Of Rick Warren’s Fight to Save “Unborn Trees”

 by Ben-Peter Terpstra  

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Should men of faith worry about “unborn trees?”

Rick Warren, now 53, is the green pastor of Saddleback Church in California. He believes in “global burning” – and that Christians like to start crusades. Osama bin Laden agrees. But: should men of faith worry about “unborn trees?”

2007 TIMELINE

January: The Houston Chronicle heaps praise on secular Christians for joining with “science.” States the thick, tree-based source: “Earlier this month, 28 scientific and evangelical leaders publicly released an ‘Urgent Call to Action.’” Apparently, “it’s good news that more evangelicals have seen the light on climate change.”

Saddleback agrees. Though, judging by the polluting products sold in one Houston Chronicle, skeptics ask if the paper is under “reason’s light.”

Further, Pastor Warren receives praise for sponsoring an “ambitious AIDS summit” in December, where pulpit abortionists spoke about the need to “save the children.” Seriously.

February: Warren embraces the Gospel of Gore. Not that Warren rejects Jesus: far from it. He just likes to walk in Gore’s spotlight.

“Pray that your flight will not take place in the winter or on the Sabbath,” states the living word (Matthew 24; 20). Warren’s apocalyptic vision, on the other hand, warns Christian’s about “global burning” and hell’s fiery lakes.

March: Big news! Warren’s classic, The Purpose-Driven Life, continues to sell like hotcakes. Sweet teachings include: “God smiles when I trust him” (page 76), “God is real, no matter how I feel” (page 113), and, “Nobody else can be me” (page 248). Seriously.

Somewhere, in California, a distraught, teen-age girl is looking for her pink journal.

April: More big news! Trees continue to die for Warren’s bestseller. Amazon.com is happy. Energy levels rise. But: nobody can be Rick.

May: The world is still ending. And yet, Stephanie Simon of the Los Angeles Times finds the time to heap praise on Warren because – I quote – he “came to the heart of the religious right movement last week to criticize a narrow focus on abortion, homosexuality, and pornography as un-Christian.”

The leftwing, pro-abortion journalist also adds: “Strikingly, top [so-called and unnamed] Christian conservatives agreed.” However, there is no study to verify this. 

Like Warren, the LA Times appears Red Russian in its predictability. Sigh. Christians ask: Is Warren parroting Obama’s speeches, again?

June: Warren fails to provide evidence that the so-called Religious Right talks too much about abortion – and sex. Nor does he provide a list of the subjects they can and can’t talk about.

Meanwhile, pro-life Christians refuse to talk about “unborn trees.” Or, hydroponics. They (still!) think that the “heart” of social justice is the heart of the baby.

July: Irate, secular Christians ask questions like these:

• “Why can’t born-again Christians talk less about unprotected babies?”
• “Why don’t they preach about battery-powered cars?”
• “Why can’t male Sunday school teachers wear heels?”

August: Hungry bookworms rape more trees. Gaia is mad. Granted, there is no one like Warren.

September: I ask questions like these:

• “If the abortion industry is behind ‘the holocaust’ (Warren’s words), then why is Saddleback Church inviting ‘Nazis’ to preach at summits?”
• “Why does Pastor Warren like to wear loud, Hawaiian shirts?”
• “When is Saddleback going to host a pneumonia-specific summit?”

Note: Pneumonia kills more young children (2 million a year) than AIDS (321,000 a year).

October: Time publishes Obama’s book excerpt.

“Megachurch pastors like Rick Warren,” writes the pro-abortion Democrat, “. . . are wielding enormous influence to confront AIDS” by supporting initiatives. Just don’t ask for details.

Strikingly, Obama admits that: “He once – accidentally he says – voted against a bill to ‘protect our children against sex offenders.’”

November: Team Huckabee posts Rick Warren’s purpose-driven compliments on their website:

I know most of the candidates running but I’ve known Mike Huckabee the longest, since we did our graduate degrees together in the late 70s. Mike’s a man of vision, compassion, and integrity. I’ve watched his uncanny ability to identify with normal people in ways that many leaders don’t.

“Compassion?” “Integrity?” The liberal Governor’s “uncanny ability to identify with normal people” even extends to violent predators. After giving one jailbird an early release, the beast killed, and raped, again.

Still, Warren, a serial namedropper, likes Huckabee’s “self-deprecating humour” and argues:

That’s probably why TIME [a pro-abortion magazine] named him one of the five best governors in America. He’s definitely presidential material.

December: Joseph Farah of Worldnetdaily.com challenges Rick Warren’s purpose-driven history lessons. 

“For instance,” the columnist observes, “he recently apologized to Muslims worldwide for [so-called] atrocities committed against their ancestors during the Crusades . . . And he has apologized for the church because it hasn't done enough about the spread of AIDS and problems like global warming.”

He adds: “Yet, I must observe that despite his predilection for apologies, he has a great deal of trouble owning up to his personal mistakes.” Amen.

Culture: Religion

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