On August 16, 2008, two intense competitions captured the attention of America and much of the rest of the world. One occurred, in Beijing, where the sports phenomenon, Michael Phelps, made history by earning his eighth gold medal in the competition.The other involved a verbal competition for the hearts and minds of an American electorate set to vote this Fall for the next President of the United States. The contenders were Senator Barack Obama and Senator John McCain.
Without diminishing the significance of what occurred in the Beijing Olympics, what occurred in Lake Forest, California, at the “Saddleback Civil Forum on the Presidency” held in the Saddleback Church and hosted by its Pastor, Rev. Rick Warren, was significantly more important. In fact, it may have turned the tide in what is one of the most significant elections in modern American history.
The Forum and the Presider
First, this was a very significant forum. Indeed, it was historic and may have changed the face of election politics in America. In an age where the American vision of the Separation of Church and State has sometimes been misinterpreted and wrongly applied in efforts to silence people of faith from active participation in the electoral process, this was a great example of the proper role of the Church, indeed all religious institutions, in the American experiment. In fact, Pastor Warren got it exactly right when he began the Forum with these words "We believe in the separation of church and state but we do not believe in the separation of faith and politics." He went on throughout the night to underscore the fact that, in his words “faith is a worldview”. I might say it a bit differently, “faith informs a worldview”, but we arrive at the same place.
In fact, as a Catholic Christian, I must admit that I was quite impressed with the Pastors understanding of the social implications of our shared Christian faith. The Social Teaching of the Catholic Church is a treasure for all Christians, indeed all people of faith and good will, who sincerely want to understand how that process of allowing our faith to inform our worldview and then compel our civic and social participation should proceed. I for one am thrilled that our evangelical Protestant friends are speaking to the full spectrum of issues associated with such a worldview, including our commitment to respecting life from the womb to the tomb, protecting, supporting and promoting marriage and family, exhibiting a love of preference for the poor, promoting true and responsible freedom, being responsible stewards of our environment and practicing Peace in our relationships on the local, national and international level.
The first winner of the Gold for the evening was Pastor Rick Warren who presided over the forum with excellence. His comfortable demeanor and charitable manner evoked candor from both candidates. He also showed courage by not failing to ask the kinds of questions which are at the beating heart of this election. Unfortunately, too many of his fellows in the Christian community had prejudged him even before the event began and put out their Press Releases accordingly. His efforts to provide a forum where we can learn to disagree “without demonizing the other” and to “restore civility” were a breath of fresh air. I have tried to encourage just such an approach myself, especially on the internet. I think he has opened the forum of the Church for such future activities precisely when it is needed the most. It is the Christian Church which has been at the forefront of so many of the great social crusades in our shared history, such as ending slavery and eradicating institutional racism. The Gospel simply does have social implications.
The Questions and the Candidates Responses
The Forum proceeded in an unprecedented manner. Both candidates were to be asked the same questions. However, they could not hear one another’s answers.
The first up in this Forum was Senator Barack Obama. The order was determined by a Coin Toss. Pastor Warren began with questions about leadership designed to elicit character insights into how each of the candidates would govern should they be elected. He asked who the three wisest people in their lives were; the ones are upon whom they rely for good counsel. He then asked them to name the greatest moral failure in their lives. I knew from that moment on, this was going to be an interesting evening.
Senator Obama said that his wife and grandmother were people he looked to and upon whom he relied for advice. Then he listed a group of elected officials, intended to demonstrate his bipartisan style, including Sam Nunn, Dick Lugar, Ted Kennedy and Tom Coburn. Senator McCain mentioned General David Petraeus, who successfully prosecuted the Iraqi “surge”, Congressman John Lewis who went from being a freedom rider to an icon in the Civil Rights movement and Meg Whitman, the former CEO of Ebay who demonstrated extraordinary entrepreneurial leadership in the market economy.
The Pastor then asked the candidates to admit what their own greatest moral failure was and what they viewed as being America’s greatest moral failure. Both of these questions were artfully designed to reveal their personal integrity, elicit whether there was any humility in them, a character trait desperately needed in our narcissistic age, and then give us all insights into their own moral compass. Each candidate answered honestly about themselves and both acknowledged Americas need to be devoted to others beyond our own self interests.
Senator Obama acknowledged his turbulent teenage years with its drug and alcohol use. He addressed America’s failure at times to abide by the admonitions found in the 25th chapter of St. Matthews Gospel arguing that the measure of our National moral integrity is what we do for “the least of our brethren”. At that point, I knew that the absolute contradiction in the Senator from Illinois’ view of what this really means, his concern for only some of the poor and failure to hear the cry of children in the womb, would emerge later on. And, it did. Senator McCain’s absolute candor and honesty in answering the first question startled me. He said his greatest moral failure was the failure of his own first marriage. He also acknowledged America’s need to see beyond self interest.
The Pastor then asked each of the candidates about their own professed Christian faith. Each answered in a manner which indicated that they understood the basic heart of the Gospel message of forgiveness in Jesus Christ. Senator McCain, of a generation which speaks in a more subdued manner about their deeply held faith, communicated through a gripping story from his experience in a North Vietnamese prison and his encounter with a believer who was one of his captors. Finally, the Pastor asked each candidate to recount a decision which reflects that they had changed their minds, evolved, in their exercise of leadership. Obama spoke of welfare reform and McCain of offshore drilling. Frankly, this line of questions was interesting, well handled and revealing. It was also what I was expecting from all that I had read concerning the event.
However, it was in the questions which followed that the stark contrast before these two candidates was revealed in a clarity which has not yet been publicly displayed.
Pastor Warren asked a series of questions relating to the candidates “Worldviews”. Many had predicted that he would avoid any mention of legal abortion in America. They were absolutely wrong. Pastor Rick Warren courageously led with it. He noted that since Roe v. Wade over 40 million abortions have occurred. He asked Senator Obama “At what point does a baby get human rights in your view?” This was Obama’s moment. He has desperately tried to position himself in some new place, a sort of political penumbra, between keeping the taking of innocent human life in the womb “legal” and unrestricted and showing some kind of compassion for the mother and the child. He has had surrogates, Catholic and Protestant, attempting to dance with the angels on the pin of such sophistry. This was his moment to use his oratorical skills and attempt to further obfuscate the truth that he is absolutely wrong on this foundational issue and inconsistent in his professed concern for the poor when he fails to hear the cries of those whom Mother Teresa rightly called “the poorest of the poor”, children in their mothers wombs.
Senator Barack Obama miserably failed the test concerning the foundational world view issue. Without the right to life, there are no other rights. Rights attach to persons and abortion kills little persons. Without the freedom to be born, there are no other freedoms. When Senator Obama was asked about the humanity of the child in the womb, he said that such a question was “above his pay grade”. Oh, he then blathered on about their being a “moral and ethical” dimension to the issue. However, he then stated unequivocally “I am pro-choice, I believe in Roe v Wade”. He mouthed something about reducing abortions but the utter clarity of the moment was the highlight of the evening. The pastor, this man of purpose, followed through with this question, ”Have you ever voted to limit abortions”? Barack Obama was, for the first time in my viewing, at a loss for words. Because the truth is now out there and he knew he could not lie about it.
Senator John McCain on the other hand, hit a home run in the eyes of people like me who insist that the issue of respecting the dignity of every human life from the womb to the tomb is not a “single issue” but rather a “World View” issue in Pastor Warren’s terminology. The same question was posed to him, “At what point is a baby entitled entitled to human rights”. John McCain’s answer came without any hesitation. Obviously such an incredibly important answer was not above “his pay grade”. He said it with conviction, “From the moment of conception”. He continued on by affirming to the Pastor, to all those assembled and to the thousands watching, that he has a 25 year record of being Pro-life and that he will be a Pro-life President.
This question was certainly not the only “World View” question where the questions of Rev. Warren elicited crystal clear distinctions between the candidates. On the issue of defending true marriage as between a man and a woman, Senator McCain took the gold. On the issue of education (even though Pastor Warren only asked about merit pay for teachers, which both candidates support) Senator McCain took the opportunity to unequivocally endorse parental choice in education and position it properly within the social justice embrace, emphasizing “choice and competition”. He strongly and eloquently supported the opportunity for all parents, no matter what their economic situation, to be able to choose where to extend their educational mission for their children be that public schools, charter schools, faith based schools, private schools or home schools. He rightly called it a “civil rights issue for the 21st Century”. And he is absolutely correct.
Both candidates expressed support for the proper mediating role of faith based institutions and organizations in the delivery of compassion and care in a partnership of care with the Government. However, it was only Senator McCain who clearly articulated that such organizations also have 1st Amendment rights and should be able to select employees whose views comport with their own deeply held religious convictions.
Both rightly expressed their commitment to supporting a global effort to promote adoption, efforts to expose and oppose human trafficking and other issues of concern to those who recognize that we really are our brothers (and sisters) keepers, issues Catholic Christians classify as issues of solidarity or social charity.
Finally, Pastor Warren asked them a question concerning which sitting Supreme Court Justices that would NOT have recommended for appointment. It was a brilliant way of eliciting the stark contrast in their Judicial philosophy when most honest observers know that the next President will appoint at least two new Justices and that these appointments will either secure the infamy of the Roe and Doe decisions, the current regime of abortion on demand, or undo the wrong. Senator McCain again took the gold.
Conclusion
There are many more thoughts I could express about this extraordinary forum and I more than likely will do so in future articles. The questioning later turned to American obligations in relationship to the rest of the world, eliciting a clear distinction in both manner and substance. There was a compelling response from both candidates on the question of if evil exists and what we should do to confront it.
However, I conclude with commendations and a personal opinion.
Pastor Rick Warren rose to National prominence mostly due to his runaway best seller, “The Purpose Driven Life”. However, last night he emerged as the new face of a truly socially conscious evangelical Protestant Christian community. This “new” version of social activism, with its obvious and genuine concern for the poor and heart for all of the Social Justice issues, may actually be capable of forming truly effective and dynamic alliances with similarly concerned socially conscious Catholics such as myself who long ago eschewed the limiting labels of “left”, “right”, liberal” or “conservative”. His manner, his questions and his courage in hosting this vital forum deserve to be affirmed and may have earned him a place in American history.
Finally, in my opinion, Senator John McCain rose to the occasion with an unexpectedly clear, convinced and compelling defense of life, marriage, family and authentic freedom. Of course, I still have my concerns over his seemingly intractable support of the taking of innocent embryonic life in the name of science. It reveals an inconsistency in his approach to the panorama of issues associated with being what I call “whole life/pro-life”. All science must be at the service of life and the common good. It is never right to do what is wrong. However, this forum revealed the mettle of the man in a way nothing else has in this campaign. It also revealed the absolutely clear contrast between these two candidates on the issues which matter most.
At the Saddleback Forum, Pastor Rick Warren and Senator John McCain both took the Gold.
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