I haven't watched the McCain portion of this weekend's Saddleback Presidential Forum, but I am following the Rick Warren "Cone of Silence" controversy. Why would Warren tell the audience that McCain was in a "cone of silence" without knowing whether McCain had even arrived?
It is interesting that Warren is in the midst of another controversy surrounding his church's event involving liberal/progressives. In June, the gay activist group SoulForce believed Warren would meet with them when they planned on visiting his church. Unlike many of the other megachurches SoulForce visited, Warren's Saddleback Church apparently gave SoulForce the impression of receptiveness. Even Newsweek and The New York Times reported (and retracted/corrected) the Warren-SoulForce meeting would occur, but Warren later denied he agreed to meet with the activists and opposed SoulForce's visit. However, Warren's church staff did meet with SoulForce members in a closed door meeting, so obviously Warren's staff made some sort of arrangements to meet with SoulForce.
While these may seem like minor misunderstandings or miscommunications, they have caused significant controversies. It seems Warren is clueless in the management of his church's activities and/or he purposely feels the need to mislead liberal/progressives who visit his church. muddled trying to portray himself as a supposedly new brand of fair, open-minded evangelical while still maintaining the old style religious fundamentalism. Obviously only Warren knows what his true intentions are, but I hope he is more careful as he seeks the media/political spotlight and reign of the old Dobson/Robertson/Falwell's Religious Right.
(08/19/2008 REVISED after more pondering.)
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