In high school I attended a Christian youth retreat at the Forest Home center in the mountains of Southern California. One talk I heard there has always stuck with me. Speaking to a conflict-prone group of Presbyterian youth comprised of inner-city Hollywood youth, Bel Air surfers and Boulder Bolsheviks, one pastor compared the material world to nearby DIsneyland, a false image of spiritual reality.
Conservative commentators declared John McCain the winner with the audience of the presidential debate at Saddleback Church. A liberal Salon.com commentary mostly agreed, while describing Saddleback as a Christian Disneyland.
It’s a small world, after all.
The San Francisco based Salon commentary went on to point out Saddleback Church is located in Orange County, one of the most conservative areas of Southern California. A journalist who spoke with church members the following Sunday morning was unable to find even one who’d admit they were planning to vote for Barack Obama, although one man said he’d vote for him if he ran again in 10 years, and one woman demurely acknowleged her vote might cancel out her husband’s for McCain.
Christian ministry-laden Orange County is roughly the California equivalent of Colorado Springs, Colorado. Holding a presidential debate at Saddleback Church is like holding a debate at Focus on the Family. Or Christ debating in front of the Sanhedrin. The winner was a foregone conclusion.
Salon commented that Obama couldn’t expect to win the forum, but only to gain respect with conservative evangelicals who nevertheless wouldn’t vote for him. The ultimate winner was Saddleback pastor and moderator RIck Warren.
I’d guess Warren’s motives went beyond informing evangelical voters. America’s churches are hemorrhaging young people. If you’ve spent time on a college campus lately, you can guess why. Pro-life posters displayed at Colorado State University resemble bloodied images from “The Passion of the Christ.” America’s youth could be excused for confusing Christianity with a fertility cult.
Obama appeals to an increasingly post-Christian young generation. The forum played well on You Tube. Like Mary Poppins, Warren gave young people a spoon full of sugar to help Christian medicine go down.
Conservative commentators declared John McCain the winner with the audience of the presidential debate at Saddleback Church. A liberal Salon.com commentary mostly agreed, while describing Saddleback as a Christian Disneyland.
It’s a small world, after all.
The San Francisco based Salon commentary went on to point out Saddleback Church is located in Orange County, one of the most conservative areas of Southern California. A journalist who spoke with church members the following Sunday morning was unable to find even one who’d admit they were planning to vote for Barack Obama, although one man said he’d vote for him if he ran again in 10 years, and one woman demurely acknowleged her vote might cancel out her husband’s for McCain.
Christian ministry-laden Orange County is roughly the California equivalent of Colorado Springs, Colorado. Holding a presidential debate at Saddleback Church is like holding a debate at Focus on the Family. Or Christ debating in front of the Sanhedrin. The winner was a foregone conclusion.
Salon commented that Obama couldn’t expect to win the forum, but only to gain respect with conservative evangelicals who nevertheless wouldn’t vote for him. The ultimate winner was Saddleback pastor and moderator RIck Warren.
I’d guess Warren’s motives went beyond informing evangelical voters. America’s churches are hemorrhaging young people. If you’ve spent time on a college campus lately, you can guess why. Pro-life posters displayed at Colorado State University resemble bloodied images from “The Passion of the Christ.” America’s youth could be excused for confusing Christianity with a fertility cult.
Obama appeals to an increasingly post-Christian young generation. The forum played well on You Tube. Like Mary Poppins, Warren gave young people a spoon full of sugar to help Christian medicine go down.
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