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.
CNN infotainment continually deletes my posts and then does a story on these lunatics. The antichrist?
These people need hospitalization not encouragement. Again CNN panders to the lowest common denominator.
Wait, wait.... That's the only reason I voted for Obama. Is he coming back now and saying he's NOT the antichrist? What a tool.
The Bible said over 2450 years ago that the antichrist will come from the northern region of Europe. An area that is refered to by God as "land of the barbaric people" Us white people have always had a problem with prejudism and we have done the wickedest things of all the races on earth. The antichrist will BE A WHITE MAN. Gathering the arabian nations into a 7 nation 10 king alliance with Iran and Iraq being the antichrist's biggest supporters. So this born-agian christian will vote for Obama agian.
Speak for yourself, "us white people" haven't commited any crimes that haven't been commited by every other type of people everywhere in the world throughout history
The "Obama is Anti-Christ" is the 2012 equivalent of the 2004 swift boating of John Kerry. It's all financed by Houston oil money, probably with a little help from the Koch brothers. The Far Right takes its cues from Rush Limbaugh and the other sickies who poison our public discourse with such drivel.
Just for the record, here are the only four mentions of anti-christ in the Bible:
"Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time." (1 John 2:18)
"Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son." (1 John 2:22)
"And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that [spirit] of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world." (1 John 4:3)
"For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist." (2 John 1:7)
As any reasonable person can see,Obama does not fit the definition. However, that will not stop many on the Christian Right from trying to deceive the public that he does.
There is ALOT MORE SCRIPTURES about the antichrist than the few scriptures you qouted. I am not gonna type out all of them but I can proof from God's word that the Old Testament shows he will be a white man. He comes from the North Country. Gog and Magog. Northern region was refered to in the bible as "land of the barbaric" look at all the prejudism and hateful things the white race has done throughout time. I'm white, or caucasian, Its a fact, go to college ethnic class, we caucasians are bahed to death in the text books. barbaric the things we've done to other races in the past. Yup, he's gonna be caucasian.
No, b_briane, there are not any more verses that mention the anti-christ. All the things you refer to are interpretations (mostly manmade and almost always wrong) that have been mixed with the four verses I quoted above to build an endtime "anti-christ" scenario that has gained popularity in the last 150 years. If you can quote one more verse that specifically mentions the word "anti-christ," be my guest. You can't, though, unless you are using a corrupted Bible.
why do people take these fairy tales seriously anymore.
You are insulting me. Is spiderman a fairy tale ? He lived in New York. Check New York on map. This city exists. This is non sense to say spiderman did not exists.
@ Mary Hillsbitzch
You're fuhking dumb.
oh Christians these days. Most evangelical Christian ideologies are Anti-Christian. Does the Anti-Christ need to be an individual or can a group's misguided ideology count?
...Not really. Evangelicals call for assassinations of world leaders we don't like...which is killing...which is something adolescent Jesus did ALL THE TIME. I'd say they're strictly adhering to Christian doctrine.
Wow. My mom has always said that she was taught not to discuss religion and politics. Well said mom!
your mother's very wise.
This is NOTHING compared to what people were calling Bush. Why is this in the news?
Bush earned every name he was called. He was an embarrassment, a poor leader, irresponsible, uneducated, a fundamentalist, an elitist, and a fascist war-monger. Obama may be arrogant, but he actually is thinking about the big picture...something Christian fundamentalists are incapable of doing.
Hey Satan, your comments were exactly what CNN was looking for. Stir up the base with some non story to prop up Obama. Shame on you CNN.
Born again idiots.........again
haha my thoughts exactly
And they think the biggest problem is Muslims. Gee we have plenty of our own so called Christian whack jobs out there.
Well, they tried it with Ronald Wilson Reagan (each name had 6 letters...) back in the 80's. Why not? nothing else the Ultra Right has done has worked.
Religious people are a "special" kind of stupid.
a few religious nutters rattling their cages does not a movement make...
Same thing happened under Bush, and the same thing happened under Reagan. The same thing will happen with the next president. People claim that about many world leaders. It will never end.
religion is definetly the opiate of the masses....it makes you high and stupid...
Religion , ALL religion, is a huge crock of crap. It's based on lies and fairytales, and the sick need people have for some kind of surrogate parent-figure. No, Obama isn"t the "antichrist", but if he was, I'd sure vote for him. Anything to help end this horrible, disgusting hoax of religion, which is destroying the world.
That sounds like a good description of bad government : )
Until this country is willing to admit that there is a large minority of people who relentlessly hate African Americans in any leadership roles, and who are willing to say anything to discredit them and foil their efforts no matter how valid or productive they may be, we will have this stupid chain of discourse as a nation, and we will continue to waste precious time to avoid a tipping point that is bound to send us to a very bad place we should not go and where our children do not deserve to be sent.
Be Real
@BeReal
People like you who assume "a large minority" of people hate black people in positions of leadership are who keeps racism alive in this country.
Anti-Christ simply means anti-christian ideology. There are many Christians that fit that mold. Besides, anti-christ isn't even mentioned in the Bible. That being said, nObama fits into that mold very snuggly. The idea of anti-christ fits more into the works of Nostradamus. The bible does mention false prophets and the ideas of Hope and Change sure as h3ll fall into that category whether you are a believer or not.
FedupLib, you and the whacked out Leftists are the idiots!! Get out of this country then!!
mp, why would you think my statement of FACT is leftist? I despise leftist Marxism. You seem to be just a little too partisan in the other direction if you think what i said makes me left.
@mp
yup ~ great post ~ you clearly display all the tolerance the founding fathers had in mind
"I despise leftist Marxism" -– Marxism isn't a leftist ideology. Marxism isn't at ALL leftist. I should know, I own The Communist Manifesto and have read it many times (it's a quick read). The second people start actually knowing what they are talking about the faster America will be a country worth calling home again.
Geeze I'm going to believe someone that has a screen name of Satan and says Marxism isn't leftist ideology knows what the h3ll he is talking about. So Soviet Russian didn't follow Karl Marx ideology in 1917. Stalin wasn't leftist. Pol Pot wasn't leftist. Mao must have not been either. Yep, you sound like a rocket scientist to me.
I welcome the Antichrist if it means healthcare for all, and prosperity!
There will be prosperity for about 3.5 years, then there is a suprise.
Agreed. I'm on Team Antichrist if that's the case.
If Obama is the AntiChrist that means the Rapture has occured and we that are left are Anti-Christians. It means there is no one left but sinners on this earth at the present time. It means that chaos now reigns. It means that the the center of the AntiChrist's rule is now in Rome and we can look forward to famine and death and the mark of the Beast. If that's the case, why pay taxes or bills because we would be in the Tribulation period. Will someone please take the Bible and explain to these nuts what it says, apparently they can't read.
JWR, when the scriptures don't line up to their agenda, they just twist them and MAKE THEM line up. I am disgusted with the religious right in this country, they are no different than the radical muslims they love to hate. The preachers will have some good pulpit material this weekend and those who think they are Christian will actually believe this nonsense. Never mind rational thinking or facts. These people are the most hateful, ignorant, nasty people I have ever come across in my life.