Catholic Prof takes Andrew Sullivan to the Woodshed Regarding Rick Warren

I suspect last nights forum at Saddleback Church with McCain and Obama had some unlikely people sharing heartburn. No doubt some major Evangelicals leaders and their political allies were not thrilled to see Pastor Rick Warren take a substantial step to being the MR IT as a voice for Evangelicals in the public square.

I suspect that those same folks if they were watching FOX afterwards really went to get the antacid when they saw Governor Huckabee praising Warren left and right. Huckabee and Warren represent a power shift in those circles.

In fact one of the most biggest Catholic Supporters of Huckabee , Deacon Keith Fournier, one of the head Honchos at Catholic Online just added the hot peppers to that acid stomach with his very good Editorial: At the Saddleback Forum, Senator McCain and Pastor Warren took the Gold

He concluded his very good post:
However, I conclude with commendations and a personal opinion. Pastor Rick Warren rose to National prominence mostly due to his runaway best seller, “The Purpose Driven Life”. However, last night he emerged as the new face of a truly socially conscious evangelical Protestant Christian community. This “new” version of social activism, with its obvious and genuine concern for the poor and heart for all of the Social Justice issues, may actually be capable of forming truly effective and dynamic alliances with similarly concerned socially conscious Catholics such as myself who long ago eschewed the limiting labels of “left”, “right”, liberal” or “conservative”. His manner, his questions and his courage in hosting this vital forum deserve to be affirmed and may have earned him a place in American history.

Oh dear!!! Huckabee Warren, and a alliance of Catholic Social Justice Catholics (those being people that do not ignore the abortion and gay marriage thing) and like thinking Evangelicals allies in the future!!

Oh well that is in the future. Now as to the present. the good Catholic Deacon says:

First, this was a very significant forum. Indeed, it was historic and may have changed the face of election politics in America. In an age where the American vision of the Separation of Church and State has sometimes been misinterpreted and wrongly applied in efforts to silence people of faith from active participation in the electoral process, this was a great example of the proper role of the Church, indeed all religious institutions, in the American experiment. In fact, Pastor Warren got it exactly right when he began the Forum with these words "We believe in the separation of church and state but we do not believe in the separation of faith and politics." He went on throughout the night to underscore the fact that, in his words “faith is a worldview”. I might say it a bit differently, “faith informs a worldview”, but we arrive at the same place.

In fact, as a Catholic Christian, I must admit that I was quite impressed with the Pastors understanding of the social implications of our shared Christian faith. The Social Teaching of the Catholic Church is a treasure for all Christians, indeed all people of faith and good will, who sincerely want to understand how that process of allowing our faith to inform our worldview and then compel our civic and social participation should proceed. I for one am thrilled that our evangelical Protestant friends are speaking to the full spectrum of issues associated with such a worldview, including our commitment to respecting life from the womb to the tomb, protecting, supporting and promoting marriage and family, exhibiting a love of preference for the poor, promoting true and responsible freedom, being responsible stewards of our environment and practicing Peace in our relationships on the local, national and international level.

ANDREW SULLIVAN DISAGREES!!!

I suspect the heartburn that some evangelicals I describe above was shared by Andrew largely for the same reasons!!

Anyway Andrew Sullivan saw the forum last night and barely can get to his computer fast enough to start typing THEOCRACY.

Catholic Prof Francis Beckwith of Baylor takes Andrew Sullivan to the woodshed so bad and in such complete fashion that one almost feels sorry for Sullivan for being near his computer last night. I say ALMOST

A good read at The Purpose-Driven Rant: Andrew Sullivan Does Not Understand Rick Warren