The Compassion Forum

Quotes from tonight’s The Compassion Forum at Messiah College in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

Hillary Clinton
"I don't pretend to even believe that I know the answers to a lot of these questions. I don't."

Does life begin at conception?

Barak Obama
"This is something that I have not, I think, come to a firm resolution on. I think it's very hard to know what that means, when life begins. Is it when a cell separates? Is it when the soul stirs? What I know is that there is something extraordinarily powerful about potential life and that that has a moral weight to it that we take into consideration when we're having these debates."

Hillary Clinton
"I believe the potential for life begins at conception. For me, it is also not only about a potential life. It is about the other lives involved. I have concluded.. that individuals must be entrusted to make this profound decision.”

Obama was asked about his controversial pastor:
"Pastors are imperfect. Certainly, the membership is imperfect. I, as somebody who is sitting in the pews as a sinner, is imperfect," he said. "And, you know, that doesn't detract from, I think, what the church is supposed to be about, which is to worship God and proclaim the good news."

Obama was asked about his recent comment about “bitter” Pennsylvanians clinging to religion:
"Scripture talks about clinging to what's good. And so it's very important. My words may have been clumsy, which happens surprisingly often on a presidential campaign.. religion is a bulwark, a foundation when other things aren't going well. That's true in my own life, through trials and tribulations. And so what I was referring to was in no way demeaning a faith that I, myself, embrace. What I was saying is that when economic hardship hits in these communities, what people have is they've got family, they've got their faith, they've got the traditions that have been passed onto them from generation to generation. Those aren't bad things. That's what they have left."

Clinton was asked if she thought God thought she should be president:
"I could be glib and say we will find out. I don’t presume anything about God, I believe Abraham Lincoln was right that in admonishing us not to act as though we knew God was on our side. In fact, our mission should be on God's side. And I have tried to take my beliefs my faith and put it to work my entire life and it has been gratifying to view the little I’ve done to try and help other people, which is really what motivates me."