Saddleback Church Pastor and Barack Obama Inauguration Invocation Giver Rick “The Purpose Driven Life” Warren is very good friends—best buddies—with Martin Ssempa, the Ugandan pastor and raving anti-gay bigot pushing legislation in that country that would make gay sex a death-penalty offense, require Ugandans to report anyone they suspect of homosexual activity or risk three years in prison, and put gay people with HIV to death. When Newsweek asked Warren for a comment about the proposed law—which looks likely to pass—he would only say this:
It is not my personal calling as a pastor in America to comment or interfere in the political process of other nations.
What do you think the odds are that Warren would take a position if Uganda were liberalizing its abortion laws or legalizing gay marriage? Sarah Palin thinks holding people accountable for their past associations—like her husband’s membership in a political party bent on treason—is a good idea and so does Slog reader Daniel in SF:
The Uganda issue has both riveted and horrified me, and I wanted to take some action against Rick Warren—see attached picture. If you pass this on to your readers, this seems like an easy way to annoy the fuck out of this asshole without actually chaining one’s self to the front gate of Saddleback and doing a hunger strike. If a few dozen homos and our allies hit up their local bookstore—I did this at the the Borders nearest my house—I think this could be quite effective.
Here’s the picture:
It’s a good idea, Daniel, but I don’t think your signs will annoy the pastor—because I don’t think they’ll be on those shelves for long. I think a stickers on the inside of the cover of the book is a better way to go.
And has anyone asked Melissa Etheridge for a comment on this? Does she still think Rick Warren is “a fine person“?
Stickers are more ideal, however Daniel may find himself in some trouble if he were to get caught. I applaud his efforts.
Mr. Saddleback has been quite vocal with respect to the political processes of Iraq.
“Saddam and his sons were raping the country, literally. And we morally had to do something. If you have a Judeo-Christian heritage, you have to believe it when God says that evil cannot be compromised with. It has to be resisted, it has to be overcome.”
Thus we can only conclude that putting homosexuals to death does not compute as evil in his world view.
shut up Lovechild, no one wants to hear from you
Personally I liked this from Joe My God:
“Perhaps one of the most interesting parts of the biography, however, is the section about Warren’s marriage. By all appearance and comments from people who know the couple, Rick and Kay Warren have a happy and satisfying marriage. However, this was far from the truth in the beginning of the relationship. Through interviews with Sheler, Rick and Kay Warren disclosed that they were not attracted to each other nor had feelings for each other when they agreed to be married. Instead, they believed that God had spoken to each of them saying this is the person they should marry.
Rick recalled the day when he was invited to speak at the church where Kay’s father was a pastor. As he ascended the steps to the stage to speak he looked over and recognized Kay, who was then dating his best friend, playing the piano. He said he heard God clearly tell him that this is who he will marry. At the time he had a hard time believing that because he didn’t love Kay and she was madly in love with his best friend. But still he kept the revelation in mind. After his best friend broke up with Kay, Rick asked her on a date. On their second date, Rick asked Kay to marry him. At the time, Kay didn’t love Rick but felt that God was leading her to say yes. She recalled hearing God say, “I’ll bring the feelings.””
http://joemygod.blogspot.com/2009/12/ric…
I’m so glad we have this fat fuck with his lifestyle of sinful gluttony to police our marriages.
Even stickers on the inside won’t help. Anyone turning to Rick Warren for advice is more than likely going to be anti-gay. They may not approve of the killing of gays, but they aren’t going to harass Rick Warren for an answer.
Maybe if you can get leaders from another branch of Christianity that accepts homosexuality as a normal state of being to address it with him, he’d feel more compelled to respond.
I have been horrified by this story. My boyfriend & I (both Christians) were discussing it the other day. What I find most hypocritical is what #2 above references–the fact that Rick Warren has no problem making comments about political stances in other countries if those policies disagree with his viewpoint.
I doubt seriously that he is in favor of killing gays, but he is trying to get a foothold in Africa for some of his ministries, so he doesn’t want to “rock the boat” by calling their leaders on the carpet.
The problem is, of course, he has sold out his integrity for the furtherance of his ministry goals. Instead of calling on Uganda to be outraged at this inhumane policy, he wants to keep mum so he can have an ally in getting his other “important” work done.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer went to his death because he tried to end Hitler’s reign of terror in his homeland–if you REALLY believe something, you sacrifice your own goals and plans to take action on behalf of those being mistreated.
(I’m not advocating political assassination, I’m just saying that there have historically been Christian pastors who have known what the right thing is and who have refused to be cowed or sold out for less than the truth.)
My problem is that whoever he’s talking to at whatever time never call him out when he blatantly lies. Over and over again, he spouts the same tripe and since it is never challenged, people watching it accept it as fact. And given the tendency for people to grant interviews only to “favorable” journalists, I don’t see how this can be stopped…
Thank you for clocking Melissa Ethridge on this one. I was never a fan, but her coming out in support of him was just plain fucking bizarre.
Hmm, odds are that the type of bookstores that a ‘reader’ like Daniel will be able to get a way with doin that are the same bookstores that have Warren’s books way in the back and the bottom of some shelve that probably out of site.
But in the bookstores (mostly Christian) in which Warren’s book are displayed prominently because people buy them, Daniel’s little (tehe) prank is gonna be somewhat difficult to pullover effectively.
Dan, if you were finding any fulfillment in your like you wouldn’t obsess over Warren this way. Have you asked Terri if you could have a fling?
Warren’s “Purpose Driven Life” books are prominently displayed in my local Barnes & Noble and Borders bookstores…anything that sells well gets visibility, regardless of its topic. Even “The Shack” was on front shelves for a while.
Puts a new spin on the old “Ugandan negotiations”.
@4 – that bullshit gives me slightly more reason to confirm my thoughts about Rick Warren. I see the knob on the closet door moving a bit, don’t you?
This Uganda story is absolutely horrific. It really exposes Warren to be the scumbag that he is that he has nothing bad to say about it.
Warren is a coward, and a flippin’ disgrace. And so is his defender here. Their unspoken support of the bill put before the Uganda legislature, because they don’t want to speak against the policies of a “sovereign nation” have no integrity.
13
Sorry-
I’m in here buttfucking the doorknob;
licking doorknobs gets you off for awhile but at some point you want to take the next step in the relationship…