BOOKS

Rick Warren’s ‘The Purpose-Driven Life’

Arts and culture in the Bush era.

By Lisa Miller | NEWSWEEK
Published Dec 13, 2008
From the magazine issue dated Dec 22, 2008

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  • Posted By: Mwalimu @ 12/15/2008 1:29:51 AM

    Rick Warren also helped promote Proposition 8 which bans gay marriage in California, so Rick Warren's book really needs to be retitled. Call it Purpose Driven Hate. In addition, Rick Warren is a multi-millionaire. Remember what Jesus told the rich man: "Sell all you have and give to the poor." I don't see Rick Warren doing that. Rick Warren does represent the spiritual values of the Bush era: greed, hatred and religious hypocrisy,.

    • Posted By: kwcleveland @ 12/15/2008 5:27:32 AM

      Yes, Rick has made millions upon millions of dollars from his book. However, he gives away 90% of his income and lives off of 10%. In addition, he calculated every single dollar that Saddleback Church has paid him to be their pastor and had paid it back, no longer accepting a salary. So he has worked for free for 28 years. He lives in the same house he has lived in since before he wrote the book and drives the same car since 2000. He values money solely as a tool to help people who are in need. That is remarkable. How could anyone doubt his intentions? His actions reflect his values, and it is obvious he cares little about money.

      • Posted By: YashBudini @ 01/09/2009 11:07:01 AM

        "Yes, Rick has made millions upon millions of dollars from his book. However, he gives away 90% of his income and lives off of 10%. "
        Ever notice that he still makes more money than all his followers? Care to explain that?

      • Posted By: skeptichere2 @ 12/15/2008 1:43:03 PM

        I believe that the 90% he gives away, is given back to his "charitable" causes. KW, you can't be this naive. There are many possible ways to move money around within a corporation, besides, say he makes 10 million dollars, so he lives on 1 million. Quite a bit more money than Jesus. Plus, does his wife get a salary? I would guess so. Everybody please open your eyes.

      • Posted By: skeptichere2 @ 12/15/2008 1:38:37 PM

        So, if he makes 10 million dollars, he only keeps 1 million, right? Might there not be a tax benefit to taking only 10%? How much salary is his wife paid? Is he also paid an additional salary from his corporation? KWCleveland, you're a little naive.

    • Posted By: kwcleveland @ 12/15/2008 5:23:22 AM

      While Rick has made millions upon millions of dollars with his book, he gives away 90% of it and lives on 10%. In addition, he calculated every dollar that Saddleback Church had paid him to be their pastor, and he paid it back, so he has worked completely for free for the last 28 years. He values money solely as a tool to help people who are in need; if he hasn't shown that, I'd love to see someone who has.

  • Posted By: skeptichere2 @ 12/15/2008 1:44:24 PM

    I believe that the 90% he gives away, is given back to his "charitable" causes. KW, you can't be this naive. There are many possible ways to move money around within a corporation, besides, say he makes 10 million dollars, so he lives on 1 million. Quite a bit more money than Jesus. Plus, does his wife get a salary? I would guess so. Everybody please open your eyes.

    • Posted By: YashBudini @ 01/09/2009 11:01:45 AM

      "KW, you can't be this naive."

      Yes he can and millions of others like him. That's why even a priest refers to his sheeple as a flock.

  • Posted By: YashBudini @ 01/09/2009 11:00:21 AM

    " and it is obvious he cares little about money."

    No, as a millionaire it's no obvious at all. Real religious people take vows of poverty.

    Mother Teresa didn't preach hate. How could you forget all that?

    When exactly do religious beliefs turn people into simpletons?

    Also -

    The only 12 step plan W was ever in was Alcoholics Anonymous.

    W's purpose seems to be to start the next cold war or WWIII?

    He may have a purpose, but who in their right mind would want to see him succeed?

  • Posted By: chelseadoc @ 12/21/2008 11:08:45 AM

    Kudos to Russell4America. I wholeheartedly agree. True, we have been ???thrown under the bus.??? But, I am not certain that this metaphor holds much meaning for Obama. We should be telling him that he???s ???sold us down the river.??? Perhaps that would strike a more familiar chord with him. I am so, so angry at him. I will not be voting for him a second time.

  • Posted By: Russell4America @ 12/18/2008 4:09:32 PM

    If Rick Warren had been anti-Black, anti-Hispanic, anti-Asian, anti-Jew, anti-any other minority other than gay, then he would not have been given a place at Obama's inaugural table because it would have been wrong to give such a person a platform in which to give validity to their bigotry. But since Warren is anti-gay, Obama tries to defend his choice by saying he wants to listen to differing viewpoints. Bigotry is bigotry, no matter what rhetoric you wrap it in. If we are to use Obama's failed logic on this issue, then white supremacists should have a chair at Obama's inaugural table (but they won't because we know their positions on social issues are wrong, just as Rick Warren is wrong). Obama blew it with this one. It is painfully obvious to anyone with a brain that this is simply pandering to the radical religious whack jobs who have held this country hostage, via the Bush regime, for the last 8 years. With this most egregious of decisions, Obama has flushed his credibility down the toilet. This is not change we can believe in. This is just more of the same garbage that gay people have had to deal with the last 8 years. And it stinks. Obama benefitted greatly from gay people's, their friends', and their families' financial donations and their votes (including financial donations and vote from this gay person). And how are we repaid? We are thrown under the bus. The hearts and minds of a huge segment of the U.S. population are lost by such a purely political maneuver, and we cannot be one people/one country because of it. Here's hoping Obama wises up. If he wants to fix this country, he's going to need everyone's involvement, and right now, gays, their families, and friends are feeling like their involvement in cleaning up this country is neither wanted nor desired. Not a good message. Not a good way to begin Obama's presidency. Not good at all. And there's no excuse for it.

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