Obama Politics

Link: Faith In Public Life - Blogging Faith.

Whether Rick Warren is a liberal or a conservative or something in between is beside the point. As Dan says, one can point to Rick's conservative positions on some issues and his more progressive views on others. That's part of what recommends him and Saddleback as host -- he's active on compassion issues and is not a reliable and traditional partisan. If he were, no way would both candidates agree to participate.

Purpose Driven Politics: Rick Warren's Civil Service.

Link: Welcome to Ethics Daily.com!.

Warren said on CNN he believes in the separation of church and state but not the separation of faith and politics.

Democrats Find Controlling Religious Progressives Isn't So Easy.

Link: The FundamentaList | The American Prospect.

But, to counter the religious right, Democrats should be elevating pluralism, not the political legitimacy of a best-selling author who promotes Christianity as superior to other religions and non-belief. Warren maintains that five "giant" world problems -- spiritual emptiness, self-serving leadership, extreme poverty, pandemic diseases, and rampant illiteracy -- conspire to "constrain and prevent masses of people from knowing the saving grace of a loving God who sent his son, Jesus Christ, to die for our sins allowing us eternal hope and security." What's more, Warren insists that "there is no organization or government that can effectively eradicate these giants. The only successful solution is the global church of Jesus Christ." Warren's vision is not Democratic or democratic. The religious right might envy him, but Democrats shouldn't extol him.

Link: The FundamentaList | The American Prospect.

The Values Voters contingent is quaking in its boots. Warren shares their beliefs on issues like abortion, homosexuality, and the inerrancy of the Bible. But Warren has gotten so good at wrapping himself up in his Purpose Driven pabulum that he's often touted by Democrats, including Obama, as a great Christian leader, a new kind of evangelical who cares about the poor and vulnerable rather than spouting off mean-spirited culture-war rhetoric. With his best-selling books and his new status as arbiter of the presidential candidates, the religious right fears Warren is stealing its thunder.

Link: The FundamentaList | The American Prospect.

Ed Vitagliano, one of the program's roundtable guests, chimed in, "I don't think he's the Antichrist, but there is a spirit of Antichrist at work in the West in a very strong and open way that is leading people to want to solve their problems and have a desire to have their lives improved without Christ. That's what the spirit of Antichrist does, it denies Christ." In other words, Obama's not the Antichrist. He's just like the Antichrist.

Melissa Rogers: Speaking of Tim Kaine . . . ..

Pro Life for Obama

Link: Bloomberg.com: Worldwide.

Strang, a Republican who voted for Bush, said the hot topic among his readers is ``broadening the definition of pro- life'' to include the fight against poverty, war, disease, global warming and genocide -- as well as abortion. ``What I'm hearing is that out of the two candidates, one of them is pro- life on five of the six'' issues, he said of Obama. ``And one is pro-life on one of the six.'' It's ``the first time my mind hasn't been made up blindly that I'm going to vote Republican.''