Todd Akin Silent On 'Hatred Of God' Controversy

WASHINGTON -- In pitching his Senate bid before a St. Louis County audience, Rep. Todd Akin (R-Mo.) glossed over the controversy that has plagued him since he claimed that a "hatred of God" informs liberal beliefs.

At an event sponsored by Citizens Alliance for Missouri Patriots on Thursday, Akin focused on debt negotiations and the situation in Israel, ignoring local media's questions about his recent incendiary remarks, Patch.com's Gregg Palermo reports.

"He refused to answer media questions as he left the event and made his way to the parking lot," Palermo reported. "When pressed as to why he would not answer questions, Akin said the event, which was slated to begin at 7 p.m. and end at 10 p.m., had run two hours late. The candidate pulled out of the parking lot by 9:45 p.m."

During a radio interview with Family Research Council President Tony Perkins last week, Akin said he believes that "at the heart of liberalism, really, is a hatred for God and a belief that government should replace God.”

The comments -- which came during a discussion about NBC's redaction of “under God” from its broadcast of the pledge of allegiance during the U.S. Open -- have enraged local religious leaders, who called Akin's statement an attack on liberal and progressive people of faith and demanded he reconsider his moral priorities.

"Such insulting pronouncements degrade our nation’s political dialogue and are unworthy of a public servant who claims to represent the interests of all of his constituents," wrote a number of Missouri's progressive Christian leaders in a statement.

Akin apologized for his comments on Tuesday, saying they were not directed at individuals but rather at liberal ideology as a whole.

"My statement during my radio interview was directed at the political movement, Liberalism, not at any specific individual," he wrote. "If my statement gave a different impression, I offer my apologies."

Akin faces competition from former State Treasurer Sarah Steelman, another GOP candidate challenging Democratic incumbent Claire McCaskill for her U.S Senate seat.

Comments

[diogeron]

11:43 AM on 08/10/2011

This has to rank as one of the stupidest comments ever made by a human being. Why would an atheist "hate God" when, by definition, atheists do not believe that there is a God in the first place? If ignorance is bliss, Akin and his ilk must be in a perpetual state of ecstasy.

[geoffrobinson]

01:20 PM on 07/20/2011

Replacing God with government as a god of sorts is true for many liberals. Replacing God with your hyper-individualism can be true for those on the right as well.

But I think where liberals really get tripped up is with this: "Thou shall not covet."

[moldndecay]

02:04 PM on 07/20/2011

Hmm, I dont covet anything you have geoff. Nada. My godless life is bountiful and wonderful.

[yellowdogdemocratic]

12:47 PM on 07/21/2011

As in "the sick without medical care shall not covet the health care of those who have it?" Sounds like Jesus was a Godless liberal then.

[TinKnight]

01:34 PM on 07/22/2011

Don't forget the Beatitudes from the Bible, which all Republicans love to thump except when it goes against them.
From Matthew 5:4-8, it states that the following are Blessed: "they that mourn: for their shall be comforted," "the meek: for they shall inherit the earth," "they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled," "the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy," and "the pure in heart: for they shall see God."
From Luke 6:20-22, the following are Blessed: "the poor: for yours is the kingdom of God," "that hunger now: for ye shall be filled," "that weep now: for ye shall laugh." And the following are to have Woe upon them in 6:24-26: "that are rich! for ye have received your consolation," "that are full now! for ye shall hunger," and "when all men speak well of you! for in the same manner did their fathers to the false prophets."

Put simply: Take care of the poor and those less fortunate, because you may well become one. Guess Jesus was a socialist and a communist...but we'll ignore that because then we have to give up on either capitalism or Christianity, instead of manipulating both to our advantage!

[IolantheLA]

01:08 PM on 07/11/2011

The political movement "Liberalism" comes a lot closer to what Jesus taught than the political movements "Conservatism" or "Teabaggerism."

For people who think they are Christians to embrace utter selfishness as a virtue and act completely snarky about helping the poor, considering Idolizing the Rich to be a *giant* virtue and helping the poor to be a *giant* fault, is ... well ... completely backward, and a total heresy caused by their devotion to their REAL God: right wing "news" outlets.

[IolantheLA]

01:06 PM on 07/11/2011

You know, buddy, Hatred of *you* isn't Hatred of God, you blaspheming lying Pharisee. So tired of you phony Christians, trying to conceal your naked lust for power and your naked disdain for the rest of the human race, behind a few Bible verses and a bunch of thoroughly unconvincing Public Goddy Talk, of the very kind that Jesus judged so harshly. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites.

You exemplify *NOTHING* of the spirit of Jesus. Nothing. And one of these days your poor duped sheep, your Mental Rape Victims that have been brainwashed into believing you, will figure it out.

[geoffrobinson]

01:23 PM on 07/20/2011

"Hatred of *you* isn't Hatred of God,"

Actually, hatred of a person is of the same type of sin as murder. And given the rest of the vitriol in your post maybe you should walk that back a bit.

[TinKnight]

02:10 PM on 07/22/2011

While lola may have expressed a bit of anger, they didn't actually state they "hated" Todd Akin. I will give you that, according to the Bible, hatred of another is the same as hatred of God and as murder. But, Lola DID express hatred towards an ideology of sin and hatred, which is not only permitted by the Bible, but encouraged and, in fact, required by it.

And consider the hostility towards any form of taking care of those less-fortunate, which is expressed so thoroughly by the "Christian" right...the despise they express indicates a thorough hatred of those that are less-fortunate. Not only are they directly going against the wishes of Jesus as expressed in the Bible by not observing their blessings upon the less-fortunate, but they are expressing a deep-seated hatred for those less-fortunate. In that manner, lola is expressly provided, by the Bible you love to thump, the right to hate the sins which these supposed Christians are committing.

[nellpost]

12:04 PM on 07/11/2011

I just called his office and his phone answerer says old todd will be personally calling me back. Waitin'

[nellpost]

11:54 AM on 07/11/2011

Ah... when I was just a lass, some 60 years ago, I realized religious folks who appear holier than thou, most certainly are NOT. What a jerk he is! Doncha' wish you could do a face-to-face with him?

[Lacedaemonian]

08:17 PM on 07/10/2011

I have a hard time hating things that don't exist, God being a perfect example.

But that doesn't stop me from being perfectly capable of hating all the stupid things done in God's name: Christian, Muslim or whatever.

[moldndecay]

02:01 PM on 07/20/2011

Im with you. I dont hate anyone's god anymore than I can hate the tooth fairy, santa, or the easter bunny.

[mhutch0301]

03:40 PM on 07/04/2011

No surprise here, nothing to see here. Just standard-issue, divisive, religio-conservative ideology, that's all. Routine for Akin and his ilk. It's what they believe, what they tell themselves. Not reality, of course. But it's what they live by and try to make policy by. They're really rather icky people. Nasty.

[DocManhattan]

03:01 PM on 07/04/2011

What a feeble excuse for an apology: ""My statement during my radio interview was directed at the political movement, Liberalism, not at any specific individual," he wrote. "If my statement gave a different impression, I offer my apologies."

What is a movement, if not the individuals it is comprised of? Nobody suggested he had targeted any specific individual - just a large group of individuals. In effect, he has apologized for nothing - and he obviously knows it.

[JaneDoe99]

02:53 PM on 07/04/2011

Slinky, Liberals believe in benevolence with OTHER people's money and time. That does not count as benevolence on YOUR part.

[Sue Everson]

01:53 PM on 07/06/2011

ha ha. I'll bet JaneDoe99 doesn't believe in benevolenc­e at all. Not her time, not her money.

[geoffrobinson]

01:24 PM on 07/20/2011

Studies have shown that conservatives are generally more generous and giving than liberals. So statistically speaking, you are probably wrong.

[nellpost]

11:56 AM on 07/11/2011

Tell that to my accountant, janeie...

[sssstewart4]

10:49 AM on 07/04/2011

hey slinky try doing some research-how much do liberals donate to charity vs. conservatives??-ask Joe Biden and and Obama what % of their income they donate-you'll be suprised-also you as well as the rest of your liberal friends miss the whole point of "helping" those in need.It's up to individuuals to help others as they see fit-it's not up to the gov't to dictate how individuals should or shouldn't help those less fortunate.Also-please stop taking scripture out of context in order to "support" your position-the bible is very clear as to how we are supposed to help others-through our tithe,by taking care of our own families(personal responsibility-oh how you all hate those words) and through hard work(clearly states-if you don't work,you don't eat)-if you want to use the Bible-perhaps you should read it first-don't cherry pick-read the whole book then your eyes will be opened and you'll understand-and when you fine scripture that seems to support your views,read 20 verses before and after your target verse-scripture interprets scripture-open your eyes and you'll be amazed

[mrkurtzhedead]

12:30 PM on 07/06/2011

No, don't cherry pick your bible so be sure to kill your disobedient children and your sabbath-ignoring neighbor.

[sssstewart4]

10:51 AM on 07/07/2011

perfect example of what I'm talking about

[IolantheLA]

01:14 PM on 07/11/2011

BTW, all that yap about how "giving" Conservatives are? It includes their church tithes, which I learned, back in MY days of being a Conservative Fundievangelical, did *NOT* go to help the poor -- instead, it was always going to "fix the roof" or "build a church school" ... while the pastors, each year, moved into bigger fancier houses and drove bigger fancier cars.

I'm not buying it. You people aren't very nice. And you cherry-pick the Bible more than *we* do.

It'll be easier for this poster to slide through the eye of a needle than to enter the kingdom.

[sssstewart4]

05:08 PM on 07/11/2011

so your one bad experience colors everyone else ,somehow giving you supreme knowledge of what all christians do??as a member of the church you are supposed to hold the leadership accountable-its the whole liberal point of view that once you are "saved" you are somehow infalliable and no longer human,no longer succeptable to sin.We are all fallen,sinful people-some of us accept it and try to improve,others say"I was born this way-nothing I can do so the hell with it-I'll do what I want"-and as for entering the kingdom you have no idea of whom you speak and just the fact that you'd type that judgement tells me all I need to know about you.I'm truly sorry you had such a negative experience-why not try again as opposed to write "us" all off??-Somehow this is indicative of the liberal mindset as well-God forbid something be difficult,oh don't ask me to work hard,maybe 2 jobs I don't like,no,no,no-its the responsibility of the "rich" to take care of me-they have too much already-blah,blah,blah-

[geoffrobinson]

01:27 PM on 07/20/2011

http://www.amazon.com/Who-Really-Cares-Compasionate-Conservatism/dp/0465008216

and donating blood and giving of their time and so on and so on...

[gtp]

05:39 PM on 07/03/2011

He apologizes and then says it again.

[Kaitlyn Richardson]

02:06 PM on 07/07/2011

Naw, he just said it twice, straight out. There was no apology in there.

[Totto]

04:32 PM on 07/03/2011

Do Akin's eyes move independently like a lizard's?

[KevinFitzz]

04:25 PM on 07/03/2011

Since the sale of HuffPo to aol, I have noticed more than an uptick of comments boxes reading;

THIS COMMENT HAS BEEN REMOVED DUE TO VIOLATIONS OF OUR GUIDELINES

The aolers don't realize that this isn't aol anymore and you can spout off with anything you want anymore. You will be ousted.

[Paul Keller]

04:23 PM on 07/03/2011

Further evidence that the GOP wants to make the United States a Theocracy.