there is a significant christian church there. >> arab spring is turning into a very bitter cold winter for the christians. first in iraq, arabic secular dictatorship unleashed a lot of forces to drive out the christians. we are very, very worried same thing is happening in egypt. 100,000 coptic christians have been driven out by terrible violence and failure of the police to protect them and their churches. they have turned their guns on the christians. we saw that last october when two dozen christians were killed in cold blood by the police when they were demonstrating for their churches being burned down. >> where do you hope this will go from here? >> tremendously important the united states speaks out. they have a lot of influence with trade and defense. we make a difference. right now the bully pulpit has gone silent. when cops were killed in egypt, president obama made a statement saying both sides must use restraint. drawing an equivalency between persecutors and persecuted. they are in a periless situation. >>> protesters in yemen are demanding justice for joel shrum, an ameri

in mississippi, only 12% consider the president a christian. 52% said he's a muslim. oh, 36% said well, they are not sure. in alabama, the numbers were 14%, 45%, and 41% of the people in alabama, really aren't sure what faith the president is. three days ago we saw more good news about the economic recovery in america. but the president is now forced to address this persistent issue about his religion. >> when we start using religion as a bludgeon in politics, when we question other people's faith, we start using religion to divide instead of bring the country together then i think we have a problem. >> the root of this problem is at the doorstep of the mccain campaign of 2008. you don't have to look farther than the recent movie "game change" to see how this whole fire started to rage. >> senator mccain wanted me to congratulate you on a fantastic debate. you did a great job. >> thanks. tell john i want to bring up bill ayers, reverend wright, time to go for the jugular. >> you have to discuss that with your running mate, i made it very clear that he doesn't want to

he is a christian. and he called for the killing of the number one terrorist in the world, osama bin laden. did that reach the news down there? maybe the democrats in the mississippi legislature and maybe the democrats in the alabama legislature will step up and put forward a resolution to maybe turn this thinking saying that they proclaim that the president of the united states is a christian. come on, democrats, fight back down there. whatever happened to our 50 state strategy? the president is an american, he is a christian, he's not a muslim. and nobody is going to get you $2.50 a gallon of gas. nobody. >>> get your cell phones out, tonight's question, will republican voters ever believe the truth about president obama? text a for yes, text b for no to 622639, you can go do our blog on the ed.msnbc.com, we'll bring you results later on in the show. >>> joining me tonight is brad woodhouse, communications director for the democratic national committee, brad, good to have you with us tonight. >> thank

and talk about politics and he's a christian who believes that christianity has a role to pay in public life but gets messed up with christians and nobody played that role. he's such an independent thinker that i could imagine his taking about five minutes to undermine the intellectual rationale behind each of those compliments. but we are here to talk about his grade book. i appreciated peter's comments about how an odd way fawell may have secularized christianity rather than christianizing or politics. i think to get to that. tenacious want to start with two basic questions. what is a catholic boy from new england, like you, doing writing about jerry falwell? witchery you to jerry falwell? and affect a couple that with another question. putting aside your political critique of having. how do you feel about him as a human being at the end of all of your research? >> first of all, it was suggested to me by a jewish friend from a short. i guess it was denominational affair, but man approached me and said you wrote this book about catholics and progressives. and that was what we received.

you must have thought about it. >> well, i don't think it has to do with whether a christian can tell another christian. it's whether a public official can tell someone of faith whether they are forced to violate the religious tenets because the government tells them they have to do it. you know this wasn't the only time. >> bill: why would president obama do that because set guy that drove the policy. biden didn't want to do it. the vice president didn't want to do it. he told president obama not to do it. president obama made the decision to do it. so, it's on him. he is the guy that wants to do it. and he says he is a christian. why would you want to do it? >> well, because i think what is he doing is saying the states' rights are more important than religious rights. he says the state has the ability to trump faith when the state wants to impose their values. >> bill: again, we have to go back to the president, the man, if you are going to oppose him, you are going to have to convince americans that you are a better man than he is. your vision is better but that you have a much mo

he said we are not a christian nation.nt on the apology tour, his first major tour was onal abira tv. the the money, $900 million to hamas controls gaza strip, his treatment of benjamin netanyahu. we can go on and on. why do you think one in four think that he is a muslim? >> because of his actions because his actions since he became president has been pandering to the islamic world apologizing on behalf of america to the islamic world praising it is islamic world. >> now the news said he was raced a muslim, barack obama raised as a muslim. this is huge. >> this is huge! >> but a fox host never said it. he says it and later retracts it. my favorite is the 9/11 trick right? when bush used to say well i never said that sadaam hussein did 9/11. i just said them in the same sentence. >> i didn't say president obama is a muslim, i just made you say it. >> that right there is the distinction. i didn't say it. i just put it into your head. >> every word makes the difference. ford, this is just on record, we're going to say this f

impatient with progressives talking of our religion, a catholic who gets impatient with the church and a christian who believes having a role to play in public life. i could imagine him taking the five minutes with the rationale. [laughter] but we here to talk about his book. how on a non way jerry falwell could have secularized christianity or politics but i do want to start with two questions. why does the catholic boy cried about jerry falwell? and coupled with another question putting aside your. t, have you feel about him as a human being? put those together. >> it was suggested to me by a jewish friend from york. he said you wrote the book about catholics and progressives maybe you should do book about republicans and conservatives. he say i keep waiting for a biography of jerry falwell. i thought about it for about five seconds. i set of course, it is. most research was done for people the end for the american way. every day worked on the project everyday was waking up in a photographic negative. i cared about this but everything was in the wrong place. as a consequential man, the republica

in alabama, 45% allegedly believe he is a muslim and only 14% responded that he is a christian. even some of the president's accomplices in the mainstream medeiar not buying these rules. take a look at this. >> you are not so sure on these numbers, you don't like this survey? >> there are a couple of things. 1; it's a robo-survey, so you get an automatic phone call and you press a button to answer the question. but you introduce it, the way the question was asked, i think it was designed to get a higher number because there are some republican who is may not believe the president, who may believe the -- may not believe he's a muslim, but like saying it because it's a way to attack him. it's a way to needle him. so i think this question was designed to get a higher percentage in the answer than maybe what is true. >> this ridiculous poll is the latest example of the new liberal southern strategy to demean and discredit any voters who disagree with the path this president is taking our country down. here with more on the poll, joe trip py. guys, welcome. let me give you one example

however, i always like to say, "well, in some senses, it's a christian nation, but it most certainly is a jewish nation, because that whole creation, liberation, exodus, making of a holy land - we've got towns around here called zion or new canaan or whatever - what the whole drama - and again, i'm not making this up, folks, as dave barry would say - the ministers on the boats, like the arabella , coming into the plymouth colonies, actually gave sermons that replicate or bring out the whole old testament drama, so we get a feel of these kinds of things there. let me move - before we take a couple of questions here - i want to get to our rabbi bronstein, because what makes this class work is you don't have to listen to some religious studies professor talk about somebody else's religion; you can listen to the real thing. and in this case, we have rabbi bronstein, and i swear folks, i did not slip him five dollars to say what he's going to say - it just blew me away, though, because he takes the three myths that we've talked about, and then i almost stood up and clapped when he says thi

christians from egypt. they're not outcome to the notice states. but they're is a process of emptying christians of the middle east. because of the situation, the political situation in the middle east. there are questions whether christianity would survive in the middle east. syria now has some problems so after the arabs bring in needed to what you have is fear. so anybody who had relatives, a western countries just try to get out of egypt. and, of course, as a consequence of liberation on some, so they emigrated. >> is this such a thing as a muslim identity? >> come to my class, an iranian students. have a palestinian students. if you can think of that. to have it means that you can feel comfortable living in america and at the same time maintain is police, separate between the two. there are other muslims to believe the your primary identity should be muslim, so you have to dress and a distinctive white. some muslims. so it depends who decides what the muslims. >> christianity. >> absolutely. no different. >> what is a moderate muslim? >> that is somebody that

a poll of likely republicans in alabama shows that only 14% believe president obama is a fellow christian. in mississippi the figure is 12%. and a majority there say, a strong majority say he's a muslim. >>> plus it's no secret that there's a gender gap in this country politically with democrats holding an edge with women. now the obama campaign is looking to seize the moment and use republican efforts to limit abortion rights and access to contraception to create an insurmountable lead among women in november. >>> also, what are we to make of that horrible rampage by an american serviceman in afghanistan over the weekend? the calls for the u.s. to get out of there are getting louder and louder on both sides of the political aisle here at home. >>> what did steve schmidt really think of the movie "game change"? he fesses up in the side show. we begin with that tight republican race down south. cynthia tucker is an expert down there, pulitzer prize winner. and chris, i think he's a northern boy, he's with "the washington post," msnbc political analyst. cynthia, it's great to have you on, e

i am a christian. i am the granddaughter of a baptist preacher, i'm in church every sunday.nd one of the tenets i cling to, in my faith, is that i am my brother's keeper, and it in if you're -- infuriates me that scott brown and others are not their sister's keeper. i believe in accessability to health care because i am a christian. the two are not mutually exclusive. >> ayanna pressley, thank you for joining us tonight. >>> dr. amy bryant, obs what kind of impact would the blunt amendment have on women's health care from your standpoint? >> well, i think the relish you it's their right to decide how many children they would like to have and whether they should have the children. and i think that allowing someone's access to birth control to be based on the religious affiliation of their employer or the whim of their employer as the blunt amendment would really broaden the exemptions, with its -- the arrangement that it proposes, i think that it would really have a sweeping effect on women's health care if women could not have access to affordable contraception. >> mandatory

i became a christian at age 19.ng to throw stones at people or pretend that i've done it all right. i was sexually active and i became a christian, and reading the bible i realized i should brnt sexually active and so i stopped and i have been faithful to my wife now for 20 years by god's grace. >> your wife grace, you have this dream after you get married in which you -- >> i have weird dreams, sometimes i see stuff, supernatural stuff. >> tell me about this particular dream. >> it was something that had happened when we were first dating and she was only 17 years of age. i found out some things later in the marriage like my wife had been sexually assaulted. we hadn't put together those details. sometimes when you're married for a u few years, some pieces come together. >> you had a dream where specifically you could envision her making out and you confronted her having after the dream did this happen earlier in her life, and she said it did, you said if you had known that you wouldn't have married her. why is it o

he came to the nuba mountains nine years ago with a christian relief organization. uba woman and learned to speak the language. when war broke out just four months after his wedding, he was ordered to evacuate. ryan politely quit. why did you stay when everyone else ran? >> i decided to look into the eyes of the family of my wife, to just get on a plane and tell them good-bye, i'm going now, i couldn't live with that. >> reporter: ryan wanted to tell the story of a war largely unknown to the rest of the world. to show the government's bombing of civilians, the destruction of homes, the starving children. journalists are banned from the nuba mountains. with ryan's help, we make our way in from south sudan. ryan warns us to listen to the sound of government jet fighters. >> has a very specific sound. i'll stop the car and we'll immediately all of us need to get out and lay on the ground. >> reporter: finally, we cross the border. we arrive and ryan leads us to the mountains, where it's estimated tens of thousands of nuba people are living in caves, seeking shelter from

i said, of course, i accept he's a christian. the guy didn't ask me a question. he stated his opinion. i don't have an obligation to correct every voter about every single topic. i also didn't agree with him. for a journalist to make that a big deal is stupid. he's a christian and his policies are to apologize to muslim extremists while they are killing americans at the same time that he is waging war against the catholic church and every right-to-life institution in this country. i went today to louisiana college, which is a baptist college,s have very right to life. the president said publicly, they will close the university before they will give in to obamacare because they are not going to provideay abort-ifications to students or employees. let's accept he's a christian and he went to a christian church for over 20 years. why is it he's more sensitive to radical islamists who are killing young americans than he is to the catholic church, to baptists, to fundamentalists and people who are pro-life, i mean the fact is, this is a very strange presidency. he car

again, this isn't just a christian operation. this is something that i think impacts all human beings. we'll have a panel that sort of talks about, why now? that's part hover the title. then we'll have a panel about, okay, once we have established that, what is the relevance to the world out there? especially the muslim majority world which i think is terrifically important subject for the country and for muslim around the world. >> host: you're watching become tv on c-span2 we have been talking with professor thomas farr about his book and an upcoming book by the witherspoon institute. professor farr, thank you for joining us here at georgetown university. >> guest: thanks for the pleasure. ...

my younger sister, however, joined because she saw this as a radical form of christianity in which people were actually living out their commitment to jesus - that they were living a life dedicated feeding the hungry, helping e poor, clothing the ned, and so on. and in fact, the motto that people's temple had on its letterhead was from matthew 25, the parable of the last judgment. so the temple attracted people who were very much part of traditional christian commitment, as well as those who had a political interest in changing the world. >> now the second interview, that we'll get to after we have a chance to sort through this, we'll hear her articulate some of those reasons - she's asking those questions, why would someone do that - and i think she hit the nail on the head, that for our purposes in beliefs and believers - and we don't want to co-opt her story, and with the greatest respect, i'd say that we're back to looking at the fact that people have a need for meaning and purpose and authenticity. and organized traditional religions, as they become more institutionalized, that very

. >>> this nation was founded as a christian nation.he god of abraham, the god of isaac, and the god of jacob, there's only one god there's only one god, and his name is jesus! [ cheers and applause ] >> that was pastor dennis terry who is the post ter child for a christian-only nation. he fervently prayed to god to have favor on rick santorum. i think he better pray harder. joining me here in "the war room" to discuss this sometimes surreal race are chris lehane and susan kennedy. chris served as a special assistant to president clinton. and susan was the chief of staff to california governor arnold schwarzenegger, and his predecessor, governor gary davis. you just heard that clip there, and the candidates you have worked for i'm sure you have been in churches where they have been prayed over? >> absolutely. >> i have had candidates who have dropped to their knees and -- >> it's part of the deal. but the question is on someone like pastor terry, who we just heard, he really was unambiguously stating that this is a christian nation and

do you think it might have got gotten more attention if it was a christian. might have gotten a larger story. >> i definitely think if it was a christian killed by a muslim it would have been a larger story. in the media there are not a lot to push our stories. we saw trayvon martin, people who spoke out intelligently and in a way that needed to be done to give attention to that issue. the same with our community we need to be in the media more. within america many are treated less than equal. in new york they're spying on colleges, they're spying on muslims where they eat where they work, where they pray. if you're muslim you can be demonized and in this case sadly appears this woman was killed simply because she was muslim. that was unbelievably unacceptable. i hope the justice department is getting involved and help the local police if they cannot apprehend the criminal. >> right, now we got to be clear the cops are doing their job here. there has been no, you know, hint of the cops not doing it, etc. that's the big difference. >> that is it. >> is dean ri

up to 88% of the people don't buy the fact he's a christian. at a problem for the president? you say religion doesn't matter anymore. i'm just asking. >> you're talking about something that doesn't matter. when a man or a woman tells you their faith is, you accept them at their word. >> but they don't in your state. the majority say he's a muslim. >> but that's not going to affect the vote. >> even if they are voting for a muslim? this is getting hilarious. you say it doesn't matter. you're laughing at me. you say it doesn't matter. then they say i don't believe he is what he says he is. >> of course it matters. people like to vote for someone they feel that they can associate with both from a religious standpoint, cultural standpoint, and that is part of romney's problems in the south. he's not from the south. he doesn't sound like he's from the south. he's not a christian, according to many, who think he is a mormon. >> how do you explain he's running strong in both mississippi and alabama? a lot of people in the media -- >> the same polls hav

they don't think the president is a christian. they think he's a muslim largely. they have a big three choice. you start with this, cynthia. they get to choose among two catholics and a mormon. in order to beat the guy they think is a muslim, they have to choose between cultists. >> well, chris, i happen to remember when the prejudice against catholics in the deep south was a lot stronger than it is today. so that's one area i'll have to say that i think voters have advanced a bit. there is, as the other chris said a few minutes ago, said about the against mormons, there's still quite a bit of that. that's one of the surprises for me about how well mitt romney is fairing. but having said all that, i don't think there is a great deal of enthusiasm for the current field in mississippi or alabama anymore than there is in the rest of the country. will people vote for whoever the nominee is in november? yes. most of them will. but i think there's an enthusiasm gap here. >> and chris, just to add. look. i think it's funny. here's the dirty secret. none of these three gu