( note: Of course I'm not the only one hounding Rick Warren on his anti-gay associations. Rachel Maddow has been doing heavy lifting and, as Pam Spaulding notes, Jim Burroway has been doing foundational work on gay rights in Uganda. )
It's gratifying to know "America's most powerful pastor" seems to have taken notice of my videos, showcasing Rick Warren's 2005 speech at California's Anaheim Angels Stadium, during which Warren outlined a "stealth" program to take the world and called on his audience to show the sort of devotion to Jesus as followers of Hitler, Lenin, and Mao gave to their respective leaders.
About eleven hours ago Rick Warren issued the following grumbly late-night California tweet on Twitter,
Right Jo. You can make anyone say anything if you control the video editing! For the whole story
Well, readers can judge for themselves. Here's the more popular of the two videos:
In his letter Warren issued yesterday, which condemned a globally notorious draconian anti-gay bill before Uganda's parliament, Rick Warren made a number of statements that are factually incorrect. Warren's letter contained several direct references my videos and to my writing on Warren's doctoral thesis advisor C. Peter Wagner.
The quote below is from Rick Warren's "Letter To The Pastors of Uganda"/"Key Facts Concerning Recent Media and Blog Reports on Rick Warren's Position on Uganda" (http://www.rickwarren.com)
There are nine "facts" in Warren's list. Here's "fact" #9 :
"[question] Are you and Peter Wagner attempting to rid the world of homosexuals? [answer] Absolutely not. Peter Wagner was a seminary professor of mine, but not my doctoral dissertation advisor.* I have not had contact with Peter Wagner for many years and am certainly not conspiring with him for any purpose. Additionally, the event chronicled at Angels Stadium in 2005 has been grossly misrepresented. I was simply arguing that Christians could have a tremendous effect for good in the world if they had the same dedication as the followers of Mao. I would never argue that anyone should emulate or espouse the views of Mao, Hitler or Lenin."
In a Thursday story I've addressed at length the lies and distortions in Warren's nine "points" list and it is gratifying to know that such a globally influential man such as Rick Warren pays attention to my work.
*Warren's claim, that C. Peter Wagner wasn't his academic advisor for Warren's 1993 doctoral thesis at Fuller Theological Seminary, is not true. My research colleague bought a copy of the thesis. I've read a good deal of the 350+ page tome. C. Peter Wagner is listed, in the dissertation abstract, as Warren's "mentor" for the work. Wagner is the only Fuller Theological Seminary member (Wagner has since left Fuller) mentioned as either an advisor or "mentor" to Warren for the dissertation. Peter Wagner leads the New Apostolic Reformation, a tendency fast becoming the new face of the Christian right globally. Many of Wagner's hundreds of "apostles" wield national electoral influence. Wagner's apostle Samuel Rodriguez leads the rightwing National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference which claims to represent 15 million Hispanic Christians in the US. Sarah Palin is closely tied to top leaders in Peter Wagner's New Apostolic Reformation, such as Thomas Muthee and Mary Glazier.