Warren waver on Prop 8 stuns leaders

[Thrill]

Evangelical leaders say they are bewildered and stunned by the Rev. Rick Warren's apparent turnaround on gay marriage after the famous California pastor said earlier this week that he was not a proponent of California's Proposition 8.

Mr. Warren told CNN's Larry King on Monday that he "never once even gave an endorsement" of the proposition, which said marriage in the state could only involve one man and one woman. The measure won at the polls last November by a close margin, in effect negating an earlier California Supreme Court ruling allowing gay marriages.

Proponents of the proposition had gathered from earlier comments that Mr. Warren stood with them on the issue, and they reacted vigorously to his CNN interview.

"I was extremely troubled by the way he appeared to be so anxious to distance himself from the same-sex issue and to make clear he was not an 'activist' and that he'd only addressed the issue in a very minor way," said the Rev. Al Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky.

Wendy Wright, president of Concerned Women for America, said his denial is "absolutely baffling."

"Whether he supports Proposition 8 now, after the fact, is overshadowed by the bizarre claim that he did not say what the evidence so clearly proves he said."

What Mr. Warren said he did do was send out a video to his 22,000-member church explaining his position the week before Proposition 8 went before state voters on Nov. 4.

"Now let me say this really clearly: We support Proposition 8," he said on the video, "and if you believe what the Bible says about marriage, you need to support Proposition 8. I never support a candidate, but on moral issues, I come out very clear."

In his conversation with Mr. King, Mr. Warren said, "All of a sudden out of it, made me something that I really wasn't. And I actually — there were a number of things that were put out. I wrote to all my gay friends — the leaders that I knew — and actually apologized to them. That never got out."

http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009/apr/11/warren-waver-stuns-leaders/

[MADem]

1. Tired of the hate mail, maybe? Secretly wants to be the Pastor to the President?

Knows that this hateful attitude puts his ass out in the cold and ensures he'll never get an invite to another inaugural?

[sakabatou]

2. This is... shocking

[EFerrari]

5. Do you think so? I don't at all. He's a huckster and has made the calculation

that the tide of public opinion is changing. He wants to get out in front of it.

[sakabatou]

6. No. I know he's playing the game.

[EFerrari]

10. I'd be really surprised if Shallow Rick didn't start some kind of reconciliation

movement as soon as he figures out how to cash it in.

[NOW tense]

3. Did he have a come to Jesus moment? n/t

[Cash_thatswhatiwant]

7. i chuckled. nt

[Merlot]

11. me too!

gave me the first sly smile of the day. tubby got a taste of the high life at the inauguration and wants a bigger piece of it.

[GinaMaria]

12. maybe a come to wallet moment?

Sorry, but my first question was 'what's in it for him financially?'

[gratuitous]

4. Baffling? Not at all

Tubby the Preacher (as the Rude Pundit calls him, and the moniker suits me) is all about Tubby the Preacher. It served him well to be against Prop 8 to his congregation and the bigots of California in October and November 2008. It now serves him well to go on Larry King and deny his previous position. It's all part of his purpose. Didn't you read his book, Wendy Wright? It's right there in the title. Tubby's purpose is to make more money for himself.

Is that the "Duh" phone I hear ringing? It's for anyone who believes one word out of Tubby's mouth.

[G_j]

8. "Concerned Women for America"

:puke:

[rucky]

9. Warren wants it both ways.

I guess his "purpose" is to be a bigot and still be loved. Sorry, Saddlebackers

[Initech]

13. Too little too late.

[BlooInBloo]

14. They know they've lost. The only question is how hard do they fail...

It looks like Warren is setting himself up for one of the softer landings available to his fail.

[burning rain]

15. As others have suggested, he may be angling for the spot of.....

preacher to the prez, particularly now that Billy Graham can't fill it. And, this bit of waffling is worthy of Mr. Graham, who ignobly split the difference during the most tumultuous years of the civil rights struggle.