The Warren Report – Just Who IS This Guy, Anyways?
31 August 2008 by KA
I’d heard/seen these headlines about a pastor arbitrating the Obama/McCain discussion. Of course, this in and of itself is enough to curl my upper left lip into a semi-snarl. I mean, don’t we just have a surfeit of these religious folks sticking their noses into the process as is?
So, as the title implies, I began poking around.
I am even less happy now. I am, well, for wont of a better term, horrified that this fellow has the ability to broker anything in our government, let alone a meet for the two presidential candidates.
So let’s start out here (mind you, this starts the article, paragraph one no less!):
Rick Warren has Rick Warren syndrome. That’s not a joke. He has a brain disorder. “I was born with it,” he says. “I went to the Mayo Clinic, and the doctors said, ‘We have found a dozen or so other people with this. There’s no name, so maybe we’ll just call it the Warren syndrome.” He describes the ailment’s chemistry as an inability to process his body’s own adrenaline. Its symptoms are tremors, disorientation and pain, and, as he says, “it makes my brain move very fast.” I ask — since a colleague of his has asserted it — whether Warren also has attention deficit disorder. Warren laughs heartily. “Am I ADD? Yeah, I’m probably ADD too.”
How much of this impacts his judgment? I don’t want to be politically incorrect or mean-spirited, but a brain disorder? He seems to do pretty well despite it – he’s authored a number of books, and yes, you guessed it, they’re all paeans to his specific superstition.
Here’s the thing – this ‘Warren’s Syndrome’ is extremely rare. I couldn’t find a flipping thing on it anywhere. I even went as far as the Mayo Clinic’s website and search there. Nada.
Another snippet:
A shift away from “sin issues” — like abortion and gay marriage — is reflected in Warren’s approach to his coming sit-downs with the candidates. He says he is more interested in questions that he feels are “uniting,” such as “poverty, HIV/AIDS, climate change and human rights,” and still more in civics-class topics like the candidates’ understanding of the role of the Constitution. There will be no “Christian religion test,” Warren insists. “I want what’s good for everybody, not just what’s good for me. Who’s the best for the nation right now?”
Yeah, a ’shift away’ my ass. As I understand it, it’s an “in for a penny, in for a pound” package.
If Warren were content to be merely the most influential religious figure on the American political scene, that would be significant enough. He isn’t. Five years ago, he concocted what he calls the PEACE plan, a bid to turn every single Christian church on earth into a provider of local health care, literacy and economic development, leadership training and spiritual growth. The enterprise has collected testimonials from Bono, the First Couple, Hillary Clinton, Obama, McCain and Graham, who called it “the greatest, most comprehensive and most biblical vision for world missions I’ve ever heard or read about.” The only thing bigger than the plan’s sheer nerve is the odds against its completion; there are signs that in the small country Warren has made a laboratory for the plan, PEACE is encountering as many problems as it has solved.
All these assholes must’ve read the fuzzy wuzzy version, because pretty much anything ‘biblical’ usually entails huge swathes slaughtered en masse for just about any old damn thing.
During the 2004 presidential election, he seemed to toy with using his new influence to become the next Jerry Falwell or James Dobson. Although he did not officially endorse George W. Bush, the mega-author made no secret of his preference. Two weeks before the election, he sent an e-mail to the several hundred thousand pastors on his mailing list, enumerating “non-negotiable” issues for Christians to consider when casting their votes: abortion, stem-cell research, gay marriage, euthanasia and human cloning. Shortly after the election, two attendees of a Washington meeting of conservative religious and political heavyweights remember Warren’s actively soliciting advice on how he might increase his clout with GOP politicians.
I’m with old James Madison (founding father) – these folks want to stick their nose into the political process? Start paying taxes.
Here’s a serious capper:
Warren had an epiphany in 2003. His wife Kay had dedicated herself to the fight against HIV/AIDS, a brave move in a community where it was still often stigmatized. In Africa with her nine months later, he says, he heard a message from above. “God said, ‘You don’t care squat about the sick and the poor. And you need to change; you need to repent.’” He became fond of repeating that the Bible has 2,000 verses dedicated to the poor and that the Gospel of Matthew contains not only the Great Commission, in which Christ bids his disciples to spread his word, but also the great commandment, in which he tells the Pharisees to love thy neighbor as thyself.
So this clown hears voices. He admits as much here:
I’m willing to admit my presuppositions: there are clues to God. I talk to God every day. He talks to me.
Oh, and the icing on the spoiled cake is, yet another fucktard who thinks evolution is a belief:
If you’re asking me do I believe in evolution, the answer is no, I don’t. I believe that God, at a moment, created man. I do believe Genesis is literal, but I do also know metaphorical terms are used. Did God come down and blow in man’s nose? If you believe in God, you don’t have a problem accepting miracles. So if God wants to do it that way, it’s fine with me.
And here’s a direct statement from the Saddleback Church:
Although it cannot be stated with certainty, it appears that dinosaurs may have actually been mentioned in the Bible. The Bible uses names like “behemoth” and “tannin.” Behemoth means kingly, gigantic beasts. Tannin is a term that includes dragon-like animals and the great sea creatures such as whales, giant squid, and marine reptiles like the plesiosaurs that may have become extinct. The Bible’s best description of a dinosaur-like animal is in Job chapter 40. We don’t know for certain if these are actually dinosaurs or are some other large creatures that became extinct.
This should not sound so strange. After all, God tells us that he created all the land animals on the sixth day of creation, the same day that he created mankind. Man and dinosaurs lived at the same time. There was never a time when dinosaurs ruled the earth. From the very beginning of creation, God gave man dominion over all that was made, even over the dinosaurs.
He hears voices on a daily basis. He also admits to having a brain disorder. He (and the other morons in his midst) think that dinosaurs were shoulder-to-shoulder with humanity.
He’s a highly functional schizophrenic, is what he is. This guy should be in therapy, not directing anything resembling major political discourse. In short, he and his should butt the fuck out.Why on earth does he have this ability? Well, he’s fairly charismatic. He’s also made millions on his book (contributed 90% of it to his club, too).
And of course, the addled masses have a soft spot for all that warm ‘n cuddly fuzzy wuzzy crap we call religion.
This gets up my nose in so many ways, I should have a deviated septum.
Final analysis: people as a rule aren’t able to distinguish teh crazies. Wear a suit, be articulate, brownnose, and have some money is all it takes in this country. Because reason and evidence don’t fluff the fuzzy wittwe heart.
Till the next post, then.
31 August 2008, on 9:31 am
I question the wisdom of politicians kissing religious butt, being kowtowed to express some vague adherence to the beliefs of the particular congregation. I think it is degrading to the politicians and a treason to the founding principles this nation was founded upon. If the trend continues it won’t be long before heresy is a capitol offense right beside working on the sabbath and coveting your neighbors ass.
31 August 2008, on 10:17 am
It says something to me that most of these holy idiots are obese and in ill health.
Suggesting he has a brain disorder is redundant considering his line of work as a professional grifter for god.
31 August 2008, on 1:42 pm
EXCELLENT point! I’m wondering about his ploy to blather about “uniting” issues…it would seem to me that he’s trying to disguise his former message about the evil gays, abortionists, etc in an attempt to garner support from religious people who aren’t quite as bigoted as his typical flock. He’s already got the support of every fundy-spewing, ignorant fucktard who wants to burn homos at the stake, execute baby killers in a firing squad, tar and feather doctors, etc…so what’s next?
Of course! Now he has to appeal to those people who still think “God is love” and “I heart Jesus!” Not every delusional xian falls into the *pyscho* catgegory of a death-squad soldier for christ, and what better way to attract them than by talking about warm and fuzzy issues, like helping those poor, poor Africans with AIDS (all while teaching them they’re going to hell if they dont accept jeebus RIGHT NOW!!!)
I dont buy it for a fucking second. Considering the shit you dug up about him, its obvious he’s just another scam artist looking for a way to futher his own pathetic career of deceiving people and looking pretty on national TV…
31 August 2008, on 2:08 pm
I dont buy it for a fucking second. Considering the shit you dug up about him, its obvious he’s just another scam artist looking for a way to futher his own pathetic career of deceiving people and looking pretty on national TV…
A lot of people are being suckered into all this, even atheists and secular humanists. The media is doing a fine job of making them look sane and wanting unity and peace, etc. They have a desire to unite, of course…to unite everyone to Jeebus and God.
31 August 2008, on 3:23 pm
The Bible uses names like “behemoth” and “tannin.”
Did anyone else just think of a Tyrannosaurus wine conissieur?
31 August 2008, on 7:55 pm
Having ADD (I do) does not disqualify a person from being a competent individual (full disclosure: I got LOTS of other issues!). However ADD and TTGD (Talking To God Disorder), yeah, that’s a recipe for an extra big helping of fucked up.
1 September 2008, on 2:14 am
I made it through the first 60 or so pages of Warren’s drivel, er I mean book, The Purpose Driven Life before I got sick of it. (I bought it used so my funds did not go to this quack.) There was not a page of those that I made it through that I did not write in the margin pointing out logical fallacies, gaffes, goofs, and imbecilities.
Here’s a contender for most ironic statement ever, occurring on page 39: “…actually it’s unhealthy to live in denial of death and not consider what is inevitable.”
And try comprehending the arrogance and egocentrism of the following statement from page 24: “Why did God do all of this? Why did he bother to go to all the trouble of creating a universe for us? [...] You were created as a special object of God’s love! God made you so He could love you.”
The guy comes off as a moderate on TV, at least from what I have watched. But make no mistake, he’s a fundamentalist of the Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson stripe and it makes my hackles go up that he wields so much clout.
1 September 2008, on 11:12 am
What’s going on, I think, regarding this boldfaced outrageous example, and, for that matter, the continuous riddling of everything else throughout every aspect of American culture…witness the daily proof of that in the amazingly dumbed down media outlets…is the lobotomy-like inability of the average person to exercise even the most basic level of critical thinking.
I maintain that religious brainwashing, in all its manifestations, essentially shuts down, or at least critically impairs, in the majority of the population, whatever genetically based potential any individual MIGHT have had for that oh-so-important, basic, essentially human skill. And obviously, as manifested in this Post’s upper echelon mix of top rung politicians kowtowing to this particular Fundie idiot for the purpose of impressing the lowest common denominator brainwashed sheeple…it covers every conceivable strata of the population.
Logical, rational, scientifically evidential, even “in your face”, “right under one’s nose” type data, go completely unnoticed to the “Religiously Lobotomized”. And…it seems…there’s really, objectively, nothing anyone can do to change that. It’s totally up to the individuals themselves.
It’s also totally up to the rather “rare”, still salvageable, individual…to awaken, somewhat slowly, often painfully; gradually evolving and emerging from the childhood initiated, amazingly oppressive, cocoon-like…mental prison.
So…my fellow butterflies…
All that, in my most humble, bottom-line opinion, is basically why arguing with ANY religiously indoctrinated person is an absolute, total waste of time.
You might as well be banging your head against the nearest wall.
Well…at least, doing that, you might accomplish shaking some stubborn dandruff loose!
“HEY…it’s summer…and…it’s snowing…
D’oh!”
1 September 2008, on 12:41 pm
So THAT’S who Rick Warren really is! The guy a brain disorder was named after!
Of course I was familiar with him before this. But forevermore I will think of him as the Brain Disorder Guy.
Very fitting.
2 September 2008, on 12:39 am
“You were created as a special object of God’s love! God made you so He could love you.”
Q: Would that be the “40 days and 40 nights of deluge kill the fuck out of everything” kind of love, or the “plagues of Egypt wish you were dead when all is said and done” kind of love?
A: Neither of the above. That would be the “ordering you to kill your own son, then changing your mind at the last minute, as a test of faith” kind of love.
Considering that the Gawd of which Warren speaks is neurotically needy in his weaker moments, and a psychotic killer in his finest hours, I’m going to take a pass and defer to a quote from Kurt Vonnegut’s “Slapstick”: “Please, a little less love, and a little more common decency.”
As for Warren–yeah, the dain bramage is no surprise, and of course he’s trying to appear moderate as a political power grab. Religion, particularly of the fundy mega-church variety, is the fastest way to gain political and financial power these days (kinda like the dark ages, huh?) His fundy legion already knows where he stands–seemingly moderate appeals will not scare off the scary religious wing-nuts who make up his core.
2 September 2008, on 2:07 am
Fritzy,
Your comments made me go back and thumb through this retard’s book one more time. Listen to this one from page 187: “Many of our troubles occur because we base our choices on unreliable authorities: culture (’everyone is doing it’), tradition (’we’ve always done it’), reason (’it seemed logical’), or emotion (’it just felt right’). All four of these are flawed by the Fall. What we need is a perfect standard that will never lead us in the wrong direction. Only God’s Word meets that need.” (Bold added by me.)
You know, I think that statement gives us a key insight into one of the core psychological areas that religion parasitizes – a desire for a sense of certainty. I always knew this, but had never run across such an overt example from one of their own mouths.
2 September 2008, on 12:11 pm
WOW…so basically if you have the lawd jeebus in your life, you dont need logic or reasoning? I’m gonna start packing my bags now…
2 September 2008, on 5:51 pm
InTheImageOfDNA: You know, I think that statement gives us a key insight into one of the core psychological areas that religion parasitizes – a desire for a sense of certainty.
I call it infantilism (yeah, I know that’s a term for something completely different), a wish to remain a child forever with a big, bad, strong sky daddy who’s gonna kiss and make it all better, while kicking everybody who doesn’t agree with you into eternal punishment. A desire for a sense of certainty is a kid’s wish that everything be all right all the time, with everyone knowing exactly what to do and an unshakable authority regulating your life down to the tiniest detail.
And all too many will probably never grow out of this need, ITIODNA…
17 October 2008, on 12:48 am
Why all of the anger guys? Just because he might have a different opinion than you doesn’t justify your attitudes. If you knew him on a personal basis I guarantee that your harsh words would subside despite the fact that you might have a fundamental disagreement on religion. Cheer up, we’re all on this planet together