Obama's Circle Of Pastors

New York Times:

President Obama has been without a pastor or a home church ever since he cut his ties to the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr. in the heat of the presidential campaign. But he has quietly cultivated a handful of evangelical pastors for private prayer sessions on the telephone and for discussions on the role of religion in politics

All are men, two of them white and three black -- including the Rev. Otis Moss Jr., a graying lion of the civil rights movement. Two, the entrepreneurial dynamos Bishop T. D. Jakes and the Rev. Kirbyjon H. Caldwell, also served as occasional spiritual advisers to President George W. Bush. Another, the Rev. Jim Wallis, leans left on some issues, like military intervention and poverty programs, but opposes abortion.

Read the whole story: New York Times

Comments

[GodIs]

Nonbelievers are on the dark side and allied with the forces of decline.

[Pie7]

After reading a couple of these comments it seems like some are projecting their thoughts on Mr. Obama. I wonder if this was the same for President Clinton and how did that turnout? Crossing my fingers that policies wise President Obama turns out like Mr. Clinton.

[I once had a Crysknife]

Impeached?

[Zanti]

The anti-faith posters aren't projecting so much as bullying. Their goal is to make any discussion of faith so unpleasant that people stay out of it. Very much like the Repubs making serious debate on the economy, Iraq, etc. difficult by being as combative as they can manage. The goal is to disrupt and to intimidate. NRA shills do the same thing when they write hysterical and threatening letters to the editor every time someone suggests we consider implementing some gun control in our society.

After all, if typing "Amen" earns a poster an invitation to get a lobotomy, will that poster think twice about reposting? Of course. The power of bullying.

Of course, they play the victim--that's the standard front for this kind of bullying, not to mention a staple of passive-aggressive technique. Why, sure, they're hostile. But... but they're only defending themselves against the evil, horrible faith-heads! And, gosh, this is the only forum they have. And, besides, religion is stupid and the religious mere mindless sheep. Of course, two sentences later, they're griping that we're not faithful enough to the Bible, that we're pick-and-choose believers. This, after they've condemned the idea of rigidly adhering to scripture. Oh, and the whole notion of a Sugar Daddy God is ridiculous, they insist--yet, to the extent we refuse to believe in precisely such a god, we're being irrational!

In an actual debate, they'd be instructed to adhere to the rules or leave.

[JohnFromCensornati]

Hold those arms out wide.

[kwinter]

Zanti,
You had a question for me yesterday (along with some whining & indignation), and I answered it.
Since I haven't gotten a reply I'll assume:
a) you throw questions or accusations out to people & never bother to check back for their replies
b) you don't really want answers
or
c) if you don't like the answer, you ignore it

Which category do you fall in?

[JohnFromCensornati]

Your knuckle-dragging homoph0bia and your firm grasp of the english language are showing again.

[Pie7]

Thank you my internet professor or should I say teacher. Anyway, you're still not my type; I don’t do g@y so please stop following me around.

[GodIs]

The righteous have a duty to risk all in order to seek out and save those that are lost in their sins and save them from the eternal flames of He//. It is our mission to spread God's love to the infidels before it's too late for them to change their ways. Do your duty and warn the wicked to flee from the wrath to come. God is love.

[dancerrrrr93]

Isn't that a little bit condescending? Not to mention incredibly high and mighty. Have you ever considered that maybe God is more concerned with the way you live your life and the way you treat people than exactly what you believe? Lots of God fearing Christians participated in Nazi activities, and lots of atheists hid Jews in their basement. But the Christians would go to heaven, and the atheists would go to he//? No way. I don't buy that.

[minimalist syntax]

GodIs is just trying to be provocative or should I say an agent provocateur to make people think that Christians actually believe the nonsensical contradictory things he is saying. You are of course right-- goodness, true goodness can be found everywhere.

[Zanti]

Next you'll be saying that men who have rejected God and do not walk in faith are more often than not immoral.

[take10]

We don't need a religious nut running the country! We need a practical, intelligent and thoughtful individual who can discern the proper direction for governance. We fought the British to get from a religion based government that had the rack and many other forms of torture for disbelievers. Anyone who tells me that God spoke to him, I consider to be a nut. He may be cunning enough to convince others the same as the 'Son of Sam.' Men who reduce God to their level claiming that they are all knowing prophets are in for profit, and nothing else. No one has a hell to punish anyone or a heaven to give reward. If so, prove it with facts, not man written stories intended to spread guilt and render riches at the same time. I've seen people with PhDs getting religious instructions from someone with hardly a GED. Who is kidding whom? Most of these people are so judgmental and always threaten others with punishment by Jesus or God. They all want to go to heaven but none want to die. Well! Once President Obama gets the hebegeebees, we will head down the same path as during the 8 years of Bush. An awful lot of people have been murdered while worshiping. Where was God? Remember the little girls in Birmingham? They were killed by christians! Did God tell them to commit this cowardly act?

[Zanti]

What do you have against using paragraph breaks? Don't invoke the wrath of the Punctuation God.

[take10]

There you go! Using your mysticism to wish me harm. If you treat people as you would like to treated, your day would probably be smoother. Living with your religious hippocracy and hating any one who doesn't look like you or who don't agree with you, keeps your mind off of the easier aspects of life. I don't fear the imaginary God who talks to you. That's why he talks to you and not me. I capitalize God out of respect for the Creator of the only race there is, the Human Race. The rest of that crap was designed to give one cult advantage over the other. If you haven't noticed, the US is fighting 2 religious wars presently. Why?

[take10]

By the way, Zanti, feel free to proof read my comments anytime.

[SJBrown]

Judgmental? No, get out. There are folks out there judging others beliefs.

[Tega Jessa]

What drew me to the president was that his journey seemed to parallel my own in many ways. and you can not face what the president faced especially the last two years without a strong faith and conviction. It showed because the sort of peace he always exudes can only come from that.Like scripture says you will know them by their fruit.

[aliVonal]

YOu can do anything in the world WITHOUT faith. It is my earnest belief that Obama has no religion. He's too smart, too well educated, too cosmopolitan for that Bronze Age mumbo jumbo. This, people, is the dark underbelly of American politics. I wish he could grow a pair, and seek no assistance from these god awful, mega-church liars and thieves.

[youngat80]

aliVonal: Perhaps YOU can do anything without faith. There is no equivocation when I say that YOU do not speak for the rest of us.
You call religion Bronze Age mumbo jumbo, and then invoke the word god when you call churches liars and thieves.
I am willing to listen to your beliefs, or your rationale for non-belief, but I do not accept the name calling and denigration of what you think I believe.

[JohnFromCensornati]

The sort of peace he always exudes can only come from preposterous fantasies about megafloods and flyingzombies. Like the squirrels say: you will know them by their walnuts.

[BamaGirl08]

Tega Jessa,
I agree with you 100%. I believed he showed more faith in his actions by showing love, patience and kindness along with peace to those he ran against. He did this even more than those who proclaimed they were religious during this election. I thought his answers to the questions during the debate with Pastor Rick Warren for very down to earth and gracious instead of the answers McCain gave, which were self-righteous and rehearsed. I commend you on stating this.

[take10]

Sure hope he doesn't turn to one of those mega church pimps, who I consider to be the Madoff's of religion. With the government giving them taxpayer funds for operational costs, all of the worshipers donations go into the personal bank accounts of the Pastors and their "First Lady's." We are talking about millions of dollars monthly of unencumbered funds that escape our taxing authority. These pastors are living like kings while telling everyone else to be austere and wait for rewards in heaven. Give me a break! According to scripture, these churches are being run by the same types who Jesus ran out of the temple. They come screaming his name with the intent to fill their super sized bank accounts. The only difference in banks and churches is the banks are at least closed on Sunday, while these pulpit beggars take your money 24/7. Faith based my arse! This isn't about faith. It's about government funds finding its way around the separation of church and state. Check out the choice and then follow the money!

[bdl0715]

You paint with a pretty broad brush on that statement. All churches, even megachurches are not the same. There are a few scam artists out there, and there are also many honest outstanding churches out there.

[take10]

They are all temples of mysticism!

[SaltySaltillo]

Wow, five ministers and not one Episcopalian, Catholic, or Orthodox in the mix - so much for consultation with a representative cross-section of Christian views. Would someone please explain to Obama and the journalists that report on this that the phrase "nondenominational Church" is a logical impossibility and oxymoron and groups that identify themselves as such are just trying to dress the sam old monkey up in a new set of clothes.

[ChairmanOfTheBoard]

I don't have a problem with Obama looking for a pastor, and i'm pretty far left. As long as he doesn't start saying he talks to God and God tells him to invade countries like Bush

[macintoshsauce]

God did not tell Bush to invade Iraq - that was the Devil.

[HMDMSR]

Mr. President, pray only in your spare time--what little you have. Don't allow religious folly to cloud your vision. You aren't allowed to be an atheist, so-- while this is the preferred frame of mind for anyone wanting to be taken seriously-- we can't fault you for apparently not being one. Have you considered Taoism or Buddhism? They're so much better than religions with deities shooting lightening bolts from their fingertips.

[macintoshsauce]

I don't know about the others, but T.D. Jakes preaches a false gospel. He is not teaching the proper Word of God.

[Reesej]

Elaborate please.

[macintoshsauce]

All of the megachurches teach a gospel of feel good now and be prosperous. All of this is contrary to the Word of God.

[GodIs]

God believes it is important for the righteous to judge the wicked. God is love.

[HMDMSR]

"Importance" is a human philosophical concept. This concept occurs in the mortal mind. Do not attribute human thoughts, feelings, or concepts to God. He is not mortal.

[youngat80]

Have you read the story of the judgment and the separation of the sheep and goats? It may be a parable, but it leaves no doubt that judgment is to be by God alone.
I cannot understand where you get the idea of a human deciding that other humans deserve an everlasting torture by a God you claim to be pure love.

[take10]

"Let he who is without sin cast the first stone." Would that be you?

[Linda Lyng]

Good example of two statements directly oppposed to each other!!

[Kalitipo]

ANYONE WHO HAS READ THE BIBLE MIGHT HAVE RUN INTO A PASSAGE WHERE AN AUDIENCE MEMBER ASKED JESUS(RABBI) HOW TO PRAY?.
AND J.C. TOLD HIM''THE LORDS PRAYER''..TGHE PRESIDENT CAN PRAY INSIDE HIS ROOM WITH DOOR CLOSED...FORGET ALL THE PASTORS

[jbs902]

I don't understand your point. I am sure President Obama can pray without a preacher being around. Lord knows in order to accomplish what he has he has had to have been praying without ceasing. Why all the caps? Why are you so angry?

[JohnFromCensornati]

Lord knows in order to accomplish what he has he has no time for talking to himself.

[Kendo]

Hopefully, we'll not have to bail out any of these snake oil salesmen.

[BethS]

Judge not-lest ye be judged. What kind of oil are you selling?

[JohnFromCensornati]

Your imaginary friend's rules only apply to you BethS.

[GodIs]

God's benevolence is unconditional, but his love is not. God does not want anyone to perish, but unless one repents and accepts the one true God, all is lost. Beware false prohets. Eternal torment in He// is too steep a price to pay for following false religions. God is love.

[Reesej]

God's love is not unconditional? What? God is LOVE. Regardless of what we do God will always love us. That does not mean he will not chatise us when we do wrong. He love us unconditionally no if's and's or but's about it.

[youngat80]

I understood the story to say that Pres. Obama has chosen a small group of pastors to provide spiritual council and to share thoughts and insights of a spiritual nature.
I am truly thankful that none of them espouse the theology expressed here by "GodIs"
Perhaps GodIs would benefit by a night in the desert, wrestling with an angel, like Jacob of old did.
Or maybe get knocked off his high horse on the road to Damascus, like Saul/Paul. Took several days of blindness, but when he sight returned he saw more clearly.

[minimalist syntax]

You seem to writing many patently false things as if you were a Christian just to stir up hate by your ridiculous assertions.

[Zanti]

I'm suspecting the same thing. No way to be sure, though....

[HMDMSR]

We need a Commander in Chief who can speak in tongues. Hleebl bibebe zlap flibazork...

[BethS]

Not funny

[JohnFromCensornati]

It's not a joke. It's a religious phenomenon where people are overtaken by a Holy Trance and they ramble on in "languages" that they are not even familiar with. Very inspirational!

[youngat80]

Naahh -- there are enough people in government babbling incoherently in pidgin English. Let's leave the glossalalia in the churches.

[minimalist syntax]

Finally we would have a president who recognizes that English is not the only language in the world.

[Zanti]

Well, you're entitled to your opinion, but I disagree.

[concernvoter]

If President Obama pray and be patience, God will lead him in the right direction.
Lord knows T D Jakes want be his pick. He begs too much and he think he can solve everybody problems. I have never heard anyone say Pastor Jakes or Pastor Clefo Dollar giving any donations toward fund raisers or anything else. They are about themselves. MONEY HUNGRY!!!!! I believe Pastor Fred Price would be a great pastor the Obama’s family. He’s a good Bible Scholar.

[Rudyabdul]

I have never liked Clefo Dollar because ALL he talks about is money. I'm just waiting to hear about some scandal to come out about him.

In spite of his support of George Bush, I still like Bishop Jakes. Each time I hear him preach, It was never about money or gay bashing. I think that he is the only popular evangelical who has realized the folly of supporting Bush's agenda.

I agree with you about Pastor Price.

[HMDMSR]

Besides, "Clefo" sounds so much like "Klepto."

[jbs902]

You are wrong about Bishop Jakes. He has a world outreach ministry that ministers to the needs of the less fortunate not only in this country but in others particularly on the African continent. You should not lump all pastors together. Have YOU given any money towards fundraisers lately? Just a thought.