CommonGround: Political news and analysis by Chuck Raasch, Gannett national writer

Warren's purpose-driven politics

By CHUCK RAASCH, Gannett National Writer
November 17. 2009 4:18PM

WASHINGTON — Rick Warren is on multiple missions.

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The Christian pastor who spoke the prayer at President Barack Obama's inauguration, a choice that prompted protests from gay-rights activists, came here this month to talk about the future of evangelicalism at the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life.

Warren's message: Christianity's future is not inside the Beltway, or even in this country, but in China, Africa, Latin America and developing countries around the globe.

"Last Sunday there were more Christians who went to church in China than all of Europe combined," said Warren, author of "The Purpose Driven Life."

Warren is the founder of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif., one of the nation's largest mega-churches. The church will celebrate its 30th anniversary in April with a service at the Los Angeles Angels baseball stadium in Anaheim.

The 55-year-old pastor says he defies political description and bristles at suggestions that he is part of the religious right, which he described as in decline.

"If I thought politicians could change people's hearts, I would go into government," he said. "If I thought laws could change people's hearts, I would go into government. But I don't, so I'm not."

But Warren is in the political arena. He conducted much-debated interviews with Obama and Republican candidate John McCain during the 2008 campaign. After the election, Obama was criticized for choosing Warren to deliver his inaugural prayer after Warren, in defending traditional marriage, was quoted in an interview seemingly equating homosexuality with pedophilia and incest.

Warren now says he misspoke, that "I don't believe that and never have," and that he allowed the criticism to fester by staying quiet for fear of further overshadowing Obama's inauguration. But some gay-rights activists remain unconvinced by his explanations.

Warren would rather be known for his church's work abroad, training tens of thousands of pastors, advocating for the poor, and engaging in anti-AIDS and health care activities in Africa, where he says former President George W. Bush remains a "hero" for his anti-AIDS policies. More recently, Warren's church has begun pushing adoption of orphans in countries beset by conflict and disease.

UNICEF estimated 143 million orphans around the globe in 2003, and Warren said that "whoever gets to those people first are going to get to their hearts and minds —either madrassas or radicals or fundamentalists, or whatever. That is anarchy waiting to happen."

Most of Christianity's growth in the 20th century was in Asia and Africa and Latin America. While church membership and attendance plummeted in Europe, it has taken off elsewhere. In Africa, for instance, widely accepted estimates say the number of Christians grew from 10 million at the beginning of the 20th century to about 360 million by the year 2000.

"The actual number of secularists outside Europe and Manhattan is quite small," Warren told reporters. "You need to get a life and get around the world because most people have some kind of faith."

Warren said that while governments and politicians talk only about government and business as big enough to confront the world's problems, the "faith sector" is bigger than either one.

"I could take you to 10 million villages in the world where there is nothing but a church," he said. "The church has more locations than all the Walmarts and Starbucks and everything else combined. It has more volunteers. The church was global 200 years before anyone started talking about globalization. And you add in Muslims, Jews, Buddhists, Hindus (and) you basically have got most of the world."

Contact Chuck Raasch at craasch@gannett.com, follow him on Twitter or join in the Facebook conversation.

 

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