NewsEvents

An April 07, 2009 U.S.News & World Report article included the following transcript of the Larry King interview:

RICK WARREN: In the first place, I am not an anti-gay or anti-gay-marriage activist. I never have been, never will be. During the whole Proposition 8 thing, I never once went to a meeting, never once issued a statement, never—never once even gave an endorsement in the two years Prop 8 was going.
The week before the—the vote, somebody in my church said, ‘Pastor Rick, what—what do you think about this?’ And I sent a note to my own members that said, I actually believe that marriage is—really should be defined, that that definition should be—say between a man and a woman.
And then all of a sudden out of it, they made me, you know, something that I really wasn’t. And I actually—there were a number of things that were put out. I wrote to all my gay friends—the leaders that I knew—and actually apologized to them. That never got out . . . .
Not a single criticism came from any gay leader who knows me and knows that for years we’ve been working together on AIDS issues and all these other things.
LARRY KING: All right. Do you, therefore, criticize or not comment on the Iowa court decision to permit gay marriage?
WARREN: Yes. I’m—I’m totally oblivious to—to what—that’s not even my agenda. My agenda is two things. One, today is the 15th anniversary of the genocide in Rwanda. It’s a national day of mourning, which I—as you know, I’ve been heavily involved in—in Rwanda and helping rebuild that nation and I’m very concerned about that.
And the second thing is, I’m interested in what the recession is doing to the spiritual climate of our nation. And as we start Easter week and Passover week, which is a really big week for those of us who are Jews or Christians, Passover and Easter, it’s our biggest week of the year. And it actually was the—the week that I started Saddleback Church 30 years ago this Easter Sunday. . . . KING. One other thing in the gay issue, while you said you were not an activist at all . . . did you not encourage your flock to vote yes on Proposition 8?
WARREN: Oh, yes. You know, I don’t think that the definition of marriage should be changed. KING: So you did ask your people who worship with you to vote that way?
WARREN: Yes. I just never campaigned. . . .KING: It’s not high on your road of issues?
WARREN: No, no, it’s very low. In fact, I am working with a number of gay organizations on issues that we care about, in saving lives.

This U.S.News & World Report article included a link to a blog that had a letter that was allegedly sent by Pastor Warren in October of 2004 to the members of the Saddleback church where he serves. Following is the transcript of that letter:

Subject: The Most Important Election

Dear Saddleback Church family,

Tuesday, November 2nd, will be one of the most important elections Americans have had in 50 years. How could that be?

Because up to four of the Supreme Court Justices will likely retire during the next presidential term and their replacements will be selected by whomever is the next president. These new judges will affect the future of America for at least the next 40 years. It would be difficult to overestimate the impact that these judges will have on our lives, our families, our culture, and the direction of this nation.

Presidents serve for only 4 years, so they can only make a limited impact. But Supreme Court Justices serve for life, and they are the ones who decide on issues like abortion, gay marriages, human cloning, harvesting babies for stem-cell research, revoking the tax exemption of churches, removing “under God” from the flag pledge, and “in God we trust” from our money. In most ways, the Supreme Court has far more influence and impact on our day-to-day lives. This extremely important fact has been overlooked in most of the campaigning.

President Bush and Senator Kerry have VERY different opinions about the type of people who should become Supreme Court Justices. They could not have more opposite views about these matters. Either man will shape the court in very different ways.

If the members of our congregation fail to vote on Tuesday, we are actually surrendering our responsibility to choose the direction of our country for the next 40 years. If we do not vote, we have no right to criticize or complain when unbiblical decisions are made by the court in the decades ahead.

Over the past several months at Saddleback, we’ve been urging our members each week to register to vote. We even arranged to have a voter registration booth set up on our church patio because we believe it’s that important that every Christian citizen exercises his or her right to vote for those who will govern us.

During the last presidential election in the United States, there were about 4 million Christians who weren’t even registered to vote! To me, that is inexcusable when you consider what the Bible says about our responsibility as citizens and when you consider the many, many men and women who’ve given their lives to provide and protect our freedom to vote.

The U.S. election of 2000 was a clear reminder that every vote counts and that every voter has a duty to be involved. As church leaders, we know our congregations are not allowed to endorse specific candidates, and it’s important for us to recognize that there can be multiple opinions among Bible-believing Christians when it comes to debatable issues such as the economy, social programs, social security, and the war in Iraq.

But for those of us who accept the Bible as God’s Word and know that God has a unique, sovereign purpose for every life, I believe there are 5 issues that are non-negotiable. To me, they’re not even debatable because God’s Word is clear on these issues. In order to live a purpose-driven life - to affirm what God has clearly stated about his purpose for every person he creates - we must take a stand by finding out what the candidates believe about these five issues, and then vote accordingly.

Here are five questions to ask when considering who to vote for in this election:

1. What does each candidate believe about abortion and protecting the lives of unborn children?

2. What does each candidate believe about using unborn babies for stem-cell harvesting?

3. What does each candidate believe about homosexual marriage?

4. What does each candidate believe about human cloning?

5. What does each candidate believe about euthanasia - the killing of elderly and invalids?

Please, please do not forfeit your responsibility on these crucial issues! This election REALLY counts more than most others have.

Be sure to vote, and be sure to encourage every Christian you know to vote on Tuesday. If you are able to vote early, do so. Then ask all your Christian friends on Tuesday “Have you voted yet?” and pray for godly leaders to be elected.

Pastor Rick Warren

Following is a transcript containing remarks attributed to Rick Warren. Pastor Warren is reported as having made these comments just weeks before the Prop 8 election:

“The election’s coming just in a couple of weeks, and I hope you’re praying about your vote. One of the propositions, of course, that I want to mention is Proposition 8, which is the proposition that had to be instituted because the courts threw out the will of the people. And a court of four guys actually voted to change a definition of marriage that has been going for 5,000 years.

“Now let me say this really clearly: we support Proposition 8 — and if you believe what the Bible says about marriage, you need to support Proposition 8. I never support a candidate, but on moral issues I come out very clear.

“This is one thing, friends, that all politicians tend to agree on. Both Barack Obama and John McCain, I flat-out asked both of them: what is your definition of marriage? And they both said the same thing — it is the traditional, historic, universal definition of marriage: one man and one woman, for life. And every culture for 5,000 years, and every religion for 5,000 years, has said the definition of marriage is between one man and a woman.

“Now here’s an interesting thing. There are about two percent of Americans [who] are homosexual or gay/lesbian people. We should not let two percent of the population determine to change a definition of marriage that has been supported by every single culture and every single religion for 5,000 years.

“This is not even just a Christian issue — it’s a humanitarian and human issue that God created marriage for the purpose of family, love, and procreation.

“So I urge you to support Proposition 8, and pass that word on. I’m going to be sending out a note to pastors on what I believe about this. But everybody knows what I believe about it. They heard me at the Civil Forum when I asked both Obama and McCain on their views.”

Sleaze Warning: the story I’m about to summarize then comment on may make you sick with disgust.

Okay here’s the background:
Levi Johnston, fathered the baby that Alaska Governor Sarah Palin’s daughter Bristol gave birth to.

For some bizarre reason, Levi Johnston, decides to go on the Tyra Banks show and talk about things that any male (with any adequate amount of manhood) would not go on the Tyra Banks show to talk about.

In the teaser information that the Tyra Banks show put out to get people to watch the show, they said Levi Johnston would reveal:

“…why his engagement with Bristol Palin ended.”

“…intimate details about his relationship with Bristol, what he really thinks of Gov. Palin…”

I must confess that I don’t watch the Tyra Banks show because of the freaky stuff she is subject to do. But, in the clip I saw of the Levi Johnston interview, Levi discusses with Tyra the frequency of his use of birth control when having premarital relations with Bristol Palin. The young man also goes on to say that he believes that Governor Palin new that he and her daughter were having premarital sex. Whether Levi and Bristol’s parents knew, or not, I cannot say.

But one thing I will say: Levi Johnston is a poor excuse for a man to roll around in the gutter on the Tyra Banks show. If Levi did not have the backbone to stand up to Tyra and refuse to scandalize his baby’s mother’s family, he should have declined to go on the
Tyra Banks show.

I believe that the Palin family promotes waiting for marriage before sex. But, even if someone in that family makes the mistake of failing to wait until marriage. I think it very sleazy for someone to get on national TV and share intimate details in a scandalous and sleazy manner as Levi Johnston did.

No, I am not a Palin groupie;

I’M JUST A GUY TIRED OF SLIMY MALES WHO ARE A DISGRACE TO MANHOOD.