The issue discussed was the fact that the First Amendment of the American Constitution was violated as Church and State were mixed.
From both sides.
Politicians should never accept to hold political electoral meetings inside churches with its religious followers as the audience and a Pastor as the moderator.
But also a Church should never invite politicians to come inside their building to discuss politics.
In the end, a Church is a place of worship of God.
One of the scaring aspects of the American society has become the growing numbers of people that are getting into being Evangelicals.
People that are unable to create a life for themselves but instead turn to a Church for moral guidance, discipline and structure.
People who accept to live not as they feel they should live or who are prepared to find this out for themselves.
They accept to live in a religious community that share the same believes, dress code, ideas and values that they find in the Bible as explained by their pastors.
They become mindless members of a flock.
No ideas of their own but simply repeating what they are told on Sunday.
As these people have become so numerous, politicians who want to win elections must try to get the Evangelicals on their side.
So, they accept to disrespect the First Amendment of the Constitution.
And become friendly with Pastors.
One of the major persons initiating and promoting the recent event with John McCain and Barack Obama was the man behind the Saddleback Church.
Rick Warren.
He and his wife Kay came to the Saddleback Valley in 1979 after he had finished studying at a seminary.
It is not known at which seminary Warren has studied and if he actually finished his studies successfully.
In any case, at the seminary he was instructed in philosophy, theology, spirituality and the religious life, in preparation for Warren to become a member of the clergy.
But what he did was to call himself “Pastor” and to open within one year after settling in Lake Forest his own church.
The Saddleback Valley Community Church.
He ran his church like a business.
Promoting principles found in the Bible, he attracted people looking for guidance and purpose in life to his church.
In this he was very successful.
Within 15 years he had a huge following.
Creating a comfortable living for himself.
As often is the case, once the success was there he believed he could market nationally and internationally his strategies for success.
He gave it a name: “The Purpose Driven Church”.
Warren organized workshops and trainings, at a cost of course.
And published his strategies in a book.
Resulting in over 200.000 people worldwide learning from Warren how to start and run a church successfully.
The next thing was to write a book for the flock.
To get them even more into his territories.
His book is called “The purpose driven life” and sold over 11 million copies.
Rick Warren is an entrepreneur.
Using religion as a way to make money, have power and a reputation.
But he is an unhappy man.
He is fundamentally insecure and compensates this by being dominant.
His inner balance shows by his physical appearance.
The man is overweight: being unbalanced results in having bad eating habits.
His face has become inflated what he tries to hide by a ridiculous moustache and goatee.
His body is loaded with fat that he covers with loose fitting clothes.
Of course the man is out of balance.
He has been preaching for 28 years telling people how to live.
Giving them rules.
Saying what is not allowed.
Pretending to know what is right and what is wrong.
Staying for the public eye constantly within a framework of moral regulations coming from the Bible.
This can only frustrate a person.
Because it means that a high level of hypocrisy must be applied every day.
In fact, it means to live in lies all the time.
Not being able to live up to the own standards advocated and having to hide and cover it up.
There have been Rick Warren’s before in the USA.
And many of them have fallen from their self-build pedestals.
Because they were in fact not the persons they had been pretending to be.
This will happen with Rick Warren as well.
Here and now the prediction is made that one day things will become known about Rick Warren that will make him loose the respect and success he has been able to achieve until now.
With some of us.
.
3 comments:
That is an interesting read, but quite a jaded look at Warren. I doubt he is the miserable person you describe, but we all have our own issues and shortcomings.
I don't necessarily buy everything he says, I go to the source and try to figure it out for myself, but I also wouldn't judge the man for his career, profession, or faith, I have enough problems of my own to worry about.
If he doesn't live out his life in the manner he advocates to his own parishioners then that's different, and there are countless examples of that, but, as of right now, I see no proof of that... nice passionate blog post though, I like that better than luke-warm anything.
No one really knows who is happy, and who is not. A wise man recently said "The only happy people I know are those I don't know well". I'm reasonably you have no idea whether Rick Warren is happy, or not, anymore than I as to whether you are happy. To presume knowledge such as this is to be presumptious, and shallow.
Those of us who are Christians are not mindless. Your view on us as mindless followers actually says more about you, than us. As another wise man once said, "It is better to remain quiet and be thought a fool, than to speak and remove all doubt".
For the record, Michael, numerous surveys show that people of faith, who practice their faith (regardless of whether they be Christian, or Jewish, or Budhist, etc.) live longer, and lead happier lives than those with no faith, so statistically are more than likely happy.
I would disagree with your condemnation with Rick Warren. I don't know the man, but what I have read about him, it would seem that he "walks the walk". Religious men are hated by many in the US, and he certainly would have been called out as a fraud if there was anything in his life that would be considered to go against the persona he has projected for himself. Did you know that when his "Purpose Driven Life" book was successful, he refunded 100% of his previous salary to his church, and now works for free (he draws his paycheck from book sales his own separate ministry organization, but he leads his church for free.)
I do appreciate your thoughts and beliefs and willingness to share, in this instance, I hope you are incorrect.
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