Tom’s Big Picture

Al Mohler on Rick Warren’s lumping Christian fundamentalists with Islamic fundamentalism and Jewish fundamentalism.

Let me summarize-

Christian fundamentalism: Repent or burn in hell after you die.

Jewish fundamentalism: One thousand Gentiles are not worth a Jewish fingernail. So let’s fire up the Caterpillar and head into the West Bank; maybe we can machine gun some Palestinian kids throwing rocks!

Islamic fundamentalism: Acknowledge Mohammed or we will kill you.

Clearly different, but too much detail for Mr. Warren- it’s about deeds, not creeds, don’t you know?

Who exactly is Warren talking about? Who are liberals from California usually talking about when they condemn “fundamentalism”? Generally, anyone who believes in anything approaching historic Christianity. “Fundamentalism” itself was simply an effort to restore the fundamentals of the faith from mealy-mouthed ecunemism enthusiasts like Warren.

Something smells funny about this guy- anybody who thinks a Powerpoint presentation with a cute acronym can solve African poverty needs his head checked, or else has a different agenda than what he claims. And I don’t think the man is stupid.

The following is said in a humorous tongue-in-cheek tone…

[Note: I realize the site linked to above is dispensationalist in nature. I, ironically like Rick Warren, hold to an optimisitic postmillenial view, though I am only slightly this way, maybe 55/45 postmillenial/amillenial. However, if Rick Warren is the fulfillment of Christian "Dominion" over the Earth, I'm gonna have to switch over to a dispensationalist view- esp. if he starts sweet-talking us about the Scriptural mandate for letting the nice men from the government inject a microchip under our skin for our protection. Coming Soon: The Data-Driven Life: Why the Government Needs to Know Where You Are at All Times and Why It's a Sin to Resist Being Chipped by Rick Warren- complete with DVD...ahem.."simulcast"...and small group indoctrination..

"Hi, this is Pastor Rick. See this red spot on my arm? Well, that's my new little buddy, Chip. Like many of you, when Congress passed the PATRIOT ACT III with Mandatory Citizen Microchipping Program, I was apprehensive. Then I was reminded about an important truth from Scripture, in particular Page 17, Verse One from the Purpose-Driven Life: Rick, it's not about you. It shouldn't matter that I was uncomfortable with the idea of an RFID-GPS microchip in my forearm. It's about our security. It's about obeying the legitimate authority of the government over a New Testament Christian. It's about deeds, not creeds.... In your small group today, I want you to have a dialog about how you feel about being chipped- are you afraid of shots? Do you have some extremist political or theological limiting beliefs that are holding you back? Let's share our feelings openly with the group. Well, I'll see you next week, when I'll discuss cool ways to use the onboard storage and bluetooth capability of the your new chip to spread the Gospel in a whole new way. Until then..."]