Why is Obama participating in this faith forum?
I don't understand it. These mega-churches are what has pulled our political process so far to the right we can't see it anymore. With Obama participating in this, the underlying assumption is that the progressive movement as we define ourselves, will stay with Obama no matter how far to the middle and right he ventures to secure votes.
Maybe my anger should not be directed at Obama, but rather at this political process and the value-system of this country.
In my opinion, we are in a fight to move the middle. The evangelical movement has moved the "moderate" point on the political spectrum to the right. It is up to us, as liberals/progressives to move that middle back to the middle (and with a lot of work, over to the left). For example, why should it be considered "liberal" to talk about social injustices like racism, sexism and homophobia? Why should it be "liberal" to point out, as mediamatters.org did, recently, the blatant falsehoods in a book being promoted on mainstream media outlets??
This faith-based forum is evidence of the power the conservative evangelical movement still holds. Can you imagine John McCain coming to a Q&A hosted by someone from our camp? They are as far to the right as we are to the left, but because the middle is so far right, the mainstream political audience sees this "faith-based" forum as a perfectly normal part of the political process.
In the end, this faith forum is a reminder to us that despite our progress, we have so much to do. We must stay vocal and point out these absurdities.
UPDATE: First two questions in this Q&A have been prefaced by a Bible passage. I think this also suggests we are a "Christian" nation and although the majority might be Christian, our "identity" as a nation should not be Christian. It should not be anything. Freedom of religion and separation of church and state should be first and foremost. Holding a nationally-televised Q&A in a church undermines all of this.