Warren calls on Christians and Muslims to work together against prejudice

Rick Warren
Rick Warren

Just in from the Orange County Register Warren calls on Muslims and Christians to work together to combat prejudice:

WASHINGTON — Speaking to a crowd of nearly 8,000 Muslims at the Islamic Society of North America’s annual convention in Washington D.C., Saddleback Church Pastor Rick Warren called on Muslims and Christians to form an interfaith coalition to combat prejudice and stereotypes.

While Fourth of July revelers staked out seats to watch fireworks at the nearby Capitol Building, Warren addressed convention-goers – some of them from Orange County Muslim student associations – about the need for mutual respect.

“Tolerance is not enough,” Warren said. “People don’t want to be tolerated, they want to be respected, they want to be listened to. They want to be valued.”

Armed with four ideas for action, Warren called on Muslims and Christians to work together to create respect, restore civility to civilization, promote peace and tackle major world problems.

“I am not interested in interfaith dialogue, I am interested in interfaith projects,” Warren said. “Talk is very cheap.”

Well, I think Warren’s comments will send the likes of Chuck DeVore, Jonathan Constantine and the rest of the Christian xenophobes over at Red County – OCBlog over the edge. But good for Warren for trying to extend the hand of cooperation and dialogue to bridge the gap of understanding. This guy never ceases to surprise me. I hope it isn’t just a theatrical show.

8 Comments

  1. Chris,

    Obviously, Pastor Warren was’nt in attendence at the Yorba Linda fireworks display tonight, where children were passing out “OBAMA BUCKS” with a charechtar of the President, on bills labeled 1,000,000,000,000.

    These same kids came around passing out literture, which we refused, extolling Christain virtues.

    This is not independence, rather racisim.

    Warren is a savy dude, if he can fold into the mix the weak thinking muslims with the weak thinking Christains. You’ve got a million idiots paying $20.00 per week!

    And don’t forget, true Muslims hate fags more than Christans

  2. Mr. Prevatt:

    Nice post. Dialogue works better than name calling. Warrern’s not perfect(who is but some of your commenters)but true Christians understand that.

    And from the comment above, looks like it isn’t just the right that Warren sent over the edge.

  3. I don’t personally know Pastor Rick Warren, but have heard him speak on a number of occasions. I always came away from one of his services feeling uplifted from the positive message. I am not a big fan of any organized religion, but if I were, it would be in a church like Saddleback. My observations of Paster Warren is that he is a man with a great heart and one who takes God’s work seriously. I commend him for meeting with and developing common bridges with all groups. Isn’t that what Jesus tried to do in his time and encouraged us to do as well. While there will be some from both sides who do not like Rick Warren, I for one agree that he is on the right track and wish him well in his work.

  4. Pat — Thanks for checking in; but I will remind you that your ticket did not follow what “Jesus tried to do in his time” when you guys tried to paint Todd Gallinger as a radical muslim.

    Does this headline ring a bell? “Beth Krom and Larry Agran Recruited and Endorsed an Islamic Extremist to Run for Irvine City Council.” All complete with a photo of Hamas terrorists and claims that Krom and Agran wanted money from Hamas extremists. Re-read what you wrote and apply that to how your side campaigned last fall.

    Todd beat you anyway.

  5. Dan, what your mind can’t seem to grasp is, that the Islam issue has never been about religon. It is about extremism, radical groups and organizations which support those groups. CAIR was identified as a radical support group of Hamas, not by Rodgers, Shea or Choi, but rather by influential Democratic members of the U.S. Congress, including Barbara Boxer. Todd Gallinger was/is an attorney doing legal work for CAIR. Using simple logic, a reasonable and prudent man might conclude that Todd, because of his work, directly represents what CAIR stands for, the support of Hamas, a terror group. Do you suppose it would be any different if Pat Rodgers was a deacon in the Orange Coast Church of the Aryan Nation? While professing to be Christians, the Aryan Nation is clearly an extremist terrorist group and is so labled by the Justice Department. Now the million dollar question; is this information a voter should know about Rodgers or Gallinger before casting their ballot? You will say, “NO” and I will say, “Yes.” and never the twain shall meet. In the election in question, it made no difference to a majority of voters, but they had access to the information.

    While we could debate terrorism and associated groups like Hamas, Muslim Brotherhood, CAIR, Holy Land Foundation, Aryan Nation, KKK, Christian Identity Movement, National Alliance and many others, it would serve no purpose. As with the voters right to know, we would likely disagree and that is ok. Last time I looked, in America there is room for differing opinions.

    Yep, you are 100% correct that Todd Gallinger got more votes than I did. He came in fifth and I was sixth. Without making excuses, if our slate of candidates had the kind of money available that your folks did to get our message out, who knows if there would have been a difference? Different philosophies aside, to his credit, Larry Agran is a master politician. This skill extends back to his early days when I worked on his behalf through the Police Association. How times have changed.

  6. LTPAR,

    “Using simple logic, a reasonable and prudent man might conclude that Todd, because of his work, directly represents what CAIR stands for, the support of Hamas, a terror group.”

    Actually, that’s completely without logic. That’s like saying a defense lawyer approves of the murder that a guilty client committed.

    Try again!

    • Pat — this is a straw man argument; plenty of Catholics support the IRA in Ireland. Does one bad cop taint all others? Or you, specifically. Does John Ensign or Gov. Sanford mean all Republicans are cheating bastards?

      Todd’s work with the local CAIR chapter was for immigration services and you painted him as an extremist.

      You and your side chose to mischaracterize Todd’s work and drag his good name through the mud.

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