Faith, Wealth, and the Presidency

Both Barack Obama and John McCain made unmitigated moves this time around to appeal to Christian faith-based voters. Yet, the hard questions about money and Christian teachings have not been addressed by either candidate, mostly because they haven't been asked.

Here's some great tough questions that one blogger on religion would ask:

If the church is going to measure today's candidates on such "faith and values" issues as abortion. gay marriage, war and the environment, shouldn't wealth (theirs and ours) also be part of that discussion?

I'd like to hear McCain's response to this question: "You are a rich man. You and your wife Cindy own seven homes, which you apparently use just for yourselves and your children. A number of years ago, you adopted a child from an orphanage in Bangladesh. How many more children could you save if you sold five or six of your homes and just used one or two for yourself. As a Christian, do you feel a responsibility to do that?"

I'd like to hear Obama's response to this question: "You are a rich man. A few years ago, you signed two book deals worth nearly $2.3 million. You and your wife Michelle made more than $4 million last year and you own a home worth more than $1 million. What have you done with that money to help "the least of these." I don't mean how many checks have you written to charity. Can you give us specific names of people you have helped?"

What politicians do with their own money says something about their character. It says even more about their faith.

Camels can be put through the eyes of needles more easily than wealthy politicians can address questions about the stewardship of their riches.