By Dan Gilgoff and Eric Marrapodi, CNN Belief Blog Co-Editors
(CNN) - On our sister blog The 1600 Report, CNN's Alex Mooney notes a discrepancy in the official White House transcript of a California fundraiser Monday night, during which a person who heckled President Barack Obama was escorted out by security.
Here's the White House transcript's account of the heckler:
AUDIENCE MEMBER: The Christian God is the only true living God, the Creator of the heavens and the universe.
But Mooney observes that the White House pool report records the heckler as being much more blunt, yelling "'Barack Obama is the Antichrist!"
The president interrupted his remarks at the fundraiser, held at Los Angeles' House of Blues, to respond to the heckler.
"First of all, I agree Jesus Christ is the Lord," Obama said. "I believe in that. I do have a question, though. I think the young man may have left his jacket... "
Ironically, the remark about Obama as the Antichrist came the same day that The New York Times ran an op-ed arguing that the Antichrist is assuming a bigger place in the public discourse, as evangelical Christian ideas about the end times gain traction.
In a piece titled "Why the Antichrist Matters in Politics," Washington State University history professor Matthew Avery Sutton argues that, for some Christians, Obama fits into ideas about the Antichrist, whose arrival is believed to be a portent of the end times and Jesus' second coming:
For some evangelicals, President Obama is troubling. The specious theories about his place of birth, his internationalist tendencies, his measured support for Israel and his Nobel Peace Prize fit their long-held expectations about the Antichrist. So does his commitment to expanding the reach of government in areas like health care.
The op-ed was the most e-mailed piece on nytimes.com for much of Tuesday.
In the 2008 campaign, Republican presidential nominee John McCain released an anti-Obama ad called "The One" that ridiculed Obama for what it said was his messiah complex. Some critics claimed the spot was a veiled attempt to paint Obama as the Antichrist, though the McCain camp denied it.
What do you think? Is there a gathering movement to paint the president as the Antichrist? Are such charges overblown attempt to discredit Obama's critics?
Read Mooney's full report here.
Last time I involved myself in religion I was a child. When I reached an age in which I was able to understand what religion is all about I decided to back out of that situation. There are so many religions out there, but which one is the "right" one? Last time I checked Jesus claimed he was a Jew. Does that mean that Christianity is wrong? Does it mean being a Catholic is wrong? Those religions do not have the word Judaism in it. They might branch off of them. Religion is a choice and should be made as a wise choice. It's a choice that requires a life long commitment. I have no and will not push religion on my children until they are old enough to learn about it and what is required of them to be apart of it. Not for nothing but my belief in religion has been shaken when I used to give money to the church in good faith, and after the last service I attended I see the Priest drive off in a brand new Corvette.
LOL – Priests are not allowed to spend money ? Maybe you should try finding a monk or friar to follow.
Priests take a vow of poverty.
Many Catholics and non-Catholics alike erroneously believe that all Catholic priests are obliged to live in poverty, but in fact this is not the case. Some clergy have made vows of poverty, while others have not.
Educate Thyself and read.
http://catholicexchange.com/2008/11/20/114501/
Antichrist? Nah, he is much worse than that, he's a politician!
Amen!
I lived in the south for many years and from what I saw every election cycle the right wing and its ignornat/mindless followers would paint all democratic front runners as anti christ. Yes They even said Al Gore, Bill Clinton. JFKetc.. all were anti Christs !
This is a drity old trick from the south to win over ignornat and often not so educated voters down their. Nothing new here.
I will share a interesting stroy from my very recent trip this year to visit family in Charlotte, NC. I was sitting in a coffee shop right next to UNCC (big state school), A very well none spot for college crowd. In the middle of the day a few people (some young and some old) walked in and they were taking about the bible , religion and christ and then one of them started saying "all mixed race childres are product of the DEVIL" LOL !
At this point many young folks felt uncomfortable and they walkd out or away. So that goes on to show what kind of Ignorant people we have following religion these days.
If you did not get the HINT here it is "OBAMA IS A DEVIL" according to them since he is mixed race " ! Go figure, and yes this is the year 2011.
Nut jobs and smear tactics. I like the post that says why ca'n't we stop the personal attacks and focus on the needs of the country.
Really people, the President is the antichrist? Nut jobs! Quick look it's a sasquatch!
This is another huge reason that religion needs to stay out of government. Fanatics and extremists.
Did anyone notice that Obama said Jesus is the Lord,, Not Jesus is My Lord.. just fyi
No one but you noticed and no one but you thinks it makes the slightest difference. I know that you attend the Blessed Holy Word of the Living Jesus Tabernacle in that strip mall on the Mansfield Highway and you think that makes you an expert on theology.
Let's not get caught up in the "my Lord" vs. "the Lord" rhetoric. Maybe he doesn't want to take ownership, but rather stating he is the Lord for all not just his accepted Lord...
I would think that him saying "the" is even more powerful than saying "my". "My" would be exclusionary of so many, versus saying tha the is Lord to all, whether they know it or not.
Depending on how you were raised/which particular Christian faith you subscribe to, there are subtle differences in how you express your faith.
The bottom line, he expressed that he was Christian, not Muslim as so many ignorant people still like to think. A Muslim wouldn't refer to Jesus as "Lord". They see him as a very great prophet.
The difference between "my Lord" and "the Lord" only matters to the members of whatever dingbat splinter sect of Christianity you happen to belong to. It's like the Seventh Day Adventists who believe that Sunday comes on Saturday. It is a difference that makes no difference to the large majority of the human race.
whew, El Flaco is really putting up El Stinko.
What has happened to the world? I've been waiting all my life for truth to prevail. The bible is not the word of god anymore. It has been filled in and edited by men of hate using it to further their agenda of hate. And for people to take that seriously? Makes me sick to my stomach.
You said a mouth full !!! Thanks
Anytime Josh. 🙂
So in what ways have you been waiting for the truth ?
Its out there agent Mulder.
A lot of bashing Christianity... Folks can't accept that Obama has failed on EVERYTHING –
The latest... Obamacare was promised to reduce healthcare cost. It was reported yesterday that it went UP 9%. More snake oil. Wake up folks, you're being sold down river.
You say Obamacare has failed to reduce insurance costs. Insurance costs had averaged 13% increases per year. This year it is 9%. So you want to put back in the same party which gave us this economic catastrophe. Other than bashing Obama, what solutions do the republicans have. Make America a theocracy? Not an answer!
Hello genius! Obamacare has not been implemented yet ... it is still at 0 percent, genius ... hello .. wake up! what kind of planet do u live in? Meanwhile there are 50 million people without health insurance (Census Bureau finding). They do get sick and since health care providers cannot fully charge them, they will pass their bill into those who have health insurance ... got it?
If the Republicans in the Senate and House didn't keep holding or threatening to hold filibusters on EVERY piece of legislation championed by the President, then so much more could have been done. Any seeming "lack of doing anything" is not his fault, but put squarely on the obstructionist tactics that the Republicans have been using since his inauguration! Seriously, the poor guy STILL doesn't even have all his open posts filled, since the Senate Republicans refuse to approve so many of his nominees!! He's working with too many open cabinet positions, which is sooo not fair.
Plus, as has been pointed out, the great majority of "Obamacare" doesn't even kick in until 2013. The few things that have kicked in has kept insurance costs from rising as much as they were on track to do. Look at the last few years rise rates...this is the smallest increase in many years! You actually can THANK Obamacare for that!
(I think filibusters should be disallowed. Also, 1 man 1 vote–no more electoral college crap. That corrupts a democratic system and does not accurately reflect the vote ot the people.)
Parts of it have been implemented. Just wait for the rest of it to get implemented. Guess Ya'll think someone else will pay for your healthcare. Take a look a Grease.
I guess Ron White was correct – you can't fix stupid.
You seemed to have had a low rating of him even prior to his entrance to the oval office. Then in that case you words are nullified by the amount of hatred you spew.
Time2Ignore-You're right in the mix too. Practice what you preach and none of us would have even known you existed.
If you are not with Christ you are an anti-Christ. So simple. So true.
So stupid.
Sounds alot like, "If you are not with the Fatherland, you are against the Fatherland. If you are not with the Fuher, you are against the Fuhrer. Sieg...Heil." Sheeesh.
Cool – this sounds like fun. Let's play!
Lessee: If you're a Christian, you're not with Buddha: you're the anti-Buddha! Umm.. If you're Muslim, you're not with.. Odin! You're the anti-Odin! If you're Shinto, you're not down with Zoaraster. Anti-Zoaraster! Anti-Rastafarian!
Man, we could play this _all day_. I mean, there are 4,200 diferent religious groups active around the world as we speak: that's right, if each of them faced off with another group, we could have 2,200 religious wars all at once. Praise Jesus, think of the money we'd make off of manufacturing weapons! Jesus is one of the gods who's pro-military & war right? Not one of those "forgive, turn the other cheek, do unto-others, vengeance is mine, thou shall not kill, whatever you do to the worst humans you do to me" types, was he? Bunch of pansie-gods. I'm assuming he was a god of war, like Mars or Thor. Gods with fists.
Anyway, I digress. This anti-this and anti-that game sounds fun – there've been 2870 recorded creator-type gods in history. Sounds like a great car-game for the kids on long trips "Hey, kids, who wants to be anti-Shichi-Fuku-Jin?!"
If you're not with intelligence then you're stupid...If you're not with open mindedness than you are closed minded, if you're not with objectivity, then you're limited....
He's close enough, Maine-Liberal.
Mary – please enough is enough. You are obviously very convicted and that's OK. Just stop badgering others.
Other posters – it may be time to ignore Mary's post's... no disrepect intended but the back and forth's are not the purpose of this blog and are not productive. *** React by not reacting ***
The republicans think that every democrat that becomes president is the antichrist.
Lenin was right: religion is the opiate of the people. When will the world grow up and stop believing in fairy tales that make them feel good about things they can't yet understand?
Marx, not Lenin. My bad.
I believe you mean Marx.
Yup, and Communism is the prison of freedom. Go back to Berkley and read some more books.
You can be politically conservative and still realize that religion was the invention of humans at a time in history when humans were not capable of explaining things they did not understand. You don't have to be communist. You just have to be able to reason.
OMG Veracity, does that include Hitler, Stalin, Mussolini, etc.? In case you don't know your bible, the antichrist will be in power also!!!!!
Awww heck why not. We have had Republicans spewing for months that Bristol Palin is the second Virgin Mary and Sarah Palin is an angel sent by God to straighten this country out. Cheney obviously is Satan and Bush his second in command. I guess that puts Newt Gingrich as the Avenging angel and John McCain as Father Time. Scary part is that these idiots vote!!
I agree Cathy!!
I was thinking it would have been Cheney...that is pure evil in human form...
I 2nd the Cheney
even the Pope has been seen as the Anti-christ
i love how you say "even the pope" umm duh.. that has been an idea for a LONG time... infact every new pope to take the sit get that as a t!tle, most have it for life, but some lose it due to there acts of good.
Ther amazing part is some people will actually believe this. Hey, I'm the devil. Honest.
Perhaps a bit more research is necessary into biblical lore. There are a lot of specific events that preceed the coming of the anti-christ that have not happened. There are a lot of indications that one is the anti-christ that are also not present. I don't know if this is a movement by the right to portray the President as evil or a movement by the liberal press to further demonize the religious right. As for me, I wish someone – anyone – would stop the character destruction long enough to actually do something positive for the country and the planet. Perhaps that's why they are called wishes.
Well stated. So much time and energy are being spent on such things. No wonder we are in trouble.
If the anti-Christ emerges and is capable as he/she is claimed to be, how will we ever know.
I think trait number 1 of the anti-Christ is stealth. The masses won't be able to see him coming, they won't know he is here until it is too late.
father dan = brainwashed and delusional
i would have believed George W. Bush was the antichrist before believing this dude is... just a thought!
You should try taking another toke and pondering that thought a while longer.
why
are you reporting on religious myths
on the SCIENCE of a computer??????