The Matthew 25 Network - Christians supporting Obama

I would love to take credit for the name of this group, maybe inspired by the name of this blog, but alas it appears to be a simple coincidence.

Named after the Bible verse (“I tell you the truth, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me”) The Matthew 25 Network is a consortium of Christian faith leaders and activists working to elect more Democrats, including Senator Barrack Obama, to office who share the same “biblical and gospel values,” my friend Mara Vanderslice, the head of the PAC tells me.

The group began to run ads prior to the Indiana Democratic primary in early May. Mara tells me that the group intends to spend at least $500,000 in advertising between now and Nov. 4, and the group will focus mainly on Christian radio and Christian publications, such as the National Catholic Reporter and Relevant Magazine.

A new one-minute radio ad will be airing on Christian radio in Ohio, Michigan, and Colorado in the short-term. Vanderslice said they plan to expand the buy to other swing states, including Pennsylvania, Virginia, Missouri, and North Carolina.

Obama’s Christian faith has been well documented this election cycle, and multiple polls have shown that many Americans still believe the false notion that he is a Muslim. The ad underscores Obama’s Christianity.

“You know it’s an election year when certain people start grabbing headlines by attacking the faith of presidential candidates, with all these stones being cast at Barack Obama it can be hard to know what to believe,” the ad states. It features a clip of an Obama speech where he says, “I think we make a mistake when we fail to acknowledge the role of faith in people’s lives.” and "I submitted myself to his will and dedicated myself to his to discovering his truth"

On a conference call yestereday with the media Bart Campolo, an urban minister and founder of Mission Year who works out of Cincinnati, Ohio, told reporters that he has long been “uncomfortable” with evangelicals marching in “lock-step” with the Republican Party in recent decades largely over the wedge issues of abortion and gay marriage. He said the Matthew 25 Network is working to expand the dialogue about Christians and public service.

“What I’m excited about at this stage of the game, it seems like the evangelical community is waking up to the deeper and broader approach to the teachings of Jesus for the poor, the depressed, and the marginalized,” Campolo said.

Others on the conference call included:

Mara Vanderslice, Founder and Director, Matthew 25 Network
Rev. Derrick Harkins, Nineteenth Street Baptist Church, Board Member of World Relief
Sharon Daly, Former Vice-President of Catholic Charities
Rev. Wilfredo DeJesus, Vice-President for Social Justice Ministries,
National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference

Of great interest to Catholics was discussion surrounding the issue of Abortion. Rev. DeJesus and Sharon Daly openly acknowledged their pro-life beliefs. Both discussed how Senator Obama supports Abortion reduction measures and how society and lawmakers must begin to address the circumstances surrounding abortion to reduce the numbers of abortions.

Here the radio ad:




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