Rick Warren Scrubs Anti-Gay Language From Website

John Aravosis of Americablog noticed on Friday that Rick Warren's church website explicitly bans gay people "unwilling to repent of their homosexual lifestyle" from membership at Saddleback. (They are allowed, however, to attend services.)

Now Warren has removed the anti-gay language from the church website. The original page:

Comments

[Nathaniel2]

About the Saddleback website "scrubbing," note that this, by Tom Holladay, manifestly in an official capacity, remains online there under “Celebrate Recovery”:

WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY ABOUT HOMOSEXUALITY?

Question: What does the Bible say about homosexuality?

Answer: The Bible very clearly says that homosexuality is a sin.

“Homosexuality is absolutely forbidden, for it is an enormous sin.” Lev. 18:22 (TLB)

“Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.” And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” 1 Cor 6:9-11 (NIV)

While all sin is destructive, Romans 6 warns us of the great dangers of sexual sin when it says, “Run away from sexual sin! No other sin so clearly affects the body as this one does. For sexual immorality is a sin against your own body.” (1 Cor 6:18 NLT) This includes not only homosexuality, but all sexual immorality: adultery, sex outside of marriage and pornography. ...

keep reading at at http://www.saddlebackfamily.com/maturity/fullstory.asp?id=5492

[LynnW49]

Scrubbed from the Web site does not mean scrubbed from the message.

[wijg]

I tried to give this man the benefit of the doubt... really! I'm done. It appears we are now a bunch of e vil Christ ophobes. This man compares our relationships to inc est and ped oph ilia, and now I am also an evil Christ ophobe! Could someone please remove the shovel from the Rev's hands (or not).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctnI4uiZF4A

http://www.saddlebackfamily.com/blogs/newsandviews/index.html?contentid=1723

[freethinking moderate]

Is this the groundwork being laid for Rick Warren "coming out"? He certainly looks gay to me.

[thatoneguytm]

Funny how fame and fortune makes one adjust their tune. Still, a sinner but now humbly invited to share and spread the word of hypocrisy. Thank you Jesus!

[lvdragonlady]

For all the hoopla behind him being selected by Obama, it just might have made him a better pastor/person.

[liberaldemdave]

bull. he's now accusing the glbt community of all sorts of horrible things (on top of comparing us to pedophiles and incest).

furthermore, saddleback's PR firm (who knew that a church needed a PR firm) has publicly stated that the "church's" position on banning "unrepentant" gays from membership hasn't changed. in the PR firm's words, the page has been replaced so the language can be "rebranded" (i.e., made to sound less hateful?)

[Cybersquirt]

please. he knows it's in his own best interest given the bone Obama's thrown him (and could still take away). He's also now lying about statements he's made in the past - comparing homosexual marriage to pedophilic relations, among other things.

It's all about image, pure and simple.

[Cybersquirt]

In other words: I could believe it if he'd said he's had a change of heart but he's not, is he..

[Biscuit]

So, let me get this straight (no pun intended)...

A pastor, who is apparently strongly anti-gay and whom many people respect and admire, has been befriended and invited to speak at the inauguration by President-Elect Obama. This pastor, as a result, has removed some of the anti-gay text from his website and has publicly spoken out in more moderate terms about gay people.

A popular pastor has become officially and publicly more accepting of gays because of President Obama.

This is a very, very good thing. This is the best kind of thing. I pray that this kind of thing keeps on happening.

[RODERICK098]

This is a man who also says that abused women cannot divorce their husbands. This man is too disgustung to have participate at the inaugural and he has made millions claiming he speaks for Jesus which he does not

[liberaldemdave]

it would be a good thing if that's what had happened. it isn't, however. see my comment upthread about the "rebranding" of the gay ban at saddleback.

[Skott1]

I wish you were right, but the policy remains the same - GAYS not welcome. While the main page was revised, you can still find the exclusive language on the website. I think he was just trying to take some heat off of Obama. It is still an insult to gay people to have this man deliver the invocation.

[JimR]

Actually, he invites gays to attend church, but they can't be church members. I'm not defending his policy or his views, but let's get it right.

[MACS]

.
Warren: so much for a man of principles.

A little heat and he scrubs his web site.

Will he also change his ideas of Christianity???

Did Jesus really exist???

.

[larmarch5]

Just had an idea:
When RevRick starts his very public very egotistical "pray-speech" everyone in attendance could just start humming "Amazing Grace". I think Jesus would be pleased.

[larmarch5]

Does Saddleback required adulterers to renounce and repent in order to become members? Does Saddleback require glutons to go on diets in order to become members? Does Saddleback require alcoholics to go through detox before becoming members? This is starting to sound like Groucho Marx on clubs: "I Wouldn't Join Any Club that Would Have Me as a Member."

As for Obama and his Revs (Wright and Rick): this is exactly why we have separation of church and state. I think it says in the Bible that prayers shouted out in public are insincere and just for show.

Matthew 6:5-6: "And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men....when thou prayest, enter into thy closet and when thou has shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret...."

[jazzman]

How you feel about gay marriage is a religious matter. Gay's having the right to marry is a civil matter. Under protection of our bill of rights and civil rights laws gays should not be discriminated against. The bill of rights was written to protect the minority against the tyranny of the majority. This issue should have never been settled by a 'vote' because civil liberties and civil rights should not be left up to the whim of the masses. If the California Supreme Court has any courage it will nullify this mean spirited discrimination perpetuated by Mormons, Christofascists, and homophobic bigots and give gays back the rights they deserve as citizens of the US.

As for Warren, I trust Obama to be able to reach out and change this man more than I fear Warren changing Obama. Look for Warren to grow in understanding within the embrace of Obama's reaching out to him as a fellow human being. It's a new day in politics.

("Don't I destroy my enemy when I make him my friend?" - Abraham Lincoln)

[Beninn]

Why do Rick Warren and evangelicals involve themselves in some biblical commandments and not others?

The big divergence between the old and new testaments (Jews and Christians) came when Paul set forth the argument that in order to live a righteous life, you didn't have to follow all the daily life rules put out in the old testament. You just had to have faith in Jesus Christ as your savior and that was enough for you to join the community.

Why limit the bible's teachings to condemning homosexuality if you're not using Christianity to justify your bigotry, your homophobia?

If Rick Warren were any kind of a Christian pastor upholding biblical tenets, he would be demanding that the government make into law the wiping out of all debts (credit card, mortgages, etc.) every 7 years. From the Old Testament, once every 7 years, all debts are to be forgiven.

As we teeter on the edge of a Greater Depression, why isn't Rick Warren calling for this instead of calling for more pain to minorities in the US?

[Beninn]

Warren reiterated on Sunday that he hasn't changed his mind about gay marriage. He's out to change other's minds, not have his mind changed.

Rick Warren is not from mainstream America. Warren's views are objectionable on many subjects, and his participation in the inauguration is an outrage to more people than just the gay and lesbian community.

In 2005, he interjected himself into the Terri Schiavo case.

On Hardball with Chris Matthews, March 23, 2005

Warren appeared to accuse Michael Schiavo (Terri Schiavo's husband) of "rushing to pull the plug" (after Schiavo had spent fifteen years in a chronic, persistent, vegetative state, and doctors gave her no chance of meaningful recover, and after the courts agreed that she had not wanted to be kept alive in that condition). Evangelicals turned Schiavo's final days at a hospice into a circus, insisting that she was merely "sleeping". An autopsy showed that Schiavo's brain had atrophied, she was blind and had been incapable of any thought or feelings for years.

On Hardball, Rick Warren called Michael Schiavo's decision to remove Terry Schiavo's feeding tube, "an atrocity worthy of Nazism," and suggested that Michael wanted Terri to die because, if she regained consciousness, she might have "something to say that he didn‘t want said."

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7286474/

[Vere15]

Generations of fundamentalists stood firm against against unnatural and unusual prolongation of life in any form by the medical profession. They did so in part because of their confidence in the afterlife recognizing even St. Paul's desire to be in heaven unless God had more for him to do on earth.

Evidently, politicians did the bait and switch with this viewpoint and euthanasia which is an entirely opposite issue. Unfortunately, a number of religious leaders fell for it and abandoned their faith.

If I can say with tongue in cheek, the politicians involved have been ridiculed into political euthanasia and voters found no reason for unnatural and unusual prolongation of their careers.

[CB22]

Oh. I see I missed the Corinthians 1 Cor 6:9-11 quote from the Saddelback.

Again, the Luther German version is quite different, and again, Knabe is there.

Wisset ihr nicht, daß die Ungerechten das Reich Gottes nicht ererben werden? Lasset euch nicht verführen! Weder die Hurer noch die Abgöttischen noch die Ehebrecher noch die Weichlinge noch die Knabenschänder

Don't you all know that the unjust will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Don't allow yourselves to be mislead! Neither the fornicators nor the idol worshipers nor the adulterers nor the weak (weaklngs/cry babies/cissies) nor those who defile young boys......

Weichling and Knabenschaender become effeminate/male prostitutes and homosexuals in English translations.

[openlids]

is that Baron Davis in the back of that website pic?