WTF: Etheridge Warms to Rick Warren

The old hymn says, "God works in a mysterious way/His wonders to perform." So is that what's behind Melissa's sudden appreciation of Rick Warren's warm, cuddly vibes? As Etheridge tells it on HuffPo, she was scheduled to perform at an ecumenical do for the Muslim Public Affairs Council in Long Beach last Saturday, when . . .

I received a call the day before to inform me of the keynote speaker that night... Pastor Rick Warren. I was stunned. My fight or flight instinct took over, should I cancel? Then a calm voice inside me said, "Are you really about peace or not?"

I told my manager to reach out to Pastor Warren and say "In the spirit of unity I would like to talk to him." They gave him my phone number. On the day of the conference I received a call from Pastor Rick, and before I could say anything, he told me what a fan he was. He had most of my albums from the very first one. What? This didn't sound like a gay hater, much less a preacher. He explained in very thoughtful words that as a Christian he believed in equal rights for everyone. He believed every loving relationship should have equal protection. He struggled with proposition 8 because he didn't want to see marriage redefined as anything other than between a man and a woman. He said he regretted his choice of words in his video message to his congregation about proposition 8 when he mentioned pedophiles and those who commit incest. He said that in no way, is that how he thought about gays. He invited me to his church, I invited him to my home to meet my wife and kids. He told me of his wife's struggle with breast cancer just a year before mine.

When we met later that night, he entered the room with open arms and an open heart. We agreed to build bridges to the future.

Brothers and sisters the choice is ours now. We have the world's attention. We have the capability to create change, awesome change in this world, but before we change minds we must change hearts. Sure, there are plenty of hateful people who will always hold on to their bigotry like a child to a blanket. But there are also good people out there, Christian and otherwise that are beginning to listen. They don't hate us, they fear change. Maybe in our anger, as we consider marches and boycotts, perhaps we can consider stretching out our hands. Maybe instead of marching on his church, we can show up en mass and volunteer for one of the many organizations affiliated with his church that work for HIV/AIDS causes all around the world.

Maybe if they get to know us, they wont fear us.

I know, call me a dreamer, but I feel a new era is upon us.

I admire Etheridge tremendously, and I appreciate the dream and the constructive attitude. But can the leopard change his spots? Is the reverend really such a sweetheart, or just a smooth-talking schmoozer? You'd think Etheridge, being a celebrity herself, could see through the crowd-pleasing charisma, if that's all just a ploy. He sure seems to have charmed her right out of her shoes.

I personally don't trust those glad-hand religious types one bit. It's interesting to note that Warren has just removed the "no gays allowed" warning from his church website. Change of heart, or politically expedient CYA?

I guess time will tell. As my roommate just said, if Warren were to pray a truly inclusive prayer at the Inauguration, that would really set a beacon for religious folk to follow.

But seems to me that's a mighty big IF.

Update: Here's the Rick Warren video I posted last week, referenced above:

The more I think about this, the more I wonder if Melissa isn't being played for a sucker. White man speak with forked tongue.

As the roommate and I have have discussed at length, Warren is telling a bald-faced lie when he says "I have many gay friends who've asked me 'Why can't I have multiple sex partners, it's natural?'"

Lie #1: I really cannot believe Warren - who till just the last day or so had a big damn notice on his website saying gays could NOT be members of his church - has any such "many gay friends." It's amazing how people like him and Palin and Pat Boone and Donny Osmond all claim to have so many gay friends . . . I don't freakin' think so!

Lie #2: Who the hell do you know that would ever even ask such a silly question in the first place? It just beggars belief.

Lies #3 and so on: "Marriage has always and everywhere been the same for the last 5,000 years." WRONG. Amazing that somebody with a degree in theology could so quickly and conveniently ignore the blazing fact that the ancient Hebrews were big-time polygamists: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, Solomon, etc., etc., etc. Hardly a model for modern "family values."

And if you ask any creationist to explain how the human race got started, they will tell you quite seriously that before the Flood, men married their sisters to get the population ball rolling. We call it incest now, but that was just fine back then . . . so they say. WTF?

And we haven't even started to talk about all the thousands of other cultures and marriage/sexual practices there have been all over this old world.

Okay, so we have the evidence on tape that Warren is a flat-out liar. Or else just extremely ignorant, if not stupid. I sure hope Etheridge isn't being snookered in to take a ride on the homophobe train here.