First up from the God machine this week is a religio-political angle that often goes overlooked. In the presidential race, the perception is that it’s Barack Obama who’s most likely to emphasize his Christianity on the stump, in part out of sincerity, and in part to respond to the coordinated smear campaign questioning his religious background.<\/p>\n
But the Christian Broadcasting Network’s David Brody published a transcript<\/a> this week of a recent interview Hillary Clinton gave on theological issues.<\/p>\n Clinton:<\/b> I believe in the father, son, and Holy Spirit, and I have felt the presence of the Holy Spirit on many occasions in my years on this earth. <\/p>\n Reporter:<\/b> Can I ask you theologically, do you believe that the resurrection of Jesus actually happened, that it actually historically did happen? <\/p>\n Clinton:<\/b> Yes, I do.<\/p>\n Reporter:<\/b> And, do you believe on the salvation issue — and this is controversial too — that belief in Christ is needed for going to heaven?<\/p>\n Clinton:<\/b> That one I’m a little more open to. I think that it is, as we understand our relationship to God as Christians, it is how we see our way forward, and it is the way. But, ever since I was a little girl, I’ve asked every Sunday school teacher I’ve ever had, I asked every theologian I’ve ever talked with, whether that meant that there was no salvation, there was no heaven for people who did not accept Christ. And, you’re well aware that there are a lot of answers to that. There are people who are totally rooted in the fact that, no, that’s why there are missionaries, that’s why you have to try to convert. And, then there are a lot of other people who are deeply faithful and deeply Christ-centered who say, that’s how we understand it and who are we to read God’s mind about such a weighty decision as that.<\/p>\n Reporter:<\/b> And your attitude toward the Bible about how literally people should take it.<\/p>\n Clinton:<\/b> I think the whole Bible is real. The whole Bible gives you a glimpse of God and God’s desire for a personal relationship, but we can’t possibly understand every way God is communicating with us. I’ve always felt that people who try to shoehorn in their cultural and social understandings of the time into the Bible might be actually missing the larger point that we’re supposed to take from the Bible.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n At a minimum, it’s a reminder that when it comes to Democrats and “God talk,” Obama certainly doesn’t have the stage to himself. * In a report about whether the evangelical vote will be competitive this year, Reuters noted<\/a> that Obama may be in a position to peel off younger evangelical voters.<\/p>\n Analysts see Obama wooing some wavering evangelicals especially young ones by his activism in areas such as the global AIDS pandemic as well as his youthful, rock star image.<\/p>\n “If Obama is the nominee I think he will have an ability to appeal to some of the more moderate evangelicals and there will be a generational factor as well,” said Allen Hertzke, director of religious studies at the University of Oklahoma..<\/p>\n He said while younger evangelicals also tended to be conservative and oppose abortion rights — which Obama supports — they also had a broad range of concerns such as human rights abroad, global poverty and the environment.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n * In a court case that has seriously<\/em> angered some segments of the evangelical community, a California court struck a blow<\/a> against home-schooling this week.<\/p>\n California parents without teaching credentials cannot legally home-school their children, according to a recent state appellate court ruling.<\/p>\n “Parents do not have a constitutional right to home school their children,” Justice H. Walter Croskey wrote in a Feb. 28 opinion for the 2nd District Court of Appeal. [….]<\/p>\n The parents in the case had argued that they had a First Amendment right to home-school their children, but the appeals court rejected that argument.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
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\nOther items from the God Machine this week:<\/p>\n