Hillary Clinton speaks at the National Baptist Convention USA in Kansas City, Missouri, Sept. 8, 2016 (Video screenshot)
In the aftermath of a heated, prime-time exchange with Matt Lauer regarding her handling of classified information that challenged her integrity and honesty, Hillary Clinton invoked the biblical themes of humility and grace in a speech at a black Baptist church convention.
"I've made my share of mistakes," Clinton said amid the ongoing release of evidence contradicting her insistence that she didn't mishandle classified information while she was secretary of state.
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“I don’t know anyone who hasn’t. It’s grace that lifts us up," Clinton told the approximately 4,000 delegates to the National Baptist Convention USA in Kansas City, Missouri, Thursday night.
"Humility is not something you hear about much in politics, is it? But you should. None of us is perfect," Clinton said. "I have learned to be grateful not just for my blessings but also for my faults – and there are plenty."
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While she didn't mention her chief opponent, Donald Trump, the reference to humility and politics coupled with her admission of weaknesses clearly was meant to establish a contrast to the Republican nominee and his reputation for not being shy about promoting himself.
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“It’s always been about trying to live up to the responsibility described by the Prophet Micah,” Clinton said. “That we do justice, love kindness and walk humbly with our God.”
Politico said Trump "shaved off the rougher edges of the pitch he’s previously made to African-American voters, mostly before white audiences – “what the hell do you have to lose?” he has said in the past – and traded it in for uncharacteristic humility."
Clinton told the convention delegates she has a "deep and abiding Christian faith" developed through her upbringing in the Methodist Church in suburban Chicago. She noted her husband, Bill Clinton, was a Southern Baptist and said they have many Baptist friends.
Hillary's core
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Jennifer Palmieri, Clinton's spokeswoman, told CNN that the speech in Kansas City is the first of a series of four "Stronger Together" speeches around the new book that she and running mate Tim Kaine published this week, focusing on "what is at the core of Hillary," faith, children and families.
Hillary Clinton greeted by Rick Warren before her speech at Saddleback Church in Orange County, California, Nov. 29, 2007 (WND photo)
WND was at Rick Warren's Saddleback Church in Southern California in 2007 when Clinton spoke about her faith at an AIDS summit.
“My own faith journey is approaching a half century, and I know how far I have to go,” she said. “But I have been blessed in my life, starting with my family, and in the church of my childhood, to be guided every step of the way."
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At the Saddleback event, Clinton pointed to a number of significant influences on her faith: “A mother who taught Sunday School and a mother who made sure that my brothers and I were there the moment the church doors opened; a father who kneeled by the side of his bed every night of his life to say his prayers; a minister of our youth fellowship who took it as part of his mission to show this group of white, suburban, middle class kids that there was a bigger world outside; a prayer group that formed for me shortly after I came to the White House, a group of extraordinary women, both Democrats and Republicans, whose love and support sustained me.”
Clinton said at the 2007 event she’s often asked if she’s a “praying person.”
“I’ve always responded that I was fortunate enough to be raised to understand the power and purpose of prayer,” she said.
“But had I not been,” the senator quipped, “probably one week in the White House would have turned me into one.”
“It’s wonderful to know that the sustaining power of prayer is there for so many of us,” she said.
Clinton told the audience of about 1,700 at Saddleback Church that one of her favorite passages of the Bible is the book of James’ admonition that “faith without works is dead.”
“But I have concluded that works without faith is just too hard,” she said. “It cannot be sustained over one’s life or the generations. And it’s important for us to recognize how, here in what you are doing, faith and works comes together.”
'This is the day'
Thursday night in Kansas City, Clinton opened her 30-minute speech declaring, “This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it."
She recited the same Bible verse in a speech at a Baptist church in New York state in April, the Christian Science Monitor reported at the time, commenting that Clinton "often seems most at ease in houses of worship," particularly black Baptist churches.
In Kansas City, she made a reference to teaching Sunday School classes.
“We are commanded to love,” she said. “Indeed, Jesus made it his greatest commandment. When I used to teach the occasional Sunday School class, I often taught on that lesson. That’s a hard commandment to obey. Some days it’s really hard for me.”
Clinton explained how faith impacted her career decisions.
"It would have been easier to follow many of my law school classmates to a high-powered New York law firm, but the call to service rooted in my faith was just too powerful," she said.
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In the Christian Science Monitor story in April, black pastor Darrell Scott, a Trump campaigner who leads the New Spirit Revival Center in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, said the support of black pastors for Clinton didn't makes sense to him.
"She's very, very liberal. This is what I don't understand about the pastors. Christians by nature, should be conservative," said Scott, the CEO of Trump's National Diversity Coalition and a speaker at the Republican National Convention in July.
"She's the absolute wrong choice for a voter of faith."
Tough grilling
After the "Commander In Chief Forum" Wednesday night in New York City, the Clinton campaign and its allies sharply criticized Lauer for devoting about a third of the time to the email issue, accusing him of unfairness, sloppiness and even sexism.
Matt Lauer and Hillary Clinton at NBC's "Commander in Chief" forum in New York City Sept. 7, 2016.
Lauer, the anchor of NBC's "Today" show, brought up the email scandal in his second question.
"The word judgment has been used a lot around you, Secretary Clinton, over the last year and a half, and in particular concerning your use of your personal email and server to communicate while you were secretary of state," Lauer said.
"Why wasn't it disqualifying, if you want to be commander in chief?"
Clinton insisted she never mishandled classified information, despite FBI Director James Comey's declaration to the nation that she was "extremely careless." Comey disclosed that more than 100 emails contained classified information "at the time they were sent or received," emphasizing that whether or not they were marked classified is irrelevant.
Clinton also tried to reassure the American people she had considerable experience handling classified information, but she told the FBI she didn't know what the "C" markings were, denoting confidential classified information. She also said in the three-hour interview with the bureau July 2 that she couldn't recall having had the required training on handling classified information provided by the State Department.
