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 Rick Warren decried what he calls a lack of civility in the presidential race.
August 23rd, 2012
06:12 PM ET
Rick Warren cancels presidential forum; mixed explanations as to whyBy Dan Gilgoff and Eric Marrapodi, CNN Belief Blog Co-Editors (CNN) - High-profile pastor Rick Warren has called off plans for a presidential forum that he said was scheduled to include both major party candidates, but there are conflicting accounts about why the event was canceled. Warren told the Orange County Register that he was nixing his "civil forum" because of the toxic political climate. "It would be hypocritical to pretend civility for one evening only to have the name-calling return the next day," Warren told the newspaper in an article published Wednesday. But sources close to President Barack Obama's and Mitt Romney's political campaigns challenged that explanation, saying the event was canceled because of a lack of interest from the respective campaigns. "As I understand it, Pastor Warren received tepid responses from both camps well before the supposed 'cancellation,'" said a senior Democratic strategist in contact with the Obama campaign. Follow the CNN Belief Blog on Twitter "It appears that the event was canceled because neither the Romney nor Obama campaigns thought it was in their interest to do," the strategist continued, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss a delicate political matter. A source close to the Romney campaign said that the former Massachusetts governor hadn't planned on attending Warren's event: “We were never going, ever. We offered to do a video.” A source close to Warren who worked on the event planning disputed the offer of a video from Romney’s campaign, ”considering the unique live, long-form Q & A format of the civil forum, obviously, video representation would have been impossible and was never discussed.” The source said, “presumably the individual who responded on behalf of Gov. Romney confused Pastor Warren’s conversations with top campaign officials about that event with the exclusive five-minute plenary video that both he and President Obama provided at the request of Saddleback Church for a Global Health and HIV/AIDS Summit that Rick and Kay Warren co-hosted with several other ministry organizations at Georgetown University on July 25.” During the 2008 election, Warren played host to both major party candidates at his Saddleback Church in Southern California, in what he called Saddleback Civil Forum on the Presidency. Warren told the Orange County Register this week that this year's civil forum had been scheduled to take place this week and that there was interest from both campaigns and from the media. CNN’s Belief Blog: The faith angles behind the biggest stories "[T]he TV networks were eager to cover it again since it garnered one of the largest viewing audiences of that election," Warren said. "I talked with both campaigns about the possibility of doing it again, and they were both favorable to participating." Warren's spokesman declined an interview request on Thursday, referring reporters to the Orange County Register. At the 2008 forum, Obama and Republican presidential John McCain fielded questions one at a time from the pastor on Saddleback's stage in front of 5,000 people and a nationally televised audience. "We’ve got to learn to disagree without demonizing each other, and we need to restore civility in our civil discourse and that’s the goal of the Saddleback Civil Forum,” Warren said in the statement after the event. This week, Warren seemed to criticize both campaigns. "The forums are meant to be a place where people of goodwill can seriously disagree on significant issues without being disagreeable or resorting to personal attack and name-calling," he told the Register. "But that is not the climate of today's campaign." "I've never seen more irresponsible personal attacks, mean-spirited slander and flat-out dishonest attack ads, and I don't expect that tone to change before the election," Warren said. Warren also said a larger issue cast a shadow over the event: religious freedom. "There are widespread attempts to redefine the First Amendment to simply mean 'You are free to believe anything at your place of worship but you are not free to practice your conscience elsewhere,' " Warren told the Register, saying he was planning a forum on religious liberty for next month. Warren used the issue to take special aim at Obama. When asked by the Register what he thought of the candidates views on religious liberties he said, "President Obama's policies clearly show what he values, and I have told him that I adamantly disagree with those particular policies." In February, Warren joined a chorus of Catholic leaders who denounced the administration over the implementation of a policy that required health insurers to provide no-cost contraception coverage to employees, even those working for Catholic hospitals and colleges. "I'm not a Catholic," Warren, a Southern Baptist, wrote on his Twitter feed, "but I stand in 100% solidarity with my brothers & sisters to practice their belief against govt pressure." Most evangelical and conservative Christians from Protestant backgrounds do not oppose the use of contraceptives, as official Catholic teaching does. The issue for those groups was what they saw as a threat to religious liberty. |
  About this blog
The CNN Belief Blog covers the faith angles of the day's biggest stories, from breaking news to politics to entertainment, fostering a global conversation about the role of religion and belief in readers' lives. It's edited by CNN's Daniel Burke with contributions from Eric Marrapodi and CNN's worldwide news gathering team.  |
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No devil, no god, no god no devil.
Nobody wants to deal with Rick Warren because last time around, he didn't really isolate John McCain as the second person to get his same spiritual questions. McCain received texts of all the questions thus he worked out his answers with his advisers. Warren set up Obama to look unsure while McCain was slick and pious.
Warren's a fool to think anyone wants to be the first on his stage.
It isn't so much the houses of worship. It is the hospitals and other for-profit businesses that need to lose their special status just because a religious group starts them. Can you imagine a hospital run by Christian Scientists?
Since when do churches get to play politics. Down with the tax free bull.
Churches are now nothing more than businesses. They really do need to lose their tax-exempt status.
A little humility would serve Mr. Warren well.
Too bad he missed the memo.
If you knew him personally you wouldn't say that.
Maybe now he can use that time to work toward setting the captives free. Every year, thousands of people are imprisoned for using a plant that Our Loving Father created and said was good. It is a grave injustice perpetrated against our people.
Pat Robertson said legalize it. What do you say, Rick?
Correct, cocaine is not harmful, especially when added to drinking. Party on mofo.
Maybe Warren can now devote himself to setting the captives free and insuring that no one is ever again arrested for using a plant that our Loving Father created, i.e. the legalization of marijuana.
Pat Robertson is for it, whaddaya say, Rick?
As a former Catholic who still has a lot of respect for the work they do with the poor and sick (my mom's in an assisted living facility run by Catholic Health Services) I have to say they should have toned down their (over) reaction to the contraception mandate. They pretty much skated on the priest-pedophilia-coverup issue (especially when you see what happened to Penn State) and, like all other religions, they enjoy a massive tax exemption. So much for diminished religious liberty especially since the President gave in on mandate.
I am scared of dying. I am scared of being meaningless and simply come to an end.
I am not going to turn to some fairy in the sky to alleviate my fear. I shall face my fear and remain fearful of the unknown. I will NOT fill in the blanks with some made up delusion.
You should try trusting that "fairy". God sent his son Jesus to die for the sins of all mankind. Whoever believes in Him does not have to be fearful of dying, because we know that life exists beyond the grave.
So Bob, do you get drunk a lot? We're all gonna die.
Rece: That's rather silly considering science says you're wrong and in this world where people are not all gullible (ie; like christards), scientific evidence based on facts and peer reviewed evidence is what matters, not the stories from a 2000 year old book written by sheep herding men that was meant to control the masses. When you make such claims, you should back them up with evidence.
Rece,
Yes, dear. There, there, dear. It'll all be "happily ever after", dear.
so much for inclusiveness in the public forum..had the Jewiish Defense league, or the Latino pride forum reequested same, the two camps would be falling all over themselves to participate..
Nonsense. Will today's faux Christians grasp at ANY chance to wrap themselves in the mantle of victim hood ?
Who could have caused this cancellation? I wonder, is there some sort of dark power at work? Who would want to interfere with a Christian view on this election? Could it be.......SATAN?!?!?!?!
hehe im old enough to get that one. guess that makes you old enough to start it.
Sadly, yes, Dubbly. Two weeks shy of 49. Still one the my favorite SNL bits.
Prayer changes things .
How to tell the bacteria?
Troll.
meow
Let's tally the number of war waged in the name of religion and compare them to the number of wars raged in the name of atheism. Which is health? You do the math. Can I get an amen!
Let's tally the number of wars waged in the name of religion and compare them to the number of wars raged in the name of atheism. Which is healthy? You do the math. Can I get an amen!
If God is all knowing, knows our every thought, what the future holds, how can we change his mind, why would we want to? Prayer is pointless.
Rick Warren the reason they´re not interested in your forum is because you have lost all credibility in the Christian
world with your support of "chrislam" . Crawl back under your rock
Maybe this was cancelled because both candidates had the same reaction to his invitation as I did to this headline: Who's Rick Warren?
Question: does being frightened cause one to turn to religion, or does being religious cause one to be frightened? The "christian" right's current paranoia seems to indicate the latter. What a waste!
Threat to religious liberty my behind. The anti-choice taliban want to pass laws based upon religious belief. They are the very antihesis of religious liberty.
What the hell is the relevance of Rick Warren and his Saddleback church anyway, and why are these charlatans so keen on politicians answering to them? Obama made a big mistake in '08 in sitting down with this bloviator, and it made no difference as these deceivers had already made up their minds to vote with the Repugs. So, this is a positive thing indeed.
"I Couldn't Agree With You More"..........Well spoken
Couldn't ever figure out why they kow towed to this misguided. poor excuse for a Christian. He would rather support Romneys gutting any programs for the middle class and the poor? Guess what Warren.....Religions should never have been tax exempt in the first place. They're businesses. Why not take a look at how much of the money they collect and what percentage goes to actually helping people. Most of it goes to things like millions of dollars for outrageous churches and things like the Mormon Tabernacle and expensive robes and faux crowns for bishops to parade around in. It's sickening and has nothing to do with religion. Go Away!
u r funny and have a tinfoil hat on your head
Agree wholeheartedly with your views on these charlatans.
I wholeheartedly agree! Religion is a hypocrisy in and of itself because no religion practices what it preaches. Churches should lead by example in following the tenets they espouse. Christian churches should follow Jesus' instructions about selling all you have and giving it to the poor, but they will not do that because then they would become the poor, and oh how mightly they despise the poor. Talk is cheap.
Yeah, couldn't be because NO ONE wants to be affiliated with Rick Warren.
I still want to know how, if god is 100% and created everything in the universe, how did evil come to be? The only logical, sane conclusion is that god created evil. Also, before you start complaining about not knowing how to 'read scripture', HeavenSent, be mindful that I spent most of my life from 3rd grade through high school as a card-carrying Assembly of God churchgoer. One of the reasons I am agnostic (at best). If the bible were released today as a book, chri$tians would be lambasting it for its violence, incest, brutality, genocide, polygamy and all the other things the religious right complains about continuously. Face facts and realize that the reason you believe is because you like to belong to a group (tribe) that believes it's better than everyone else and that makes you all fee special. It allows you to put everyone else into the 'other' category.
Finally, if you claim that I 'hate' religion, that's incorrect. I just hate what you DO with your religion. Kind of like the 'love the sinner, hate the sin' mantra you all love to spew.
Sorry 'feel special' not 'fee special'.....Anyhow, instead of joining some group to fee superior, why not just join the human race, in general, as we atheist/agnostics have?
The Bible is a history book. God gave man Free Will. And I believe that the angels had free will as well. Satan used his Free Will to turn against God and was cast out-because God and Sin cannot exist in the same place. If you were raised up being taught the Bible and quit going in high school-then you never truly got the adult experience of a relationship with God...my teen agers are still questioning things about religion and God. The history and the experiences come with time and age. Many believers in God leave after having been taught about Him as children. The naysayers on here have never had that God experience and I would hazard a guess that you didn't have it either. Because once you experience God-truly experience God-you will never be the same again. All the hatred that comes from the people who hate Christians make me feel so very sorry for them. But faith is something that you have to believe in. You have to believe that God is real no matter what the world says or books that are written against God. My Faith has carried me through many many difficult situations in my life. Hell is real. Heaven is real. But if you don't believe in them-you will never have a chance at having the God experience. One of the things I tell my kids is If you believe in demons and evil spirits then you can believe in Hell and if you believe in Hell then you can try to entertain that there is a Heaven. God will never force Himself or belief in Him on anyone. He gave us Free Will-it will always be our choice. Unfortunately, humans are born into sin thanks to Adam and Eve. But we have the free will to choose to not stay in sin OR not. It's our choice. People who rail against Christians have been given plenty of fodder over the years, but the difference is we know what sin is-we recognize it-and we choose to be forgiven. Christians are humans-we are NOT perfect. But we serve our Lord to the best of our ability and when we screw up we know that we have grieved God the Father just as most of us know that our earthly parents are sad when we make a mistake. God is ALL about Love-It's why he sent Jesus to us. To redeem us. Yes, the Bible tells us all about the violence, the incest, the brutality, etc. that occured in the history of man-the point is there was also redemption and God's Love so that we didn't have to stay that way. Many did but many did not. I'm sorry that you didn't get to understand or know this growing up....it sounds like maybe something bad happened to you that prevented it. I can be a Christian all alone-in fact, my best time with God is when I am alone with Him. Belonging to a group means nothing to me (I am very shy and dislike being around anyone but my family). For you, know this-it is never to late to get to know God-personally, deeply. God offers us this every second......SeilnoigileR
The Bible is a history book.
>>Written by men 2000 years ago to control man. Nothing more and no actual history within it.
God gave man Free Will. And I believe that the angels had free will as well. Satan used his Free Will to turn against God and was cast out-because God and Sin cannot exist in the same place.
>>God/Satan/Angels...none of which can be proven outside of the buybull to exist or have existed. Free will does not come from your imaginary friend.
If you were raised up being taught the Bible and quit going in high school-then you never truly got the adult experience of a relationship with God...my teen agers are still questioning things about religion and God.
>>Hopefully your teenagers realize the brainwashing techniques you have used on them and learn to think for themselves.
The history and the experiences come with time and age. Many believers in God leave after having been taught about Him as children. The naysayers on here have never had that God experience and I would hazard a guess that you didn't have it either.
>>Most non-believers were believers most of our lives. We just grew up and realized the foolishness of the whole thing.
Because once you experience God-truly experience God-you will never be the same again. All the hatred that comes from the people who hate Christians make me feel so very sorry for them.
>>No hate for christards, just the crap they think they have the right to push on everyone. Try looking in the mirror for the hateful one!
But faith is something that you have to believe in.
>>Faith is defined as belief without evidence...so you don't care that what you believe is true?
You have to believe that God is real no matter what the world says or books that are written against God.
>>No we don't. Not everyone is gullible.
My Faith has carried me through many many difficult situations in my life.
>>You and only you carried you through those times!
Hell is real. Heaven is real. But if you don't believe in them-you will never have a chance at having the God experience.
>>Until you have verifiable evidence to support this, we'll continue to believe they are things made up as fear-mongering techniques.
One of the things I tell my kids is If you believe in demons and evil spirits then you can believe in Hell and if you believe in Hell then you can try to entertain that there is a Heaven.
>>Instilling fear in your children is quite simply bad parenting.
God will never force Himself or belief in Him on anyone. He gave us Free Will-it will always be our choice.
>>Hard for something that doesn't exist to force itself on anyone.
Unfortunately, humans are born into sin thanks to Adam and Eve.
>>No evidence for Adam and Eve but plenty to back Evolution. To believe in Adam and Eve means you believe in incest.
But we have the free will to choose to not stay in sin OR not.
>>Sin is biblical nothing more and therefore meaningless.
It's our choice. People who rail against Christians have been given plenty of fodder over the years, but the difference is we know what sin is-we recognize it-and we choose to be forgiven. Christians are humans-we are NOT perfect.
>>Christians have caused more damage in this world as a result ofthir belief than any other culture believing in a god.
But we serve our Lord to the best of our ability and when we screw up we know that we have grieved God the Father just as most of us know that our earthly parents are sad when we make a mistake.
>>The only person you hurt when you make a mistake is yourself anf the only person you need to answer to is yourself and the people you have hurt.
God is ALL about Love-It's why he sent Jesus to us.
>>What kind og good loving creature would allow its own child to be killed???
To redeem us.
>>From what??
Yes, the Bible tells us all about the violence, the incest, the brutality, etc. that occured in the history of man-the point is there was also redemption and God's Love so that we didn't have to stay that way. Many did but many did not. I'm sorry that you didn't get to understand or know this growing up....it sounds like maybe something bad happened to you that prevented it.
>>Give it a rest!!! Once again most of us were christard and just grew up!
I can be a Christian all alone-in fact, my best time with God is when I am alone with Him.
>>You mean alone with yourself!!
Belonging to a group means nothing to me (I am very shy and dislike being around anyone but my family). For you, know this-it is never to late to get to know God-personally, deeply. God offers us this every second
>>I'll stick with reality while you enjoy your delusions.
THE BURDEN OF PROOF ALWAYS LIES WITH THE ONE MAKING THE CLAIMS...WITHOUT USING YOUR BUYBULL, ATTEMPT TO PROVE WHAT YOU JUST SAID TO BE TRUE.