Matthew 10: 16 says, “Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.”
RICK WARREN'S CHARM OFFENSIVE
Reality check: the National Association of Evangelicals just fired - summarily fired? - its very, very eloquent and accomplished guy in Washington, Richard Cizik. He made some remarks on NPR. Why?
Some big guy puts his arm around you and assures you that God loves you and so does he.
Then, just as you are parting with a warm afterglow, says, "of course, you are in "error" and "intrinsically disordered", so you ought to repent or go to hell. Have a blessed day!!!"
Because he said he was for 'gay marriage'? No. Because he said he thought that 'civil unions' might be something to consider (you know, something quite with the times, something 'very Obamaesque').Then, just as you are parting with a warm afterglow, says, "of course, you are in "error" and "intrinsically disordered", so you ought to repent or go to hell. Have a blessed day!!!"
Cizik repented, reportedly. The Board did not forgive.
Have you noticed this before? Well, reading the tea-leaves, look up ... Rudy Giuliani. Now, Rudy is fairly knowledgeable about gay relationships. He doesn't "fear us". Yet, once the national, GOP Priesthood got a hold of him, early in his campaign, he ditched civil unions.
Conclusions?
When Rick Warren asks that his 'mis-statements' be forgiven, that's more forgiveness than his own federation will do.
The "purpose driven" Warren and crew are organizationally committed to vacating the very voices on the Right, the aggressive middle, that one would like to see in a civil society, even from a progressive point of view. What's more, they are highly effective at neutralizing them (even at GREAT moral cost).
[Cynically, one can say that Warren's rush to reassure Jews and Muslims was an effort to further isolate gays, as "an issue" among issues. I don't know if it was on his calendar before the flap, so I cannot say with clarity...].
STAGE LEFT, ENTER MELISSA ETHERIDGE
Now, Melissa has just met with "Pastor" Rick (and she told two friends, and she told two friends, etc.). He proverbially put his big bear arm around her like Santa Claus, promised that he mis-spoke, and said he loved and wanted "equality" (no details, naturally - remember, "equality" could mean everyone with an opportunity to go to heaven).
It sounds like the Angel of the Lord shown all around and she was all amazed. (Andrew Sullivan even throws in a Christmastide to round it out.)
What strikes me (and I'm just one person) is how false it all seems. How blatantly staged and manipulative it appears.
Some big guy proverbially puts his arm around you and assures you that God loves you and so does he. Then, just as you are parting with a warm afterglow, says, "of course, you are in 'error' and 'intrinsically disordered', so you ought to repent or go to hell. Have a blessed day!!!"
Apologies for mixing theological viewpoints, but the detail would bring the same result.
And, on the topic of apologies, apologies for Warren's mis-statements are not accepted (by me, at least - how to you apologize to a whole 'people' anyway?). He's not committed to overturning the legislative results of his wrongful speech, his ill-gotten gains. His apology is just a little too ... costless and convenient. Of course, he could withdraw himself from the inaugural. That could do the trick, if he said the right thing, alongside it.
RICK WARREN FAILING IN HIS CHRISTIAN RESPONSIBILITY
Now, supposing, like me, you aren't swayed by a charm offensive. What do you do?
Well, what I want from Rick Warren, apart from his humble recognition that he is not the right guy to offer an invocation, is his statement on what public relationship recognition, civil and religious, he wants for gays. I'm not talking about what he will "put up with". I'm asking about what he is sincerely willing to fight for, on behalf of those he says he loves so much.
Now, he may not know what he wants. Who knows how many gay couples he's known or met or how many Andrew Sullivan's or Evan Wolfson's or Rauch's have brought the message to his doorstep - and Soul Force and many, many more besides!
But, the fact is, that it is 2009, and he has a Christian responsibility. It's NOT JUST THE RESPONSIBILITY OF GAYS to be "calm" and to 'stop marching long enough to say something'. The messages and messengers are out there. Rick Warren and crew are the ones who need to pause and take testimony, to 'calm down'.
The Episcopalian leadership was right, in other words, when they called for a period of discernment. I'm sad to say, from all I've seen, Evangelicals, including Warren, are not reaching out in that way.
