Cheat Seeking Missiles

understand why some of the more vocal gay opponents of Prop 8 are angry that Barack Obama has extended an invitation to Rick Warren to give the invocation at his coronation inauguration - it makes them feel like the two or three percent of the population they are instead of the ten percent they’d like us to believe they are.

Being gay isn’t mainstream, but being Rick Warren is. Warren’s The Purpose-Driven Life has sold well over 30 million copies, making it the best selling Christian book of the modern era, and hundreds if not thousands of churches have had “40 Days of Purpose” sermon series. His other primary book, The Purpose-Driven Church is a blueprint many pastors have used to make evangelical Protestantism more approachable, and has helped lead the growth of the church in America.

To say that Warren is not mainstream requires redefining mainstream, as does saying opposing gay marriage isn’t mainstream after every state that’s had to consider it has rejected it by strong margins. Still, WaPo saw the merit to give Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign, a front and center position on today’s op/ed page to rail against Warren. Solmonese gets it wrong from the start:

It is difficult to comprehend how our president-elect, who has been so spot on in nearly every political move and gesture, could fail to grasp the symbolism of inviting an anti-gay theologian to deliver his inaugural invocation.

Warren is not anti-gay; he’s opposed to gay marriage; the two are entirely different matters and Solmonese is dishonest in attempting to paint with this brush. Unlike Obama at United Trinity, I listened when I was in the pews at Warren’s church, and his teachings on homosexuality are straightforward: It is a sin, just as adultery and lust are sins, and all have fallen short of the glory of God and therefore need Christ.

While it’s true that Warren would never marry a gay couple at Saddleback, it’s also true that he doesn’t marry straight couples if they’ve been “living in sin” prior to marriage. But neither does he turn away gays. I have a very good gay friend who feels very welcome at Saddleback. Many of the pastors there know he’s gay and have encouraged him to work with other gays to encourage them to live without sexual sin. That doesn’t mean saying you’re not gay; it means giving over your sins to Christ and striving to live in a way that pleases Him. My friend by no means is always successful at this - such is the nature of sin - but he is happier by far now than he was when he indulged his sin - such is the nature of Christ.

Solmonese also incorrectly refers to Warren as “a general” in the Yes on 8 campaign, but he didn’t even speak on it until late October. Still he blames Warren for Prop 8’s success:

One of the biggest reasons for that hurtful outcome was the Rev. Rick Warren, who publicly endorsed Proposition 8 in late October. He told his parishioners and reporters alike that “any pastor could be considered doing hate speech if he shared his views that he didn’t think homosexuality was the most natural way for relationships.” But civil marriage rights for same-sex couples had nothing whatsoever to do with religion.

Notice that Solmonese has abandoned gay marriage for the much more milquetoast “civil marriage rights?” Notice also that he is certifiably bonkers because he says that marriage has nothing to do with religion; of course it does! Marriage began as a religious ceremony and still asks God to bless the union. Typing that it’s not so does not make it not so.

I’m ready to stop fisking Solmonese now, but gay activists would shame me for not dealing with this:

More recently, he even compared same-sex marriage to incest, pedophilia and polygamy. He may cloak himself in media-friendly happy talk that plays well on television, but he stands steadfastly against any measure of equality for LGBT Americans.

Same-sex marriage is comparable to incest, pedophilia and polygamy in that it’s a sin. I would be surprised if Warren also didn’t address adultery in that statement, as well. Because Warren is most definitely a “hate the sin, love the sinner” kind of preacher, Solmonese’s comment about him standing “steadfastly against any measure of equality” for LGBTs is ludicrous. Again, gay marriage is a separate issue, and is not about equality; it’s about redefining an institution that is and always has been defined as being exclusively between a man and a woman.

Meanwhile, Geoff Kors, executive director of the mis-named Equality California, is jumping on the misinformation wagon and is turning down his invitation to the inauguration:

Kors … called it “disappointing and hurtful” that a prominent Orange County minister who backed the measure to ban gay marriage has been chosen to speak at the inauguration.

“Accordingly, I have decided to decline the invitation to attend the inauguration as I cannot be part of a celebration that highlights and gives voice to someone who advocated repealing rights from me and millions of other Californians,” Kors said in a statement. (Sac Bee)

Repealing rights? What a joke. A few California Supreme Court justices wrongly gave a false right to gays after the people of the state made their position against gay marriage clear, and we’ve set matters straight. Gays, by appealing the matter to the Supreme Court, took away our rights under California’s constitution to express our vote through referenda.

Meanwhile, Warren is gracious and conciliatory:

“I commend President-elect Barack Obama for his courage to willingly take enormous heat from his base by inviting someone like me, with whom he doesn’t agree on every issue, to offer the invocation at his historic inaugural ceremony,

“Hopefully individuals passionately expressing opinions from the left and the right will recognize that both of us have shown a commitment to model civility in America.” (OC Reg)

Keep praying, Rick. I don’t think Solmonese, Kors and their supporters have yet achieved your mainstream way of looking at this.

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