Rick Warren didn't get $900,000. He got $2.4 million

[pissedoff01]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_rick_warren_donations

LAKE FOREST, Calif. – Evangelical pastor Rick Warren's plea for donations to fill a $900,000 deficit at his Southern California megachurch brought in $2.4 million, Warren announced to cheers during a sermon at the church on Saturday.

Warren said the amount raised after the appeal was posted online Wednesday included only money parishioners brought in person to Saddleback Church by New Year's Eve. More was arriving by hand and by mail, he said.

"This is pretty amazing," said Warren, who made the announcement by bringing out 24 volunteers each holding a sign for $100,000. "I don't think any church has gotten a cash offering like that off a letter."...

[tblue37]

1. There's one born every minute. nt

[earth mom]

13. Yep and it sounds a bit like a carnival act doesn't it? nt

[progressoid]

23. Eveidently, more than one.

[GoCubsGo]

46. Yep.

A fool and his money are soon parted, as another old saying goes. Lots of fools out there, apparently.

[dsc]

2. but we can't be pissed at Obama for raising this man's profile

Does anyone believe for a second that this consumate fraud could have raised a tenth of this prior to giving the Inagural prayer?

[Tarheel_Dem]

7. I knew that you would find a way to bring the president into this. I'm

not quite sure why you or anyone here should care what private citizens choose to do with their own money. From reading your post, you would think the president opened up the treasury and gave him your money.

[Better Today]

10. So are you honestly saying it didn't rub you the wrong way when

Obama picked this man, insulting nearly all GLBTs and others sensitive to bigoted evangelism, to give the inaugural invocation?

[Tarheel_Dem]

11. It did not. What do I care who offers a prayer? Not everyone believes as I do,

and I don't expect to believe as everyone else. That's what makes this country great, we can disagree and still be civil. Not really sure what this has to do with his ability to fundraise, or why the president gets the blame for it.

[Better Today]

12. Well aren't you the special one.

The only further comments I'd make to you are so snarky as to risk overstepping the line.

[Tarheel_Dem]

28. Not the only special one. I'd say you're pretty "special". (nt)

[dsc]

17. so if he picked say a Klan chaplan that would have been OK

if not, why not?

[ZombieHorde]

21. Bigotry against gay people is significantly more acceptable for many people,

including many liberals, than bigotry against ethnicity.

[QC]

57. Yeah, as I have often said here, some consider racism a sin but homophobia a mere faux pas,

like wearing white shoes before Easter or eating the entree with the salad fork.

[treestar]

72. that's unfortunately true

that's the issue to tackle, actually. Making it just as unacceptable.

[Name removed]

20. Deleted message

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[dsc]

25. I suspect if Hillary had won and had a preacher who was as anti black

as Warren is anti gay, by the way Warren's refusal for months to denounce a bill which literally calls for the death penalty for gays in Uganda puts him on par with a Klan chaplin in my opinion, people would rightly still find it repulsive after a year. I know you don't give a shit about gays, you have made that abundantly clear, but for those of us who do, Warren is as close to a murderer as one gets without pulling the trigger himself.

[tbyg52]

53. +1

:patriot:

[Name removed]

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[Name removed]

29. Deleted message

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[Name removed]

31. Deleted message

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[Bill McBlueState]

38. "consumes them all"

What does that mean?

[Bluenorthwest]

39. Bad news for you! We're here, we're queer

Get used to it.

[Toasterlad]

47. Yeah! So What If the Man's a Bigot and a Homophobe!

As long as he's not burning a cross on YOUR lawn, why should YOU give a shit if the president legitimizes him and gives him a platform to raise money for his hate?

[ruggerson]

60. Homophobia is not "civil"

Nor are there two sides to the argument.

[walldude]

61. Yes well after he offered that prayer, did he go to another country

and encourage them to pass a new law calling for YOUR DEATH because you are a heterosexual? Somehow I doubt had this man tried to convince another country to kill you because you aren't gay, you'd find him all that harmless or his positions "civil".

[dsc]

18. given its tax deductability he sort of did

[Name removed]

26. Deleted message

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[IndianaGreen]

22. Rick Warren gave the invocation, which set the tone for Obama's relations with LGBTs

We are still under the bus.

[NMMNG]

75. The tone was already set

Which is why Obama had no qualms about selecting an anti-gay bigot to give the invocation.

[Better Today]

8. My thoughts exactly, but I have to admit to being in a real

nasty funk and highly disappointed about Obama lately.

[chimpymustgo]

36. Thanks for pointing out the ugly truth. Obama gave this charlatan a NATIONAL PLATFORM on a historic

occasion.

Still makes me want to :puke:

[MH1]

42. Bullshit - Warren already had a national platform

Warren's book was VERY popular well before Obama ran for President, and Warren's church was already huge. Whether you like it or not.

[Toasterlad]

48. Oh, Please.

I never heard of Rick Warren before I found out Obama was kissing his ass, and I'm sure many of the people in this country who know of him now were equally, blissfully unaware of him until Obama made him the nation's witch doctor. Warren's "church" may have indeed been huge before Obama, but it's certainly MUCH "huger" now.

[QC]

56. Obama took Warren from an evangelical celebrity to a mainstream one.

Prior to the Inauguration, it was mainly the fundamentalist churchy types who had ever heard of Warren, but on that day literally billions of people around the world were introduced to him.

[treestar]

73. Agree

and the average American has already forgotten who said the prayers at the Inauguration.

[MH1]

40. Absolutely Warren would have raised the $ - Saddleback has been built over many years

and when you see more than one person reading "Purpose-Driven Life" on the commuter train in the morning (this was before Obama was running for Prez)then you know there's a bunch of people paying attention.

Just because YOU and many other people on this message board didn't know who he was, doesn't mean that he didn't already have a big following.

But yeah, go ahead and blame Obama for Warren's popularity.

By the way, even an organization that has some onerous tenets can do some good for some people. Given that many people don't worry much about homosexuals' rights but do worry about world poverty and other issues that Warren's church addresses (or pretends to address, take your pick), might explain the broad appeal of someone like Warren.

[Toasterlad]

49. Yeah! I Hear the KKK Had a Bake Sale to Benefit Toys for (white) Tots!

We should all give them tons of money, since they're doing such philanthropic work!

You should not have the rights you do. Gay people deserve them much more than you do.

[Starry Messenger]

68. "Onerous tenets" like removing civil rights?

Where am I?

[QC]

81. Al Capone ran a very nice soup kitchen. n/t

[Mari333]

43. agreed. When he chose Warren he raised him into the conciousness of the country

as a godly man. By doing so, he also sent a strong message. That he approved of a man who is hateful and bigoted. and he fed into the nation's bigots by doing that. a man whose church condemns LGBT people and promotes death to them (Uganda)

Obama was wrong, and the consequences of that one action are huge. Many people have died because of it, and suffer daily.

[chimpymustgo]

45. +1.

[tbyg52]

54. +2

:patriot:

[jmowreader]

79. Actually, yes. I do.

Rick Warren was a HUGE player in the God Business before 1/20/2009. He had the Purpose-Driven stuff out--Purpose-Driven Life, Purpose-Driven Church, all that. He had a church with a main building and four regional churches all connected with teleconferencing so that Warren could be five places at once. The main thing his giving the inaugural prayer--quite possibly the limpest thing I ever heard--did for him was to introduce him to people who aren't religious...but trust me, the religious knew who he was.

[47of74]

3. Ugh.

Money changers and the temple comes to mind here.

[bluestateguy]

4. So when does this guy get indicted?

nt

[Name removed]

5. Deleted sub-thread

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[MichaelHarris]

6. it takes

a lot to buy God Power these days.

[Hannah Bell]

9. i'd like to see the donor list. i'd bet it's not mom & pop who sent the bucks.

[tbyg52]

55. I bet you're right. nt

[DAMANgoldberg]

14. 5 words for you...

Jim Bakker PTL Heritage USA

[jgraz]

16. "Start your own damn church"?

Sounds like easy money to me.

[Greyhound]

15. The religious are deluded, and in other news, water is wet.

Is this supposed to be surprising?

[rufus dog]

19. In other news

Rufus Dog needed $100 in food donations to meet his shortfall. The Dog went to PetsMart and got $1,000,000 in donations.

See, really easy to achieve when you keep your financials private.

[Goldstein1984]

24. That a mega-church can ask for $900K and get $2.4M

goes a long way to explain the condition in which this nation finds itself.

The mega-churches like Warrens, and like the one here in Anchorage, Alaska, can function as political organizations and yet still have tax-exempt status says even more.

Thanks for this post. I was wondering, too.

[JoeyT]

30. And the people that gave so openly to an obvious fraud

would be the very ones screaming themselves blue if their taxes were raised 0.1% to pay for any kind of social project.

Clothe the poor and feed the hungry? Fuck that, Daddy needs a new gold plated Cadillac.

[hfojvt]

33. actually, according to this article

http://www.nydailynews.com/money/2009/12/31/2009-12-31_evangelical_pastor_rick_warren.html

""It's basically having to do more with less," church spokesman A. Larry Ross told the Associated Press. "The seasonal Christmas offering was down significantly and, commensurately, the need for services the church is expected to provide is up," Ross said.

Services that need funding include the church's food pantry, homeless ministry, counseling and support groups."


and according to this

http://legacy.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20060126/news_1c26warren.html

"As the money has rolled in from his book, Warren stopped taking his $110,000 annual salary and repaid the church for his 25 years of salary since its founding. He and his wife became "reverse tithers," he said, keeping 10 percent of their income and giving away the rest, including $13 million in 2004."


Of course, it's not really a hardship to live on $1.4 million in 2004, is it? I think most people could manage that, but I also sorta doubt that most people who make $14.4 million give away $13 million of it. Depending on where he gives it, I think that's very commendable.

[TokenQueer]

34. Commendable? Are you fucking kidding me?

Ugh.

[Bluebear]

65. you said it.

[hfojvt]

66. you don't think it's commendable? Why not?

maybe it's something in the water

http://www.edgeboston.com/index.php?ch=news&sc=&sc2=news&sc3=&id=85031

in my water, that is.

[Initech]

32. Oh yeah? I'll start my own church! With blackjack and hookers!

On second thought forget about the church!!!!!

[shadowknows69]

52. I think Bender might be God.

Battlestar Galactica proved we all have Cylon blood in us so.....

[Initech]

59. He literally was god in one episode.

[hfojvt]

67. well he was farking harsh

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eifZlYwmDj4

[shadowknows69]

71. Kevin Smith ref?

[hfojvt]

76. in the words of Ohio State

"go back to your paper routes, ya mighty duck ..."

[shadowknows69]

77. Snooge to the mother F-ing Noodge.

[Kltpzyxm]

35. good thing

no prominent politician raised his profile or he would have raised $20mm.

:banghead:

[Stinky The Clown]

37. I hope this fucking bigot has to keep begging. The fact that this has happened .......

..... even once tells me he's off his game. I hope he goes fucking bankrupt. He's a bigoted motherfucker just like all the other megachurch megapreacher motherfuckers.

God as Big Business with a Tax Exemption. Kiss my going to hell ass.

[rucky]

41. There's a furniture store in town that's been "Going out of Business"

for the upside of 8 years. I guess it works.

[Fumesucker]

44. The God I believe in isn't short of cash, mister.. -Bono n/t

[whistler162]

50. And a number of DU'rs got to feed their obsession!

[ruggerson]

64. So you're calling equal rights an "obsession"?

Gee, and here I thought it was a cornerstone of our party.

[tbyg52]

69. Only when they want $$. nt

[shadowknows69]

51. Congratulations on becoming a whore Rick.

I'm sure Jesus is so proud of you.

[tbyg52]

63. "Becoming"....? nt

[shadowknows69]

78. There are milestones in any career. This puts Warren in the Oral Roberts club.

[Bigmack]

58. Stupid. Fucking. People. nt

[Nikki Stone1]

62. Lot of money for 2010 political candidates

and conservative propositions.

[KamaAina]

70. I did not realize his megachurch was in Lake Forest

I know someone there who needs to get out really, REALLY badly! :scared:

[NMMNG]

74. ....

Baa, baa, slack-jawed sheep
My coffers can you fill?
Yes sir, yes sir,
$2.4 M. in the till.
Some for the pastor,
Some to praise his name,
And some for the anti-gay
political campaign…


(Poem by Hugh Kramer)

[sakabatou]

80. *puke*