{"id":4,"date":"2008-08-12T15:18:03","date_gmt":"2008-08-12T15:18:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/lynnvsekulow\/2008\/08\/whats-the-purpose-we-dont-need.html"},"modified":"2008-08-12T15:18:03","modified_gmt":"2008-08-12T15:18:03","slug":"whats-the-purpose-we-dont-need","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/2008\/08\/whats-the-purpose-we-dont-need.html","title":{"rendered":"What’s The Purpose?: We Don’t Need Another Presidential Forum On Religion"},"content":{"rendered":"

Why are we doing this again? Why another “forum” on the spiritual life and political consequences for would-be presidents? This Saturday evening both Senators John McCain and Barack Obama will sit down for separate hour-long chats with mega-preacher Rick Warren, whose aphorism-driven Purpose Driven Life<\/i> has been selling in vast numbers since its publication in 2002.<\/span><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n


<\/span><\/div>\n
It will be held at Warren’s Saddleback Church (with 22,000 members the biggest church in California) and is sponsored by the Saddleback Civil Forum. Since both major party candidates will be there, however, it will of course be treated as a “news event.”<\/span><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

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\nDuring the primary season, CNN had two similar “values” forums and we learned as much as we probably needed to about what candidates’ prayed about, what their favorite Bible story was and how evolution meshed with the Genesis creation story. (With some irony, I point out that then-candidate John Edwards told Soledad O’Brien that he “sinned” multiple times every day but rejected answering her specific inquiry about his “greatest sin” noting that no one particular sin was greater than the other.)
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\nTrust me, I love a good theological discussion as much as a good legal one. \u00a0However, since we aren’t hiring a chief theologian for America, Pastor Warren should (and might) avoid direct inquiries about the Virgin Birth and the timetable for Armageddon. Nonetheless, the candidates will surely treat this appearance with the man often touted as “the new Billy Graham” as a golden opportunity to play whatever religion cards they hold. \u00a0
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\nWhether the questions are about abortion or poverty, how could they not throw in a few church-based anecdotes or biblical allusions to this crowd? But why? Surely they know that presidents don’t have religious functions (that’s what a secular government is all about). So those comments would probably be read as subtle “I’m really more religious than that other guy” winks and nods.
\n\u00a0
\nPerhaps this wouldn’t bother me so much if the candidates had had all (or any) of those ten issue forums Senator McCain asked for this summer. They didn’t happen. And what about the forum on science scheduled for Philadelphia’s Franklin Institute last March which no candidate was willing to attend? And, oh, remember the Democratic debate at the Constitution Center where our founding document actually received only minor attention?
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\nWe have a lot to learn from the candidates. \u00a0My prediction: we won’t learn any of it at this Saturday Night At the Church.
\n<\/span><\/font><\/font>
\n<\/span><\/font><\/font><\/font> <\/span><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n
\"image[5].jpg\"<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
Rick Warren<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Photo by Flickr user kev\/null<\/a>\u00a0<\/div>\n
(Creative Commons)<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Why are we doing this again? Why another “forum” on the spiritual life and political consequences for would-be presidents? This Saturday evening both Senators John McCain and Barack Obama will sit down for separate hour-long chats with mega-preacher Rick Warren, whose aphorism-driven Purpose Driven Life has been selling in vast numbers since its publication in…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":164,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-election-08"],"yoast_head":"\nWhat's The Purpose?: We Don't Need Another Presidential Forum On Religion - Lynn v. Sekulow<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/2008\/08\/whats-the-purpose-we-dont-need.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What's The Purpose?: We Don't Need Another Presidential Forum On Religion - Lynn v. Sekulow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Why are we doing this again? Why another “forum” on the spiritual life and political consequences for would-be presidents? 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An accomplished speaker and lecturer, Lynn has appeared frequently on television and radio broadcasts to offer analysis of First Amendment issues. News programs on which Lynn has appeared include PBS's \"NewsHour,\" NBC's \"Today Show,\" Fox News Channel's \"O'Reilly Factor,\" ABC's \"Nightline,\" CNN's \"Crossfire,\" CBS's \"60 Minutes,\" MSNBC's \"Countdown with Keith Olbermann,\" Fox News Channel's \"Hannity & Colmes,\" ABC's \"Good Morning America,\" CNN's \"Larry King Live\" and the national nightly news on NBC, ABC and CBS. On the radio, Lynn serves as host of \"Culture Shocks,\" a daily look at various issues affecting society and the culture. In the 1990s he served for two years as regular co-host of \"Pat Buchanan and Company\" and after that did a weekly syndicated radio program, \"Review of the News,\" with Col. Oliver North. 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Lynn writes frequently on religious liberty issues, and has had essays published in outlets such as USA Today, The Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Nation. Lynn also has op-eds published frequently by the McClatchy and Scripps-Howard newspaper chains. A member of the Washington, D.C. and U.S. Supreme Court bar, Lynn earned his law degree from Georgetown University Law Center in 1978. In addition, he received his theology degree from Boston University School of Theology in 1973. 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