Suffering for Faith

Tomorrow, when Barack Obama and John McCain head to Saddleback Church in an effort to woo evangelical voters, I'm willing to bet that Barack Obama may talk a better game. He's a person from whom oratory seems to flow easily (and he'll sound great if his listeners can overlook his

very pro-abortion record, as well as his shifting stands on the Defense of Marriage Act).

But it would be interesting if someone actually asked the candidates: Have you ever suffered for your faith -- personally -- and if so, how? The answers would be instructive, and no doubt revealing.

A piece in today's Chicago Tribune notes that John McCain risked punishment as a POW in order to worship with his fellow prisoners. I've written before about the necessity of others discussing John McCain's background, given his reticence about doing so himself. This is a perfect example. Who knew?

Does all of this make John McCain a better person than Barack Obama? Not necessarily; after all, Barack's experiences have been very dissimilar from Senator McCain's, so it's impossible to know how he'd react in the same situation.

But in a sense, that's part of the point, too. Whatever he says -- or doesn't say -- when he's standing in the Saddleback pulpit, we know how important faith is to McCain because we've seen what he's willing to suffer for it.