Posted on 11/22/2006 7:13:43 PM PST by Tim Long
Official state news report quotes 'Purpose-Driven' author criticizing U.S.
Syria's Grand Mufti Sheik Badr al-Din Hassoun and Rick Warren
California mega-church pastor Rick Warren, author of the best-selling "Purpose-Driven Life," reportedly told a Syrian-controlled news agency the U.S. should have been holding dialogues with Damascus; Syrian Muslims and Christians co-exist peacefully; and the Syrian leadership is responsible for the nation's tolerance and stability.
That's according to the news agency SANA, which has issued a number of reports this week as Warren visits Syria and meets various leaders and officials, much to the dismay of many in the U.S.
"We at VCY America Radio network are appalled and angered that Rick Warren is praising a nation that has long supported international terrorism and that desires the utter destruction of Israel," said a statement from the broadcasting organization.
(Story continues below)
"The U.S. State Department reports that Syria – along with Iran – gives the Lebanese militia Hezbollah 'substantial amounts of financial, training, weapons, explosives, political, diplomatic, and organization aid.' The State Department also has documented that Iranian arms destined for Hezbollah pass through Syria on an ongoing basis," the group continued.
"Syria has also let Hezbollah operate in Lebanon and attack Israel, the results of which were seen in the July, 2006 violence between Hezbollah and Israel in which many lost their lives," the statement said.
The SANA reports included statements that:
"Pastor Warren hailed the religious coexistence, tolerance and stability that the Syrian society is enjoying due to the wise leadership of President al-Assad, asserting that he will convey the true image about Syria to the American people."
"Syria wants peace, and Muslims and Christians live in this country jointly and peacefully since more than a thousand years, and this is not new for Syria."
Warren told Syria's Islamic grand mufti there could be no peace in the region without Syria and 80 percent of Americans reject the U.S. administration's policies and actions in Iraq. The comments attributed to Warren contradict documentation by the International Counter Terrorism organization and U.S. State Department of Syria's extensive use of terrorism for its political goals.
The ICT said "frequent use of the 'terror weapon' has been made by Syria against Lebanon, Jordan and the Palestinians" in an attempt "to impose Syrian hegemony over them and bring them into line with Syrian policy."
"The main Lebanese leaders killed by Syrian proxies were: Bashir Gemayel (who was accused by Syrian propaganda of being a 'Zionist proxy'); and Kamal Jumblatt (accused of being a 'traitor' and an 'American agent.')," the ICT said.
Syria also has used terror tactics against Egypt and Iraq, although less successfully, the ICT said, but it has been used against Christians in 1978 and in the city of Zahle in 1980, and even against Muslim residents of Beirut.
The broadcast group says Warren "has no business involving himself in any role that appears to be representative of the United States and his promise to Syria to present a brighter view of that nation to America and Saddleback members demonstrates his willingness to serve as a mindless shill for a nation that embraces terror as a legitimate way of solving problems."
Messages left with Saddleback requesting a comment were not returned immediately.
But Mark D. Tooley, writing in FrontPageMagazine.com also noted "Warren has reportedly promised to carry that state sponsor of terrorism's propaganda message back to the U.S."
He accused Warren of being adrift in a religiously left direction.
"The supposed quote from Warren reads like a news release from Assad's propaganda ministry. Perhaps, the translation into Arabic and back into English does not do Warren justice. We can hope," he wrote.
"Needless to note, there was no mention by the Warren delegation, at least not as mentioned by SANA, about Syria's one-party police state, its political prisoners, its chambers of torture, its support for Hezbollah terrorism in Lebanon, and its continued devotion to the destruction of Israel," he wrote.
Freedom House notes Syrian people have no way to change their government and no influence into its policies.
This is a nation, Tooley wrote, "where only the ruling Baathist Party and its allies are permitted to win elections, where all news media are owned or controlled by the government, where independent labor unions are prohibited, where universities must proclaim Baathist Party policies, where clerics are appointed by the government, where the president by law must be Muslim, and where women's limited rights are governed by Islamic Sharia law, even though the government is ostensibly secular."
No new Christian school has been allowed to be built in 40 years, and all schools by law must have Muslim principals, Freedom House said.
"It is a sad story, repeated often. Big-name U.S. preachers, often otherwise sensible and orthodox in their faith, visit despotic regimes and naively curry favor with police state thugs," Tooley wrote, resulting in "a propaganda bonanza for the tyrants."
Saddleback, with 30,000 members, was begun by Rick and Kay Warren in 1979 and now has more than 200 ministries in the Orange County area.
His popular book, which has sold about 12 million copies, focuses on worship, fellowship, discipleship, ministry and evangelism. It tells readers the life is "not about you," and shows how God can enable each one to live for His purposes.
Warren already is scheduled to preach in North Korea next year.
I wonder why the Lep didnt take Warren to the nospin zone
I too would like to hear why someone thinks what this guy says is important.
In Lebanon the Syrians are conducting "dialogue" with Christians already. Just ask Pierre Gemayel, who was "dialogued" in the head yesterday.
What a despicable toad Warren is.
Thanks for posting this. I can't decide if Warren sounds like he's realizing he's been punk'd like Sean Penn, or if he's trying to cover his tail now that the news reports are out.
I want to give him the benefit of the doubt, at least until he he proves me wrong. I'm guessing he won't be trying his hand at geopolitical affairs again anytime soon, North Korea visit notwithstanding. Something tells me he'll guard his tongue a little more carefully next time.
I enjoyed The Purpose-Driven Life tremendously, especially the second time I read it. I'd like to think Warren isn't turning his back on his foundation. If so, he sure may find himself decisively removed from his position of leadership, as did Ted Haggard. God will not be mocked.
Looks like I'm going to have to break out the ugly stick and try to clobber into your head something 'bout the merit of sources.
Forget it, it'll go way way WAY over your head, and moreover you'll probably be enjoying that whole clobbering and pain thing.
I'm sorry, but I'm not going there. All I see from you and your cohorts is a bunch of equivocation. I listened to Hannity talk to two leading Democrats yesterday afternoon concerning about the impending appointment to a high security committee of the last impeached Federal judge in the entire history of the U.S.A. You and you're cohorts arguments sound no different than what I heard on Hannity's show with respect to the Rick Warren issue.
I asked if anybody wants to make talk about his philanthropy, his altruism, his bona fide humanitarianism the salient issue. It appears that I've been handed the answer I was looking for.
Sometimes Bill catches on too slowly.
>>Let's hear a word from this clown's supporters and devoted followers here.<<
Let's find out if it is true first.
Now why would you want to do a silly thing like that?
I used to actully watch Van Impe until his egregious repeated errors respecting to doctrine and dispensational eschatology became too much to handle. He was making claims about authors who I had in my library that couldn't be substantiated.
What I find astonishing is that for all of his clamor concerning how deeply (and how many thousands of hours spent) investigated the scriptures, nobody's citing Van Impe, and yet J.I. Packer, Woolvard, Pentacost, Ryrie, et ali are cited. In all of their works I've not discovered a single Van Impe (or Rick Warren) citation.
Whatever...
And is that your philosophy in general - beating up other people?
World Net Daily is NOT credible.
"...They like to pretend that he wasn't their boy..."
Yep Jim Jones with his Rainbow Family and mostly minority church was a darling of San Francisco.
Tim Reiterman did plenty of research on his bio RAVEN but...censored Jim Jones recorded harangue while his folks were commiting "revolutionary suicide". He kept saying don't cry or scream because "that is no way for Socialists to die". The Reverend Jones was just as much as an atheist as Pol Pot.
Secondly, I'm appreciative as to how numb must your fingers must get on a daily basis telling people that WorldNetDaily isn't credible. What did I tell you 'bout citing sources? You're 'bout as dense as a piece of granite and 'bout as intelligent as a box of hammers. How's that for ad Hominem?
Your opinion in this matter is worthless: you have no letters at the end of your name.
When one the 3 major networks did a kissup story on him I thought no man who the world loves can be walking for God.
I'll bite... Do you have anything specific in mind?
As I say, is that your philosophy in general - beating people up? And then do you go to church on Sunday and say "what a good Christian boy am I"?
I would say the same about Drudge. If you have some other sources for this info - fine - please post them. Until then this is the word of World Net Daily and Joseph Farah is NOT someone with a reputation for honesty.
Who cares what a gay druggie has to say?
oops, sorry, i thought this was the gay druggie from a couple weeks ago.
see? i hear megapastor and that is what i thought of.....
How many times did you regurgitate the same mantra on this thread:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1739550/posts
Despite the number of rebutals to the contrary addressing your very objections? It would almost seem as if Rick Warren is your hero and everybody else MUST be wrong but your hero.
Frankly I find that quite cute in a similar vein as those on this thread who believe that GWB is the greatest president that ever graced this planet. There's a term for those people: BushBots. Are you a WarrenBot?
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