Sunday, August 17, 2008

What do we do with evil

At the Saddleback Forum, Rick Warren's question about dealing with evil in the world showed the stark difference between the two candidates:

"Does evil exist, and if it does, do we ignore it, do we negotiate with it, do we contain it, do we defeat it?"



Obama: "... a lot of evil has been perpetrated, uh, based on the claim that we were trying to confront evil."

Obama's point is the US has perpetrated a lot of evil. Nice. Now see how McCain handles the question:

Question to McCain: "Does evil exist, and if so, should we ignore it, negotiate with it, contain it, or defeat it?"

McCain: "Defeat it."

McCain had a pretty good answer. The only better answer that I can think of would have been for him to say "I must confess that I have read the book (the Holy Bible), so I know how this one comes out. Eventually evil (Lucifer) is chained up for 1,000 years, and when freed of his confinement he goes right back to his old ways, and he is then destroyed. But until Christ comes back to deal with evil, we definitely should not ignore evil, negotiate with it, or attempt to contain it. We may not be able to defeat it, but we should do everything we can do to oppose and try to defeat evil, until reinforcements arrive on a white horse."

Gateway Pundit blogged Obama:

"... Now, the one thing that I think is very important is for us to have some humility in how we approach the issue of confronting evil. You know a lot of evil has been perpetrated based on the claim that we were trying to confront evil... In the name of good and I think one thing that's very important is having some humility in recognizing that. You know, just because we think our intentions are good doesn't mean that we're going to be doing good."
He's not talking about another country there-- He's talking about the US perpetrating evil. Is anyone else outraged with that statement?

Blue Star Beth blogged It seems to me that the answer as to who our next President will be is pretty obvious. The man who spoke with humility and confidence and a true and abiding love for our country.

Beth Shaw blogged Interestingly, even the left is saying that McCain did much better in this forum than Obama. They are bemoaning the fact that Obama just didn’t do well and that McCain is so likable. They are saying that even though they don’t like McCain’s policies, at least he’s upfront about what they are and leaves no doubt about where he stands on issues.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

think Obama is refering to the evils of Bush's attack on Iraq.

We now know that this war was sold to the American public on false pretences. We also know that Bush and Cheney exceeded the facts in describing why we had to attack.

Tens of thousands of Iraqis have been killed. Thousands of Americans have been killed. Iraqis have been tortured in American-run prisons. Millions of Iraqis have fled their homes.

Those things all sound pretty evil to me, and you would be more honest to admit it.

Anonymous said...

Evil must be the toughest thing to confront. What is it anyway? Who is creating it? Anyway, in any election, everything the contenders say will be pulled apart and analyzed....ANON

Anonymous said...

My cousin's face was blown apart in Iraq and he will be faced with a long life of operations. He is a young boy, newly married and finally out of the war zone. I just can't help thinking about all the lives lost and injured in the war....ANON

Dick Dalton said...

We pluck the beam out of our own eye (understanding) so we can see clearly to help our neighbor get the mote out of his/her eye. Like Gandhi said, "An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind." In the US we live in the delusion of 'innocence' and shudder to look in the mirror with honesty. I appreciated Obama bringing humility into the answer. I am saddened to hear the audience applaud the pride of McCain.

Anonymous said...

I don't think Dick has to worry, because I am almost sure (barring any complications) that Obama is THE ONE.

Anonymous said...

9/11 created this war....ANON