Warren Cancels ABC Interview at Last Minute

Pastor had been slated to clarify position on gay marriage

By Katherine Thompson, Newser Staff

Posted Apr 12, 2009 11:32 AM CDT

(Newser) – Rick Warren, who had been expected to explain contradicting statements about gay marriage today on ABC's This Week, backed out at the last minute because he was “sick with exhaustion,” Politico reports. The prominent evangelical pastor was to clarify the difference between his claims last week that he "never once gave an endorsement" to California's Prop 8 and a YouTube video in which he says, "If you believe what the Bible says about marriage, you need to support Proposition 8."

[Images (2)]

[Videos (2)]

The Rev. Rick Warren delivers the King Day keynote address at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Monday, Jan. 19, 2009. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)

In this Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2008 file photo, Pastor Rick Warren signs his book in New York. (AP Photo/Charles Sykes)

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"Let me just say this very clearly: We support Proposition 8. And if you believe what the Bible says about marriage, you need to support Proposition 8." (RightWingWatchdotorg)

On Monday's Larry King Live, Pastor Rick Warren told Larry that he's never opposed gay marriage or taken a position on Proposition 8. (Unsomnambulist)

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COMMENTS

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Showing 3 of 11 comments

Caps

Apr 18, 2009 5:03 AM CDT

You aren't worth a reply, freethemall. And I do not have to explain anything to you. Sleep tight you dumbie.

freethemall

Apr 13, 2009 8:59 AM CDT

You're not a freethinker, but you think for yourself? Explain that, without resorting to ad hominem attacks.

Caps

Apr 13, 2009 8:01 AM CDT

freethemall, do I have to put everything down in black and white, and no you have not persuaded me to become a free thinker. I think for myself and you are to be pitied, because you sure sound like a dumb-ass.

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Transcript of 'This Week'
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Politics

gay marriage • exhaustion • endorsement • Rick Warren • Proposition 8 • Saddleback Church • This Week

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I'm Anti-Gay Marriage, Not Anti-Gay: Warren

Controversial pastor aims to dampen criticism, civilize discourse

(NEWSER) - Rick Warren continues to refine his stance on gays and gay marriage, saying he is “not opposed to gays having their partnership,” and that his anti-gay marriage stance doesn’t make him anti-gay, the AP reports. “I’m opposed to gays using the term marriage for their relationship,” the pastor, whose inauguration invitation raised hackles in the gay community, tells his church in a new video. More»

Etheridge: Warren's No Monster

Iconic lesbian sticks up for pastor called homophobic

(NEWSER) - Melissa Etheridge is Rick Warren’s new best friend. She met with the pastor last week, after finding out they were set to perform at the same event, and discovered he's not, as expected, a "hate spouting, money grabbing, bad hair televangelist," one of those guys who has "his own gay little secret bathroom stall somewhere, you know." In the Huffington Post, she urges fellow gay-marriage advocates not to protest or boycott the man Obama’s invited to do the invocation at his inauguration, but to reach out. More»

Pastor Warren: Some of My Best Friends Are Gay

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(NEWSER) - Pastor Rick Warren "loves gays and straights," he said yesterday, in response to the uproar his invitation to Barack Obama's inaugural invocation sparked among gay rights groups. In a speech to the Muslim Public Affairs Council, Warren emphasized that he has "many gay friends" and has "eaten dinner in gay homes," the AP reports. More»

In Preacher Pick, Obama Dismisses Gays

Rev. Rick Warren was big backer of Proposition 8

(NEWSER) - Barack Obama’s choice of Rick Warren to offer his inaugural invocation was a glaring and offensive misstep for a consistently savvy politician, writes prominent gay-rights activist Joe Solmonese in the Washington Post. Warren was a key proponent of Proposition 8, “the biggest loss our community has faced in decades,” Solmonese notes. “Are we angry about Rick Warren? You bet we are.” More»

Schwarzenegger Says Married Gays Will Stay Wed

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(NEWSER) - Arnold Schwarzenegger gave his strongest support yet to gays and lesbians in California yesterday, saying that currently married same-sex couples would remain legally wed and that he hoped the courts would overturn Proposition 8. The ballot initiative, which amended California's constitution to define marriage as explicitly heterosexual, has left the status of 18,000 gay and lesbian couples' marriages in doubt. More»

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Warren Cancels ABC Interview at Last Minute