A Purpose Driven Follow Up...

A slower-to-judge friend of mine posted a this interview with Rick Warren in one of my comments. It appears that I, and others, may have been quick to pass judgment on Rick Warren regarding the whole double-speak thing.

Rick Warren defending himself (and successfully, I might add), explaining that the video in question was not a public statement, but video was intended for his congregation alone. He said:

The truth is, Proposition 8 was a two-year campaign in the state, and during those two years, I never said a word about it until the eight days before the election, and then I did make a video for my own people when they asked, "How should we vote on this?" It was a pastor talking to his own people. I've never said anything about it since. I don't know how you 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.

He later explained that part of his beef is that the homosexual community does not believe that someone like Warren (and by extension, other Christians) can love them, be friends with them, yet disagree with homosexual (“gay is the new black”) political platform. In this, I actually empathized with him. It is frustrating but perhaps expected: Christians are taught to love those who are different from them and their own, but we do not always get the same treatment in return.
There were other statements that Warren made that I was happy about it. For instance, he took a stand on non-interference and refused some government money. Wisely, he did not want strings attached. I cannot support him enough in this. I do not have, in principle, a problem with many para-church organizations that do accept federal money, but there is often a cost of identity that I think may make it not worth it.

If I could ask Rick Warren one question it would be this. Refusing government money, because you don’t want the government to mess with your religion, is sound and classical libertarian principle. The government does not get its fingers into the church’s businesses. On the same token, why endorse a “yes” vote on prop 8? The Christian definition of marriage is something that Christians should defend. Why should we allow the government to have its fingers in it? The opinion of the body politic means little to me for what marriage is, for the same reason that the opinion of the body politic means little when it comes to baptism. Such is a similar classical libertarian principle that makes accepting money from the government a bad idea. So why care about prop 8?

Rick Warren Good Doublespeak?

As many of you know, Rick Warren recently denied, on Larry King, that he ever supported California’s prop 8. Yet it is quite obvious that he did when he, was very clear about it that he did. You can read a whole article about it here*

His denial very much bothered me. He seemed to be back-pedaling from a corner he stuffed himself into. He wants away from the gay issue now (not on his “agenda”), which one can completely empathize with, but still a lie is a lie. I can understand him if he wishes to recant some statements, re-think some actions and opinions, or apologize to those he may have offended. This isn’t it though. He seems to by lying and trying to play politics in order to appease the masses.

Some have suggested a nice, charitable reading of this action: maybe Rick Warren forgot what he said. This seems unlikely. Churches run like companies, and Warren is the CEO. The issue of gay marriage probably came up many, many, times in meetings. He and others likely spent either a long time discussing this issue. The prop 8 question could not have escaped Saddleback church. How likely is it that he could ‘forget’ what he communicated to his congregation on this incredibly hot issue, which was campaigned for and debated about for months?

Maybe by never making a public statement, Warren had something in mind like a press conference or some kind of “on the official record” court testimony. However, but a pastor of his influence should understand that he is under public scrutiny, whether by pulpit or press conference. These days, youtube is enough to make anyone eat their words.

Of course, I have never been a fan of Rick Warren. Neither do I count myself as one of his detractors, but if he continues to pull dishonest, insincere, political double talk, I believe that he will find himself disliked by the sides he tries to appease.
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*thanks, Allison