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Regis Philbin
Jan 20th, 2008, 09:04 PM
We don't allow political speeches in churches in my faith. Frankly, I don't think that's the place for them. It gives the impression that the church supports a particular candidate or party. It's not right.

BUT...I notice Obama and Mrs. Clinton give them quite often and nothing is ever said. I'd just like to see what would happen if Mitt Romney gave one in a Mormon chapel. It will never happen because Mormons wouldn't allow it. But still, I'd be interested in the reaction from the Left if it happened. :]

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=080120221259.5g38mexz&show_article=1

Obama urges unity in rousing speech at King's church

Jan 20 05:13 PM US/Eastern

‘Unity is the Great Need’: Obama Gives Rare ‘Race’ Speech at MLK’s Church

White House hopeful Barack Obama made a rare foray into the complicated politics of race on Sunday in a speech on the eve of a national holiday to commemorate civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr.
"At a time when many were still doubtful about the possibilities of change, a time when those in the black community mistrusted themselves, and at times mistrusted each other, King inspired with words not of anger, but of an urgency that still speaks to us today," Obama said.

"'Unity is the great need of the hour' is what King said. Unity is how we shall overcome," said the Illinois senator, who narrowly lost Saturday's Nevada Democratic caucuses to rival Hillary Clinton, who took 51 percent of the state's vote to Obama's 45 percent.

The race for the Democratic party's nominee for president, which has seen Clinton grab the lead after her earlier win in New Hampshire, has heated up with both senators now competing furiously for the support of black voters.

Speaking to hundreds of people at Atlanta's Ebenezer Baptist Church in the southeastern state of Georgia, where King launched the civil rights movement, Obama evoked the ongoing racial and ideological divide in America.

"We have walls, barriers to justice and equality that must come down," Obama said as King's sister Christine listened and nodded from her spot in a front pew.

"For most of this country's history, we in the African-American community have been at the receiving end of man's inhumanity to man. And all of us understand intimately the insidious role that race still sometimes plays -- on the job, in the schools, in our health care system, and in our criminal justice system.

Richard Tafoya
Jan 20th, 2008, 10:40 PM
Sounds like the perfect place to give just the sort of speech MLK would endorse and perhaps himself give.

TPM:
http://tpmelectioncentral.com/2008/01/at_mlks_church_obama_denounces_homophobia_and_antisemitism.p hp

At MLK's Church, Obama Denounces Homophobia And Anti-Semitism

By Eric Kleefeld (http://talkingpointsmemo.com/erickleefeld.php) - January 20, 2008, 7:09PM
Barack Obama spoke today at Atlanta's famous Ebenezer Baptist Church, the home church of Martin Luther King, Jr. In his speech, he discussed the need for unified action in solving the social problems of our time. "We have walls - barriers to justice and equality - that must come down," Obama said. "And to do this, we know that unity is the great need of this hour."

Obama also singled out the black community itself in his call for moral change: "We have scorned our gay brothers and sisters instead of embracing them. The scourge of anti-Semitism has, at times, revealed itself in our community. For too long, some of us have seen immigrants as competitors for jobs instead of companions in the fight for opportunity."


The full text of the speech is available here (http://www.barackobama.com/2008/01/20/remarks_of_senator_barack_obam_40.php).

DoubleEdgeSword
Jan 21st, 2008, 06:26 AM
A "moral deficit..." Yes, indeed. While he points to the need for individual reponsibility and sacrifice, for hard work and dedication to change, he sees, as the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. did, that unity can bring about change. What a inspiring speech. I would have liked to have been there to hear it. This man echos my own beliefs and, I truly believe he's sincere. I've been leaning toward supporting him, and now my mind is made up.

tiger_rascal
Jan 21st, 2008, 09:08 AM
"We have walls, barriers to justice and equality that must come down," Obama said

Is he only talking about race?

Richard Tafoya
Jan 21st, 2008, 11:51 AM
Is he only talking about race?
No, humanity.

"I'm talking about a moral deficit. I'm talking about an empathy deficit. I'm taking about an inability to recognize ourselves in one another; to understand that we are our brother's keeper; we are our sister's keeper; that, in the words of Dr. King, we are all tied together in a single garment of destiny."

tiger_rascal
Jan 21st, 2008, 11:53 AM
I hope he means it. If so, I applaud him.

WannaBreatheYou
Jan 21st, 2008, 11:54 AM
I couldn't care less if candidates give speeches in church. That's the only place I want to hear their views on religion, in a church setting.

pinky
Jan 21st, 2008, 12:03 PM
Besides, there are churches that double as the community gathering-place. I don't see a problem.

Richard Tafoya
Jan 21st, 2008, 01:10 PM
I think Regis' only problem is that the speaker and ostensibly the listeners were Democrats.

Otherwise, we'd be hearing him complain regularly about the overt politics regularly conveyed in white evangelical megachurches that generally lean to the GOP side of the fence.

Venisenvy
Jan 21st, 2008, 01:19 PM
Church and Religion have been intertwined forever, and that will not change. I find nothing wrong nor unusual with people talking politics at church. I know it has happened at my church. Being invovled in politics wether it is as a republican or a democrat or something else is the Christian thing to do.

pinky
Jan 21st, 2008, 01:47 PM
Agreed, Luis.

My only complaint is when pastors tell their congregation how to vote. As a Catholic, I know there are priests who stand at the pulpit and direct their parishioners to vote for a specific candidate, simply because that person is pro-life (in only the strictest of terms). That the same candidate supports capital punishment, regressive taxation, and/or cuts in funding for medical and education programs is apparently irrelevant, despite the fact that all of those issues are truly "pro-life" in nature. I'm fortunate in that my pastor, when discussing elections, merely advises us to become fully informed and vote according to our consciences.

WannaBreatheYou
Jan 21st, 2008, 02:17 PM
Agreed, Luis.

My only complaint is when pastors tell their congregation how to vote. As a Catholic, I know there are priests who stand at the pulpit and direct their parishioners to vote for a specific candidate, simply because that person is pro-life (in only the strictest of terms). That the same candidate supports capital punishment, regressive taxation, and/or cuts in funding for medical and education programs is apparently irrelevant, despite the fact that all of those issues are truly "pro-life" in nature. I'm fortunate in that my pastor, when discussing elections, merely advises us to become fully informed and vote according to our consciences.That was one of the major problems I had at a church I attended in Olympia, WA. The pastor told us the Sunday before the 2000 election that if we prayed on our Bible, we would know that GWB was the one to vote for.

He put the final nail in the coffin the following September.

Venisenvy
Jan 22nd, 2008, 12:52 AM
At times my priest does discuss politics and many times very passionetly but he never tells us whom to vote for. That is a decision he leaves for us. He does talk about immigration and yes he might suggest that we should vote our hearts on this issue but never suggest we have to vote for one person or another.