From James to Rick
I'm disappointed...
I was surprised at the response when Barack Obama chose Rick Warren of Saddleback Church to offer the Invocation at his swearing in ceremony. To my knowledge, Rick Warren has always played pretty middle-of-the field politically and I've cited him on a number of occasions as being possibly the only high profile evangelical who's actually coming close to living the way Jesus calls us to live. I've admired the way he's been so generous with the proceeds from his book, The Purpose Driven Life, and the way he's been an advocate in the fight against HIV and global poverty. He's remained humble in the face of staggering popularity and I thought I had a pretty good grasp of what this man stood for.
Then came this news and the flurry of media attention... and I became disappointed.
Rick Warren was a strong advocate of Proposition 8. That in itself is not very surprising, though I didn't realize how vocal his advocacy was... what surprised me were the lies he perpetrated and the irresponsible statements he made:
"The issue to me, I'm not opposed to that as much as I'm opposed to redefinition of a 5,000 year definition of marriage."
First, I'd have to point out that marriage as we know it today (one man and one woman) is actually a redefinition - or more accurately, a cultural clarification - of marriage. The Bible set the tone for multiple wives, women marrying brothers-in-law and rape victims marrying their rapists. It was only in later years that those things came to be seen as inappropriate and were removed from marriage expectations. Since then, marriage has continued to evolve; sometimes for the better in the case of interracial marriage and sometimes for the worse with the ease in which divorce can be applied today. This is a process that is still going on and the issue of same-sex marriage is just one more step in clearly articulating what marriage is and is not.
"I'm opposed to having a brother and sister being together and calling that marriage. I'm opposed to an older guy marrying a child and calling that marriage. I'm opposed to one guy having multiple wives and calling that marriage."
I've already mentioned the precedent set for in scripture so I won't address the multiple wives portion of this statement, but what really stings is the way he compares two loving, consenting, same-sex adults to pedophiles. That's irresponsible and perpetrates the myth that the two are actually synonymous. It's also focusing on the physical anatomy of the participants and doesn't take into consideration the love that may exist.
As one of the leading evangelical leaders in America, Rick Warren has a responsibility to present Christ first and foremost. He's human, so I have to concede that he's going to make mistakes... and I know I'd be ashamed if every word I ever said was recorded and played back... but when those mistakes affect as many people as his do, he needs to apologize - unless he's not sorry.
And that's where I'm disappointed... in myself.
Somehow, I bought into what I saw and I didn't step back to look at the whole package. I've long considered James Dobson to be one of the most evil men alive based on the fact that he's able to do so many good things that people are sucked in and they neglect to notice the terrible things he's also a part of. When I became aware of what Rick Warren's been saying, I had the sinking feeling in my stomach that he's just like Dr. Dobson. I hope I'm wrong, but you can be sure that I'll be paying much closer attention from here on out where he's concerned. As a side note, when asked what the difference was between himself and James Dobson, Rick Warren's response was: "It's a matter of tone."
Kevvo! I'm actually reading your blog. It looked like an interesting post.
I'm actually commenting on a small tangent you went on regarding Dr. James Dobson. As (moderately) conservative as my views are, I can't bare to listen to Dr. Dobson when he has a politically-themed show. Just because Christians in the United States tend to have conservative views and vote Republican certainly does not mean that is "what Jesus would do." I reject the notion that Jesus is a one-dimensional touchy-feely hippie type of fellow, but I really don't think that the judgmental hate Dr. Dobson regurgitates on his some of his shows in a robotic fashion is representative of Christian ideals. I agree with you on that one, bud.
I feel I must point out, at the risk of sounding redundant, that you would be hard-pressed to find a high-profile Evangelical Christian leader who would support legalization of same-sex marriage. Any leader who has been elevated to the status of a public figure, much like any politician or other form of celebrity entertainer, has to account for the interests of his or her fans, as they were. Being that Rick Warren is, as mentioned in your article, human, there may be an element of fear of losing supporters. Not entirely because of ego, but because, in his view, he has a Biblically-endowed responsibility to see to it that what he preaches and publicly supports falls in line with the generally accepted interpretations of scripture, so as to not cause any of his brethren to stumble.
This type of thing is a hard sell in the Evangelical community, and I can empathize with you, because many of my ideas are not generally accepted in the mainstream Christian worldview, either. So our world-side hope is to find like-minded people who are right there in the trenches with us, while not being judgmental of those who oppress us--lest we fall into their trap with them.
May the light and love of Christ continue to saturate your heart and soul, so that you can continue to help set people free. Peace.
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Anthony! Always glad to see that people actually read this thing... though I'm not sure I'd stop if they didn't - it's good for me...
I appreciate your comments, too. I agree that it would be difficult to find a high-profile Evangelical Christian leader who would support same-sex marriage, though just because something isn't popular doesn't make it wrong... but then that could be why certain leaders don't have the following to make their more progressive positions as high-profile. A Catch-22...
I do believe that Rick Warren is speaking what he knows the truth to be but I hold that as a representative of Jesus and the church, he has a responsibility to truly seek Christ in these matters and not simply regurgitate the same false notions that have existed for decades just to keep supporters. What's more, he needs to acknowledge the hurtful, hateful things he's said and recognize that those things do nothing to further the kingdom but act as a barrier continuing to keep people alienated from a God who truly loves them and seeks to be honestly known by them. I've put forward the idea before that I don't know why erring on the side of caution has to be on the side of suppression? Maybe I'm right and maybe I'm wrong where the GLBT issues are concerned, but I think there's less lost by giving these people hope (and possibly cultivating relationships with them) by affirming them only to realize in a couple of years that we were wrong than to stomp on potential fruit in their lives through condemnation and lies.
While I'm very disappointed with what I've learned about Rick Warren and the things he teaches, this article was intended to focus more on the disappointment I feel with myself for being duped and buying into the whole package without doing more research and study. I'm guilty of what so many others are when they condemn homosexuality and I'm grateful for having my eyes opened so I can do a better job in the future when I'm placing trust.
At least I can rest easy knowing my trust is safe with Jesus...
Thanks for your kind words and God bless you, brother!
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