LYNCHBURG, Va. (BNc)- Obama entrusted his faith tour outreach to professor Shaun Casey, who talks to handsful of people on the sidelines.
Casey was named faith advisor to the Democratic presidential candidate Barack Hussein Obama in June. He is a graduate of Abilene Christian University.
Last week in Lynchburg, Va., Casey talked to a small group at the Starlite Café about Obama’s faith and how his religious views will affect policies in a Democratic White House — allowing more access to Christians and Muslims than ever before.
Reports varied between 15 and 25 present for the event, apparently a number too large for at least one reporter to count on his fingers.
Regardless of the “preacher count,” the number gathered in the backyard of Jerry Falwell’s Liberty University, with 10,000 fundamentalist evangelical students, pointed up the failure of the Obama campaign to reach out to the religious conservatives.
Billy Valentine, director of Catholics for McCain, a grassroots organization of young Catholics not affiliated with the Republican presidential candidate’s campaign, characterized the event as a “flop.”
Casey affirmed that “if we have an Obama administration, I can guarantee you that Muslim Americans will have more access to the engines of democracy and legislation and policy making in the Obama administration than any White House in history.”
The Obama campaign described the faith forums as “an opportunity for people of faith to come together — across denominational lines – to talk about how they live their faith outside the four walls of the church, what they want to see from their presidential candidates and how Obama’s faith informs how he thinks about the issues facing Virginia families.”
2008-09-22 at 7:13 pm
I didn’t realize that this was a partisan political blog. As an Obama supporter, I understand that many of my fellow Christians have a different perspective on this election than I do…but I’m embarrassed that this article dripping with sarcasm and derision is associated so closely with my brotherhood. Are you concerned that the stink of politics might drown out the attractive fragrance of the gospel that this site presumably tries to promote? I would be.
2008-09-23 at 1:17 pm
Well, I’m not really surprised. Churches of Christ (and other fundamentalist groups) have aligned themselves with the Republican party in politics. And, consequently, are destroying themselves. They only watch Fox News (which explains why many are misled on the facts), and read Republican talking points. Preachers in the pulpit, Bible Class teachers and other Christian leaders have even participated in the deliberate spreading of racist e-mails and lies and it doesn’t bother them at all. Sadly, there is no moral voice in the brotherhood to remind of our real mission in the world. It has become a religio-political message. They have mistakenly believed that conservative religion correlates with conservative politics.
Isn’t it ironic that the brand of Christianity now upheld has aligned itself with the party that is primarily the caretakers of the rich, wealthy, and powerful?
2008-09-23 at 1:43 pm
The article basically says few evangelicals and supportive of the Obama campaign. I believe with good reason. Our country faces a crisis of morality. Ultimately our prosperity as a country comes from God bestowing His kindness upon us. Our freedoms have given the church the opportunity to flourish, but we must pray that our country changes its direction. Obama supports abortion, the murder of babies, plan and simple. He is extreme on the issure of abortion based upon his voting record as a state legislator in Illinois and with the U.S. Senate. Obama also believes that public schools should begin sex education at kindergarten. Obama is a supporter of much of the homosexual agenda that runs rampant in our country today. If Obama is elected the issue will be promoted. However, I primarily hope that churches focuse not on politics but on preaching Christ. Ultimately by converting the lost to Christ we will slowly one by one change the morality in our country.
2008-09-23 at 6:10 pm
When I read my KJV bible, I see that the church as a whole is to preach Christ. Preaching Christ necessarily involves teaching His morals. Unfortunately, both parties fail miserably in this area. However, on a scale of degrees, it cannot be denied that the Democrat party is further away from complying with Christ’s morals on the scale of the “big sins” (those that *humans* deem as being worse than others, even though the Bible does not have such degrees and says all sin condemns). This is clearly evidenced by looking at the most immoral people in our society and seeing which party they support: they support the party that is *closest* to their views. That is not to say that all Democrats are immoral people. That would be a gross mis-characterization. But such facts should not be overlooked.
As for this particular article, this is a web site run by people who happen to be members of the church. The site is not under the oversight of any elders or local congregations, and it does not speak for the church as a whole. The Bible grants freedom for individual Christians in such areas, and the editors of this site are well within their rights to speak as they wish. Readers, if they do not agree, are well within their rights to NOT read.