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Post details: Church Politics

08/15/08

10:31:12 am, Categories: Announcements [A], 299 words

Church Politics

Watchdog Group Criticizes Saturday Forum On Faith At Saddleback Church

Voters have heard quite enough about the religious views of Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama and don’t need another forum on the presidential candidates and faith, says Americans United for Separation of Church and State.

The church-state watchdog group criticized both candidates’ decision to take part in the Rev. Rick Warren’s “Saddleback Civil Forum” this Saturday at his mega-church in Lake Forest, Calif. McCain and Obama will each submit to hour-long questioning by the church pastor.

“Campaign 2008 is starting to feel like a Sunday school Bible drill,” said the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United. “We’re electing a president, not a national pastor. I don’t see what good it will do for the American people to again hear the candidates spout pious platitudes about their favorite Bible verses or how devout they are.

“Candidates should appeal to the voters based on their qualifications for office and their stands on the issues, not their religious beliefs,” Lynn said. “This event continues the campaign spiral into religious matters. Americans want to hear the candidates’ views on important issues such as constitutional rights, public education, the Iraq War and the economy.”

Here is where I usually jump in and give my two cents, but Barry said it perfectly. 'nuff said.

The following is provided by TxAtheist and is edited and verified by me:

You can hear the forum on The Word starting at 7 p.m - 9pm (central), 8pm to 10pm EST. Analysis on how the candidates addressed poverty, climate, AIDS and human rights, etc. will follow for 1 hour. Local callers can dial 637-9673 (WORD). Out-of-town listeners may call toll-free (888) 860-9673. ... The program is available on FM radio and over the internet at http://www.theword993.com

38 comments

Comments:

Comment from: alexatheist [Member]

So vote for Bob Barr, the Libertarian presidential candidate, who supports the First Amendement and never talks about his religion or lack thereof.

08/15/08 @ 11:03

Comment from: TXatheist [Member] · http://txatheist.blogspot.com

Yeah, our local guys are covering it and I'm going to try and listen and call in.

The America Bless God Campaign of Texas and The Word 98.5 & 99.3 KLGO FM Radio in Austin are doing a special edition of the Political Hope Radio Show. The show will air Saturday (Aug. 16) at 9 p.m. following the Saddleback Civil Forum on Leadership and Compassion. (That would be the “debate” beween Obama and McCain moderated by Pastor Rick Warren.)

You can hear the forum on The Word starting at 7 p.m. Analysis on how the candidates addressed poverty, climate, AIDS and human rights, etc. will follow. Brent Bullock, a regular poster here, alerted me to the live airing and post-forum program. Sadly, I may not be able to participate (I’m working on that) but I’m hoping you fair readers will chime in. Local callers can dial 637-9673 (WORD). Out-of-town listeners may call toll-free (888) 860-9673.

And as an fyi, Brent provided this “about us” blurb on the show:

The Political Hope Radio Show regularly airs each Sunday, at 4 pm. Guests include local political candidates, political party officials, and academic and professional topic experts. The program airs each Sunday at 4 pm on The Word - 98.5 & 99.3 - KLGO FM Radio. The program is available on FM radio and over the internet at www.theword993 dot com

08/15/08 @ 12:18

Comment from: David Silverman [Member] · http://www.atheists.org/

Thanks TX.

08/15/08 @ 13:41

Comment from: TXatheist [Member] · http://txatheist.blogspot.com

Dave, do understand I just copied and pasted that from a xian blog.

08/15/08 @ 14:43

Comment from: David Silverman [Member] · http://www.atheists.org/

I called the radio station and verified.

08/15/08 @ 15:51

Comment from: I'M Not A Bear! [Member]

Why should we listen to this "debate"? It's just going to be a Republican lovefest. Both Republican presidential candidates (McCain and Obama) will just try to outbid each other on the use of the "god card". It seems like a heck of a waste of time to me.

08/15/08 @ 16:55

Comment from: TXatheist [Member] · http://txatheist.blogspot.com

I'm not a bear. I'm just hoping to listen because Brent Bullock and I have a source we strongly disagree on, wallbuilders and David Barton. Depending on the topics and discussion I hope it gives me a reason to call in.

08/15/08 @ 17:27

Comment from: Joe Zamecki [Member]

No thanks. I left church long ago. This will only serve to show how useless democracy is.

We should be pickting that megachurch during this event.

Joe Zamecki
Austin, TX

08/15/08 @ 19:08

Comment from: I'M Not A Bear! [Member]

Joe Zamecki;

I agree...I think this event should be picketed... it's a little late to organize anything. But hopefully some people living near California will meet there for some kind of demonstration.

08/15/08 @ 20:54

Comment from: phreedm [Member]

Comment from: I'M Not A Bear!

Both Republican presidential candidates (McCain and Obama)

Wow...I have never heard this before...

IMNB...what about Obama do you consider Republican...?

08/15/08 @ 22:18

Comment from: phreedm [Member]

Picket it? Please...

Many on hear will not tune in so they can vote for Obama in November with a clear conscience...

Now the one to tune into is the Dem convention...

Obama showed his negotiation skills by allowing the Clinton's to take 2 of 4 nights...

However he did tell the black mayor of Detroit to stay away...

Can you imagine how strong he'll be on the world stage....? It will be breathtaking...

08/15/08 @ 22:27

Comment from: What [Member]

Obama is more like a pre-1960 republican than is McBush. After 1960s the religious right and the corporatists (sometimes one and the same) got a death grip on the GOP and made it into the anti-choice party for the religious and the rob-you-blind party for the corporatists.

08/15/08 @ 22:27

Comment from: phreedm [Member]

And speaking of selling out and being paid off...

Wilson County Fair bends, will give atheists discount

Atheists and other non-Christians can get a discount at Sunday's God & Country Day at the Wilson County Fair, thanks to the efforts of local atheists.

According to the U.S. Religious Landscape Survey from the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, 84 percent of Tennesseans polled said they have an "absolutely certain" belief in God. Just over 85 percent claimed to be Christian. Around 12 percent claimed to be unaffiliated. Nationally, only 1.6 percent of Americans surveyed claimed to be atheists.

http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080815/NEWS01/808150411/1006

08/15/08 @ 23:13

Comment from: phreedm [Member]

And speaking of selling out and being paid off...

Wilson County Fair bends, will give atheists discount

Atheists and other non-Christians can get a discount at Sunday's God & Country Day at the Wilson County Fair, thanks to the efforts of local atheists.

According to the U.S. Religious Landscape Survey from the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, 84 percent of Tennesseans polled said they have an "absolutely certain" belief in God. Just over 85 percent claimed to be Christian. Around 12 percent claimed to be unaffiliated. Nationally, only 1.6 percent of Americans surveyed claimed to be atheists.

http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080815/NEWS01/808150411/1006

08/15/08 @ 23:13

Comment from: What [Member]

Phreeky doesn't know what point he is trying to make. He also is too lazy and stupid to do a little fact checking. 16.1% put themselves in the unaffiliated category not 12% as the pinhead pasted. What an ignorant gullible dolt!

08/16/08 @ 04:40

Comment from: Charlie [Member]

I found a pic of phreeky...I think he's the one in the middle....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UM9iQlsGU_A

08/16/08 @ 08:02

Comment from: DeepDiver [Member]

Alex,

http://www.tylwythteg.com/enemies/Barr/barr1.html

I don't think so.

08/16/08 @ 08:59

Comment from: alexatheist [Member]

So Barr flip flopped on some issues just like McCain and Obama and every other politician. He is tough on illeagal immigration and civil liberties and most importantly he isnt McCain or Obama.

08/16/08 @ 10:06

Comment from: phreedm [Member]

Comment from: What do I know

What an ignorant gullible dolt! !

Now that's funny...it was copied from the article. Doesn't matter what you claim, it's what this reporter stated in his article and thereby told his readers...

08/16/08 @ 13:43

Comment from: Joe Zamecki [Member]

http://www.tylwythteg.com/enemies/Barr/barr1.html

If ANY of the bad things on this website are true, and he hasn't left all of his bad ways, I certainly wouldn't consider voting for him.

Plus do we really have to rely on rejects or defectors from the Republican party? We should be able to vote for lifelong liberals if we want a liberal in office. This switching parties trend is not reassuring. If someone can't figure out the real need for attention to be paid to individual civil rights when they're in their younger years, I don't like their chances of actually helping out in their later years. People do better when they focus their whole life's energy on something.

Joe Zamecki
Austin

08/16/08 @ 14:48

Comment from: What [Member]

Phreeky just posts crap that agrees with his unsupportable position and doesn't bother to go directly to the source to check the facts. Lazy and stupid is no way to go through life.

08/16/08 @ 15:26

Comment from: neowolfe [Member]

Well, I don't know where to start. As I have been able to find out, the Libertarians are just religious and social conservatives that want campaign reforms that would give them a fighting chance.
We all watch with exitement, but should really relax. This country was founded upon religious freedom, and unless you think your'e in a possition to rewrite and have ratified a correction to everything this country is built on, then maybe you should just sit back and watch. Ideally, someone with any religious affiliation should be denied a vote, because arguably, they are either insane, or have proxied their vote to a person who does their thinking for them. But, that isn't going to happen.
So just let these two pander to a substantial voting block, knowing by experience, that no politician has ever kept a campaign promise since this county had it's first election.

NeoWolfe

08/16/08 @ 16:41

Comment from: What [Member]

I am happy that Obama is trying to win the religious vote. For decades the GOP has been using the religious dolts to advance their big money corporate interests. They pay lip service to the religious rights issues - almost exclusively abortion - and give them nothing substantial. It's about time that the other 99.99% of the American people put these gullible lemmings votes to use to advance the agenda of working class Americans.

08/16/08 @ 17:16

Comment from: I'M Not A Bear! [Member]

If it looks like a republican, quacks like a republican, wattles like a republican... it's hardly a democrat!

08/16/08 @ 18:01

Comment from: maddogstu [Member]

All lies and jest.
Still a man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest.

08/16/08 @ 22:53

Comment from: Mark Farris [Member]

I worked as a volunteer for a year with the Association for Retarded Citizens and have drawn a parallel on phreedm. I have been profiling that rascal phreedm and think I have him figured out.

Some of the developmentally disabled folks I used to work with were not mentally that far outside the social norm. They would take petty points of contention and work them up into elaborate scenarios and could hold a more or less coherent conversation for awhile. I did enjoy shooting the shit with some of them because they always ended up turning the conversation into humor. They didn't care because they didn't have to care. They were more or less on the outside of what we all consider reality. They were OK and I think more often than not happier than those of us considered normal. This is where phreedm comes in.

I sincerly think the dude phreedm is developmentally disabled and simply either owns or has access to a computer. Either that, or he is in reality Glenn Beck.

08/17/08 @ 02:36

Comment from: Mark Farris [Member]

Oy, I forgot to mention I thought the orchestrated Obama/McCain puppet fest was actually a comercial for Saddleback Church. What now, maybe hold a debate between the two at a mosque? How bout they arm wrestle at the Vatican? Without a doubt it is time for all churches to start paying taxes. They gonna shape the political lansdscape they gonna have to pay for police and firemen and water and sewer and trash pick up like the rest of us. Rick Warren is a pitiful pimp because he stacked the deck for his favorite whore McCain. I am disappointed in C-Span. Just another corporate shill. Damn.

08/17/08 @ 02:50

Comment from: What [Member]

Paris Hilton called John "Keating Five" McCain the "wrinkly white-haired guy". Out of the mouths of babes.

08/17/08 @ 05:08

Comment from: What [Member]

Have you seen this yet? LOL! LOL!

http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/ea0b05d406

08/17/08 @ 05:23

Comment from: TXatheist [Member] · http://txatheist.blogspot.com

Thanks for the humorous links. I watched Fox News coverage of the event, to see how biased they could be and then listened to Brett Bullock's show. I couldn't take it. I wanted to call in but it was so slanted I just let it go. It does confirm to me that Obama is not a liberal and now I feel like I'm voting for the lesser of two evils after he sold out to this Christian forum.

08/18/08 @ 09:16

Comment from: What [Member]

TX

"Lesser of two evils"? Why don't you just say that Obama is the better choice rather than using extreme and obviously inappropriate words like "evil". It doesn't do your candidate any favor to use such language.

08/18/08 @ 14:32

Comment from: reason [Member]

we are toast not just atheists but all americans the scum of the barrel is running the country into the ground.even a 6 yr old can see the constitution restricts the power of fed gov't but all we get is power hungry war mongers.a broke nation mired in mideast wars thats one hell of a legacy to give our young.

08/18/08 @ 15:26

Comment from: What [Member]

Reason

An unregulated government and an unregulated private sector got us here. Time for the people to demand regulation.

08/18/08 @ 17:24

Comment from: JONATHAN SMITH [Member]

There is a movement,calling on all presidential candidates to defend science from political interference and to support an independent initiative called Science Debate 2008,in an effort to hold a presidential science policy debate. The debate will give candidates a forum to show the public how they plan to use science to inform their policies. The candidates have been invited to attend--now, we encourage you to urge them to participate in the debate.At this piont in time the debate has failed.Yet,Rick Warren easily managed to get both candidates to attend a forum on faith? So blind faith trumps science whens it come to selecting a President,well that makes me feel better!!!!

08/18/08 @ 17:53

Comment from: What [Member]

Jonathon

Do you have more specifics on this "movement"? Who is organizing the push? And how can we support it? This would be wonderful!

08/18/08 @ 19:21

Comment from: JONATHAN SMITH [Member]

http://www.sciencedebate2008.com/www/index.php
Thanks for your interest "What"

08/19/08 @ 08:36

Comment from: TXatheist [Member] · http://txatheist.blogspot.com

Thanks Jonathan S

08/19/08 @ 09:55

Comment from: Mark Farris [Member]

Sucker Rick Warren and Saddleback church never knew the media would get ahold of the fact McCain was in his SUV listening to some of the answers given to Obama. Hucksters exposed again. Cone of silence a real hoot.

08/20/08 @ 05:19

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