Civil Forum

I'm a little behind... one week to be exact, but I have to make a couple of comments regarding the Civil Forum between Barrack Obama and John McCain at Saddleback Church. First, I really enjoyed watching it! And, I am NOT into politics at all... I avoid it as much as I can because I cannot stand the mudslinging that goes on because I don't really care what negative thoughts you have on the other candidate, I want to know what you stand for. It was nice to watch these two men be able to talk about their views, both politically and spiritually, in a respectful, honorable way. I thought that Pastor Rick did a wonderful job and I would like to see him interview them each more at length. He didn't tip toe around the candidates, he came straight out and asked them difficult questions.

Oddly enough, I had never really heard either one of them speak about their views. It's true what they say about Barrack- he is a very charasmatic speaker and he sounds very educated (and I'm sure that he is). However, if you ever take the time to listen to what he's saying, often he doesn't seem to be answering the question asked of him. Specifically, when asked when he thinks an unborn baby has human rights. What was his response? "That's above my pay grade." I'm sorry... what was that? I had to rewind and listen again because I thought for certain that I had misheard him. No. That's what he said. Not only that, he never answered the question... he went into this speech of how we need to lower the number of unwanted pregnancies and realize that this is a difficult decision for women to make. Ummm... okay. Great. You didn't answer the question, but thanks for sharing. I found McCain to be much more direct. I felt like he knew where he stood on the topic and he didn't have any shame in sharing that view. McCain also seemed to address the audience whereas, Barrack always looked at Rick. I really liked the story McCain told about when he was a P.O.W. in the Vietnam War. His dad had connections and he was going to be able to be released before another prisoner, who had been there longer and, thus should have been the one released first. They made the offer to McCain and he declined because of the military code and the other man was released, and McCain remained in the prison for 3 more years. I just felt that the story really demonstrated character and the attitude of a servant. He sacrificed his freedom so someone else could be free. I don't care which side you are on... you have to admire and respect that.