God-O-Meter

God-O-Meter

First Take on Obama’s Newest Christian Radio Ad

posted by dgilgoff | 1:19pm Monday September 22, 2008

The faith-based pro-Obama PAC The Matthew 25 Network is hosting a press conference call this afternoon announcing a new Christian radio ad in Ohio.

Watch it here:

What jumps out to God-o-Meter:

1. The narrator of the ad, former Ohio Rep. Tony Hall, identifies himself as “pro-life.”

2. The ad quotes directly from the Bible–”Jesus said, ‘In as much as you did it to one of the least of these, you have done it to me,’– a tactic that’s been traditionally eschewed by Republicans but increasingly embraced by Democrats.

3. The ad trumpets Obama’s humble roots–”as a child, Barack knew hard times, too–he had to rely on food stamps to get by” in an attempt to combat charges of elitism.

4. Rep. Hall identifies Obama as a “Christian.” Less than two months before the election, the campaign still feels the need to establish Obama’s religious identity.

5. The ad’s high production value in a very Christian radio tone. This sounds like it could just as well be an ad for an upcoming episode of Focus on the Family.

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Previous Posts

Closed for the Season
With Election Day finally having come and gone, God-o-Meter is closing up shop till 2012--or at least 2010. Till then, get your faith and politics fix over at Beliefnet editor-in-chief Steve Waldman's blog. 7

posted 4:32:33pm Nov. 19, 2008 | read full post »

On The Religious Left, Great Expectations
The first priorities for Barack Obama's administration will be the economy and a variety of foreign policy issues. But the burgeoning religious left, which worked so hard to get Obama elected, expects some movement on its issues, including a robust White House office of faith-based initiatives, pove

posted 1:49:31pm Nov. 07, 2008 | read full post »

Howard Dean's Vindication
God-o-Meter wrote a piece for today's Roll Call on the vindication of Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean's much-derided 50-State Strategy, which is largely about reaching out to the nation's more religious voters in the red states: Years before Barack Obama showed that a liberal Demo

posted 2:01:06pm Nov. 06, 2008 | read full post »

A Post-Election Chat with Ralph Reed
Amid today's talk that Barack Obama has narrowed the God Gap, God-o-Meter checked in with Ralph Reed, who spearheaded religious outreach for George W. Bush's 2000 and 2004 campaigns and who pioneered such outreach for Republicans as executive director of the Christian Coalition. What surprised you i

posted 3:09:07pm Nov. 05, 2008 | read full post »

More Innacurate Faith Storylines From the Media
God-o-Meter is struck by the number of faith-based storylines the news media appear to have gotten dead wrong this year. One was the line that Obama was poised to make big gains among white votes, especially evangelicals, who were undergoing a generational shift in their political thinking and reexa

posted 11:53:20am Nov. 05, 2008 | read full post »

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Comments read comments(13)
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Dr. Ed

posted September 23, 2008 at 8:04 am


Well, This is juicy.
If this was a Republican dressing his rhetoric in Religious garments the Media would be having a field day and the accusations of hypocrisy and intolerance would cover the World. But this is Lord Barack, the One, the Messiah.
This man is someone we do not know. We only know what the puppeteers and the Media has allowed us to see. Well, excepting for what we learned listening to the most Reverend Dr. Jeremiah (“God d_m America”) Wright, and from Michelle Obama (“we’re a country that is just downright mean”).
You know nothing about William Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn. Did you know that Michelle and Bernardine worked together? I bet not. Did you know Barack ‘baptism’ happened in the living room of William Ayers? I bet not.
Why is this important? Bernardine and Bill planted bombs that resulted I deaths and destruction way back when Barack was just a child. Why you do not know is that Barack sought close association with these two terrorists when he was in his mid 30’s (no longer the child he wanted you to believe).
If you wish to drink the Kool-aid and look the other way do it at your own peril. In my opinion you are being played.
Listen to Obama’s messages: they are aimed to divide, he plays the race card on himself, he injects feelings of resentment to the Latino community (usando mentiras!), his messages paint a world of doom and gloom. His messages are aimed to make you feel as if Obama is the only way forward. This is no coincidence.
This is a technique detailed in Saul Alinski’s Book for Radicals “They must feel so frustrated, so defeated, so lost, so futureless in the prevailing system that they are willing to let go of the past and change the future.” The whole Obama phenomenon is based in carefully orchestrated props and make beliefs.
Obama’s mode of operation does not follow Christ’s, it follows Saul Alinsky’s, who codified and wrote a clear set of rules for community organizing. The same set Barack learned and taught in Chicago.
Alinsky’s Rules for Radicals is Obama’s Bible…and in that Bible there is a dedication to “the first radical known to man who rebelled against the establishment and did it so effectively that he at least won his own kingdom — Lucifer.”
About those Pastors, Priests, Bishops, you name it-religious spoke people for Obama, I couldn’t other than to remember St. Paul’s
“For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works” (2 Corinthians 11:13-15).
Footnote: For some reason I can’t picture Christ denying medical attention -or a merciful death- to babies who have survived partial birth abortion. THOSE BABIES FEEL PAIN. One doesn’t deny such mercy to a dog.
Obama’s words come from a teleprompter and mean nothing…but Obama’s actions reveal his true identity.



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Frank Lello

posted September 23, 2008 at 2:28 pm


I can’t believe an ad so wholesome can produce such a negative and biased response. I wish that we could come together and realize that Obama is a man of his words and that he is a christian like me. When you look into the life of this man, you can see quite evidently that he is a man that loves people. To accuse him of being a hypocrit, one only has to look at the reactions of the Republican right who relies on race bating and inuendo instead of facts.
When one can quote St. Paul and try to make a connection to Obama, one only has to look at the constant flip flops of John McCain. This man only says what is politically correct and goes against his own Maverick persona. He is the one shading to the dark in order to win a race. He lies about his opponent and tricks us with parlor games to sell an unqualified VP.
Don’t be fooled by such comments from men intent on bringing attention to peoples fears and not their hopes for a new kind of leader. Barack Obama is not a self proclaimed prophet, he is a man that cares about us and wants to change the tone of our political atmosphere. Please look in your hearts and realize that those that don’t want change are the dividers!



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Fabbie

posted September 23, 2008 at 4:34 pm


Dr. Ed, you and people who share your irrational point of view are dangerous. Your Republican friends have effectively used fear to erradicate your ability to think rationally. You should consider reading some moderate books to balance your perspective rather than only consuming information from the very far right wing conspiracy theorists.



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Dr Ed

posted September 24, 2008 at 4:46 pm


I am probably as far from a far-right-wing dude as any person. Yet that is just a probability.
What is certain is that discounting my opinions by using labels is childish. Racial innuendos wont’ work either, as I am not White.
If you have a different opinion…share it!
If you find some irrationality in my reasoning…show it!
If the facts I used upset you…investigate them and disprove them if you can!
But do not come to riding your High-horse as if you are the truth bearer…you are far from it!
I know your types‘ cuz’ I have taken down Right-wing nuts and Left-wing idiots (alike) before.
It is factual that Obama is playing the Christian card and is sending ‘Christian soldiers’ to convince the masses that Lord Obama is the Messiah. But that Obama-persona they wish to portray (an Obama quasi clone of Mother Theresa) is like a big balloon full of hot air.
Obama is not like Mother Theresa, he just a Community Organizer from Chicago following Saul Alinski methods.
It just took a little prick with actual facts to deflate the ‘Obama idol’.
in the end..”For some reason I can’t picture Christ denying medical attention -or a merciful death- to babies who have survived partial birth abortion”.
Obama’s words come from the teleprompter…his actions come from his heart.



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Ordianed In Christ

posted September 26, 2008 at 9:39 am


I have one question: “If Christ walked the earth in flesh today, what would he think of his “body?”



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Dr. Mack

posted September 26, 2008 at 2:17 pm


Dr. Ed, your desperation is showing. You seem to be yet another WingNut hiding their intolerance and bigotry behind religion – while carefully picking and choosing which pieces of the bible to believe.
You view any scrutiny of religion and Republican politicians as direct attacks on said things – oh, and the supposedly “liberal media”.
It has come to pass that facts are now viewed as liberal by you people, and when said facts are presented you like to shout people down, claim they just don’t understand that their are terrorists under their beds, in their closets at night.
I guess we shouldn’t expect much more, since fear is all you’ve got. Fear of terrorists, fear of hell, fear of damnation, while you believe that you curry God’s favor by being Republican thugs.
Nice try, WingNut.



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Dr. Ed

posted September 26, 2008 at 10:41 pm


Dr. Mack,
Name-calling is for children.
As for the rest, I do not fear, I affirm:
I affirm that all individuals are equal. I affirm that the human embryo is an individual of the human species. I affirm that babies who undergo -or survive- Partial Birth Abortions are capable of experiencing horrible pain.
I affirm all these things based on scientific information.
Because I know these things I can do no other than to expose and call as Un-Christian what is patently Un-Christian.
It is Un-Christian not stand up in defense of the defenseless. It is Un-Christian to look the other way and allow the genocide of abortion to continue. It is Un-Christian to support Partial-Birth abortion.
My comments were made in the context of ‘Obama’s Newest Christian Radio Ad’. I exposed the irrationality of it all, specially the part about Christian leaders supporting Obama. Chiefly because I believe it stands against all reason to pass as Christ-like repeated legislative actions aimed to deny medical care and a merciful death to babies dying inside a trash can of some hospital.
People can call themselves all sort of things (including religious leaders), however it is by their actions that we will get to know them.
This is someting Christians should recognize, as it was written:
“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles? So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will recognize them by their fruits”. Matthew 7:15-20
Again, I can’t picture Christ performing an abortion, or voting for it.



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Faith

posted September 29, 2008 at 8:42 am


Ed,
You are the type of fundamentalist that created the Taliban in Afghanistan – only not the same religion.
YOu could easily be part of the COMPOUND in Texas where the state had to intervene to prevent young girls being married off to old men.
Fundamentalist Christians are as DANGEROUS as fundamentalist Muslims.
In fact, it is Fundamentalist Christianity that has Supported the perennial in-fighting in Palestine.
You are not peacemakers, you are men-of-war. LORD JESUS



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Faith

posted September 29, 2008 at 8:45 am


You are the type of fundamentalist that created the Taliban in Afghanistan – only not the same religion.
YOu could easily be part of the COMPOUND in Texas where the state had to intervene to prevent young girls being married off to old men.
Fundamentalist Christians are as DANGEROUS as fundamentalist Muslims.
In fact, it is Fundamentalist Christianity that has Supported the perennial in-fighting in Palestine.
You are not peacemakers, you are men-of-war. LORD JESUS



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Sue

posted September 30, 2008 at 10:33 pm


Faith, you seem to have some things confused. No one has ever said that McCain is “Chist” or treated him like such (contrary to Obama).
Does McCain have his faults? Yes he does. So does Obama. Which one come closer to believing and acting like a Christian in a matters concerning abortion? McCain does without a doubt.
You have a lot of opinion in what you wrote and no biblical back up. It is your opinion that McCain has lied over and over again (and I suppose by extension you are saying that Obama hasn’t?). It is your opinion that God would be against all war, including the war in Iraq.
And it is your biased opinion that says that it is “Fundamentalist Christianity that has Supported the perennial in-fighting in Palestine”.
And who has denounced Obama because of his “race”? No Republican politician and no major group of Republicans, that’s for sure. When you post stuff like this you lose credibility.
Add: I just reread your comment. It’s clear you are hostile to Christianity, Christians and probably God as well. In that case there is nothing that can be said that will make you think about how full of hate your comment is, nor persuade you to change. I truly feel sorry for you.



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henry leatherman

posted October 1, 2008 at 4:39 pm


thou shall not hate; ALL liberals are sinners.I’ve been around for plus 70 years and have not wittnessed so much hate from you,I .guess thats why i changed politics. Go to a church of your liking but go,



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nobama

posted November 2, 2008 at 8:16 pm


excuse me???-Obama has publicly (on countless occasions) announced himself “pro-choice” so Ohio rep. has nothing to do with Obama…
and a “God-O-Meter”? no offense but not the holiest thing ever…



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Jane Doe

posted November 2, 2008 at 8:19 pm


wow, faith, where are you getting YOUR information???
and being true to your moral standards as a christian…how is that bad?



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