I received this email from Saddleback Church and it contains a direct video message from Rick Warren.
Here’s the link:Â Â
Pastor Warren starts by saying the media never gets the story completely right. I wouldn’t say that’s true at all. The media reports that facts that they have at the time. If the story is incomplete or if there’s a major gap, that’s what a second day story is for.
Pastor Warren also calls out bloggers (I think the anonymous ones); I post under my own name and I am not ashamed of anything I’ve written here (but I am embarrassed about typos and such).
Please view the video and post your comments about it below.
While Pastor Warren is quick to point out the faults of the media and of bloggers, let me draw this connection. I have yet to see a priest or a pastor consistently interpret the Bible. Because these people are human beings, they can only interpret it they way they see if and then they try to convince the congregation that their interpretation is the correct one.
In the second video segment, Pastor Rick discusses civil rights, and how no American should ever be discriminated against because of their beliefs. Free speech should be free speech for everybody, even if they disagree with our views. As Christians, it is always up to us to champion civility.
Also in this segment, he discusses why he has accepted President-Elect Barack Obama’s invitation to provide the inaugural invocation.
In the third video segment, Pastor Rick discusses how he will respond to the many attacks and accusations appearing in the news, and why it is vitally important to return love for hate, to overcome evil with good, and to keep meeting the practical needs of those around us.
He closes with a word of encouragement to all Saddleback members, and a description of the new Purpose Driven Connection network that launches next month.
I tought he made a plausible arguement from his perspective on the issue. I would never expect that a minister such as Rick Warren would have the epipheny of sudden acceptance of same sex marriage, as much as I would never expect Dana Rohrabacher to suddenly accept the Debbie Cook version of Global Warming Peak Oil etc etc.
Warren asks for a new word to define the equivelant version of all rights granted a man and woman who are married to be used by same sex couples. Is there such a word that can be used to decribe the situation where the same rights are granted to a gay couple as are granted a male and female couple?
Thats something to consider. But wuold it be the same as “Marriage” in the eyes of the LGBT community? I know if I was in that situation I wouldnt stop fighting until I could call it marriage. but Im a serioulsy stubborn guy. And I never back down from an arguement.
I used to know Rick Warren personally a long time ago when I would attend his church in El Toro. He was a nice guy then and he seems to have kept a great deal of his humility. That being said, I dont really have a feeling one way or another that he was asked to do the Invocation in DC.
I understand that members of the LGBT community would be upset because of Rick Warrens views that have been publicized. But what do you expect? Hes an evangelical minister. I think his speaking on the subject has been kinda mild. If it were a minister from some mega church down south, I would expect alot of hell fire and brimstone.
All things being equal, I watched the piece, and went away thinking:
“this guy is’nt a very good speaker, how the fuck did he land a million man following?”.
Then I rememberered the scene from Men In Black………
KAY: “A person is smart……people are dumb”
as long as people like rick warren who believe the bible is the word of god there will never be acceptance of gay people. when you believe the bible which says gays should be killed without fail you will never be ok that they marry or allow them to attend his crazy church. i’m really disapointed obama picked this guy. by the way, whats with the crazy anti-spam words that dont allow you to post?
The problem with Rick Warren’s argument is that “Marriage” carries with it a who set of rights and responsibilities, at the local, state and federal level, that some other term like “Civil Unions” will ever have. The task of creating a new institution that is “equal” to the institution of marriage, which has evolved since the beginning of time, would be nearly impossible. It is much easier to make “Marriage†an all-inclusive institution rather than one that discriminates.