Barack Obama and John McCain meet at Saddleback Church
Pastor Rick Warren conducts back-to-back interviews with the two presidential candidates.
Barack Obama told an audience at Orange County's Saddleback Church tonight that it was "above his pay grade" to define when a baby gets human rights, but he said that he's convinced there is a "moral and ethical dimension" to abortion.
The likely Democratic candidate for president pledged to work to reduce the number of abortions and to provide the resources to allow women to decide to keep their babies.
In an exchange with the church's pastor, Rick Warren, the Illinois senator discussed his views on abortion, faith, same-sex marriage and worldwide humanitarian issues.
Obama was the first of the two major-party presidential candidates to answer questions from Warren, whose weekly services draw about 22,000 to his Lake Forest church. John McCain, the GOP candidate, waited to speak in "a cone of silence," as Warren put it. Between the interviews, Obama greeted McCain with a brief handshake and hug, but they exchanged few words beyond "How you doing?"
The two were expected to spend less than a minute together as they trade places for their back-to-back, hour-long interviews with Warren, the author of the best-selling book, "The Purpose Driven Life."
Campaign aides to both candidates said the forum would be a rare chance for both men to talk about their faith and to use Warren's broad network to reach out to evangelicals and other Christians. In a nod to the pastor's popularity, as well as the interest in McCain and Obama's religious views, the two-hour forum is being broadcast live on three cable news networks: CNN, MSNBC and the Fox News Channel.
Asked about America's greatest moral failure, Obama said it was "that we still don't abide by that basic precept of Matthew that whatever you do for the least of my brothers, you do for me." Saying that this applied to poverty, racism and sexism, Obama continued, "There's a pervasive sense, I think, that this country, as wealthy and powerful as we are, still don't spend enough time thinking about the least of us."
His own greatest moral failure, Obama said, was \his use of drugs and alcohol as a youth. "When I find myself taking the wrong step, I find that a lot of the time it is because I am trying to protect myself and not do God's work," he said.
Obama also spoke about what it meant to him to be a Christian.
"I know that I don't walk alone. I know that if I can get myself out of the way, I can maybe carry out in some small way what he intends," he said.
