Associated Press 2006
Pastor Rick Warren leads the 22,000-member Saddleback Church. |
|
LAKE FOREST – That Pastor Rick Warren was able to put together the first joint appearance of the presumptive 2008 presidential nominees cements his status as one of the rising stars of the evangelical movement.
“It's very significant,” said John Green, a senior fellow in religion and American politics at the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life. “One of the hallmarks of the 2008 presidential campaign up to this point has been the increased level of discussion of faith and values.”
Warren, 54, presides over Orange County's sprawling Saddleback Church, the nation's fourth-largest, with 22,000 members. He also is the author of the best-selling book “The Purpose Driven Life.”
Not regarded as a partisan, Warren refuses to endorse candidates and eschews the confrontational style of some evangelical preachers in favor of what he calls a “civil forum.”
Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain – who say they've read his book – agreed to attend yesterday's forum in part because of the tone Warren sets and his focus on a broad spectrum of issues.
Unlike older, more partisan evangelical leaders, Warren plays down hot-button social issues such as abortion and gay rights to focus on poverty, AIDS and the environment.
“I think it's his concern with these issues plus his status in the religious community that made it possible for him to put this together,” said Green, who teaches political science at the University of Akron. “These are issues that both of these candidates are interested in.”
“As best as I can tell from Warren's public statements, he is pro-life,” said Green. “But he has come to the conclusion that evangelicals should be concerned with a wider range of issues, not just abortion and homosexuality.”
In a recent editorial, Rob Eshman, editor in chief of The Jewish Journal in Los Angeles, called Warren's coup in landing Obama and McCain “a victory for the good guys in the cultural wars.”
“After years of watching the debate over faith and values in America play out with all the finesse of MTV's 'Celebrity Deathmatch,' we will now get to see what happens when a thoughtful adult takes over from the goofballs, windbags, con artists and media whores who have led most of the battles until now,” Eshman wrote.
