An Open Letter To Pastor Rick Warren

I have to start out this post by saying that I have a lot of respect for Rick Warren. I feel he has brought some fresh ideas to ministry that are bringing more people to the Lord. That being said, I felt compelled to write him after receiving the following email from his church...



"For 5,000 years, EVERY culture and EVERY religion - not just Christianity - has defined marriage as a contract between men and women. There is no reason to change the universal, historical definition of marriage to appease 2% of our population. This is one issue that both Democrats and Republicans can agree on. Both Barack Obama and John McCain have publicly opposed the redefinition of marriage to include so-called "gay marriage." Even some gay leaders, like Al Rantel of KABC oppose watering down the definition of marriage. Of course, my long-time opposition is well known. This is not a political issue, it is a moral issue that God has spoken clearly about. There is no doubt where we should stand on this issue. This will be a close contest, maybe even decided by a few thousand votes. I urge you to VOTE YES on Proposition 8 - to preserve the biblical definition of marriage. Don't forget to vote!
Rick WarrenSaddleback ChurchPurpose Driven Network"



Now, since you've read what he had to say, I am sharing what I wrote back to him. I have yet to recieve a response and I'm not holding my breath. Smile.



"Pastor Warren,



I am writing to you today to ask you to rethink and pray about your decision to support Prop 8 in California. While I understand that many Christians can differ in their views of what the Bible says about homosexuality, I think you and I can both agree that Jesus would not discriminate against anyone.



You are right when you say that marriage is the ideal that has been held up for thousands of years for men and women. You are right to say that marriage is a biblical concept that should be protected. What I feel you are wrong about is saying that the state should mandate who is allowed to legally marry and who is not able to legally marry.



As a Christian, who is also a lesbian in a 15-year relationship with my partner, I feel very strongly about this issue. Without legal protection for my relationship, I cannot visit my partner in the hospital, make any medical decisions if she is incapacitated, decide where she will be buried if she dies before me, put her on my health insurance, and so on.



From what I've seen of you and your ministry, you seem like a person who is compassionate and wants to act like Jesus did, regardless of what others may think of you. I'm asking you now to do what Jesus would do. I'm asking you to prayerfully consider why you are telling people to support Prop 8. Is it because you truly believe that "traditional marriage" is under attack? I still fail to understand how having my relationship protected, as yours already is, would hurt your relationship. Traditional marriage will always be the ideal and will always be what the majority seek, so why is it that marriage for people like me is so threatening?



The last thing I want to address is the fact that many Christians seem to think that marriage is a religious institution that shouldn't be messed with in the legal arena. What I would like to submit is that marriage is a legal institution that has a religious component. It's a contract between two people. Whether your church chooses to recognize same sex marriage is your business. I would ever ask the government to force your church to perform my wedding ceremony! However, I don't understand why churches such as yours feel that you need to impose your beliefs about marriage on the rest of us in the secular realm.



Please, Pastor Warren, ask yourself if this is really what God would want you to do. Social issues are sticky, to be sure, but the Lord never said life was easy, did He? God bless you."



Sharone