McCain, Obama To Discuss Religion Saturday Night
Rick Warren
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On Saturday night, presumptive presidential nominees Sen. John McCain and Sen. Barack Obama are making a joint made-for-TV appearance at Rick Warren's megachurch -- Saddleback -- in Orange County, CA. Each candidate will spend an hour with Warren but will appear on stage together only briefly, reportedly to shake hands.
This is both the first and one of only four joint appearances in the campaign. Warren will be the only person asking questions; Obama will go first. A national audience can watch on CNN or FOX (on TV or the Web) 5 pm to 7 pm PDT.
Libertarian presidential nominee Bob Barr has asked the courts to require Warren to include him in the dialog. He thinks this national political event, sponsored by a tax-exempt organization, is an illegal campaign contribution. "Federal election laws stipulate that an event such as the one Saddleback Church is hosting must provide pre-established and objective criteria for inviting candidates." News reports indicate that Warren phoned the two candidates, personally, to persuade them to appear together and that they are his "friends."
David Waters, writing in the WaPo Under God blog, is troubled by the event and reminds us of these words from Dr. Martin Luther King: "The church must be reminded that it is not the master or the servant of the state, but rather the conscience of the state... It must be the guide and the critic of the state, and never its tool." Barr is arguing that this church is acting like a tool.
This is not Obama's first appearance at Saddleback Church. In December 2006, shortly after his first trip to Africa, Obama spoke at the 2006 Global Summit on AIDS and the Church. (See a word cloud from this speech.) Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS) shared speaking honors with Obama. Sen. Hillary Clinton spoke at the same event in 2007; McCain appeared via a video-feed.
Warren promises to cover a wide range of subjects. "I'm going to ask them questions about character, competence, about values, vision, virtue, about their convictions in leadership, about their experience... And I'm going to deal with their personal life - because character matters. Their personal life does matter as a leader. God says so," he told the Christian Broadcasting Network in an interview.
In another interview he said, "I will be raising questions ... beyond what political reporters typically ask. This includes pressing issues that are bridging divides in our nation, such as poverty, HIV/AIDS, climate and human rights."
Why This Group?
According to Pew Research, the white evangelical Protestant community accounts for about one-fifth of all registered voters. Because McCain currently polls better with this group than Obama (68% to 24%, August 2008), Obama may have more to gain from this appearance than McCain. However, because McCain has been more private than Obama in his personal beliefs and because he supports stem cell research, he, too, could gain from this appearance. Then there's the possibility of a pro-choice running mate, which could turn off evengelicals whose support for McCain could be called lukewarm.
According to Pew's most recent report on the U.S. religious landscape (2008, pdf), at least 90% of the members of evangelical churches, historically black churches, Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses are "absolutely certain" that there is a God. Muslims are in the low 80s; mainline Protestant churches and Catholics are in the low 70s; and Jews, low 40s.
According to the Pew research, one-quarter of Americans claim to be members of evangelical protestant churches; 18% are members of mainline Protestant churches; and 7%, historically black churches. Another quarter are Catholic.
Who Is Rick Warren?
Rick Warren, 54, is a fourth-generation Southern Baptist pastor. Since its founding in 1980, he has grown his evangelical church in Lake Forest, CA. to 22,000 members, making it the fourth largest church in the country. He crusades against poverty and AIDs. And he wrote the best-selling book, The Purpose-Driven Life, which has sold 30 million copies.
In 2005, researchers identified at least 1,200 churches in the U.S. with membership of more than 2,000. These churches are known as "megachurches." Most are located in the South; a third are non-denominational. Southern Baptist accounted for only 16%. The researchers also noted that in 2005, four megachurch pastors made their way to the New York Times bestseller list.
Although Warren does not have the name recognition of more established evangelical pastors, this event could change that, as all major media plan to cover the event. Is Warren, then, the logical heir to Billy Graham? As The Economist notes, Graham, 89, has rubbed shoulders with presidents since Eisenhower. But "whoever comes out on top in November, Warren will be there to whisper in their ears."
What Culture Wars?
The Pew report shows that a majority of evangelical Protestants (61%), Jehovah's Witnesses (77%) and Mormans (70%) believe that abortion should be illegal in most or all cases. Catholics and historically black churches are effectively "tied" and have a signficant percentage (7-8%) of members who did not answer. All other religious groups as well as those professing atheism and agnosticism favor keeping abortion legal.
The data are similar for when examining homosexuality. A majority of those affiliated with evangelical Protestant churches (64%), Jehovah's Witnesses (76%), Mormons (68%) and Muslims (61%) believe homosexuality should be "discouraged." More members of historically black churches believe it should be discouraged than accpeted, but 14% didn't answer. All other religious groups as well as those professing atheism and agnosticism believe homosexuality should be accepted.
Finally, evolution: 48% of Americans believe it is the best explanation for the origins of human life and 45% disagree. Those demnominations with a majority disagreeing: evangelical Protestants (70%), historically black churches (51%), Jehovah's Witnesses (90%), Mormons (76%) and Muslims (51%).
And the more often someone attends church services, the more likely that person will oppose abortion, disapprove of homosexuality and disagree with evolution as the best explanation of the origins of human life.
But what about imposing one's view of the world on society? Only evangelical Protestants (64) and historically black churches (69%) have a majority of their members believing that churches should express views on politics.
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Comments
You write, “Although Warren does not have the name recognition of more established evangelical pastors…”
Actually, Warren is extremely well-known worldwide and is extraordinarily well established, due in part to his bestselling book, “The Purpose Driven Life.” There may be no pastor better known outside the U.S. than Rick Warren.
The reason his name appears less in tabloid-style headline stories, however, is that he doesn’t make stupid, ill-considered statements like Pat Robertson and the late Jerry Falwell.
In contrast to Dr. James Dobson, et. al., Rick Warren has made some serious and important changes in his ministry, moving from heavily partisan to a more non-partisan place.
FYI… all evangelicals are not conservatives, and they’re not all white. (For instance, I am a member of the Evangelical Lutheran church in America, which is a decidedly liberal denomination.)
A more accurate word would be fundamentalists.
Thanks, Deborah!
The categorizations of religions are not mine - they’re the ones in the Pew study.
And I had no idea that there were evangelical Lutheran churches!
I should link to the articles where I got the “not as well-known as” idea … I can honestly say that I didn’t know who he was until this event. Yes, I’d heard of the book (hard not to if you visit book stores and browse), but did not know the author.
It is always weird (and quite a lot frightening), from a European perspective, to see how much religion and politics are mixed in the USA. We are generally aware that the US Republic is a deist one, and one where the separation of Church and State is always a bit blurry, to say the least. But I don’t think Europeans realize how much religion is important in the USA. I don’t think anyone in Europe (except maybe in ultra-catholic Poland) could fathom the power of the American anti-abortion movement or the influence of Televangelists on politics, nor the debate about creationsim at school. For us, all this is XIXth century antics…
As an aside, I doubt Rick Warren is that well known outside of the USA. I had never heard about him before this article and I had never heard about the book either. Maybe in traditional Reformated Christian circles… But they are a minority here.
Thanks, Alphast. I really appreciate the European viewpoint.
I know that we are very different from Europe re religion … what I don’t understand is why. Our founders were part of the “enlightenment” … but since we were a brand new land, we didn’t have to “throw out” the church like the French did. (I just learned that atheism was part of the French revolution.)
OTOH, much of the country was settled by religious folks, even if they were trying to escape religious persecution back home. Salem witchcraft trials and all of that.
I confess I don’t understand the power of such a vocal minority … but had I not left my native south, I might not have “seen” what seems to be undue influence in policy.
I’m still a bit shocked that the first joint appearance of these two presumed candidates was a megachurch built by a Southern Baptist preacher.
Here’s Deborah’s article on the event — she attended as part of the press pool: John McCain Was a Disaster at the Saddleback Forum