"Jesus loved and accepted others without approving of everything they did. That's our position too, but it upsets a lot of people ...."
Rick Warren, author of The Purpose Driven Life, responding to conservatives who criticized his invitation to Sen. Barack Obama to attend an HIV/AIDS conference Warren hosted at his church. (Source: ABC News)
4 comments:
Ultra conservative evangelicals aren't concerned with taking Jesus to the world, their concerned with power, political prowess, and conversion of the world to religious conservatism through intimidation.
I think that criticism regarding power and politics can be applied equally to those on the other side of the aisle, in some cases.
I am glad Warren reached out the way he has. I am so sick of all politics, and probably will not vote in any more national elections. I know that I will not find a candidate that I feel I can trust. I already knew there were none who matched up to what I wanted: those who are socially active on poverty, environmental issues, etc., but still remain pro-life and tougher on gay marriage (I don't care about civil unions). But it seems we have to pick and choose and perhaps even settle somewhat.
Maybe that's the realization Warren has come to. The evangelical church cannot (or at least has not) tackled the AIDS disaster on its own. Rather than keep relying on its own inadequate resources, band together with those who share 70% of our viewpoints and do something!
Anon - I might encourage you to watch Barack's speech he made about 18 months ago regarding politics and religion. Barack is a devoted member of his church in Chicago (I believe it is the Trinity United church of Christ if I recall correctly) and is unfairly characterized regularly. The video of that speech is on his web site at www.barackobama.com or I talked about it on my blog a few weeks ago here:
http://gracefocusedramblings.blogspot.com/2006/11/obama-2008.html
Thanks for the post and the link. I like Obama a lot -- as a person and a speaker. I think his approach is sincere. However, at the end of the day, I'm still left with the same dilemma. But I do appreciate your thoughts.
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