***CNN COMPASSION FORUM THREAD #4***

[VenusRising]

Thread 1 - http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=5487768&mesg_id=5487768

Thread 2 - http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=5488081&mesg_id=5488081

Thread 3 - http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x5488572

[stillcool]

1. thanks!

[Zachstar]

Obama is doing great!

Good idea to mention that he took the AIDS test to encourage people to get tested.

[K Gardner]

2. Thanks Venus.. I was getting ready to do one :-)

[VenusRising]

4. Now you can save your thread.

;)

:hi:

[A-Schwarzenegger]

3. Thank you, Venus!

[VenusRising]

6. Thank you for using your three threads.

:toast:

[Hepburn]

11. Thanks for being unselfish about your three threads!

:hi: Very nice of you to do what you did!

[A-Schwarzenegger]

I start one thread a month anyway!

:hi:

[crankychatter]

5. k/r

yup

[Madam Mossfern]

13. You know, you're right

She's looking at him with nasty eyes. It's so obvious.

[malta blue]

7. he is getting applause after his answers whereas

she got nothing....

[Lisa0825]

17. She got a few rounds of applause....

but I think each one was after a joking comment.

[Kahuna]

Riiight. Joe Scarborough and Pat Robertson won't like that..

:applause:

[MidwestTransplant]

8. So nice to hear a politician not talk down to people.

[Zachstar]

9. Knocked the question out of the park Obama!!

They did not get their Gotcha they were looking for!

[dhill926]

10. these are some of the stupidest questions I've ever heard....

how embarrassing...is this what the electorate really wants to hear about? It's like Sunday school class....

[ellisonz]

21. Don't be bitter.

[dhill926]

48. ha - ha....

[Condem]

12. Jesus, guys and girls

I was raised a Catholic but this religious shit is an absolute snore. It's truly ruining this country.

[SoCalDem]

135. I got slapped across the face by a priest for being impudent

and i think that was a better religious experience than this pap:)

[C_U_L8R]

14. Obama is so damn sensible

So thoughtful and considered.
We'd be so fortunate to have someone like Obama as President.
He's doing a great job... umms and all

[Ikonoklast]

15. Barack Obama has sounded more Presidential in thirty minutes than

Chucklenuts has in his entire time in office.

[Hepburn]

24. A-fucking-men! n/t

[crankychatter]

16. Now she's asking if his daughters ask about six day creation...

good grief

These candidates should've accepted the Science forum invitation

[A-Schwarzenegger]

18. Do you think Adam & Eve wore underpants?

[SoCalDem]

136. yes.. they were wool..and had the days of the week

but i think there were only 5 days then..

Eve's had flowers on them.. and Adam's had a snake in them..

the snake's name was ...well you know

[A-Schwarzenegger]

139. That is a better answer than Clinton or Obama gave, although

nobody can really know.

[Tinksrival]

19. As an atheist....

I am offended that our presidential candidates are grilled on religion.





WTF happened to America!!!!!

Founding fathers are spinning in their graves..... :puke:

[crankychatter]

29. as an agnostic I agree completely

they should've accepted the science forum invitation

[Condem]

32. I'm not an athiest, Tinks

But I damn well respect where you're coming from.

[madrchsod]

58. i`m a believer in christ teachings but this is stupid

judgment comes by deeds not words

[Condem]

75. God bless you, madrchsod

[likesmountains 52]

Agreed...as an agnostic I resent it being called The Compassion Forum..as if

only "religious people" have compassion...not to mention the crappy questions...

[CoffeeCat]

20. Did Hillary do as well as Obama...

Obama seems very at ease and conversational. He's doing very well, so well that
it makes Hillary's "He's being demeaning!" accusations seem so dishonest. Clearly, this
is an honest, gracious man.

Did she do this well in this forum?

[C_U_L8R]

34. go read thread one

it's one collective groan fest

[Yael]

46. Oh my word. Just skim #1 and #2

It was painful.

Likely the worst presentation I have ever seen from her. She was not on her game at all (as multiple people noted).

[Willo]

61. I don't think she did. I wonder why she agreed.

[Zachstar]

22. Woot!! NICE job on the 6 days question and the Bible!

[onehandle]

23. There goes the fundie vote. McCain just made 50 million dollars for his campaign. nt

[kevinmc]

60. McCain declined to even show up .... they won't give him anything .. n/t

[grantcart]

25. I went to school with Cizik

[Tinksrival]

49. Was that good or bad?

[grantcart]

132. Whitworth College

The professors were liberal but the students were very conservative - mostly from southern california goldwater type families.

There were always a couple of left wing token students that were in student government and organizing anti war demonstrations. Cizik was a couple of years ahead of me and kind of passed that mantle on. I went to seminary and dropped out and he continued and was ordained. He has since become a vice president of a large national evangelical association and is responsible for getting their evangelical members more involved in environmental issues. He has been 'tarred and feathered' in far right wing evangelical circles but seems to be gaining prestige as the evangelical movement becomes less a fixture of the far right.

The college was excellent as many of the classes were small and the interaction between professors and students very intimate. I would never send my children there because it is so conservative however.

[Bluebear]

26. Lordy, Lordy, what happened to America?

Grilling the candidates on the Bible. :crazy:

[DearAbby]

27. As an atheist...this smacks of a religious test

:shrug: Oh well, my vote isn't based on who loves jesus the most.

[VenusRising]

68. But...but..but....

Oh!! You said Jesus. NM. :yoiks:

[Tinksrival]

108. or just as a grilled sandwich

[John Q. Citizen]

114. As an agnostic, I'm glad I don't have cable. What the hell is the compassion forum, anyhow?

Who's asking the questions?

[JimGinPA]

28. Did Hillary Get Applause?

I don't remember, other than when she came in.

[Yael]

54. No -- not until the end when they crossed paths.

[Tom Rinaldo]

69. That isn't true. I commented about it at the time in an earlier thread n/t

[Yael]

80. They applauded her jokes

Not her answers

[Tom Rinaldo]

104. I still disagree

She started out slower though in regards to crowd response.

[Yael]

113. I thought it was a positive. Normally she can't pull a joke off.

She had quite a few (loved the answer on "Does God want you to be president" one).

[Tom Rinaldo]

121. Good point. And that was a good response n/t

[Yael]

127. I think when left to her own, she does awesome. It is the forced jokes

that look good on paper that she doesn't deliver well.

Not uncommon -- it is hard to deliver someone elses joke (thinking of Xerox and the pillow).

I mock it because it mocks me, but even I admit that the skys opening, light coming down, celestial choir thing was hilarious -- and you can tell that came from HER, not someone's notepad.

When left to her own devices to just 'wing it', she can be really funny and charming.

[grassfed]

133. sad

[Yael]

138. How is that sad?

Left to her own devices, she is very personable and funny.

[BlooInBloo]

30. It's hilarious how the losers of the war between religion and science...

.... now claim "what war"?

:rofl:

[CherokeeDem]

31. I Am Appalled At These Questions

This forum is suppose to be about compassion...what the #*%$ does how many days it took to create the earth have anything to do with compassion? Thank goodness he's smarter than these idiots!!!

[Zachstar]

43. Well Obama is knocking these questions out of the park.

He is winning this hands down.

[Tom Rinaldo]

51. I am also

If this becomes an accepted ritual of passing for anyone to run for President to attend we just took a danterous wrong turn as a society.

[Condem]

59. Yup

Jesus is weeping.

[writes3000]

33. I loved his answer on evolution and faith. I love how he brings perspectives together. n/t

[Drunken Irishman]

35. Obama nailed that evolution question and that's exactly what I believe.

[aaronbees]

36. Love what he said about science and evolution

Strengthens his faith. Now that is some spiritual sense I can get behind!

[grantcart]

37. he is a moderate who has had to fight conservatives in the evangelical movment

[thevoiceofreason]

76. A very central tenet in the UCC (to which I and Barack belong)

Science and faith can and must coexist.

[Zachstar]

38. Bingo Obama!!

Being rational in religion means that science can HELP our faith!

[madrchsod]

39. i take it those "20 years" of going to the "evil church"

is paying off tonight....is this truly the end of the wright story?

[Hepburn]

40. I hope to hell that HilLIARy is watching his performance...cuz I have just one thing to say...

...Neener, neener!

[OnceUponTimeOnTheNet]

41. K&R, Thank You.

These are Stoopid questions both candidates willingly answered. Waste of time.

[Bluebear]

42. Next up: How many days and night did it rain & how big was the Ark?

:silly:

[gateley]

62. How big is a cubit? nt

[crankychatter]

72. Elbow to fingertips

but don't ask me how tall Noah was

[Kahuna]

79. I've always wanted to know that myself.

:silly:

[Kahuna]

96. I hope Campbell is learning something about "compassion" tonight.

Obama just threw down on the Wright question.

[ellisonz]

44. Obama: "by the way, I think Al Gore won"

[DearAbby]

65. Woot Woot

bouncing peas :bounce: :bounce:

[Yael]

66. Loved the applause after that. Surprised me!

[Kahuna]

74. I'm sure partly in response to hill dissing Gore and Kerry as "elitists."

Good job Pres..er I mean, Obama. :applause:

[Bonobo]

45. "I THINK AL GORE WON"!

And with that, he has affirmed my choice.

[NYCGirl]

55. Yes! YES!

:woohoo:

[Zachstar]

64. I agree

He knocked it out of the park!!

Once he is in let us do massive investigations into the 2000 theft that led us into war years later!

[crispini]

81. Indeed!

hee hee hee hee hee!

[Catherina]

47. Al Gore won and has done terrific work since!

:applause:

[tridim]

70. Next week is going to be GREAT!

I'm putting my money on Obama winning PA. Anyone want to take the bet?

[Zachstar]

88. After tonight I say it is quite possible.

He has knocked multiple questions out of the park!

[Catherina]

123. I put my money on PA 2 weeks ago but now I'll raise the ante

because she's totally lost it and the PA voters are reacting.

[Willo]

50. Boom handled the "Does God want you in the WH?" question before it was asked

[Zachstar]

52. Obama said Al Gore won!!

Haha FUCK YOU BUSH!!!!

[Changenow]

63. When?

I missed it.

[Yael]

73. Just now -- "by the way, I think Al Gore won"

[Zachstar]

77. Just a few mins ago.

He was talking about climate change.

[nsd]

67. Hee hee. Way to go, Barack!

[Alexander]

53. He just addressed the 2000 election theft. Good for him.

[Zachstar]

57. Amen!!!

Nice to have a candidate that finally admits that the 2000 election was BS!!

[K Gardner]

78. Is that what he was referring to? I dropped my jaw on the floor.. thought maybe it was a reference

to something in the earlier forum.

[Yael]

85. He was talking about the election.

I can't wait for this to hit The You Tubes

[jenmito]

89. Hillary always says Gore SHOULD'VE won. Good for Obama! n/t

[A-Schwarzenegger]

56. oops

wrong spot!

[gateley]

71. Even though religion doesn't play a part in my selection for a candidate

(well no, I guess if there was a Huckabee I'd be pretty upset)

But it does for a LOT of people, so this is valid in that sense, I guess.

[Madam Mossfern]

83. Wright question

how will he finesse this one?

[Zachstar]

84. It does for many people but as many of us are discovering.

Believing in the Bible does not mean you have to take every word seriously. Back when it was written there were many stories that were told in a way to get people into it back then.

6 days could mean billions of years.

This will piss off the fundies but not many church goers.

[oviedodem]

82. First Wright question of the night.

[Zachstar]

87. It had to happen. But Obama is ready for this.

[zulchzulu]

Barack has the room as they say

I wish there was a Campbell Cam to see her little steaming...

[GoldieAZ49]

86. Has there ever been a religious / compassion forum for a presidential election before?

[Yael]

94. Not that I have ever seen.

[Condem]

90. I wasn't talking about Jesus as a person, God as a thing

Damn, if John Lennon was still alive. I know he's laughing at this holy horseshit.

[crankychatter]

91. spontaneous applause for his defense of Rev Wright

take THAT

[Madam Mossfern]

99. Muslim question now

Hope he deals with this one as well as the last.

[bobthedrummer]

92. "...a distortion both of him and what his church is all about.." applause

[Zachstar]

93. He is doing great on the Wright question!!

GOBAMA!!

[jenmito]

116. I see his approval rating improving as we speak! He's gotten so much applause and laughter

compared to Hillary!

[DarienComp]

"Rev. Wright and TUCC have been distorted"-- audience applauds.

Good on Barack.

[aaronbees]

101. That was nice to hear

He's getting a lot of applause tonight.

[tishaLA]

95. This is a strongly pro-Obama crowd

And I couldn't be happier.

[gateley]

97. He's been asked the tougher questions as a result of all the

stuff that's been hurled at him. He's doing well.

[PM7nj]

98. Are these really fundies in this audience?

They just clapped for Rev Wright... wow.

[C_U_L8R]

112. Obama is getting great applause on every answer

he wins the applause-o-meter tonight

[JimGinPA]

115. Yes They Are!

[GoldieAZ49]

119. mixed politically and religiously

good crowd

[tridim]

130. The GOP are shitting their collective underoos watching this tonight.

We win.

[dansolo]

131. I believe they are evangelicals, but not necessarily fundies

A lot of the questions from the audience had a distinctly liberal slant, especially the ones about the environment and torture. Obama also got a lot of applause for nearly all his answers.

[oviedodem]

100. WTF???? HIS ISLAM ROOTS ARE YOU F******G SERIOUS!!!

[Yael]

107. Thats not what was said. "More exposed to Islamic belief than most Americans" while growing up

[oviedodem]

Look, putting in that inuendo is sad but he handled it well.

[Yael]

120. Who doesn't know he was raised for a while in Indonesia and that

his middle name is "Hussein"?

It was a good question. WOuldn't surprise me if the campaign wrote it themselves.

[K Gardner]

109. Totally unfucking believable. This is outrageous.

[Yael]

118. It was a GOOD thing. Designed to show his culturalism, not question his beliefs.

[Yael]

102. Muslim question. He is doing great with his response re: Indonesia

[zulchzulu]

103. "more exposed to Islam than most people"

Way to go, Campbell! Ed Rollins owes you dinner at the RNC meeting next week.

[AlinPA]

122. That woman "interviewer" is real slime. The look on her face is sickening. I think

she hates his guts and shows it. This is not objective at all. This country is headed back to the 17th century.

[crankychatter]

126. that was clear from the gate... her righteousness underwhelms me

I concur

[Willo]

105. She doesn't like Obama does she?

[Kahuna]

111. Nope. She's a bushista. nt

[VenusRising]

106. Link to thread #5

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x5489304

[pinto]

110. I'm a Catholic, yet wish one of our candidates would mention the Constitutional separation

of Church and State. I realize they're talking to a specific audience. But geez. This is not a standard our Founding Fathers set down.

And, some of the questions are personal calls, I'd be fine with either candidate saying so, point blank. And I'd be fine with either speaking to those personal questions as an individual.

I'm not electing a religious leader, I'm electing a President. It's OK with me.

[OnceUponTimeOnTheNet]

124. Hear Hear!

I'm Lutheran raised.

[crankychatter]

125. great question

he's a constitutional scholar... what a relief he'll be after Bush

maybe he will have time, and the inspiration to touch on it

This isn't the audience one would expect that question from, eh?

[zulchzulu]

117. http://www.sojo.net/

Jim Wallis is a pro-peace progressive Christian. Cool guy...

[Yael]

128. HUGE applause!

[crankychatter]

129. Made my evening thank you to those that opened up this thread

:-)

[SoCalDem]

134. I think we have a new candidate, folks

Her name is Grace:)

[MarkInLA]

137. atheism

It's so refreshing to hear a candidate who acknowledges that some of us are not religious, and is willing to include us in the discussion.

I probably don't have every word exactly right, but he said something like:

"We are a nation of Christians, a nation of Jews, a nation of Islam, a nation of Hindu, and a nation of atheists."

Pretty amazing.

[CK dexter]

140. What a courageous statement! Compare Hillary's "people of non-faith."

Overall, this "compassion forum" doesn't sit well with me. Whether intentionally or not, it's far too close to a religion test.

I was a bit disappointed by his six days of creation answer--I think it's a cop-out. But he seemed sincere in his view, so I can respect him for it.

I was also very disappointed in his faith and science statement. He's being true to his guiding principle of unity: try to make room for, and understand, all sides. But there's a point where that principle can border on dishonesty. The simple truth is that science and faith are not compatible. Science, done properly, affirms only where the evidence demands it, and does not shrink from rejecting where the evidence demands it or is insufficient. Faith is completely at odds with this. I think the religious should have the courage to admit they are defying scientific attitudes, not try to waterdown science to make themselves feel more comfortable.

Nevertheless, Obama performed well overall, and I greatly appreciate the courage of that statement. "We are a nation of athiests." The audacity! Clinton, on the other hand, dropped godless folk like me a pretty cowardly bone: "people of non-faith." Nicely obscured so that hopefuly no one would notice.

The phrasing is beautiful. By phrasing it so that it suggests our country is at one and the same time _entirely_ a nation of each group, he's emphasizing our equality, and giving the lie to the "we're a Christian country" (as equal to NOT being the others) nonsense. Imagine, athiests and Muslims are equals with Christians! Our votes might be equal, too! The idea!

[MarkInLA]

142. I completely agree with everything you've said

Unfortunately, in this country, he has to pander to the religious crowd and give them equal footing to scientific research.

Honestly, after last night's "forum" and the discussion that followed on CNN and here on DU, I started having feelings of wanting to leave this country - feelings I haven't had since November 2004.

I then read that the FBI is trying to increase obscenity prosecutions (directed toward adult sex movies) as much as possible because they know that their days of prosecuting obscenity are likely coming to an end, assuming that Obama or Clinton becomes President - although I'm suspicious about Hillary. I can easily see her condoning obscenity prosecutions.

It was a somewhat depressing night.

[Vinca]

141. I watched parts of this and I have to say I appreciated atheists

being included as regular human beings for a change. It's not like we sacrifice goats at an altar in the living room after all. What I thought most interesting about the whole forum was the reactions and expressions on the faces of the audience. It seemed very positive for Obama. I think Hillary did just fine, but Obama definitely connects more easily with people (despite being dubbed an "elitist").