McCain and Obama have been arguing, as candidates always do, about when, where and what format to have their debates. It is all about posturing and positioning, who gets the advantage and who looks best in the public eye, who is ducking who and who is all about speaking to the people. But when the Pope of liberal Protestantism calls, they both come running...
John McCain and Barack Obama bickered for weeks over the kind of debates they wanted — but when California pastor Rick Warren asked them to put that aside and join him for a candidates’ forum, the answer, of course, was yes.
The two political rivals will join Warren Saturday evening at his 23,000-member Saddleback Church, taking the same stage to answer the same questions for the first time.
The event is not technically a debate, or the kind of free-form joint town hall meeting McCain had advocated. Warren will ask each candidate the same set of questions separately.
But the mega-church leader’s ability to bring the candidates together is a testament to his clout and reputation as a centrist leader of a new evangelical agenda.
I can't see how this helps McCain. He doesn't speak about his faith, because it probably isn't that important to him. I doubt it is all that important to Obama either, but he makes a good show of it. I can see how he will look coming out of this, appealing to marginal Christians and sounding all kind of religious. I would guess that neither man will be asked to repent of their sins, but will be asked about global warming and illiteracy.
John McCain and Barack Obama bickered for weeks over the kind of debates they wanted — but when California pastor Rick Warren asked them to put that aside and join him for a candidates’ forum, the answer, of course, was yes.
The two political rivals will join Warren Saturday evening at his 23,000-member Saddleback Church, taking the same stage to answer the same questions for the first time.
The event is not technically a debate, or the kind of free-form joint town hall meeting McCain had advocated. Warren will ask each candidate the same set of questions separately.
But the mega-church leader’s ability to bring the candidates together is a testament to his clout and reputation as a centrist leader of a new evangelical agenda.
I can't see how this helps McCain. He doesn't speak about his faith, because it probably isn't that important to him. I doubt it is all that important to Obama either, but he makes a good show of it. I can see how he will look coming out of this, appealing to marginal Christians and sounding all kind of religious. I would guess that neither man will be asked to repent of their sins, but will be asked about global warming and illiteracy.
The debate is on at 8:00 tonight, and I am probably going to watch. I am sure Warren will be beaming, thinking about his increased influence with the White House. He clearly loves being thought of as the "next Billy Graham". While I disagree with much of what Reverend Graham believes theologically, at least he knew where the focus should be, i.e. on Christ. Warren seems most interested in the opinions of men and getting the right press coverage. His heart may be in the right place, but he uses the visibility he has to be a man pleaser. Contrast what he says with men like John MacArthur, who proclaims Christ whenever he gets on TV and seems a lot less interested in being liked by the other guests than he does about pleasing his Lord.
(Jason Robertson at Fide-O has similar comments about this upcoming event)
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