Warren, Obama and McCain: The format

The McCain/Obama chat Saturday at Saddleback Church in Lake Forest is turning out to be a major national affair. CNN, Fox News and MSNBC plan to cover it live. The church’s pastor, Rick Warren, was making the rounds Friday explaining how the event would be formated. According to City News Service:

Warren will separately question McCain and Obama for about an hour. A coin toss determined that Obama, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, will answer questions first. Warren will then ask McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, the same questions. McCain will not be able to hear Obama’s responses, Warren told the Fox News Channel. “The primaries proved that Americans care deeply about the faith, values, character and leadership convictions of candidates as much as they do about the issues,” said Warren, author of the best-selling devotional book “The Purpose Driven Life.” “I will be raising questions ... beyond what political reporters typically ask. This includes pressing issues that are bridging divides in our nation, such as poverty, HIV/AIDS, climate and human rights.” The questioning will be divided into four segments, Warren said. The initial segment will be on stewardship, with questions on the roles of government, the president and Constitution and “what they believe about the direction of our government,” Warren said.

Photo: Sen. Barack Obama with Pastor Rick Warren, center, and Sen. Sam Brownback of Kansas, right, at a 2006 event at Saddleback Church. Credit: Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times

Comments

[ANNA]

WHEN YOU VOTE FOR THE MAN -OBAMA- YOUR VOTING FOR THE BAGGAGE THAT GOES WITH HIM - THE ANTI-CHRISTAIN ORG'S. I'M NOT CALLING OBAMA THE ANTI-CHRIST BUT THE ANTI-CHRIST IS NOT JUST A PERSON ITS A MOVEMENT THATS FIGHT HARD AGAINST CHRISTIANS.

[Swsttalk]

This really sounds good. But I just wonder what it will accomplish, other than to try to make each candidate dig deeper into himself and where his faith is. If the purpose is the 'change' these two, I can't see it happening. What a real change of heart and a closer walk with the Lord should do is each man ought to go harder on pro life issues. McCain isn't as fully 'there' on this issue as he needs to be and of course, Obama is famous for being Planned Parenthood's poster child for unlimited abortion to term plus using the day after pill, plus being against the Live Child bill to minister to babies born after botched abortions instead of letting them die. Honestly, neither of these candidates sounds like he can cut the muster faith-wise. But our prayers are with Pastor Warren. Maybe a miracle will happen and the Holy Spirit will energize them both for their own good and the good of the nation.

[Chris Morton]

Warren says that he opposes a religious measure for government employment. He lies. His debate involvement, using his evangelical base as candidate bait, contradicts his stated position.

The continued interference of the religious right in the election process in the U.S. is a disgrace. Churches, temples, mosques and their pastors, priests, rabbis and imams are given 501(c)3 status (tax exempt status) but one of the limitations of the tax-exempt status is that these religious organizations may not promote political positions or candidates as a part of their religious posturing. Warren's Saddleback Church should be investigated by the IRS for the infringement of its 501(c)3 status - Warren is using his religious position and Christian evangelical beliefs to promote a particular religious point-of-view and, thus, to promote a particular candidate whose actions, beliefs, and values accord with those beliefs. It is enough to simply see him publicly promoting a Christian perspective to demand such an investigation be done.

This email calls, formally and publicly, on the IRS to investigate Warren and his Saddlebeck Church and its 501(c)3 status in view of its infringement of its tax-exempt status.

[Benighse]

McCain's ten life mistakes compared to the ten commandments, and I don't mean just Charlton Heston's version that he parodied in an attack ad on Obama:

Don't The 10 Commandments go something like this???

ONE: I am the Lord your God

TWO: You shall not have false gods

THREE: You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.

FOUR: Remember to keep holy the Sabbath.

FIVE: Honor your father and your mother.

SIX: You shall not kill.

SEVEN: You shall not commit adultery.

EIGHT: You shall not steal.

NINE: You shall not bear false witness under oath.

TEN: You shall not covet your neighbor's house, wife or property.

So far with Mccain we know that Numbers 3,4,7,8,9 and 10 are purely discretionary; 1 and 2 we don't know where he stands; but on 5 he seems on pretty solid footing as to one parent; and on 6, well you have to at least consider the usual exceptions for war and death penalty and....(fill in the blank)???

Look...there's a reason the founding fathers put in the separation of church and state, and there shall be no state religions in the Constitution.....So go pray in religious buildings....but legislate in government buildings...Go in Peace to Serve the World....Have a Nice Day!!

It's time to put Obama to work for all America....I'll take smarts and hard-work over Mccain platitudes and attack ads.

[Grape Guy]

This should be interesting. Neither candidate is a typical "Evangelical" but then neither is Warren in terms of his political perspective. I hope this can be viewed as a window into the candidate's thinking and not, as I sadly suspect, as a chance to catch someone in a poorly phrased response. I think there is both risk and opportunity for all three participants

[Dave]

Well now we are going to find out who jeebus wants to be president and we can quit paying attention to the issues...

[Raraseal]

This event is Warrens positioning himself on the national stage. Do we need another person jostling for the title of the "right hand of God" . Like Ralph Reed, the corrupt swindler form the religious right who got millions of dollars by lying, cheating and manipulating the Indian casinos into lining his pockets in the name of Christianity. We don't need another false prophet, there are too many out there in TV land already.

[D]

I do not understand, with the turmoil of today's world, most of which has been caused by "faith", are we waisting our time letting a "preacher" conduct the first debate regarding faith? It is inane, a waiste of time, and most importantly, a distraction on the major issues facing this nation: war, economy, energy. "Culture wars" have to take second fiddle these days. They have to, otherwise, we're going to witness another WWF presidential election. PLease stop the madeness people. Vote the important issues, not the ticky tack ones. Save the ticky tack ones for more cushioned times.

[Bill]

Who is Mark Warren and why is he moderating this? I've never heard of him or his church.

[Bruce becker]

What a crock. THE ARTICLES OF FAITH.

Which faith?

[Jesse in Santa Cruz, CA]

it's too bad americans care more about faith, values, character and leadership convictions than war, economy, environment, sustainable energy (nuclear power), and solving problems.

i wish google would come out with a website in which educated professors could ask killer, direct questions and users could vote on which questions they care most about getting answered. then the candidates (well at least the one who knows how to use a computer) could respond the questions that are most important to educated people (who obviously would use google politics).

instead myspace and youtube are leading the field in this type of interaction, which is ridiculous because there's no organization to the thousands of questions and concerns brought up each day or week.

i want to choose the person who will make the country better, instead of just which ever guy hates gays, abortion and marijuana as much as the god blessed bible belt.

[Thogek]

Sounds like this should be an interesting format. Not to mention quite an opportunity for Mr. Warren.

Kinda too bad, though, it's still only including Status Quo and Status Quoer. You wanna really probe into what the candidates are about, how they're different, and how they'll respond to other ideas (and really get Mr. Warren known as probing for what's really best for the American public), include more than just two of 'em. Take a look at http://www.votesmart.org/election_president.php and see what other choices the voting public has, and include some of them. The Libertarians at least usually get themselves onto all 50 state ballots, so why not include their candidate as well and see how Obama and McCain respond to his ideas (and vice versa)? And Mr. Nader's practically a presidential election staple...

[Robert Castle]

Rudyard Kipling said "Oh, East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet,
Till Earth and Sky stand presently at God's great Judgment Seat;." The same might be said about the Church and State. Neither should meddle in the affairs of the other.

[Synergymus]

um when?

[ben]

why does this pastor deserve the attention of either candidates? Why should anyone gain credibility by linking their candidacy to an ancient magician?

[rucognizant]

This so bizzarro,off the wall, reprehensible!
In my 69 years, we ( the USA) have never had such a HIGH number of people who, natter on about their "faith", the importance of stepping back and letting Jesus decide, instead of taking the responsibility for OUR OWN ACTIONS!
Putting SO MUCH emphasis on religion, is a CHILDISH, irresponsible, Cop-out!
And it is SO easy to fake it. Look at George Bush, murdering in Gods name; and all those evangelical leaders caught in scandals! Disgusting!
I was always very spiritual, choosing the moral/ethical high road, doing charitable works all my life. Left the Presbyterian church for the QUAKERS AFTER MY SUNDAY SCHOOL TEACHER TAUGHT US NOT TO MARRY CATHOLICS OR JEWS! And I couldn't make the doctrine of predestination blend with the teachings of choice between right and wrong. The cancil each other out!
This current bogus use of religion, to steer & control the populace is TRULY EVIL! Give you life to Jesus and he will forgive ALL your EVIL deeds. You are excused, off the hook, Jesus will carry your burden for you and love you.
POPPYCOCK! Cause & Effect, KARMA! You do something wrong, you will suffer the effects sooner or later......I've witnessed that many times!
SEPARATION OF CHURCH & STATE.needs to be reinstated.
( Yes and one of the first things my ancestors did here in America, 3 centuries ago was promote the establishments of places of worship ( including the Trinity Church at ground zero in NYC!)

[Josey]

This is ludicrous. Some guy from the Church of What's Happening Now gets to be the front man in a debate. Unbelievable.

[Joe Sacramento]

Rick Warren has evidently carved out a niche for himself as the Dr. Phil of Evangelical Christianity. Good for him. Good for his family. Good for his lifestyle and pension.

Trouble is, he does NOT--by any standard-- represent the ideologies of ALL Christians in the U.S. because his "ranch," high profile celebrity personality, and other accumulated assets are not consistent with the values taught by Christ such as modesty, humility, meekness, contriteness of spirit, and the list goes on.

If he's going to quote the Bible, why isn't he quoting the teachings of Christ? Christ said, "Pick up your cross and follow me.." He didn't say, "Start a ministry and get rich in my name."

In fact Christ famously told a rich man a camel could sooner fit through the eye of a needle than a rich man could fit through the gates of heaven."

Like TD Jakes, Joel Osteen, and a litany of other "pastors" who have amassed immense amounts of material wealth by way of the collection basket, Mr. Warren is clearly as sinful as the rest of humanity, and in my opinion no more qualified to speak for God than the average street corner preacher.

Joe Sacramento
http://www.joesacramento.com

[EvilPoet]

What About Atheist Outreach? Constitutional violations aside: you politicians are always pandering to the religious voters with your faith outreach, why don't you ever do the same for the nonreligious voters? You know that we vote and pay taxes too, right?

[Rev. Keith R. Wright]

"When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the American flag, carrying the cross."
It Can't Happen Here
1935 Sinclair Lewis

Our constitution forbids a religious test for our leaders yet we have this event today (sad).

The relationship between a man and God (or the absense thereof) is of no concern to any other man.

Piety is no guarantee of morality or is the country really that stupid.

Rick Warren preaches the prosperity gospel...quite the opposite of the simple life eschewed by the mythical Christ.

"Christians" as Warren calls his sect, didn't believe in the trinity for hundreds of years...until a committee decided what was holy and what wasn't.

What about the Catholics and the Apocryphia...does Warren negate their faith because they have an additional book to draw from?

What is more important in this discussion, is how our leader will respect the (dis)beliefs of ALL Americans and not just one sect.

“The population of my neighborhood is too slender, and is too much divided into other sects to maintain any one preacher well. I must therefore be contented with being a Unitarian by myself.” Thomas Jefferson

As far as denying the trinity, our most noble of the founding fathers from whom flowed the Declaration of Independence and the Virgina rules of religious freedom and countless other works of remarkable insight...would fail as a candidate under the scrutiny of the money-hungry Warren and his narrow-minded view of presidential mettle.

Rev. Keith R. Wright
The United Deist Church

[Not Biuying It]

WHY DOES THE PRESS THINK WARREN REPRESENTS ALL CHRISTIANS?

Oh sure, there are a lot of dummies who've bought into Warren's PD theology and think the guy walks on water. But there are a lot who don't buy into his nonsense as well.

Warren is a genius when it comes to marketing. Who stands to gain the most from this? Warren of course. ITS PURCHASE DRIVEN TIME! His ideology appeals to mankind's ego, and brings God down to man's level. The reverance for a holy and Almighty God is gone. God is now yer buddy. If Warren knew what God looked like, he'd paint a picture of HIm with a ball cap on. It's quite possible that Warren is deceived into thinking he's doing God's will. What an ego trip. You can be sure you are NOT doing God's will by watering down the gospel and anyone who buys into the purpose driven drivel is a fool.

Obama is not to be trusted. His is just your TYPICAL CONDESCENDING DEMOCRAT that can't be trusted to protect our Constitutional rights. He is about change alright...he changes his tune depending upon the group of people he is talking to at the time.

This typical white person with my guns and Bible is voting for McCain.

[Jeff Schork]

The real issues that this country faces, as one poster put it are war, economy, and energy.
I think that the real issue with this country is that Christians need to stand up for what they believe in.
What is a Christian?
My definition of a Christian is a sinful human being that believes that they were created by God, that God sent his Son, Jesus, into this world by the virgin birth, that he taught of his Father's Love to every person, that he was crucified on the Cross at Calvary, that he died on that Cross as the attonment for all of our sins, that he rose again to life conquering death, and now sits at the right hand of his Father in Heaven. That he will return to this earth and take those that believe in him into Heaven where he is preparing a place for all of his children and each of us will be judged by God and either recieve of free gift of everlasting life with God in Peace and Harmony or will be sentenced to an eternal life in Hell.
Having said that, remeber that even Christians are still sinful human beings. They try to live their lives showing Love to all as Jesus taught but are constantly attacked by Satan to sin. Some times as humans do, we fall, we fail, and through God's Holy Spirit and the never ending Grace of God stand back up and try again to live our lives' as Christians.
Yes Christians are no different than anyone else on this planet with the exception of having the belief that there is Hope through Salvation. That there really is a purpose for each of us on this beautiful planet we call Earth.
Stand up all you believers in Christ and voice your beliefs to all those who don't yet see the light.
Please understand that this time we spend here on earth is as but a second as compared to eternity and we will all be held accountable for our lives and how we live them.
Take a look again at those Ten Commandments and ask yourself would we be where we are right now if all of us had followed them.
I believe not.
God Bless you all.

[Sigrid McCutcheon]

Will the Saturday night interviews be re=broadcast?

[Victor]

The 1st question that i would have ask would have been " WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO TO GET GOD BACK IN OUR SCHOOLS"? There are movement's that are trying to take God out of everything and the day that they meet their goal we are all in big trouble. I am disappointed with last nights forum, Obama can not give a straight answer with out stuttering. OPENLY admitted that he would say anything to get elected. that is how he won his run for senate campaign. McCain was sharp on his game last night he fired back with answers from his heart. He is the best chance we have at getting this country back and keeping us all safe. Beware of Obama

[S. Holliday]

Why would voters be offended by presidential candidates addressing Christians, potential voters? I don't understand the offense. Democracies survive on information sharing. Also, some of the comments about our Founding Fathers were not historically acurate. Overall, the Founders were deeply Christian men who wanted to lead using Judeo-Christian values; there only caution was that state-sponsored religion - such as the Church of England - were not acceptable for the new republic. We should not allow ignorance of our early American history, or our personal biases against Christians to revise our history and intefere with our great democratic republic.

[MrsMcNeil]

Absolutely interesting to see the blogs. Did anybody take the time to actually listen to the interviews between the two candidates from Warren? Or, did the fact that somebody who is associated with God is assumed to not have the credentials to ask the candidates about the issues? Actually, the interviews were enlightening. I tend to look at the candidates for what they have voted for in the past and what they are saying. Look beyond color, age and denomination. If you don't, then you have let your prejudice rule your brain. Ignorant bias causes harm on both sides. Don’t just listen to the media. Media is biased -- I used to work for the media -- I know.

I think it is time for America to wake up. If they want to know how a candidate is perceived and will vote on the issues of Gay Marriages, Family Values, Abortion, The Right of Life, The War, The Economics, then do the research. Go to the supporting sites and look to see what the people from the right and left are saying. Don't let a perception and God/anti-god rhetoric show how ignorant this nation can be. It is time that we stand up and act a little educated!