Chamblee54

There was a quote on facebook from Rick Warren. Yes, that Rick Warren. He spoke at the first BHO inauguration, and was outshone by Aretha Franklin’s hat. The man is a prominent Jesus worshiper. His style is California trendy, but his message is fundamental Christian. Rick Warren says the only difference between himself and James Dobson is tone. Rick Warren thinks the Bible is the word of G-d, and should be taken literally. If you disagree with Rick Warren, he says you are going to hell. The emphasis on beliefs, about life after death, is strong with Rick Warren.
The quote was another tasteful facebook graphic. It featured this quote: “Our culture has accepted two huge lies. The first is that if you disagree with someone’s lifestyle, you must fear or hate them. The second is that to love someone means you agree with everything they believe or do. Both are nonsense. You don’t have to compromise convictions to be compassionate.”
As is his custom, PG did a bit of digging around. The quote seems to have been used in support of Chik-Fil-A. The quote is found in the Christian Post, in an article about Muslims. (Warning: The Christian Post has a sneaky auto start player, with a loud commercial. There is no way to turn it off.) Here is the context of the quote.
QUESTION: Why do you think people who call themselves Christians sometimes say the most hateful things about Muslims?
WARREN: Well, some of those folks probably aren’t really Christians. 1 John 4:20 says, “If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen.” And 1 John 2:9 says “Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness.” I am not allowed by Jesus to hate anyone. Our culture has accepted two huge lies: The first is that if you disagree with someone’s lifestyle, you must fear them or hate them. The second is that to love someone means you agree with everything they believe or do. Both are nonsense. You don’t have to compromise convictions to be compassionate.”
The person who had the greatest impact on PG, regarding Jesus, was a co worker at Redo Blue. One day, PG went into the break room, and heard an angry speech about the horrors of Islam, and Muslims. And now a prominent Christian say that this person probably isn’t really a Christian. The impression has been made, and slick words from a California super preacher is not going to erase the memory of seven years of verbal abuse.
In the comments, Goat, the quoteposter, said “I know nearly nothing about Rick Warren. It’s the strength of those words that inspired me to post it.” Sometimes knowing about the person behind the words can take the fun out. It is similar to the dynamic of people who enjoy the quote, and don’t care who did, or did not, say it. In this case, the context for the quote was found. Whatever you may think about this quote, and about Rick Warren, it is a genuine quote.
PG hopes that Goat is still his friend. A quote from a slick preacher is not worth losing a friend over. Of course, Goat did change his facebook picture to the HRC logo last week. Some people think that should be grounds for ending a friendship.
Pictures are from The Library of Congress. Spell check suggestion for quoteposter: preposterous.