Billy Graham turned 90 last Friday (11/7). Spiritual guide to many presidents, he said recently that he would like to meet and pray with Barack Obama. I hope he gets that chance.
I have been listening lately to old skool DC Talk and came across this video with a Graham appearance in the middle.
Sweet.
Today is the other Day of Silence - a day of silence to speak for the babies silenced via abortion.
The website supporting the day begins:
On October 21st, people from all over this nation will give up their voices for a day in solidarity for these children. Red arm bands and duct tape will identify them as taking part in the Pro-life Day of Silent Solidarity. They will carry fliers explaining why they are silent and educate others about the plight of the innocent children we are losing every day.
This Day of Silence is promoted by StandTrue Pro-life ministry and claims over 4500 schools are taking part.
I received the following press release this morning:
WASHINGTON, Sept. 24 /Christian Newswire/ — A top-level advisor and ten-member delegation for Sen. Barack Obama were no- shows at yesterday’s Reese RoundTable on Capitol Hill, a forum for the campaigns to present their respective candidates’ worldviews and how that informs their ideas about government.
The Obama representative, the Reverend Evna Terri La Velle, Senior Advisor Religious Affairs for Obama for America, inexplicably cancelled only hours before the event. When event organizers appealed to Democratic Party Officials, they were told someone would “look into it,” but that these decisions are made in Chicago, meaning Obama campaign headquarters.
Event host, Rev. Rob Schenck, who moderated the discussion, said he was profoundly disappointed. He released this statement:
“Democratic Party Chairman Howard Dean assured me last year in a private meeting in his office that his party would do everything possible to constructively engage Evangelicals, traditional Catholics and other moral conservatives. He even pledged to participate in events like this. Barack Obama has made similar promises. They did a couple of high-profile media events, but it appears they were not serious at a grass- roots level. Yesterday’s last-minute unexplained cancellation was nothing short of a snub. Our capacity crowd was insulted by their absence.”
I called National Clergy Council chief of staff, Peggy Birchfield who said John McCain’s campaign sent Robert Heckman, Senior Advisor. Birchfield said that Obama representative, Rev. La Velle, confirmed her attendance on Monday but backed out via text message the day of the event.
The forum went on anyway with 75 people in attendance, including some Obama supporters who left early, according to Birchfield. The audience was made up of local clergy, congressional staffers and members of the media. The forum was videotaped and is scheduled to be available of the organization’s website later today.
Today, PFLAG on their blog has this headline: “PFLAGer’s Book Targeted by Palin”. However, the ABC News report said to support this contention does not do so. Some people did not like the book “Pastor, I am gay” but the town librarian did not recall being asked to remove any book. The ABC News account reports the controversy in Wasilla and Palin’s question in a way that could link them in the minds of viewers but the librarian at the time said Palin did not ask about the book. Anne Kilkenny, of email fame appears on the ABC News report.
Bottom line is that we seem to have a conflict of memory between Mary Ellen Emmon (now Baker) and the reporter Paul Stuart in a story reportedly found in a local paper in 1996. I am having trouble locating it but Mr. Stuart says one thing and Mary Ellen Emmon says another, as reported by Bent Alaska. The city of Wasilla has posted a statement regarding the matter.
The PFLAG claim is a little thin and according to a Library Journal analysis out yesterday, there is no evidence she targeted any specific books, saying
PolitiFact concludes that, because Stuart’s account is secondhand, and his recollection seems hazy, and there is no corroboration from Baker or any public records, there is “no basis to find that part of the story true.” Still, the new information presented likely will be fodder for questions posed to Palin in upcoming press interviews.
Greta Van Susteren has posted exclusive interviews with Sarah Palin’s pastors on the FOX News website. I am embedding them here. The first one is quite interesting in that Pastor Larry Kroon of Wasilla Bible Church discusses his decision to place the Love Won Out flyers in his church bulletin. He confirms that the LWO on September 14 is not in his church but in Anchorage. He also notes that his motivation was to have his congregation hear testimonies of people who wrestle with their Christian commitment and same-sex attraction. Clearly, Wayne Besen has done a good job of obscuring the LWO in the minds of the media when they ask about “praying away the gay.” In addition, as I noted in a post yesterday, I think LWO would help itself immensely by examining the way it markets LWO.
She then interviews Ed Kalnins, who pastors the Assembly of God church where the Palins attended prior to Wasilla Bible.
That the Palin moved from the AoG to the Bible church seems to me to represent a shift in viewpoint as these churches perspectives are quite different. Certain cardinal doctrines are the same but these are religious differences that may have little bearing on how one might govern. Some discussion on this point would be valuable. What political and/or policy ramifications might derive from these religious views?
Obama commented yesterday that there is no religious litmus test and that criticism of religious views is off limits. Now that he has spoken, do you suppose the media will lay off?
Lots of rumors have been flying around about McCain’s VP pick, Sarah Palin and her family. In trying to understand her worldview, church affiliation has been of great interest. This seems understandable given the scrutiny given to Barack Obama’s pastor and the worldview espoused there.
Some are reporting that the family attends Charismatic or dominionist churches, but it appears that they attend a Bible church in Wasilla. Rob Schenck of the National Clergy Council said in a press release that the Palins told him the same thing at the Dayton, Ohio announcement of her VP selection. Peter Kirk at Gentle Wisdom gives a nice rundown of sources on this topic.
Here is some footage of Gov. Palin speaking at an Assembly of God church in Wasilla where she apparently attended as a child/teen. The Bible church she attends now would not be of similar views of charismatic gifts as would the Assembly church.
And then just released is this Newsweek feature on the Palin’s religious affilation…
Barack Obama and John McCain answered the same questions from pastor Rick Warren tonight regarding a wide range of issues at the Saddleback Civil Forum.
Televised by CNN and FOXNews, I thought the format was well-conceived and allowed viewers to compare candidates on the same questions.
One controversy which was immediate was Barack Obama’s reply to the question, “when does a baby qualify for human rights?” Obama took an agnostic position saying theologically and scientifically the answer was “above his pay grade.” McCain answered directly that life begins at conception. Obama also said the number of abortions had stayed the same through the Bush presidency, a claim immediately contested by the Americans United for Life via one of the Fox News commentators. I am looking for some documentation on the matter but I do not think Obama is correct on that point.
Here is video where Obama says the number of abortions have stayed the same.
The debate may have helped Obama with Evangelicals in one sense: he made a clear profession of faith in Christ. However, in my opinion, Evangelicals will now have to do a real check of what they consider basic. Is the sanctity of life a core issue or can it be considered a second tier issue in order to vote for a candidate who articulates an orthodox testimony of spiritual salvation?
As for McCain, I think he helped himself enormously with Evangelicals via his performance in this forum. He demonstrated an emotional connection with the audience and had stories which connect with people. McCain’s responses seemed more at home at Saddleback with many more applause pauses from the crowd than received by Obama. I found him much more persuasive in that setting and with that audience than Sen. Obama.
But then I am biased and I suspect Obama supporters will view the evening as a win in that Obama played reasonably well in a ballpark unfamiliar to prior Democratic candidates.
UPDATE: According to the Guttmacher Institute, a research group with close ties to Planned Parenthood, abortions declined throughout the Bush administration.