Some in Left Blogovia have taken exception to an egregiously inappropriate question Mr. Russert asked the candidates assembled:\n
RUSSERT: Before we go, there’s been a lot of discussion about the Democrats and the issue of faith and values. I want to ask you a simple question. Senator Obama, what is your favorite Bible verse?\nOBAMA: Well, I think it would have to be the Sermon on the Mount, because it expresses a basic principle that I think we’ve lost over the last six years. John talked about what we’ve lost. Part of what we’ve lost is a sense of empathy towards each other. We have been governed in fear and division, and you know, we talk about the federal deficit, but we don’t talk enough about the empathy deficit, a sense that I stand in somebody else’s shoes, I see through their eyes. People who are struggling trying to figure out how to pay the gas bill, or try to send their kids to college. We are not thinking about them at the federal level. That’s the reason I’m running for president, because I want to restore that.\n
RUSSERT: I want to give everyone a chance in this. You just take 10 seconds. Senator Clinton, favorite Bible verse?\n
CLINTON: The Golden Rule: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. I think it’s a good rule for politics, too.\n
RUSSERT: Senator Gravel?\n
GRAVEL: The most important thing in life is love. That’s what empowers courage, and courage implements the rest of our virtues.\n
RUSSERT: Congressman Kucinich?\n
KUCINICH: I carry that with me at every debate, this prayer from St. Francis, which says, “Lord, make me an instrument of your peace,” and I believe very strongly that all of us can be instruments of peace. And that’s what I try to bring to public life.
RUSSERT: Senator Edwards?\n
EDWARDS: It appears many times in the Bible, “What you do onto the least of those, you do onto me.”\n
RUSSERT: Governor Richardson?\n
RICHARDSON: The Sermon on the Mount, because I believe it’s an issue of social justice, equality, brotherly issues reflecting a nation that is deeply torn and needs to be heal and come together.\n
DODD: The Good Samaritan would be a worthwhile sort of description of who we all ought to be in life.\n
RUSSERT: Senator Biden?\n
BIDEN: Christ’s warning of the Pharisees. There are many Pharisees, and it’s part of what has bankrupted some people’s view about religion. And I worry about the Pharisees.<\/blockquote>\nYour Humble Blogger tends to think that Sen. Obama has kinda let himself in for this kind of horseshit. I was struck by a few things, though. First, none of the candidates seemed (from the transcript) to blink an eye at it. They were all able to answer, more or less. None of them broke down and admitted to hating the Bible.\n
Second, though, nobody gave Chapter and Verse. Senator Obama started by claiming the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5<\/a>-7), but he neither gave C&V nor quoted from it directly (in any translation). He claimed that it had something to do with the “empathy deficit”, presumably as part of the general meekness, enemy-loving, other cheek-turning part of the Sermon, although nothing in that Sermon seems to me to speak directly to empathy. Governor Richardson also claimed the Sermon as being about “social justice, equality, brotherly issues”, which are also<\/i> nice things, but not necessarily addressed in the Sermon. Certainly there is no prescription in the Sermon for how to treat<\/i> the poor, the meek and the reviled. In fact, the only prescriptive stuff is how to treat your enemies (other than some stuff about the adherence to the law, which is also not about “social justice, equality, brotherly issues”.\n
Senator Clinton chose the Golden Rule, Matthew 7:12<\/a> “Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.” She used the do unto others<\/i> phrasing that is common, but not (I think) from any actual translation that I know of.\n
Senator Gravel chose 1 Corinthians 13:13<\/a>, although he couldn’t remember the actual quote, and the conclusion (love powers courage) seems a substantial stretch from Paul.\n
Senator Edwards referred to Matthew 25:40<\/a> and Matthew 25:45<\/a>, mistakenly claiming that it appears “many times”, although Mark 18:6 and Luke 17:2<\/a> echo the idea, and there are many other passages that teach the idea. You could argue that the concept appears many times, although the actual words do not. I also should actually watch or at least listen to this, because the transcripts version “onto the least of those” is hilariously wrong, but is likely a transcript error due to John Edwards and his famous $400 accent.\n
Rep. Kucinich has a nice quote “Seigneur, faites de moi un instrument de votre paix<\/i>”, which he doesn’t claim is actually Scripture, but does appear to claim was written by St. Francis, which it wasn’t. I mean, either way, it’s not a Bible verse, but if he thinks it’s actually a medieval prayer, then he’s sadly mistaken. And if he thinks that it’s perfectly OK that his favorite Bible verse is a 20th century prayer, then that’s, well, that’s interesting<\/i>, isn’t it?\n
As for Senator Biden, well, I don’t know what the hell he’s talking about, I really don’t.\n