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.
The only thing that bothers me is that the President said he believes that crap. Now that is scary.
Obama is a normal Christian. He believes in the brotherhood of mankind and the Golden Rule – and science.
Evangelicals are those Krazee Kristians whose grip on reality is intermittant at best.
these so-called christians are wack-jobs they see the anti-christ behind every tree.They also believe every
nut that declares"the end of the world is "may 22 2011" which of course didn't happen.They should be taken no more seriously than the funny papers but should be treated like any other nut or idiot.
Do not dismiss Evangelical Christianity. It is a dark and dangerous force in our democracy.
Obama is obnoxious and seems to not have a clue.
Is that the "hint" or the "game"?
Since the Flying Spaghetti Monster is the one true god, Obama can not be the Antichrist. However, I suspect Rick Perry to be the Antipasto.
I KNEW it all along! Pass the garlic bread.
Ramen!
@11:11 I give credit to atheist for having a good knowledge the Bible, so I'm surprised that you were unaware that the word 'anti-Christ is found 4 times in 1 John: 1Jn 2:18, 22; 1Jn 4:3, 7 in the plural once: 1Jn 2:18. Have a good day.
Obama is not anti-Christ. He'a anti-American. Why would he sit and listen to Rev. Jeremiah Wright's anti-American rhetoric for twenty years if he didn't agree with what he heard.
My minister told me – long ago – that only Southern Baptists would be in Heaven. Am I responsible for what he said?
So? all Jews are anti Christ are you suggesting they are evil?
I bet Tony Perkins of the certified hate group Family Research Council has something to do with the Christians screaming "anti-christ."
Even Satan does not know when the end times will come but he surely has been preparing for them. In every generation he probably has a candidate or two who could step in as the anti-christ given the right conditions. We can only speculate until he is revealed to us. By then, the die will be cast and it will be too late. Pray that you are ready!
Awesome sir! You are completely right.
Even JESUS said he didn't know when the end times would come. When asked, he replied "Go ask my old man".
The "Second Coming" has been confidently predicted every year for 1,980 years. St. Paul assured us that Christ would return in his (Paul's) generation. We have been assured that Nero was the Antichrist. So was Napoleon. So was Hitler. So was the European Common Market. Now it's Obama. Two years from now it will be – maybe – Britney Spears or Tom Cruise.
The fact that the media is even trying to start a discussion related to this clown is evidence of how it has failed being the unofficial 4th branch of government. Giving this topic even 1 seconds of consideration accomplishes three things:
1.) It paints all conservatives as religious nut jobs.
2.) Creates a sense of validity amongst those who are foolish enough to believe such nonsense.
3.) Distracts from far more important topics.
Religion has been used and is still being used by the Republicans to sway voters their way. When it gets out of control, like it did with the individual in this article, why shouldn't religion be used against them?
1. Most Conservatives ARE religious nut jobs. 25% of Republicans – according to Harris Polls – believe that Obama IS the Antichrist. Economic Conservatives are a minority among Conservatives.
2. A movement that is sweeping Conservatism is "Dominionism" I think it is called. It is the belief that America should be governed by the principles of the Old and New Testaments. It would be a sort of Christian sharia.
3. There is no more important topic than the mental stability of many Republican leaders, like Michell Bachman, Sarah Palin, and others. I don't want their crazy fingers pushing buttons in the White House.
When has "religion"....ANY "religion"...been used for anything other than political and military power?
Fear is the only God
Christians have a terrible track record for predicting the end of the world (0 %). And now to try and project the book of Revelations onto current American politics??
Anyone who takes this stuff seriously really needs to get a grip on reality.
Keep them scared they will do what they are tolg.
My daughter ALSO received the stupid form to opt out of his speech. Doesn't matter WHO is president, this is always a great opportunity to hear the president speak.
Why not do a comparison of what the anti-christ is supposed to accomplish and compare it with what Obama is doing. That would make a more intelligent discussion.
The anti-christ would be better prepared and less of an empty suit. Obama is just another bad politician better at running for office than holding it.
If he is the anti-christ, then let's get this show on the road. This planet needs an enema.
The President cannot be the anti-Christ because Dick Cheney is the real anti-Christ.
While I detest the ideas and policies of the Narcissistic Community Organizer, He is not the anti-Christ. He doesn't fit the description in the Bible. But since He came into the public eye while running for the presidency, He has reminded me of Nicolae Carpathia.
Don't let facts ruin the GOP propaganda, it has never stopped the party from fooling the masses in the past.
Yes Dems are so sly. They fell for change you can believe in, global warming, Y2K {Al Gore too} and about any other "the sky is falling" BS line thrown out by some egg head.
You have a point Bryan. I'm sure that all of the climate scientists on earth are wrong and YOU are right. It's so obvious.
Science has discovered that there is a genetic difference between Conservatives and Liberals. It's called intelligence. A study by psychologists published last March has found that the average IQ of Conservatives is 95. The average IQ of Liberals is 106.
(No need to take off your shoe, Conservatives. I will save you five minutes and just tell you that the difference is 11 points.)
This was a surprise to me. I had always imagined that the difference was much greater, perhaps 20 IQ points higher instead of just 11.
Conservatism is the Antichrist. It opposes every traditional belief of Christianity when it comes to how we treat our brothers and sisters all over this earth.
Christianity is selfless. Conservatism is selfish.
Christianity is moral. Conservatism is completely without morals.
Christianity is kind. Conservatism is cruel.
Christianity preaches the golden rule. Conservatism values only gold and nothing else.
May God destroy Conservatism and the memory of Conservatism.
Bravo. Except fo that last part. There are no such things as gods, let alone any leftovers from the ancient middle east.
Christianity is myth and false tales. Conservatism is real yet poor policy.
Not all conservatives are Christian fool. That is just liberal BS...I am an atheists conservative who believes we should stop spending money we don't have, stop propping up welfare moms so they can have 6 kids {future welfare additions} and generally stop taking the track of foolish liberalism.
El Falco you need to read the Bible about what Christianity really is. Christians are called by Jesus to be the salt and light of the world. In other words they are to point the difference between what is right and wrong, justice and injustice, good and evil, God and the devil, God's way and men's way and cause people to repent and turn from their wicked ways. Jesus said if you have lost your ability to discerne between the two then you are use less and should be walked upon and crushed by the foot. You seem to be mistaking what Christians should be doing with what Govt should not be doing. Christians need to speak the truth in love to some it will seem mean and even hateful. Jesus said if you follow my words and do what I tell you then men will hate and revile you and do to you what they did to me. You're probably on the wrong side of the issue because you as looking to what pleases men instead of what pleases God. When you please God you will naturaly be reviled by the World becasue everything the World view as right and good is considered an abomination in God's eyes expecially if it is done out side His will.
Brian probably has a point El Falco more and more scientist are questioning the cause of Global Warming. Here is a list of those that are specialist in that area.
http://www.oism.org/pproject/
The GOP, Christian Coalition and the Tea Party are instrumenting these events by staging hecklers to be at the Obama Campaign tour stops.
The republicans and religious zealots had better get one thing straight. We're not turning this country back over to a bunch of psychologically unstable reactionists who nearly bankrupted this nation by permitting corporate and wall street scandals to run amuck, while instrumenting outright war by manufacturing false claims of weapons of mass destruction. Christians in particular had better watch their step, for this nation is continuing to grow out of its infancy in that regard and the freedoms granted by this nation are for everyone.
You mean the freedoms granted by our (mostly) Christian founding fathers based on the Bible and what God said in His Word. John, Christians are finally waking up to the reality of what happens when you appease people when in the name of tolerance and diversity people use our own system to bite the very hands that provided these freedoms to you, so we are not going to take it anymore and won't be threatened into silence by people like you. We are coming and claiming what right fully belongs to God our Weapons of choice are the Bible and prayer to take this nation back to God and following His ways. "As for me and my house we will serve the Lord".
As for Republican and the terrible things that they did why don't you read up on your history you will find your real enemies are the people in your own party whom you support who want to keep you down and dependant on them for all your needs. God made me free to be dependant on Him not on Big Govt.
http://patriotupdate.com/articles/black-pastor-sues-obama-democratic-party-for-racism
This will be an eye opener to most American but especially to minorities...