On the day when the National Cathedral has announced that gay people can be married in its sanctuary, it seems discordant to invite someone to pray who is on the record as condemning gay people to hell.
Saddleback Church founder and author Rick Warren, who once praised President Barack Obama's "courage" for inviting the conservative pastor to give the...
It's of no interest to me whether Rick Warren appears as an empathetic or warmhearted man. What matters is what comes out of his mouth. What he preaches, what he and his church stand for.
One decorated officer, a man who repeatedly risks his life, could not muster the courage to resist the pressure of his "serious and committed born again Christian" commanding officer to applaud Rick Warren.
Both Gene Robinson and Rick Warren symbolize universal aspirations: that of equality and acceptance, and that of faith-based service to the poor, the sick and the disenfranchised.
Through this visible Inaugural platform, President-elect Obama and Dr. Rick Warren have opportunity together to move beyond sectarian interest to national interest.
Frank Lambert's Religion in American Politics is a perfect starting point for understanding just how deep the tradition of liberal religious activism runs.
Pastor Rick,
How are things going for you since being selected by Obama to be his hotline to God at the inauguration? We couldn't help but notice tha...
Selecting Rick Warren for the inaugural invocation is a Sister Souljah moment for Barack Obama. It's not his first, but it's the saddest, the most hurtful.
Most of the public debate on Obama's selection of Rick Warren for the inauguration has centered on his vocal opposition to gay rights and to some exte...
While Saddleback Church removed several entries from its website, a not-so-gay-friendly manifesto is back up. This wasn't a removal of homophobia, but revisionism for PR purposes.
In 2006, Rick Warren publicly lionized (literally) Peter Akinola three months after the Archbishop had endorsed legislation more draconian than comparable anti-gay statutes passed prior to World War II under the Third Reich.
If there is a rational argument against gay marriage, I have yet to see it. And this is why Obama's invitation to Warren might just work. A major limitation to progressive thinking is our over-reliance on rational debate.
Remember, it's not about swaying our hard-lined opponents, it's about talking to those in the middle. That is done with composure and, more importantly, respect.
Obama can call the placing of a hate monger like Rick Warren on the world dais political healing or inclusiveness or any other nicety he'd like, but I call it pandering to the lowest instinct of the worst kind of politics.
Why does Obama have Rick Warren delivering the invocation? Politics, naturally. It's a way to keep slicing off some of what has traditionally been a Republican vote.
Mr. Obama, by choosing Rick Warren, you have sent a shiver up the spine of every GLBTQ American who believed that you might actually be the voice and actor of real change.
The best way to understand Warren's remark about supposedly loving "gays" is to look at his own church's policy statement about lesbian and gay people.
(December 22, 2008) As Los Angeles Metblogs reported, the normally very reliable Rawstory.com picked up this column's "Rick Warren Likens Gays To Piz...