Rick Warren

{{christianity}}{{cquote|When students are taught they are [[evolution|no different from animals]], they act like it.|||Rick Warren, in response to the [[Aurora shootings]]<ref>[https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2012/07/20/rick-warren-is-a-lying-ghoul/ Rick Warren is a lying ghoul]. ''Pharyngula'', 20 July 2012.</ref><ref>SantaFeMarie, [https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2012/07/21/1112373/-Rick-Warren-links-Aurora-shooting-to-teaching-evolution Rick Warren links Aurora shooting to teaching evolution. UPDATE: he has pulled the offending tweet]. ''Daily KOS'', 21 July 2012.</ref>}}'''Rick "Let Us Pray" Warren''' is a retired [[televangelist]] and the former pastor of Saddleback Church, a ''really'' big [[megachurch]] formerly part of the [[Southern Baptist Convention]].<ref>[https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-08-29/pastor-rick-warren-retires-final-saddleback-church-sermon "Pastor Rick Warren’s final Saddleback Church sermon is a lot like his first one in 1980"] by Salvador Hernandez, Los Angeles Times, 2022 August 29</ref><ref name="wapowomenpastor">[https://www.washingtonpost.com/religion/2021/05/11/saddleback-ordain-women-sbc/ "Saddleback Church just ordained three women as pastors. The Southern Baptist Convention says only men should be."] by Bob Smietana, Washington Post, 2021 May 11</ref>

Besides pastoring a ''real big megachurch'' that makes yours look so small that, well never mind heh heh, Rick Warren also wrote a bestseller called ''The Purpose-Driven Life'',<ref>Rick Warren, ''The Purpose Driven Life''. Zondervan, 2002, {{isbn|9780310803065}}.</ref> which probably goes more into the [[self-help]] category than anything approaching serious [[theology]]. He then parleyed his fame and fortune into hosting a Presidential debate or something like that. Yawn.

There was a shit-ton of controversy when [[Barack Obama]] invited Warren to deliver the invocation at the inauguration. [[Gay rights]] groups opposed this, as Warren had supported the [[Homophobia|anti-gay marriage]] [[Proposition 8]] in California. The ceremony seems to have cemented Warren's position as "America's pastor" despite him being a [[right-wing]] anti-gay nutjob. Commentators now seem to refer to Warren as being a "new" evangelical who, despite believing all the same crazy shit as the old evangelicals, is supposed to be markedly different from [[Jerry Falwell]], [[Pat Robertson]] and other fire-breathing loons. On the other hand, judging by his predictable reaction (blaming it on teaching [[evolution]] in [[public schools]]) to the [[Aurora shootings|shootings]] in Aurora, Colorado, maybe he ''isn't.''<ref>[http://www.examiner.com/article/rick-warren-aurora-shooting-the-fault-of-evolution Rick Warren: Aurora shooting the fault of evolution]</ref>

In May 2021, Warren made some headlines by actually ordaining three women pastors to Saddleback Church, despite a ban on female pastors being official policy of the Southern Baptist Convention since 2000 (a sign of the {{wpl|Southern Baptist Convention conservative resurgence|"conservative resurgence"}} that slowly took over the SBC in the 1980s and 1990s).<ref name="wapowomenpastor"/> Since the mere idea of a women speaking in church in a leadership role outraged SBC leaders like seminary President {{wpl|Al Mohler||,}} Saddleback Church (along with 5 other churches) were kicked out of the SBC on February 2023.<ref>[https://religionnews.com/2023/02/24/how-did-saddleback-get-kicked-out-of-the-sbc-its-complicated/ "How did Saddleback get kicked out of the SBC? It’s complicated."] by Bob Smietana, Religion News Service, 2023 February 24</ref> In June 2023, Warren issued on social media an "apology to Christian women" for failing to "speak up" on their behalf during what Warren called his prior "years of ignorance".<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20230611225858/https://twitter.com/RickWarren/status/1667620086251925505 "My biggest regret in  53 years of ministry is that I didn’t do my own personal exegesis sooner on the 4 passages used to restrict women",] Rick Warren (@RickWarren), Twitter, 2023 June 10, archived on 2023 June 11</ref>

==See also==
*[[Saddlebacking]]
*[[Homophobia]]

==References==
{{reflist|2|80%}}

{{stub|Christianity|Christianity}}

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[[Category:California]]
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[[Category:Ministers]]
[[Category:Homophobes]]
[[Category:Living people]]

Categories: California, Christians, Creationists, Right-wing activists, Televangelists, Ministers, Homophobes, Living people