OK. I’ve got to admit it – being a part of the panel to ask candidates for the presidency of the United States about their faith and moral values was just plain surreal. Kudos to Jim Wallis (and Jack Pannell and the rest of the Sojourners organization) for creating this historic event!
As I reflected on what it was and what it could have been, I came up with just a couple of missing elements:
As a voter, I want to know who a person is, at least as well as I can. I can read their positions on issues and their goals for when they get in office. What I yearn to know, though, is who they are as people and how they think. If that thinking process is not well established, chances are they will be tossed about by every lobbyist and changing circumstance.
Second, I would have liked a three or four minute time limit on answers. The more questions we could have asked the more angles from which we could have looked into the candidate. The different angles produce a more accurate picture (it’s the difference between an x-ray and an MRI).
But what a great event it was! And what an honor to be a part of it!
Rev. Joel C. Hunter is the senior pastor of Northland church in Longwood, Florida.