Yesterday I watched Pastor Rick Warren’s Faith Forum on TV. I thought it was a good event to watch and I thought I would give my review of it by going through Obama’s answers as well as what Pastor Warren had to say. I know that there is some controversy over whether McCain was in a cone of silence or did he hear the debate. While it could be possible that McCain lied and was listening in to the questions I do believe that Pastor Warren believed that McCain was being honest with him and did not hear the answers. I do not think the two of them were playing a con to "get" Obama by letting McCain cheat. Even if McCain knew the answers in advanced so what? Obama did well and probably helped himself with the evangelical community; now on to the issues.
Most Gut-Wrenching Decision
Obama said it was the opposition to the war in Iraq because of the political consequences of opposing the war and because Saddam Hussein meant the US ill. I thought this was a good answer for Obama to give because it hammered in one more time that he was one of the few people right about Iraq from the beginning and that he was not someone who was going to go with the popular decision if he did not believe it was the right decision.
Abortion
I loved his answer on abortion, he stated that no one gets an abortion causally and it takes a lot of time thinking about it before the decision is made. It is about a woman’s right to choose. He also seemed to give the Clinton life of making abortion safe, legal, and rare which is a good position to have as it furthers shows that being pro-choice does not make one pro-abortion.
Gay Marriage
This is the one answer that I did not agree with. Obama said marriage was between a man and a woman but he did believe in civil unions. I think this comes from his personal view on marriage and while he has a right to believe what he wants I do not think personal views should have any bearing on United States law. Civil unions seem to be on the lines of separate but equal and correct me if I am wrong but the Supreme Court outlawed that in 1954.
Stem Cells
Loved his answer here, that we need to have federal funding so we can research to see what cures we can find with stem cell research. It was good that he said we would use adult stem cells if they were just as useful but they are not. Also it was good to remind people that the embryos we use for research would be discarded anyways and not be put into a woman to form life.
What is Rich?
This was a great answer by Obama. Instead of saying that you’re only rich if you have $5 million or more Obama said to be rich you need to be making $250,000 a year or more. I also liked how he said that a family making $150,000 a year is middle class and not rich because even though they would be in the top 5% of American incomes they are certainly not rich. Obama seems to follow the principle "to whom much is given, much is expected" and I think that is a principle our country needs to follow to succeed.
So there are more issues but these were the ones that stuck with me. I think it was a good forum and not a violation of church and state. It may be good for the candidates to do a forum like this in a Synagogue or a Hindu temple to show they are appealing to people of all faiths.