`Purpose' (Driven Life) pastor has pulpit for Obama (Rick Warren Courts Dems)

Chicago Tribune ^ | 11/16/06

[Mr. Brightside]

WASHINGTON -- Like many fellow Democratic politicians, Sen. Barack Obama is no stranger to the pulpit.

But in December, Obama will go where few progressive Democrats usually venture--to a large, conservative evangelical church that boasts a Sunday attendance of more than 20,000 people.

Even more unusual is that he'll attend at the invitation of megachurch Pastor Rick Warren, evangelical icon and author of the popular Christian book "The Purpose-Driven Life."

Aides to Obama say he will appear at Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif., on Dec. 1, World AIDS Day.

"Sen. Obama has a deep respect for Mr. Warren's commitment to fighting AIDS and poverty," said Obama spokesman Tommy Vietor.

While he was working on his latest book, "The Audacity of Hope," Obama asked Warren to help by reading one of his draft chapters. Warren issued the invitation to Obama to speak at the church next month.

The messages that Friday will focus on AIDS and HIV, a key area of ministry for Saddleback Church. While many conservative Christians have shied away from AIDS because of their discomfort with its connections to premarital sex and homosexuality, Warren and his wife, church co-founder Kay Warren, have been vocal advocates for patients living with the disease.

Shortly before the release of his latest book, Obama issued a call to progressives to shed bias against religious people and to recognize "overlapping values."

[Sue Perkick]

Same old Warrenisms repeated over & over. And no you're not doing any such thing. It a wall the Warrenistas attempt to put up anytime the good reverend is criticized. And what I do, I do privately. I don't have any reason to call attention to myself. If I do, then who would I really be doing it for?

What Rick Warren has done is tear churches all over this country apart.

I suggest you go snap at the ankles of someone a little less familiar with this subject. I don't mind being a "water spider on the pond of life".

[Sunsong]

Warren is a man of love and forgiveness. He has done a lot of good for others in this world. I think that matters.

It is so easy for people who have never really done anything to sit at home and criticize.

[Mamzelle]

Dems court Warren, more like it. And the heart of the wannabe celeb just craves the attn. Gawsh.

[hosepipe]

[ Democrats are working on publishing a new book: "The Purpose Driven Abortion" ]

LoL....

[Cecily]

Since when has a giving contest been a benchmark of anything truly Christian? Is the widow's mite of less importance that Rick's vaunted 90%? Knowing Warren's track record of self-promoting tall tales, I would love to see proof that he does in fact give away 90% of what he earns. It would also be interesting to know the people and organizations who receive his donations.

[Cecily]

How on earth could you possibly know what the rest of us here have done or given? Do you really believe Christian good deeds and Christian charitable giving began with Rick Warren?

[Sunsong]

Like I said - I think you need a reality check. You are making assumptions and that doesn't speak well for your intelligence. I am not a warrenista. I am not using slogans. I asked a question. Your lack of response speaks volumes. It is you who chose to write to me - not vice versa. So take your own advice about snapping ankles or better yet - give up the practice.

I think Mr. Warren has done a lot of good in this world. I ask again - what have you done besides criticize others? Those who sit back and criticize are usually not taken very seriously.

[Just mythoughts]

You do keep hounding upon those who do nothing. You have no clue what other people do and as it is written we are NOT to celebrate ourselves in our doing and giving.

We are told to test the fruit, and I know some of these religious folks that follow this guy and they are some of the most sanctimonious givers ever and lovers of Clintons. They can't get enough of forgiving them.

Further these people have their bags allllll packed to fly out of here cause they believe they are tooooo goood to go through any tribulation. Christ NEVER said anybody was going anywhere unless their flesh died before He returned.

I am exhausted by the reveling in their love of the sinner and are you saved religion.

I just gave you FREEEEEEE far more Biblical foundation than you would get in decades of church attendance.

[TommyDale]

That is 90% of his income that is reported. I would be curious if he also protects other income in the form of trusts, foundations, etc. that he controls.

As for his giving, more power to him, that is a good gesture but it won't get him into Heaven if he is teaching false doctrine. There is a higher standard that shepherds must live up to, and those that lead the flock astray will be punished more harshly.

[tang-soo]

Syria's Grand Mufti Sheikh Badr al-Din Hassoun and Rick Warren

California mega-church pastor Rick Warren, author of the best-selling "Purpose-Driven Life," reportedly told a Syrian-controlled news agency the U.S. should have been holding dialogues with Damascus; Syrian Muslims and Christians co-exist peacefully; and the Syrian leadership is responsible for the nation's tolerance and stability.

That's according to the news agency SANA, which has issued a number of reports this week as Warren visits Syria and meets various leaders and officials, much to the dismay of many in the U.S.

"We at VCY America Radio network are appalled and angered that Rick Warren is praising a nation that has long supported international terrorism and that desires the utter destruction of Israel," said a statement from the broadcasting organization.

"The U.S. State Department reports that Syria - along with Iran - gives the Lebanese militia Hezbollah 'substantial amounts of financial, training, weapons, explosives, political, diplomatic, and organization aid.' The State Department also has documented that Iranian arms destined for Hezbollah pass through Syria on an ongoing basis," the group continued.

"Syria has also let Hezbollah operate in Lebanon and attack Israel, the results of which were seen in the July, 2006 violence between Hezbollah and Israel in which many lost their lives," the statement said.

The SANA reports included statements that:

* "Pastor Warren hailed the religious coexistence, tolerance and stability that the Syrian society is enjoying due to the wise leadership of President al-Assad, asserting that he will convey the true image about Syria to the American people."

* "Syria wants peace, and Muslims and Christians live in this country jointly and peacefully since more than a thousand years, and this is not new for Syria."

* Warren told Syria's Islamic grand mufti there could be no peace in the region without Syria and 80 percent of Americans reject the U.S. administration's policies and actions in Iraq.

The comments attributed to Warren contradict documentation by the International Counter Terrorism organization and U.S. State Dep artment of Syria's extensive use of terrorism for its political goals.

The ICT said "frequent use of the 'terror weapon' has been made by Syria against Lebanon, Jordan and the Palestinians" in an attempt "to impose Syrian hegemony over them and bring them into line with Syrian policy."

"The main Lebanese leaders killed by Syrian proxies were: Bashir Gemayel (who was accused by Syrian propaganda of being a 'Zionist proxy'); and Kamal Jumblatt (accused of being a 'traitor' and an 'American agent.')," the ICT said.

Syria also has used terror tactics against Egypt and Iraq, although less successfully, the ICT said, but it has been used against Christians in 1978 and in the city of Zahle in 1980, and even against Muslim residents of Beirut.

The broadcast group says Warren "has no business involving himself in any role that appears to be representative of the United States and his promise to Syria to present a brighter view of that nation to America and Saddleback members demonstrates his willingness to serve as a mindless shill for a nation that embraces terror as a legitimate way of solving problems."

Messages left with Saddleback requesting a comment were not returned immediately.

But Mark D. Tooley, writing in FrontPageMagazine.com also noted "Warren has reportedly promised to carry that state sponsor of terrorism's propaganda message back to the U.S."

He accused Warren of being adrift in a religiously left direction.

"The supposed quote from Warren reads like a news release from Assad's propaganda ministry. Perhaps, the translation into Arabic and back into English does not do Warren justice. We can hope," he wrote.

"Needless to note, there was no mention by the Warren delegation, at least not as mentioned by SANA, about Syria's one-party police state, its political prisoners, its chambers of torture, its support for He! zbollah terrorism in Lebanon, and its continued devotion to the destruction of Israel," he wrote.

Freedom House notes Syrian people have no way to change their government and no influence into its policies.

This is a nation, Tooley wrote, "where only the ruling Baathist Party and its allies are permitted to win elections, where all news media are owned or controlled by the government, where independent labor unions are prohibited, where universities must proclaim Baathist Party policies, where clerics are appointed by the government, where the president by law must be Muslim, and where women's limited rights are governed by Islamic Sharia law, even though the government is ostensibly secular."

No new Christian school has been allowed to be built in 40 years, and all schools by law must have Muslim principals, Freedom House said.

"It is a sad story, repeated often. Big-name U.S. preachers, often otherwise sensible and orthodox in their faith, visit despotic regimes and naively curry favor with police state thugs," Tooley wrote, resulting in "a propaganda bonanza for the tyrants."

Saddleback, with 30,000 members, was begun by Rick and Kay Warren in 1979 and now has more than 200 ministries in the Orange County area.

His popular book, which has sold about 12 million copies, focuses on worship, fellowship, discipleship, ministry and evangelism. It tells readers the life is "not about you," and shows how God can enable each one to live for His purposes.

Warren already is scheduled to preach in North Korea next year.

[Sunsong]

I wonder why you are so upset that Rick Warren gives away 90% of what he makes. And if you doubt it - I wonder why you haven't researched it yourself to find out whether it is true or not? I think it says a lot about those who are so upset that Mr Warren gives so much.

As I say - it is not impressive to be a critic. There are few people in this world who are doing as much good as Mr. Warren. I am amused at those who seem to be so jealous of him.

[Sunsong]

All I have done is ask you what you have given. So why don't you answer. What good have you done? How much of your income do you give away?

[Mamzelle]

My general theory to explain this kind of behavior is 'celeb-itis'--attention is a dangerous thing. The left has lavished attn and approval on this man, and it is completely normal for him to enjoy it and think it's "rightful." I've known a few third and fourth-string celebs in my life, and it's a toxic thing both to the particulars and those who identify strongly with the celeb.

Jesus said that the love of money is the root of all evil--but when you've got all the money you'd ever need (like a perennial best-selling book), the thing you want to buy is validation.

The ironic thing here is how condemning the elites on the right are toward the evangelicals...and how approving the left behaves toward a potential leftwing "convert." No insinuations about snake-handling, or calls of "theocracrat."

And all the left has to do is chip away at the evangelicals to kill the GOP. And the GOP seems to welcome the chipping (if you read National Review).

[Sunsong]

You seem so angry. What's that about?

I find it amusing that so many are so angry about Rick Warren. Why do you even need to put him down? He is doing good things. Why not leave it at that?

[Recovering_Democrat]

I think I'm gonna hurl!

[Cecily]

Keep deluding yourself that Christians who see right through the likes of Warren are "just jealous" of him. I wouldn't trade places with that fraud for all the tea in China. And if people who criticize false doctrine and wolves in sheep's clothing are just so unimpressive and tedious to you, you had best not read Scriptures like Matthew 7, Matthew 23, and many of Paul's letters to the early churches, just to name a few. So unimpressively critical!

[Cecily]

I am not in a bragging contest with Warren or any other Christian. The Lord knows my stewardship of what He has given me, and I am accountable to Him.

[Sunsong]

Mr. Warren is doing good things. He has helped a lot of people. What have you done?

[tacticalogic]

By the timing, it looks to be a fairly straight-forward case of political opportunism.

[Sunsong]

I am not in a bragging contest with Warren or any other Christian.

No you seem to be in a hating, judging contest. Perhaps you could do more good by being loving and kind - by helping others and by condemning less.