Rick Warren: An Inexact Analogy | Newsweek Religion

Marriage Is Hard
Lisa Miller 10/8/2009 12:00:00 AM
Billy Graham had a rule. He was a powerful man, away from his wife and children more often than he was with them. Aware of the significance of his reputation and convinced of the moral value of the Gospel message, he took precautions to guard against his own human weakness. He gave his ministry colleagues explicit instructions: never leave me alone in a room with a woman who is not my wife. (Click here to follow Lisa Miller)
Africa’s Last, Next War
Jason McLure 10/8/2009 12:00:00 AM
Arab horsemen toting Kalashnikovs provided by the Sudanese government thunder into a town. Women are raped in their huts. Men are gunned down as they flee for the bush, and children are packed off on the back of the raiders' horses while stolen cattle are herded away to be sold.
Christian Soldiers
Kathryn Joyce 6/19/2009 12:00:00 AM
Ever since former president George W. Bush referred to the war on terror as a “crusade” in the days after the September 11 attacks, many have charged that the United States was conducting a holy war, pitting a Christian America against the Muslim world. That perception grew as prominent military leaders such as Lt. Gen. William Boykin described the wars in evangelical terms, casting the U.S. military as the "army of God." Although President Obama addressed the Muslim world this month in an attempt to undo the Bush administration's legacy of militant Christian rhetoric that often antagonized Muslim countries, several recent stories have framed the issue as a wider problem of an evangelical military culture that sees spreading Christianity as part of its mission.
Choosing A Church
Eleanor Clift 12/19/2008 12:00:00 AM
There shouldn't be any suspense, really, about whether Barack Obama will use his full name when he takes the oath of office. Still, there was such sensitivity during the campaign about his middle name that reporters were apt to wonder how he would handle this delicate moment. Not delicate at all, he has said. He would do what is customary, which means that Chief Justice John Roberts will administer the oath to Barack Hussein Obama. Three names evocative of lands and cultures distant from Washington will send a powerful signal to the world that this is the dawning of a New America.
SOCIETY
The Silent Issue
Lisa Miller 11/3/2008 12:00:00 AM
It's abortion, stupid. For conservative Christians in this election the most important religious issue isn't gay marriage, stem-cell research or Christmas trees on courthouse lawns. It is abortion (as it has been for at least the past 35 years, since the Supreme Court ruled on Roe v. Wade). When they walk into the voting booth on Tuesday, can they look beyond their fundamental, conscience-driven opposition to abortion as a moral evil? Do they want to? If yes, they may vote for Sen. Barack Obama. If not, they will, despite any reservations, vote for Sen. John McCain.
The Myth of the Evangelical Voting Bloc
Lisa Miller 11/30/2007 12:00:00 AM
Rick Warren, the influential pastor of the Saddleback megachurch in Orange County, Calif., invited eight presidential candidates to speak at his third annual "Global Summit on AIDS and the Church," but only Hillary Clinton came. (Five other candidates made appearances via pretaped video.) Clinton's speech at the church on Thursday—laced abundantly with Scripture and promises of billions of dollars of support for the international AIDS crisis—triggered accusations that she was crassly pandering to evangelicals. Warren, meanwhile, continues to stake out a position firmly in the middle, deflecting criticism from his more conservative peers that such invitations (Barack Obama was one of last year's speakers) betray a disregard for some Christian fundamental values. Pro-choice Democrats, they say, have no place inside evangelical churches. No matter: at Saddleback yesterday, Clinton was given a standing ovation. NEWSWEEK's Lisa Miller spoke with Warren about religion, politics and the race for president. Excerpts: