02.06.2009 4:27 pm
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
The Rev. Franklin Graham
The Rev. Franklin Graham, president and CEO of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, told reporters in St. Louis Friday that he was afraid that elements of President Barack Obama’s version of the Faith-Based Initiative, announced by the White House Thursday, would “weaken the entire initiative.”
Graham was speaking specifically about one of the thorniest issues facing Obama’s new faith-based office, renamed the White House Office for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships: whether the new administration will restrict religious groups that receive government funding from hiring only those who share their faith. During the presidential campaign, Obama said religious groups that receive federal money could not “discriminate…against the people you hire on the basis of their religion.”
At a lunch in downtown St. Louis Friday to announce a Christian rock and hip-hop festival to take place under the Arch this summer, the Post-Dispatch asked Graham about Obama’s version of the faith-based initiative,…
01.12.2009 1:19 pm
Special to the Post-Dispatch
Photo of Bishop Robinson courtesy of the BBC
I received an email about this and went onto Episcopal Cafe to check it out, where I learned it’s all over the Internet. The Rt. Rev. V. Gene Robinson, Bishop of New Hampshire, will give the invocation at the opening event of the Inaugural Week activities on Sunday, January 18, at the Lincoln Memorial. Part of an email reportedly sent out by Bishop Robinson states:
It will be an enormous honor to offer prayers for the country and the new president, standing on the holy ground where the “I have a dream speech” was delivered by Dr. King, surrounded by the inspiring and reconciling words of Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. It is also an indication of the new president’s commitment to being the President of ALL the people. I am humbled and overjoyed at this invitation, and it will be my great honor to be there…
12.19.2008 11:08 am
Special to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch
In this Aug. 16, 2008 file photo, then Democratic presidential candidate, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., left, joins Pastor Rick Warren of Saddleback Church, for a discussion on moral issues. (Richard Vogel / Associated Press)
Why are people all bent out of shape because Barrack Obama, thinking for himself, chose Rick Warren to give a short invocation? The hoopla over this seems silly. It’s Obama’s inauguration and he can do whatever he wants. Conservatives aren’t objecting to Joseph Lowery. Silly.
There is so much intolerance for people with different views in this country.
From the Washington Post:
By Jacqueline L. Salmon, Debbi Wilgoren and Peter Slevin
President-elect Barack Obama this morning defended his choice of evangelical megapastor Rick Warren to deliver the invocation at next month’s swearing-in, saying that although he differs with the conservative pastor on social issues, he wants to have diverse voices at the ceremony.
“I am a fierce advocate of equality for gay…
08.30.2008 12:27 pm
Special to the Post-Dispatch
Fox News is devoting two hours tonight, 7:00PM, Central Standard Time, Saturday, August 30, 2008 to an encore of the Saddleback Church Civic Forum which first aired earlier this month.
Why watch?
(1) Rick Warren’s questions are inspired and far-reaching;
(2) The answers from both candidates are quick and telling;
(3) There is no Nurse Ratched looking at a stop watch;
(4) “Above my pay grade” is a phrase that will go down in history.
08.18.2008 6:05 pm
Special to the Post-Dispatch
If you didn’t have a chance to watch the two-hour Saddleback Church/Rick Warren questioning of presidential candidates Obama and McCain, you can find the transcript here.
The chattering class had plenty to say about the evening, including the following:
McCain and Obama Face Questions About Faith - Associated Press
McCain Shines at Saddleback Forum - Michael Gerson, Washington Post
The Importance of Saddleback Church - Alan Wolfe, The New Republic
McCain, Obama at Saddleback Church - Carrie Budoff Brown, The Politico
John McCain, Barack Obama Display Abortion Divide at Evangelical Forum : LifeSite News
Are We Now Officially a Christian Nation? - Joan Walsh, Salon
McCain’s Back in the Saddleback - Chuck Todd, NBC News
McCain’s Depth & Experience Stood Out - Byron York, National Review
Obama’s Purpose-Driven Gamble - Mike Madden, Salon
Kristol: Showdown at Saddleback
Sullivan: McCain’s ‘Cross’ Story
Podhoretz: Obama on Thomas
Of special note are a couple of claims:
The New York Times reports that McCain was traveling by car to the broadcast and could easily have heard…
