THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Volume VIII, Issue # 256, December 29, 2006
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Government Committed to & Acting in Accord with Conservative Principles
Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity
LOOKING BEHIND THE "PURPOSE DRIVEN"
SHEEP'S CLOTHING
By Christopher G. Adamo
CHRISTIANITY & THE LIBERAL SOCIAL AGENDA: MAKING THE CHRISTIAN MESSAGE ACCEPTABLE TO GROUPS &
COMMUNITIES WHOSE DOMINANT ATTITUDES & PERSPECTIVES ARE CHARACTERIZED BY SECULARISM, RELATIVISM,
MATERIALISM, AGNOSTICISM, & POLITICAL CORRECTNESS -- OFFERING A VERSION OF CHRISTIANITY THAT MODERN
LIBERALS WOULD FIND MORE ACCEPTABLE, WHILE REMAINING IN THEIR PRESENT SPIRITUAL DARKNESS -- UNDERMINING
TRADITIONAL CHRISTIAN VALUES & JUSTIFYING A LIBERAL UTOPIA OF ABORTION ON DEMAND, GAY RIGHTS, SAME-SEX
"MARRIAGES," & CONDOM USE AS THE MEANS OF PREVENTING AIDS
FULL STORY:
The facade is beginning to peel back from the socalled "ministry" of southern
California "pastor" Rick Warren, author of The Purpose Driven Church and
The Purpose Driven Life. Unfortunately, many among his ample flock have
far too much invested in him, both emotionally and otherwise, to admit their
mistakes and cut their losses.
Moreover, he certainly faces no possibility of in-depth scrutiny from the
mainstream media, as his brand of “Christianity” poses little or no threat
to their Liberal social agenda. Yet to the degree that anyone at all
questions Warren as anything less than authentic, his response is thoroughly
telling as to his true character, as well as the nature of his “ministry.”
Joseph Farah, Editor in Chief of the premiere Internet news site, World Net
Daily, opened a can of worms by calling Warren to account over his fawning
praise of the terrorist stronghold of Syria. While there, Warren lauded the
brutish dictatorship as “peaceful,” claiming that the Islamist government of Syria
does not officially sanction “extremism of any kind.”
When confronted by Farah, an American of Middle Eastern decent who knows too
well the history of horror and tragedy faced by persecuted Christians in
the Middle East, Warren immediately denied ever making such statements.
Subsequently, Farah offered as evidence a “YouTube” video from Saddleback
Church, where Warren is Pastor, evidence inarguably proving Farah did make
statements praising the Syrian political regime. So, Warren’s Church simply
pulled the video from circulation and continued the
denial, being unaware that a copy of the video file had been downloaded and
is still in circulation. Warren’s follow up to this inconvenient
circumstance is perhaps most telling of all.
In a concurrent set of moves, Warren sent a seemingly conciliatory e-mail to
Farah, while distributing another e-mail to his “flock,” one in which he characterized
Farah’s pursuit of the incident as nothing less than “doing Satan’s job for
him.” Throughout this sorry episode, Farah’s only error has been to suggest
that Warren’s disturbing behavior represents some new departure from
consistency.
In fact, Warren is actually being entirely consistent. Whether his audience
might be Farah himself, Syrian despot Bashar al-Assad or the Saddleback
congregation, Warren tells each exactly what he believes they want to hear.
This pattern is the essence of what Warren is, and what has made him so
“successful” from a worldly perspective.
For those among his congregation who sincerely want to know the truth, the
evidence is ample. Unfortunately, it always has been available, and any
present “confusion” merely results from past decisions to ignore that
evidence.
For example, his letter to the congregation decrying the “attack” and making
his defense by invoking Scripture is barely four paragraphs long. Yet in
those four paragraphs, he employs three different “translations” of the
Bible. Why, it must be asked, does he not trust any single translation to
convey God’s message to humanity?
Could it be that he has his own message and agenda to advance, and that he
has found it very convenient to utilize different wordings of different
passages, not because they better convey God’s purpose, but rather his own?
It would be better to ask, could his motivation possibly be anything else?
As Farah has refused to let this indefensible situation simply drop, Warren
has responded by taking it to another realm, making personal attacks against
Farah in an interview with the magazine, Christianity Today. But once
again, by so doing, Warren succeeds in revealing much more about himself than
about his adversary.
Warren, who has not, to date, been known as any sort of standard bearer for
Christian principle in the political arena, decries Farah (whose societal
and moral views fall unambiguously on the Right) and his ideological allies
as part of a wrongful “political” encroachment on the faith.
In contrast to Farah, Warren’s forays into the political realm prove, not
surprisingly, to be decidedly Leftist. At a recent conference on the African
AIDS epidemic, Warren invited the very Liberal Senator Barak Obama (Democrat - Illinois)
as a keynote speaker. He justified the inclusion of Obama, who avidly
supports abortion and same-sex “marriage,” on the grounds that Obama offered
a worldly solution to ostensibly curb the spread of the disease through
condom usage.
The morally ambiguous message conveyed by the advocacy of condoms, along
with their inherent unreliability, make them nothing less than iconic to the
abortion industry, which fully understands how much new business they
generate. In the face of such pragmatism, one has to wonder what will be
next. Perhaps Warren’s Church will sponsor a “designated drivers ministry”
at every bar in its locale.
Appalling though Obama’s inclusion in the conference may be, it is
nonetheless entirely consistent with Warren’s behavior from the beginning.
Leading a megachurch in the culturally disintegrating landscape of southern
California, Warren certainly knows that his prospects of maximizing the
“flock” will be greatly enhanced as long as he shows proper deference to the
real religion of the area, “political correctness.”
In this, his Christian populism movement has proven to be far more palatable
to the God-hating secularists of the surrounding communities than such
stodgy, old-fashioned, and “intolerant” notions as “Thou Shalt Not.” And the
Warren influence has been predictable wherever it can be found.
If other churches that abide in the Warren philosophy, such as Chicago’s
gargantuan “Willow Creek,” were to truly uphold Christian values among their
enormous congregations, they would certainly be a constant “thorn in the
side” of their surrounding populace, acculturated into the relativism, materialism, and
agnosticism that certainly characterize the dominant attitudes and perspectives of people in
those communities. Yet, an amazing degree of compatibility and
congeniality exists between the Warren church model and the social
structures of Chicago and southern California.
The tradeoff between true Christian principle and acceptability to the
locals is apparently worth the spiritual sacrifice it entails, with
expanding parking lots, increasingly lavish facilities, and of course,
fuller collection plates bearing witness. Meanwhile, such churches offer
ever less of a worthwhile and much needed alternative to the ailing world
around them.
Ultimately, Warren gives conformist Christians, wearied from their ongoing
battle with a world that is increasingly hostile to true Christian faith, an
apparent “out” by offering a version that the modern world can find more
acceptable, while remaining in its present spiritual darkness.
Many among Warren’s vast following have made the mistake, in light of his
“purpose driven” ministering, of presuming that, at the heart of the movement, is a
Christ-driven purpose. Yet, as Warren’s real character continues to be
revealed, it is becoming apparent that members of that following are
presuming entirely too much.
LINKS TO RELATED TOPICS:
Religion, Secularism, & America
Morality, Decency, & Traditional American Family Values
Marriage, Family, & Society
The American Political & Cultural Left:
Liberals, Statists, Socialists, & Other Leftists
Christopher G. Adamo is a freelance writer who lives in southeastern Wyoming and works in the field of industrial instrumentation.
He is actively involved in Wyoming's political process, serving as a delegate to successive Wyoming State Republican Conventions
and as a member of the Wyoming State Republican Central Committee. He has assisted Republican candidates for local and state
legislatures and for the United States Congress. His articles, which appear regularly in The Progressive Conservative, U.S.A.,
and on a number of other websites, reflect a major concern with the damage being done to Conservatism and Conservative causes by
the Liberal Leftist faction in the Republican Party as well as by the much larger and more powerful Liberal Leftist faction in the
Democratic Party. During the early and middle 1990s, Adamo was Editor of the Wyoming Christian Coalition's official news organ,
The Wyoming Christian.
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