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.
i thought the anti-christ was supposed to be popular with everyone and get stuff done. obama fall flat on both accounts.
he's not the reincarnation of the devil, he's the reincarnation of the Carter.
Religious people are wacked
you should have gone on and supported your statement, instead of making a ridiculous one
It time to get back to the basics JOBS,JOBS,JOBS,and a more satiblized economy for this Country and forget about this BS that President Obama is the Anti-Christ. I strongly beleive this Anti-Christ is nothing more than a ruse by the far right wing nut cases to justify killing this man,you only need one nut to beleive this misinformation to take action against the President/ARIZONA. The sad case in reference to this BS is being perpetrated by members of the republicans/tea-bagers within our own Congress, because the circle had come to full fortuitous/white man master-black man slave=a man half&half in the charge of the highest office of the land (WHITE HOUSE). The white man not capable mentality to handed such a transformation that they would rather destory everything then accept this movenment in America history. The writing is on the walls America sooo you better wake up before its to late to reverse the lay plans that started in 2008. GOD HELP AMERICA ON HER LONG JOURNEY BACK TO SANENESS.
You are right about the jobs issue. Unfortunately, your man decided it was more important to work on a lame healthcare bill that won't take affect until 2014; a lot good that does for the now.When I started searching info about the pres and then disappointed that he was elected, I watched how this man worked and manipulated congress in his policies and agendas, he even had both houses in his favor. From day one, he should have worked on getting those jobs that were lost, at 750k per month is not good. It is staggering to think that over 400k new unemployment figures per month come out to where we stand with over 12million out of work since January. That does not include those that have given up looking for work. Look at his jobs bill today, another stimulus package in disguise. This is why I doubted him from the beginning.
Crackpots get few votes. If the GOP continues to display extreme behavior the majority will run in the opposite direction.
Agreed.
I prefer to call him the "Obamachrist"!!!
and you are what 7 years old, like the previous poster?. It astounds me that so called "Adults" can call people names........especially people of authority. "I know you are but what am I" grow up people...get a life!!! If you do not like it here...move to another country where you have more rights.......Oh, there aren't any?
I prefer to call you "uneducated".
@ ur a nutjob, actually yes, there's Canada
Obama is a Muzlim and that makes him the anti-Christ.
and you are what 7 years old. It astounds me that so called "Adults" can call people names........especially people of authority. "I know you are but what am I" grow up people...get a life!!! If you do not like it here...move to another country where you have more rights.......Oh, there aren't any?
You want to explain your comment? On that's right your too ignorant to provide an explanation.
You are so right.
And you're nuttier than squirrel poo.
The term “anti-Christ” is found the New Testament epistle, known as First John. In this epistle the writer or writers (note the use of “we are writing these things to you…”) state that there were individuals who acknowledged that Jesus came to the earth and died, but they claimed that Jesus did not come in the flesh. (They seem to have held that Jesus’ body was spiritual, not fleshly and not entirely human.)
John refers to these individuals who were saying that Jesus didn’t come in the flesh, as anti-Christs.
Note: John refers to them in the plural, and John states that these individuals were once members of the same community of faith, the Christian Church, but they left the church and began teaching that Jesus did not come in the flesh.
This teaching probably stemmed from the Gnostic controversy, where teachings of Gnosticism infiltrated the Christian community and threatened to corrupt the Gospel message.
(The Gospel message was that Jesus was fully human, but he was also the son of God and was, therefore both human and divine.)
The anti-Christs were also evidently teaching that it was acceptable to hate their brothers, for John addresses this point and makes clear that no one can say that they know God, if they hate their brother or sister, who, incidentally, are made in the image of God.
John’s point: Jesus did take on the form of a human being, just like the rest of us, and he died as a sacrifice on the cross, experiencing all of the pain and suffering any human would experience.
John’s point was, therefore, believe in Jesus and love one another.
If you're an atheist why do you even read these articles? If you truly don't believe in anything that has to do with God why waste your time trying to prove otherwise. There has to be some doubt in your hearts. A lot of people on here are very passionate about proving Christianity wrong.
except you cant prove christianity wrong....no way to prove a negative...burden of proof falls on the believers to which there is no proof only speculation.
and i didnt know the religious had a monopoly on the belief blog. not surprised though considering you think you have a monopoly on faith.
I'm not religous and never claim to be. There is a BIG difference between religion and relationship.
There are some ignorant "people" in this world.
SOME?
some?
The entire concept is a total, 100%, unadulterated, medieval, horse manure, pie in the sky FANTASY. There is no "antichrist," there is no Easter Bunny, there is no plan, there is no End Times. There is only right here and right now. This is it, this is all there ever was and this is all there ever will be.
What do you believe happens when you die? I believe there is a heaven and hell, but what about you?
so you believe in heaven and hell why? oh i know.....to make yourself feel better about dying. Here's a radical idea....accept the fact that YOU DONT KNOW what happens when you die, or for that matter, if there is or isnt a god or many gods and live your life to the fullest instead of using fear mongering tactics to try and scare people into converting to a religion made by man, written by man.
overblown attempt to discredit Obama's critics...as always!! We are always...alway always...always going to going to find something wrong with our president. I bet you he's going to win!!!
Believing in parts of the bible is what most christians do: of course I haven't seen many stone their children
If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son, which will not obey the voice of his father, or the voice of his mother, and that, when they have chastened him, will not hearken unto them: Then shall his father and his mother lay hold on him, and bring him out unto the elders of his city, and unto the gate of his place; And they shall say unto the elders of his city, This our son is stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton, and a drunkard. And all the men of his city shall stone him with stones, that he die: so shalt thou put evil away from among you; and all Israel shall hear, and fear. - Deuteronomy 21:18-21
He that smiteth his father, or his mother, shall be surely put to death. - Exodus 21:15
He that curseth his father, or his mother, shall surely be put to death. - Exodus 21:17
I don't think the pres is the anti Christ, but I really wonder about his true faith. Unlike presidents before him, he is either keeping the MSM from reporting him going to church, or he doesn't go but only on certain days (i.e. Christmas, Easter). Just because one professes being a Christian doesn't necessarily say the practice their faith, just like other religious individuals.
oh please – give it a rest – you people who profess to be Christians are unbelievable –
Who cares if he goes to church or not? Not our business.
"I beheld Satan as Lightning fall from Heaven"
The name Barack / Barak means LIGHTNING in Hebrew:
http://www.behindthename.com/name/barak-1
Strong's Hebrew Dictionary, word 1300
http://www.htmlbible.com/sacrednameb...EB12.htm#S1300
The word BAMA / BAMAH is used to mean the "heights" of Heaven:
http://htmlbible.com/sacrednamebible...B111.htm#S1116
To join these two words, the Hebrew letter vau is used, which is transliterated into Latin as O or U.
BARAK O BAMAH – LIGHTNING OF/FROM HEAVEN
Serioulsy...get a job. You have way too much time on your hands.
you know, my own father was crazy just like you – he hated the Jews – I married a lewis which he then decided came from the name levy, ergo I had married a Jew. the last time I spoke to my father was to tell him to leave my home with his crazy talk and prejudice I hear he died some years later no doubt with his heart full of hate – why dont you go see your preacher, Rabbi, Priest – you really need to talk to someone
Well...I guess I must be wrong. You've certainly proven that point! It's just so clear. Why don't you run for President?
Why are people fleeing the Churches ? Largely because of the Evangelical/Fundamentalists who sound like raving Psychotics and/or Paranoid Schizophrenics. And the ones that cherry-pick whatever part of the Bible they care to quote (usually out of context)... passages which were poorly translated in the first place. And those who prefer their Minister to do their thinking for them.
I have a serious problem with CNN making this a news story. This is ridiculous. The media certainly bears some responsibility for the deterioration in political rhetoric and in politics itself. For those of you who believe this kind of stuff, I can only suggest you get a grip on reality. If Dick Cheney and Karl Rove didn't qualify as the "antichrist", then no one should.
Aparently you don't know what the "antichrist" is. DIck Cheney and Karl Rove never had followers the likes that Obama has had.
ET. Uh, he is the President. Wouldn't know why people would follow him......maybe you need to get a job.
ET you logic is overwhelming – by all that is holy where do you people come from – when was the last time you read a book – you really do need to study up on a few things
When I was a kid, members of my family believed that JFK was the antiChrist. They truly believed it. And they lived their lives as though there would never be a tomorrow. They raised me as though there would be no tomorrow. Well, there have been and will be many tomorrows. Most of the people who would believe that Obama, a good and smart and honest man, is the antiChrist do not actually follow the teachings of Christ. If they did, they would be about their business and they would not have time for all this hateful nonsense.
Thank you, Judi, I am willing to bet that you speak for thousands of us. So tired of the self-righteous, willfully ignorant teavangelicals who twist reality to the extreme that they lie – to themselves and to others. Yes, I am a Christian but not their type!
First Obama is not the AntiChrist. The AntiChrist somes and unites all the nation in the world. Obama cannot even united within his own party. Yes, Obama has been very fishy when it comes to Israel and that worries me. Israel is God's children and we need to support them 100%.
there is no god
support israel? are you serious or just stupid? Israel does whatever it wants....we shouldnt be supporting any country based on religion.
Yes, I am very serious and will continue to show my support towards Isreal until the day the Jesus cracks the sky.
This is absolutely absurd. Everybody knows that Dick Cheney is the anti-christ.
rofl... it seems so obvious hahahaha
stop smoking that weed and you'll be fine, and for heavens sake, check into a psych ward near you, you are so dillusional
hehehe and don't forget W – oh I forgot – God called W to serve as President – how could that have skipped my mind
Any one that believes Obama is the anti-christ or a muslim is a right wing
whack job that needs to be locked up. get real people and stop making obama
some kind of evil and realize some of his ideas make sense and need supporting. If anyone is the antichirst try looking at the right wing
all of his ideas make sense. He simply cannot pass many of them because republicans don't want him to (it serves better their sponsors to keep system as is and/or continue promoting laws and bills that make the rich richer and the poor poorer, don't forget, if you and I do not get poorer, there will not be room for rich to become richer...)
you are almost right, your last remark about the pres' ideas are way off the chart, his own party thinks they are
Obama is here to kill the Easter Bunny, Santa Clause and whole host of other fictional characters.
OMG! I knew it! Next Dogs and cats will be living together, mass hysteria!