My latest on Townhall.com
15 Questions Rick Warren Should Ask Obama and McCain
Gregg Jackson
Thursday, August 07, 2008Pastor Rick Warren, author of the “Purpose Driven Life,†will be hosting a “Compassion Forum†August 16th at Saddleback Church in California in which he will be asking questions to both presidential candidates Senators Obama and McCain. According to a recent NY Times article, Mr. Warren was quoted as saying:
“Since I’m their friend, I’m not going to give them any gotcha questions,†Mr. Warren said, adding that a typical query would be, “What’s the most difficult decision you’ve had to make, and how did you make it?â€
Setting aside for the moment the fact that we as Christians have a solemn obligation to speak prophetically to the world about Christ and His Word even if what we say makes our “friends†uncomfortable, as a Christian, interested in knowing specifically where the candidates stand on issues in relation to their Christian faith, not only do I want to know what the most difficult decisions they’ve had to make are, but how their personal relationship with Jesus Christ and His Word actually informed and influenced those decisions.
The “Compassion Forum†will focus on global poverty, HIV, and the environment, which are all issues that should be of concern to all Christians. But I hope that Mr. Warren will also pose questions regarding the great social and cultural issues of our time including abortion, embryonic stem cell research, same-sex “marriage,†and the mainstreaming of homosexuality. People can watch turn on any of the mainstream networks for non-threatening softball questions for the candidates. Mr. Warren should use his forum as an opportunity to ask the difficult and challenging questions not often heard in a presidential campaign. This may be his last opportunity before it becomes a “hate crime†to do so.
Here are some questions I suggest Mr. Warren asks candidates Obama and McCain:
1. For both candidates: What is truth? Who is truth? And Is that truth transcendent and applicable at all times to everyone regardless of their impulses, behavioral preferences, desires, wants, nationality, ethnicity, religious dogma, gender, race, etc?
2. Sen. Obama, you have said you are personally pro-life but in favor of abortion rights up to and even including after delivery in some cases. Why are you pro-life personally if an abortion doesn’t actually kill a baby in her mother’s womb? Also, do you think Jesus would be in favor of abortion? Why or why not?
3. Sen. McCain, you claim to be personally pro-life as well. Why? And if you believe that abortion always ends the life of the developing baby in her mother’s womb, why would it be ok for individual states to legalize killing babies? Don’t our nation’s founding documents the Declaration of Independence (“life, liberty, pursuit of happiness”) and Constitution (5th and 14th Amendments) guarantee the right to life that no individual state can violate?