I have to admit I was a little leery of this format of Pastor Warren interviewing both candidates in a church. I’m not as big about the separation of church and state as some others, maybe more than some others but it was just so foreign, I didn’t know what to think. Over all, it went a lot better than I thought it might and I enjoyed it a great deal.
I will say I was disappointed in Pastor Warren’s opening comments. He said something to the effect of “We at Saddleback Church believe in the separation of church and state but not the separation of faith and politics. Faith is defined as one’s world view and all of us have a world view.” What disappointed me was that it is not an explanation of faith as I have ever heard of from a pastor. Everyone does have a world view but I don’t equate that to faith. According to Hebrews 11:1 which says “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” OK, yes I could be nit-picking but I think there is a point there not to redefine a word to fit the occasion.
That aside, I think both candidates did well over all. I think they were both personable and comfortable. I found some different beliefs than mine but that doesn’t bother me so. It’s the inconsistency that irks me. Thankfully, that only happened a few times.
Obama did a good job and had great things to say in great ways. He was quick and poetic in his responses. The one thing that bothered me was his answer on abortion when he said something to the effect that rather or not life begins at conception were deep questions above his “pay grade”. First off, not too thrilled to see a possible president deflect that no matter what their position. Then the inconsistent part was when it came to stem cell research he made a statement about being very careful how this works to protect the sancity of life which seems to make some level of statement about the life in a fetus. This seems to contradict in some ways what he said before. Oh, well.
McCain, I think knocked it out of the ball park. I was a little disappointed about some small dancing and not being clear on stem cell research. Everything else though, I thought he was bold and clear. I loved the direct answers that sometimes didn’t wait for the question to be finished. I think he went further in detail on his faith and stood firm on his convictions. I think America saw a different McCain than they expected and the McCain I haven’t seen in years. Now, if he can just stop making dumb ads.
I will also say McCain’s answers were deeper in my call than Obama. Obama was well thought out and good ideas but McCain gave more examples, stories, and understanding in his answers. I believe this was the first time I really saw a difference that experience makes that McCain has. His answers seemed so much more founded in reality that concepts but that could just be me.
I’ll tell ya a little secret, I think I was leaning towards Obama before tonight. Now, unless if something comes out that I don’t know about in this moment, I think McCain has it hands down.
What did you think of the interviews?
Emerging Conservative 
Tom,
I make no bones about the fact that I was going to vote for McCain as the “not Obama” candidate. I wasn’t thrilled about either candidate coming into tonight’s forum, and I did not have high hopes for the forum itself. I am with you that seeing a political forum moderated by a pastor felt a little odd, but I got over it quickly. We’ll see in the coming years what effect, if any, that will have on church-state relations.
With all of that said, I can now vote for McCain with a clear conscience that he is my candidate of choice. I do not agree with every view the man has, nor do I expect to, but he had an ease about him in front of a congregation that, as a person of faith, put me at ease. Obama by contrast sounded rehearsed and a bit rigid. What looked to be a drumming by Obama in the upcoming debates now promises a better showing by McCain. It will be interesting to see who their running mates are after tonight.
I don’t think it’s a big deal that they met in a church. Especially seeing how that church looked more like a TV studio than anything else. 😉
As for Warren’s definition of faith, that’s actually one I’ve heard many times before. Usually it comes up in the context of witnessing to atheists and starts off as “everyone has faith in something…” So the fact he used it in that way doesn’t surprise me. He’s just trying to draw interest from people who don’t see themselves as people of faith.
Now, I think you were a bit unfair. You called Obama on the fact that his answer to the abortion issue wasn’t completely consistent with his answer to the stem cell issue. But McCain had the exact same problem. He said life begins at conception, but then said he supports stem cell research. So they both have a problem there.
I’m also kind of surprised that you said McCain “went further in detail on his faith.” I saw quite the opposite. Although, let me say first off that I didn’t think either candidate really said much about their faith, especially seeing as how that was that supposed to be the focus of the night. But if I were to compare the two I’d say Obama made the better attempt–I mean at least he mentioned a couple Bible verses. Of course, like I said, neither said much about their faith. Personally, I think Warren should have required them to provide a scriptural basis for each one of the positions they took–that would have been interesting.
All in all, this event was no different than any other political interview. Despite taking place in a church and being moderated by a pastor, they just talked about the same old tired issues they always talk about.
Hey cdavis, Good to see you’re still around. Thanks for the input!
Hey Maudin,
I’m not sure if I was too unfair on the Obama and McCain stuff on abortion and stem cell. My biggest frustration with McCain is I’m not so sure he actually answer the stem cell research question. I want to rewatch that part. To me, he stumbled around alot about it and then brough up skin cell research making a rise and we need to look more at that. While he was direct in many of his answers, I thought he was wishy washey and blew it on that question.
As far as their faith, one point of clearification. When I said I thought McCain went deeper into his faith, I did not mean in comparision to Obama….I meant in comparison to what he has said so far himself on his faith.
I would say that I felt they did the same if I compared the two men talking about their faith. I have to watch myself on being skeptical on their answers. Both could be speaking from their heart and both could have read a chapter of Warren’s book and found a couple “stomp” verses to throw out. Also both, could have been sepaking from their hearts. I decided to give both the benefit of the doubt instead of be a butthead. It would have been interesting if Warren had probed more.
From the transcript, McCain’s answer to the stem cell question was:
“For those of us in the pro life community, this has been a great struggle and a terrible dilemma because we’re also taught other obligations that we have as well. I’ve come down on the side of stem cell research, but I am wildly optimistic that skin cell research which is coming more and more into focus and practicability will make this debate an economic one.”
(Source: http://rickwarrennews.com/transcript/civil_forum_transcript-05.txt)
So while he bring up other issues, he does clearly state that he is “on the side of stem cell research.” Which would seem to contradict his previous claim of believing that life begins at conception.
While I still see him trying to skirt the issue (that’s not a compliment), you’re right. Both played both sides to a certain level. Maybe even more so on McClain. Good catch
I didn’t see Obama as playing both sides when it came to the abortion/stem cell issues. I would say he is of course aware of the different opinions, and was merely being cautious not to offend. Some may see this as playing both sides, but I see it as good semantics and good politics. He never contradicts his own beliefs, but is respectful of others. I’d say he did a fair and consistent job of this throughout his answers. Obama had my vote before the debate, and he has certainly maintained it.
Hey rainyday,
Thanks for the input and your point of view. I appreciate you jumping in.
Blessings!