The well-circulated myth that Rick Warren, the best-selling author and megachurch pastor who hosted the unmistakably pro-McCain presidential forum at his Saddleback Church back in August, is a "new" kind of evangelical abandoning the culture wars has been further debunked by his endorsement of Proposition 8, the California ballot measure that would amend the state's constitution to ban gay marriage.
In a video released on his web site yesterday, Warren rehashed the religious right canard that the legalization of gay marriage by the California Supreme Court is somehow illegitimate because it "threw out the will of the people." The Court, or "four guys," as Warren called the judges, "voted to change the definition of Chri -- of marriage that has been going for 5,000 years." Little slip of the tongue, there, Pastor Rick?
After emphasizing his support for Proposition 8, Warren went on to justify his position by claiming that even Barack Obama agrees with him:
This is one thing that politicians all 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 universal, historic 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.
Never mind that Obama has said he is nonetheless opposed to Prop. 8. Perhaps he needs to remind Pastor Rick of that.
Warren -- the anti-culture warrior, remember? -- went on to promote the religious right's insidious, fact-free complaint that a minority of Americans aim to undermine God's will, and even had the gall to claim opposition to gay marriage was a humanitarian issue for Christians:
Here's an interesting thing: there are about 2% of Americans are homosexual, gay, lesbian people. We should not let 2% 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 is a humanitarian and human issue, that God created marriage for the purpose of family, love and procreation. I urge you to support Proposition 8 and to pass that on.
Brought to you by the evangelical movement with the "broader agenda."
--Sarah Posner
