails that promises that if I forward this email to ten other people then in a matter of days money will appear in my bank account. This god has promised me money in the bank. This god says that if I am worthy, god will bless me with prosperity. Have they never heard of Job? Have they never heard of Jesus? God does not promise prosperity. He promises riches of the spirit. He tells us not to store up goods where they will rust. He tells us to take up our cross and follow him. He tells us to give away our possessions. He tells us that when we turn away from those in need, we have turned out back on him.

But want to know what the single most telling thing about the two hours spent with these two men?

Was it their answers about war or death or personal responsibility? Was it abortion or torture or stewardship of the earth?

The biggest applause line was, “Offshore Drilling, drill here, drill everywhere!” Black gold, Texas “T”

We are drunk on oil and greed and a religion that feeds our fears. A religion that appeals to the lowest common denominator. God save us from our religious leaders.

Lord help us to hear the voices of our better angels.

For this we pray, Lord hear our prayer.

Pastor Rick is a fraud. The whole premise for the discussion is a fraud. John McCain and Pastor Rick lead us to believe that neither candidate would be given unfair advantage. Neither would know the questions in advance. That was an bold faced lie. John McCain, the supposed "strait talker" needs a cheat sheet to preach to his own choir. When it comes to talking about his faith, all he can relate are war stories he borrowed from Solzenitzen.

Sadly disappointed, in the Christian community more than anything else.

While this even did not change my mind about voting, my opinion of both candidates improved because of the Saddleback Forum. I appreciated the difficult pointed questions and the conversational answers. WELL DONE! I hope that this event will chage the tone and style of future elections. Our process needs a major overhaul and this was a good example!

Excellent, finally someone with the guts to ask 'real' questions about issues important to the mainstream US population. Bravo! A perfect clinical study of same question, controlled environment responses.
A breath of fresh air in this blah election.

Washington Post, 4-2-08, Michael Gerson column:
"But Obama's record on abortion is extreme. He opposed the ban on partial-birth abortion -- a practice a fellow Democrat, the late Daniel Patrick Moynihan, once called "too close to infanticide." Obama strongly criticized the Supreme Court decision upholding the partial-birth ban. In the Illinois state Senate, he opposed a bill similar to the Born-Alive Infants Protection Act, which prevents the killing of infants mistakenly left alive by abortion. And now Obama has oddly claimed that he would not want his daughters to be "punished with a baby" because of a crisis pregnancy -- hardly a welcoming attitude toward new life."

I agree 100%.we will be in much troubel if Obama is our next President.ther is somthing about his personality that make you think he is lying abuot what everything he says.we should NOT trust him

It's so Ironic McCain always refers to his service in getting applause.
WHY?

McCain’s infidelity will come out soon. It is a story that will shock all. John McCain’s 1st wife stood by his side and waited for him while he was a POW. Then when he was released and sent to a Navy Hospital in Hawaii, his 1st wife was involved in a car accident and paralized. What did John McCain do? He went and had an affair with a Navy Nurse in Hawaii and divored his paralized wife. He then married the Navy Nurse.

Don't forget McCain's involvement in the Keating savings and loans debacle, that I think cost us taxpayers gazillions of bucks, and his very partisan International Republican Insitute's alleged involvement in overthrowing a democratically elected government in Haiti...which would only reinforce the view that he's hypocritical on democracy, but definitely not clueless on crony capitalism, if this allegation was wider known and substantially confirmed.

Why do we need another president who thinks he's entitled to be the president because of his family's name and who's career owes it all to family money and contacts?

McCain is chairman of the IRI, it's not non-partisan as it's stocked with people that run from bizarre, right wing extremists to the merely "conservative," and it was involved in Haiti and in many other countries, and it's partially funded at taxpayer's expense, of course. Why is that? And as for the rest of the funding, can it be thought of as back door campaign contributions? Too much speculation on my part?

And...for strict Baptists, Methodists and other teetotalers (like me)...his second wife, who's been in rehab for drug abuse, has her substantial, inherited fortune coming from alcohol distribution...so he's a kept man with money made from a destructive and addictive vice? (To put it in the worst possible way.)

Don't you love election cycles. When else can you casually throw around a word like "debacle?"

And, the McCain campaign in my state is just disgraceful Rove-ism, not to mention tone deaf, at best, about what it's actually saying about a Black man who's much more educated, obviously smarter (though McCain is quite adequately smart), has actually taught Constitutional law, can keep his temper (unlike McCain's reputation as hot tempered), has actually met and worked with, and for, poor people, and is also a Senator.

What McCain's campaign ads are saying is that Obama is out to destroy the American family by taking your job and your money; and he's compared to an allegedly promiscuous dim bulb woman who's been to jail? Which, of course, is deliberately recycling the Jim Crow racist stereotypes and conspiracy theories of my childhood...and this from an alleged "man of honor," who's handlers have accused Obama of playing the "race card."

By the way, lest I be accused of being a "professional Black" again...

Apparently, "professional Blacks" are the only people some "conservatives" allow to have long memories about American racism. I am not a "professional Black," however, though I'm happy to be called a "professional Norwegian" if you wish. Hey, my family came to America to escape being at the disfranchised bottom of the power hierarchy of a poor, stagnating, colonized area. They arrived just in time for the Civil War, where they were miserable. Fortunately, public schools opened the door to full American citizenship for us. Why shouldn't I be interested in full citizenship for all Americans, Norwegians, Gays, Blacks, Hispanics...?

I would never vote for a man like McCain, but I trust him even less after this event. His "values" and plan to give us more of the same that we've endured for the last 8 years will MOST SURELY be the end of this country! I pray daily that God will give us good change and new direction with Obama.