If the government suddenly decreed that all Jewish delis must now offer pork, you’d find me opposing that with my rabbi friends. We obviously have different beliefs, but we are all “neighbors” in the national sense and the scriptures command us to “love your neighbor as yourself.” But one thing we all have in common is the mutual concern for protecting religious freedom for everyone. I have invited the leading Catholic voice in America, the leading Jewish voice in America, and the leading Muslim voice in America to join me. It’s a fight for the constitution, not a personality.Ī. That’s why we’ve chosen to host a civil forum on religious freedom in September instead of the presidential forum. The constitution doesn’t just guarantee your freedom to worship it guarantees you freedom from government intervention in you daily living out what you believe. There are widespread attempts to redefine the First Amendment to simply mean “You are free to believe anything at your place of worship but you are not free to practice your conscience elsewhere.” Freedom of religion is the first freedom mentioned in the Bill of Rights – before freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom to assemble, and every other freedom.Īnd yet today, at the city, the state, and the federal levels, government bureaucrats are daily trying to limit that freedom, impose restrictions, and stifle expressions of faith on campuses, in hospitals, and in businesses. People have forgotten that America was founded by people who came here to escape religious persecution. This issue is more significant and has far greater implications for America’s future. It is the crumbling of our constitution’s first guaranteed freedom: the freedom of religion. You said you canceled the presidential civil forum because of the negativity and a larger issue. In an interview with the Register, Warren gave a few more details on his recent decision. The event will include national voices from varying faith-based groups. Instead, Warren announced plans for a civil forum on religious freedom in September. Warren also conducted a civil forum on Global Health in Washington, D.C., in December 2008 with President George W. In that forum, Warren and Blair talked about faith, 9/11 and the conflict in the Middle East. Most recently, the megachurch pastor invited former Prime Minister Tony Blair to speak at Saddleback in March. Warren has held seven civil forums with world leaders. Requests for comment from both campaigns have not been returned as of early afternoon. Warren pulled the plug on this year’s forum, explaining that the current negative campaign is opposite to what the church’s civil forum is about, even as plans had been ramping up to coordinate schedules, secure the area and get traffic control in check for a forum of this size. I talked with both campaigns about the possibility of doing it again, and they were both favorable to participating.” “Also, the TV networks were eager to cover it again since it garnered one of the largest viewing audiences of that election. “The forum was praised for its unique format and fairness,” Warren said Wednesday while announcing a decision not to hold the forum. Warren said it was the 2008 forum’s success among critics and pundits that led him to consider the idea again this year. The event would have fallen during the same week when four years ago Warren hosted the first such presidential campaign forum, between then-Sens. The forum, planned for this week, would have been two hours long, with each candidate speaking with Warren for 50 minutes. LAKE FOREST – Rick Warren, Saddleback Church’s pastor, announced Wednesday that a civil forum planned with President Barack Obama and presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney at the church has been canceled because of what Warren saw as uncivil discourse between the two campaigns.
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