Is this any way to elect a modern president? Secularists so no …

 

 

Nachrichten, Switzerland

McCain and Obama: Sucking Up at the Mega-Church

 

"One can only wonder what the next attempts will be to weaken the barriers between religion and state. … The fact that a future U.S. President has to suck up at this kind of a forum really gives global politics a surrealistic undertone ..."

 

By Patrik Etschmayer

 

Translated By Patrik Etschmayer

 

August 18, 2008

 

Switzerland - Nachrichten - Original Article (German)

Thanks to the Olympic Games and the whistle-stop visit of the Russian Army to Georgia, the U.S. election campaign was almost blotted out of the local media. Nevertheless, on Saturday the first encounter of the two candidates was held on Saturday.

 

But the meeting wasn't held in a conventional television studio and didn't entail a lengthy debate between the two contenders: Obama and McCain met for a mere 36 seconds at a Mega-Church in Lake Forrest, California. When Obama left the stage, McCain entered for an hour (including commercial breaks) to answer the very same questions that his rival had just answered during the previous hour.

 

"Mega Churches" are virtually unknown in Europe. The faith-factory in question, for example, looks like a warehouse and seats about 3,000 people, so in terms of capacity it competes with even the biggest European churches. The church's pastor, Rick Warren, penned a faith-based bestseller that has already earned millions. Faith in the United States is no private matter. And since Christian-conservative voters have made themselves a power to reckon with in the upcoming election, American politicians take every opportunity to suck up to this slice of the electorate.

 

John McCain, Rick Warren and Barack Obama on Saturday Night.

 

Rick Warren asked both candidates questions that are of the most interest to fundamentalist U.S. Christians. He began by asking about federal judges and abortion, gay marriage, tax credits for the poor, and then he asked the candidates about personal issues like what the greatest moral failures in their lives were. Despite his recent past as a liberal of the right and an abortion-rights supporter, McCain took the easy road. Only when it comes to stem-cell research did his views differ from those that his Christian audience wanted to hear. 

Posted by WORLDMEETS.US

 

Apart from that, McCain sucked up like a Hoover [vacuum]: Be it on abortion or the liberal leanings of federal judges - he was assured of applause from his conservative audience. Obama took a slightly harder road. Again and again his answers sparked a murmur from the audience, such as his opinion that certain forms of gay partnership, just like abortion, should remain legal.

 

The fact that such a place, with such an interviewer and such an audience, was chosen by the candidates to drive the first pegs of their campaigns into the ground, shows that the demands and claims to power of U.S.-evangelical Christians remain strong, and one can only wonder what the next attempts will be to weaken the barriers between religion and state. 

 

The absurdity of this entire affair was best illustrated when John McCain called for coastal oil-drilling and was cheered for it by his Christian-conservative audience. For the most part, this is an audience which believes that the earth is 6,000 years old, yet it applauded plans to look for resources that exist due to the organic remnants of prehistoric organisms that took millions of years to accrue …

Posted by WORLDMEETS.US

 

The fact that a future U.S. President has to suck up at this kind of a forum really gives global politics a surrealistic undertone ...

 

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[Posted by WORLDMEETS.US August 19, 5:45pm]