Who Says America Doesn't Have a Prayer?
In his song, "Dignity," Bob Dylan - the unofficial poet laureate of the Baby Boomer generation - wrote, "...the soul of a nation is under the knife..,' and went on to describe the many and varied ways people search for the elusive virtue of self respect.
This has never been more apparent than in the bifurcation of our societal psyche following the invitation last month by President-elect Obama to Dr. Rick Warren to give the Invocation at the Swearing-in Ceremony of his historic Inauguration January 20.
Dr. Warren, pastor of Saddleback Valley Community Church in Southern California, represents a new brand of Evangelicals who apply the timeless message of the Gospel in a timely way. Who can argue with his tireless international efforts to take on the five global giants of pandemic disease, extreme poverty, illiteracy, self-centered leadership and spiritual emptiness? He and his wife Kay have spent millions from the proceeds of his best-selling book, "The Purpose Driven Life," to assist people infected and affected by HIV/AIDS - including many in the gay community.
The December 16 announcement by the Presidential Inaugural Committee (PIC) of the selection of Dr. Warren, described by some media as "America's Pastor," became immediately controversial and he found himself being attacked by both sides in this battle for our national soul. It is not unlike the Civil War soldier who wore a Union coat and Confederate pants and was shot at by both sides.
It is curious that the man who hosted the first joint appearance of the presumptive Presidential nominees at a Civil Forum last August - affirmed by many media reports as a high water mark among the debates as he sought common middle ground for the common good on moral and
spiritual issues -- now finds himself in the middle of a firestorm.
Some of these attacks came from the right, by those upset that a Christian pastor who believes that God knit us in the womb could offer a blessing to inaugurate a man who has expressed polar opposite views on the issue of choice. But Dr. Warren is taking his cues from the Bible, which admonishes people of faith to pray for our leaders.
Warren has expressed his love for America and how honored he is to seek God's continued blessing on the office of the President and its current and future inhabitant at this 44th peaceful transfer of power. He has noted his privilege as other Evangelical pastors before him to pray wisdom for all of our national leadership and for unity and protection for our nation and citizens at this critical time - not to invoke God's blessing on a party, policies or programs.
Other criticism came from voices on the left, who misunderstood Warren's concern about the redefinition of marriage and felt the President-elect should not have extended an invitation to ask his pastoral friend to pray.
There is nothing newsworthy about an Evangelical pastor supporting the 5,000 year definition of marriage as one man and one woman, for life - a position held by tens of thousands of Bible-affirming pastors across the country and acknowledged by every religion on the planet. But he stayed completely out of the Proposition 8 debate for the entire campaign season, not making any statement until he responded to members' questions in an internal communication to his congregation the week before the vote. That cause is simply not where he wanted to focus his time and distract from his calling to preach the good news of grace, assist the poor and care for the sick.
Warren believes everyone should have the freedom to make their own moral choices. He has repeatedly stated that divorce, not gay partnerships, is what is hurting the American family. As such, he has become a target not because he is the most vocal in support of a traditional definition of marriage, but rather the most visible.
What is newsworthy is how President-elect Obama, a professing fellow-Christian, reached across the cultural divide to invite Dr. Warren to participate in his Swearing-in ceremony. He joins renowned civil rights Pastor Joseph Lowry (who, like Warren, opposes the redefinition of marriage while supporting equal rights for gays) in a ceremony that is as inclusive as it is historic, as the President-elect said it would be.
In the wake of the recent financial crisis and historic election -- including the controversial passing of California Proposition 8 -- America is undergoing a test of unity. In some respects, Dr. Warren is one piece in a much bigger puzzle and by some observations is being used as a bargaining chip by groups upset with President-elect Obama for governing from the center and not their corner.
As a pastor, Warren believes in the separation of church and state, but doesn't believe that we can separate religion from politics, because one's faith determines one's worldview. Beyond preaching, three of Warren's other life goals include helping individuals accept responsibility, helping the Church regain credibility and encouraging society to return to civility.
The caricaturization and vilification of Rick Warren from both sides is perhaps symptomatic of how polarized we have become since the last Democrat was inaugurated 16 years ago. We didn't have such an outcry when other Evangelicals delivered the official prayers. Is all this anger and hatred pointing to another division in our nation, along ideology rather than geography? Are we headed for another Civil War, of sorts - a Civic War, if you will, because there is nothing civil about it? I fear so, unless we, as a nation, return to civility.
Three years ago Warren took the initial risk by inviting then-Senator Obama to speak at his annual AIDS & The Church Conference at Saddleback, for which the pastor was savagely criticized from the right. President-elect Obama has since taken a big risk by inviting him to pray, and has taken similar flak from the other side.
Through this visible Inaugural platform, President-elect Obama and Dr. Rick Warren have opportunity together to move beyond sectarian interest to national interest; to go beyond being informative on an agenda to being collaborative for America from a position informed by faith and a perspective driven by civility.
Hopefully, individuals passionately expressing opinions from the left and the right will recognize that both Warren and President-elect Obama have shown a commitment to together model civility in America, how to disagree without being disagreeable and how to walk arm-in-arm without seeing eye-to-eye. In the process, they can rise above popularity and polarity to be men of consequence in difficult times.
Larry Ross is President of A. Larry Ross Communications, a full-service agency that provides cross-over media liaison emanating from or targeted to the Christian market. With more than 30 years experience influencing public opinion through in mainstream and Christian public relations, Mr. Ross' mission is to "restore faith in media," by providing "value-added P.R. that defines values" and gives Christian messages relevance and meaning in mainstream media. His clients include Pastor Rick Warren.
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"As a pastor, Warren believes in the separation of church and state, but doesn't believe that we can separate religion from politics, because one's faith determines one's worldview."
THEN RICK WARREN IS WRONG.
In Canada, Prime Minister Paul Martin -- a devout Catholic -- in 2003 said that his faith made gay marriage problematic for him, but as the leader of the country his PRIMARY duty was to ensure EQUALITY for EVERYBODY. We have been married 5 years and the sky did not fall, and Quebec is 90% Christian.
Until the United States can actually separate Church and State -- REALLY -- you will not be a free country.
And if you want the truth about Rick Warren's "faith-based" AIDS work, including supporting the burning of condoms, the rolling back of safe sex programs that save lives, and the harassment of homosexuals, see this well-researched article in the Daily Beast.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-01-07/the-truth-about-rick-warren-in-africa
Do any of you in the anti-Rick Warren coalition have an independent bone in your bodies? Do you read anything but hysterical LGBT bloggers? Are you actually looking for the truth, or are you willing to be lemmings following the rhetoric of a micro-minority over the cliff of reason? Rick Warren is the most progressive evangelical pastor in America. Unlike you, he DOESN'T have a hateful bone in his body. His views on traditional marriage are no different than a wide majority of Christian pastors in America. His views on traditional marriage are actually no different that Barack Obama's. He's not fringe. He's not a member of the religious right. But apparently you now need someone to demonize because you don't know how to compute the fact that a majority of Americans still believe in a traditional definition. There are actually more evangelicals who voted for Obama than there are gays in America. So whose president is he really?
This article is the biggest bunch of deceptive bull I have ever read.
Warren DID equate lgbt people with sexual criminals. Another from the So. Baptist Convention, Rev. Dr. Albert Mohler had the audacity to say about Bishop Gene Robinson that: "Bishop Robinson is NOT a Christian Bishop." (from his 1/15/09 radio show) and his writing (see his blog) infers he is an atheist apparently not bothering to use the real meaning of the word atheist substituting it for differences when it comes to church dogma.
Why don't you TRY and do some decent research on these people and their history and thinking before bothering to write.
Then to have Bishop Robinson eliminated from airing...
I call bullshit. You are very, very wrong and quite uninformed. If you think for a MINUTE this het Episcopalian buys your sorry line of thinking you are very wrong. I do NOT need to accept bigotry under my religious tent and won't be doing that any time soon.
To whom much is given, much is expected. Rick Warren has been blessed in countless ways. It's his duty as an avowed and devout Christian to reach out to the least among us and try to improve their living conditions. Warren's savior, Jesus Christ, demanded no less. He is doing nothing extraordinary in that sense (although compared to his fellow televangelists, he certainly may be, assuming he doesn't live in a megamansion and enjoy the lavish lifestyle of the Jim Bakker types).
But refusing to recognize the exact same human rights for everyone is wrong, period. All of the good works Warren may do will not make up for that. Warren should follow the dictates of his religion by repenting for his sin of prejudice and then atoning through prayer and service.
HBO did not air Gene Robinson's prayer due to Obama's PIC's decision. Then the speakers "malfunctioned" when Robinson was speaking and magically worked again in time for the concert. Obama didn't bother showing up until after the prayer.
Here's hoping that Warren get's treated with the same "respect" that Robinson did.
However, he won't be. I'm sure nothing will go off without a hitch.
Fortunately, I have plans to do something else during the inaugaration.
I always read the bio first:
"Larry Ross is President of A. Larry Ross Communications, a full-service agency he founded in 1994 to provide cross-over media liaison emanating from or targeted to the Christian market."
"Who can argue with his tireless international efforts to take on the five global giants of pandemic disease, extreme poverty, illiteracy, self-centered leadership and spiritual emptiness?"
ANY NORMAL PERSON WOULD QUESTION IT:
"Warren’s man in Uganda is a charismatic pastor named Martin Ssempa. The head of the Makerere Community Church, a rapidly growing congregation, Ssempe enjoys close ties to his country’s First Lady, Janet Museveni, and is a favorite of the Bush White House. In the capitol of Kampala, Ssempa is known for his boisterous crusading. Ssempa’s stunts have included burning condoms in the name of Jesus and arranging the publication of names of homosexuals in cooperative local newspapers while lobbying for criminal penalties to imprison them."
http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/understanding-rick-warrens-work-africa
THANK GOODNESS FOR THE INTERNET.
Can't hide the truth....
The author is wrong on several crucial fronts - he states that there is a "5,000 year definition of marriage as one man and one woman, for life - a position held by every religion on the planet."
But modern-day marriage for the masses is very recent, several hundred years, and prior to the Renaissance and European Enlightenment, only Kings and their courts actually married.
He also argues that one mane and one woman is position held by every religion on the planet." But the Mormon church until very recently favored one man and lots of women ... other religions favor the marrying of child brides to adult men ... so this too is a fallacy.
He also states that Rick Warren "stayed completely out of the Proposition 8 debate for the entire campaign season, not making any statement,", and yet we have videotaped evidence of his strong and vocal support for that hate-filled bill, and we have videotaped evidence of his hatred for gay men and women.
My suggestion to the writer would be to instead Seek the Truth, rather than spinning falsehoods, and the Truth might even set you free.
What a gross misrepresentation of Rick Warren's true beliefs. This article gives waaaaaaaaaaaay too much credit to Warren being a tolerant human being. He is not. Rick Warren is just as nasty as James Dobson and the rest of the hardline haters of the religious right. Warren just has a nicer reputation, but it matters not if the person stabbing you in the back has a smile on his face or not.
"Other criticism came from voices on the left, who misunderstood Warren's concern about the redefinition of marriage and felt the President-elect should not have extended an invitation to ask his pastoral friend to pray."
We didn't "misunderstand" Warren's "concern". We understood it well, and were simply horrified by it. Warren has consistently lied about the so-called "5000 year old tradition" of marriage, implying that marriage has always been between one man and one woman. Of course, the truth is that for most of history the rule was "one man plus as many wives, concubines, servants, etc. as he can afford."
I have never read or heard Warren say anything about divorce being the greatest challenge to marriage. Please point us to a source. Of course, it is absolutely true that divorce is a greater danger to marriage than same-sex marriage - so I doubt that Warren has ever uttered the words as it would cause great offense to the many, many adulterers and serial monogamists that make up the membership of evangelical churches.
dear moderator.................thanks for allowing my free speech. god bless ya
Rick allows adulterers to join his church. He allows money-changers [as long as they give...] to join his church. He allows wife abusers to join his church, he allows erveryone, except Gays.
His statement that no person of faith can accept Gay Marriage says that he is
1. anti- semetic- many branches of Judaism allow Gays to marry
2. ant-UCC - their church allows Gays to marry
3. many Christian chruches allow gays to marry. I guess they are all anti-christs
4. no person in MA, CT, Canada, Spain,Netherlands are all anti-christs since they allow Gay Marriage.
The fact of the matter, he is an exclusionary, who makes global statments that are false. i.e. he lies.
I am sorry sir, but this line in your bio says it all.
Mr. Ross' mission is to "restore faith in media," by providing "value-added P.R. that defines values" and gives Christian messages relevance and meaning in mainstream media. His clients include Pastor Rick Warren.
I hardly think that anything you write here or elsewhere about Rick Warren can be taken at face value. YOU are a PR person through and through, anything you say about Mr. Warren can ONLY be viewed through the lens of your PR responsibilities to your client.
This article is disingenuous and deserves at least a rebuttal Arianna! re: "Who can argue with his tireless international efforts to take on the five global giants of pandemic disease"? I CAN. Rick Warren allies himself with anti-gay fearmongers in Africa who publish the names of gay people for harassment. He argues "faith-based" abstinence that does NOT allow people to make choices, but misinforms them and shames / endangers those who do not share his "Christian" views.
This paragraph is particularly egregious: "Warren believes everyone should have the freedom to make their own moral choices. He has repeatedly stated that divorce, not gay partnerships, is what is hurting the American family. As such, he has become a target not because he is the most vocal in support of a traditional definition of marriage, but rather the most visible."
So wait -- he DOES grant people the moral choice to accept Jesus, but he DOES NOT grant people the moral choice to marry someone they love? He is actively involved in LIMITING people's freedoms and equality, against the separation of church and state. Hypocrite.
What would Jesus do? Jesus would show up for the inauguration... but turn over Rick Warren's table.
America may have a prayer, but I certainly don't as long as we're holding up people like Rick Warren as moral exemplars while Gene Robinson is excluded and ignored even by places like the Huffington post.
This is spin doctoring that skirts the truth.
"Warren believes everyone should have the freedom to make their own moral choices."
No he doesn't. He explicitly called on the citizens of California to pass legislation that PREVENTS many citizens from exercising their freedom to make their own moral choices.
This presentation of what "tens of thousands of Bible-affirming pastors" and "every religion on the planet" believes about marriage pretends that there are NO people of faith who accept gay marriage. This obliterates the views and the lives of tens of thousands of people of faith who are FOR gay marriage.
The stands of religions around the world regarding the institution of marriage have been as diverse, over the course of history, as the forms of marriage and family have been diverse. We would have to falsify history--that is, to lie--in order to say that all religions everywhere have always believed that marriage must be between one man and one woman for life.
I am not aware of many Christians in the U.S., in fact, who hold that position about marriage, except as an ideal that is always betrayed in practice. It is an outright lie to say that "[t]here is nothing newsworthy about an Evangelical pastor supporting the 5,000 year definition of marriage as one man and one woman, for life...."
Christians have been practicing serial monogamy in which divorce is perfectly acceptable for generations now.
The one thing you forget is that divorce is mans law, not Gods.
Wrong. There are detailed instructions and formalities in Jewish and Muslim religious writings. A process for divorce is laid out in scripture. Therefore, it must be "God's law" since it is in the Bible!
Having said that, however, didn't Jesus speak out strongly against divorce?
So, with that in mind, what does it matter what "man's law" is on the topic? Can't Christians live according to the teachings of the man who founded their faith?
You hide the truth about Warren's beliefs and ACTIONS based on those beliefs....and the suffering it causes.
Here is a partial summary.
--Warren is against reproductive rights. He calls anyone who supports the right to abortion a “Holocaust denier.”
--Warren says homosexuality is in the same category as incest, pederasty and polygamy. About homosexuality he says, “We shall not tolerate this aspect at all.”
--Along with abortion and homosexuality, Warren has other “non-negotiable” issues that he says are “not even debatable because God’s word is clear on these issues.” These include stem-cell research, any kind of human cloning, and the right to die (euthanasia).
--Warren rejects evolution and much of science. He believes that “God, at a moment, created man. I do believe Genesis is literal …”
--Warren does not allow gays to join his church. He condones divorce only in cases of adultery; abuse is not sufficient.
--Warren teaches it is the duty of the state to assassinate “evil” leaders like Ahmadinejad in Iran.
--He aligns himself with African leaders like virulently anti-gay Archbishop of Nigeria, Peter Akinola, who fought for “Five years in jail if you are gay in Nigeria!”
--In Uganda, Warren supports the charismatic pastor who burned condoms intended for AIDS prevention programs. In 2008, Warren lobbied to prevent condom distribution as part of US funded AIDS prevention in Africa.
--Warren does not believe in the separation of church and state. He wants an evangelical world.
Tell the truth!
Not that I agree with Pastor Warren but I would like to know what source you got this information from. I don't tend to trust "facts" that are not accurately sited.
Try a google search. This info is widely available online.
take any one of the quotes listed above and put it in your search window and you will see that they are all attributed to Rick Warren and/or have links accordingly. Not one of the above is a misattribution.
"Warren doesn't just oppose gay marriage, he's compared it to incest and pedophilia. He doesn't just want to ban abortion, he's compared women who terminate pregnancies to Nazis and the pro-choice position to Holocaust denial. (Hmmm ... If a fertilized egg is as precious as a born Jewish human being, does that mean a born Jewish human being is only as valuable as a fertilized egg?)
Speaking of Jews, Warren has publicly stated his belief that they will burn in hell, presumably along with everyone else who hasn't accepted his particular brand of Christianity (i.e., the vast majority of people in the world). And forget about evolution -- the existence of homosexuals, he's argued, disproves Darwin. And while we may not know how old the Earth is, the Saddleback website assures us that dinosaurs and humans coexisted."
- L.A. Times
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/opinion/la-oe-pollitt22-2008dec22,0,6597471.story
Huffington Post
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/12/17/rick-warren-obama-invocat_n_151877.html?page=21&show_comment_id=18932618#comment_18932618
The NAtion
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20081229/posner
Google is your friend. Rick Warren is not.
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