As if You Needed Another Reason

Rick Warren continues to show that he was a horrible choice for Obama's Inaugural Invocation. This might be old news to some of you, but this was the first time I had heard of this little gem. According to Warren, women do not have the "right" to divorce abusive husbands.

Yeah.

Warren, President-elect Barack Obama's choice to deliver the Inaugural Invocation, instructs his parishioners that the Bible says physical abuse is no excuse for getting a divorce. Warren explains:

Having been involved as a pastor in situations of abuse, there's something in me that wishes there were a Bible verse that says if they abuse you in such kind of way, then you have a right to leave them.

"God," Warren says, "hates divorce." This teaching is posted in the "Bible Questions and Answers" section of the Saddleback Family website (#32, "What should I do when abuse is happening in my marriage?").

I definitely suggest following the first link and reading the entire post. As Nina the author puts it, this "gives abusive husbands another tool to control their victims: the Bible."

As he puts it:

I want to tell you the advice that we give in our counseling ministries. First of all if you are in this kind of a situation, I strongly recommend that you take advantage of our lay counseling ministry. Go in and talk to someone and let them minister to you. And the advice that we give is not divorce but separation.

Warren omits mention of contacting the police, seeking medical attention, or obtaining legal assistance to secure orders of protection for yourself and your children.

Apparently, it's not only possible at Saddleback to pray away the gay, it's possible to pray away the abuse. An abusive marriage is a "situation." A separation will heal all wounds and fix all problems. You might want to keep this little tidbit in mind the next time someone tells you "It's just a prayer, what's the big deal?" if you're speaking about Warren's campaign against LGBTQI persons. There's quite a few eye-openers on the Saddleback website, if you can stomach listening to the files.

Warren was a terrible, terrible choice.

(Energy dome tip to NMMNB, via Alternative Invocation.)