Rick Warren Hanging Himself

UPDATED: This news from America Blog which is rather interesting:

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At the very last minute, with no warning, he canceled on Stephanopoulos, on Easter Sunday no less, due to "exhaustion." Hmm... Stephanopoulos didn't sound convinced. Nor am I. It's Easter Sunday. Warren was going to be on ABC's This Week, doing his schtick as "America's Pastor." This was a big opportunity for him, on the biggest Christian day of the year (at least in my church, Easter is bigger than Christmas). And suddenly he cancels.

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As readers of this blog know all too well, I am no fan of Homophobe, Rick Warren of Saddleback Church. I see him a largely a modern day Pharisee and someone Barack Obama ought to avoid. I am likewise no fan of the Washington Times either. But it is great fun watching the Moonie controlled Washington Times do stories basically ripping Warren a new one for his appearance on Larry King where he claimed that he never supported Proposition 8 and likewise claimed not to have anti-gay statements. Even though he did and there is video footage all over the Internet showing Warren saying precisely what he now claims to have never said. Why do people like Warren make such stupid claims? Do they really believe that the rest of us are so stupid that we will believe the lies and not quickly find the evidence to document his lies? I just do not understand the mindset. Meanwhile, Warren has the extreme Christo-fascist unloading on him as well for his "betrayal." It is truly an amusing spectacle. Here are some highlights from the Washington Times:

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Evangelical leaders say they are bewildered and stunned by the Rev. Rick Warren's apparent turnaround on gay marriage after the famous California pastor said earlier this week that he was not a proponent of California's Proposition 8. Mr. Warren told CNN's Larry King on Monday that he "never once even gave an endorsement" of the proposition, which said marriage in the state could only involve one man and one woman.

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"I was extremely troubled by the way he appeared to be so anxious to distance himself from the same-sex issue and to make clear he was not an 'activist' and that he'd only addressed the issue in a very minor way," said the Rev. Al Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky. Wendy Wright, president of Concerned Women for America, said his denial is "absolutely baffling."

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"Whether he supports Proposition 8 now, after the fact, is overshadowed by the bizarre claim that he did not say what the evidence so clearly proves he said."

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What Mr. Warren said he did do was send out a video to his 22,000-member church explaining his position the week before Proposition 8 went before state voters on Nov. 4. "Now let me say this really clearly: We support Proposition 8," he said on the video, "and if you believe what the Bible says about marriage, you need to support Proposition 8. I never support a candidate, but on moral issues, I come out very clear."

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Christianity Today magazine on April 7 pressed Mr. Warren about whether his CNN remarks contradicted the video sent to his congregration. It was a pastor talking to his own people," he replied. "I've never said anything about it since. I don't know how you can take one video newsletter to your own church and turn that into — all of a sudden I'm the poster boy for anti-gay marriage."

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Still, evangelicals point to a bigger issue brought about by Mr. Warren. "This is a major distraction in this battle for the culture we are experiencing," said Bishop Harry Jackson, pastor of Hope Christian Church in Beltsville and founder of the High Impact Leadership Coalition of 5,000 black and Hispanic evangelical leaders. "I really respect Pastor Warren, but his stance will hurt the evangelical church. He is being politically correct instead of biblically courageous."

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Funny thing. I thought there was a Commandment against lying and bearing false witness. Oops. I forgot, professional Christians and homophobes have granted themselves an exemption from that one.

Saddleback Church Forum: Good Show, Poor Theology

Former Episcopal Bishop John Shelby Spong at left is among my favorite theological writers, I do not agree with all of his views, but his book Rescuing the Bible From Fundamentalism, is a great scholarly read and reveals the idiocy of those who claim that the Bible is the inerrant word of God. His books definitely were of great help to me in ridding myself of the spiritual poison with which I had been indoctrinated growing up Roman Catholic. Spong has a column in the Washington Post that critiques the recent Saddleback Church presidential candidate form. Not surprisingly, it is not overly kind to the evangelical Christianist world view which relies on ignorance and bigotry as its base. Here are some highlights:

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The Saddleback Forum was good theater, but it was theologically naïve. The questions asked reflected an evangelical world view that is one to which educated people today cannot relate. It did reveal that evangelical Christianity is broadening in its interests to concerns about life after birth and the environment, but part of that is because the old hot button issues of abortion and homosexuality are simply fading in importance.

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The pity is that the same people who fight against abortion also fight against sex education, birth control and the availability of safe contraceptives. It is not a surprise, therefore, that abortions have risen rapidly during the administration of pro-life George Bush.

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Homosexuality is no more a choice for gay and lesbian people than heterosexuality is a choice for straight people. It takes a while for that knowledge to trickle down to the masses. Prejudice lives only in the untrickled down gaps. The condemnation of homosexuality as a sin or as a distortion by the hierarchy of the Vatican or the leaders of evangelical Christianity is simply a sign that both groups live in the backwaters of knowledge and education. As this knowledge spreads, those groups will look like what they are - dated people similar to the members of the Flat Earth Society.

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Of course evangelicals have a right to be involved in politics. They also have a responsibility to educate themselves on the issues. Thank God they are a minority of our population. If they were not, then America would be subjected to what John Stuart Mill called "the tyranny of the majority." That is not democracy in action, that is nothing more than religious imperialism.