 But I think it's up to a local congregation to determine whether or not a marriage should be blessed of God. And it shouldn't be up to the government. |
| I'm a minister, and I serve as a minister in addition to being a university professor. |
| I think the real place where most evangelicals have trouble with the Democratic Party is on the issue of abortion. |
| I think there are other issues that the Democrats could use to rally evangelicals. There are a lot of us, for instance, who believe that the Bible calls us to be environmentally responsible. |
| My theology is such that the God who loves Israel and will not forsake Israel - which is why I want to see Israel have a secure nation with secure borders - also loves the Palestinians. |
| And we've got to ask ourselves some very serious questions as to whether or not certain religious leaders, in terms of raising money - I hate to bring this up - are pushing hot buttons. |
| When leading evangelicals say terrible things about Islam, evil things about Islam, terrible things about Muhammad, they ought to be ashamed of themselves. |
| So after the Lewinsky scandal, everything changed, and we moved from using the Bible to address the moral issues of our time, which were social, to moral issues of our time that were very personal. I have continued that relationship up until the present. |
| Prior to ROE V. WADE, abortions were common even though they were illegal. I don't think making them illegal again is going to solve the problem. |
| When you listen to Christian radio stations - and there are thousands of them now in the United States - and when you listen to Christian television networks - and there are thousands of Christian television shows across the country - they are all politically right. |
| I contend the state ought to do its thing and provide legal rights for all couples who want to be joined together for life. The church should bless unions that it sees fit to bless, and they should be called marriages. |
| The real problem that I think those of us who are evangelicals and Democrats have to face up to is that the political right controls the religious media. |
| In short, I'm not sure that the abortion problem can be solved by legislation. I think it can only be solved through moral persuasion. |
| I contend that Bush would be a lot more moderate if there weren't some fundamentalists breathing down his neck every time he wants to establish the state of Israel, every time he wants to do justice for the Palestinian people. |
| So I really would like to see both parties respond to the poor with greater commitment. But I've got to tell you, the Democrats, I feel, are doing a better job in that respect than Republicans are. |
| I teach at Eastern University, which is highly committed to doing work among the poor and the oppressed peoples of the world. We have a special commitment to the city. |
| But I contend that if we're providing total medical coverage for every man, woman, and child in Iraq, shouldn't we at least be doing the same thing for every man, woman, and child in the United States? |
| The reason why I buy into the Democratic Party more than the Republican Party is because there are over 2,000 verses of Scripture that deal with responding to the needs of the poor. |
| When you were born, you cried and everybody else was happy. The only question that matters is this - when you die, will you be happy when everybody else is crying? |
| Those issues are biblical issues: to care for the sick, to feed the hungry, to stand up for the oppressed. I contend that if the evangelical community became more biblical, everything would change. |
