Illinois Senator Barack Obama discusses Darfur, the Iraq war, gay rights, abortion and other issues recently with Christian leaders, including conservatives, who have been criticized for praising the Democratic presidential candidate, according to the Associated Press.
Bishop T.D. Jakes a prominent black clergyman, who heads a Dallas mega-church, said Obama took questions, listened to participants and discussed his “personal journey of faith.”
The discussion “went absolutely everywhere,” Jakes told the Associated Press, and “just about every Christian stripe was represented in that room.”
Jakes said he hopes to meet with republican presidential candidate John McCain.
The senator’s support for abortion rights and gay rights, among other issues, drew opposition from religious conservatives; some conservatives have criticized Jakes for praising Obama. Jakes said the meeting, at a law firm’s office, seemed designed to prompt a wide discussion rather than to result in commitments from either Obama or those attending.
The report said that there was only a brief mention of Jeremiah Wright, Obama’s former pastor, who cursed America and accused the government of conspiring against blacks.
