Strange Bedfellows.

Another example of Rick Warren's geo-political "come-along, so we can all get along" endorsements, regardless of the facts...

Strange Bedfellows

In the March issue of The Atlantic, Eliza Griswold writes about the conflict between Christians and Muslims in Nigeria (”God’s Country” - you might have to be a subscriber to read it). In February 2004 a group of Muslims raided a Christian church, set it on fire, and killed 78 people. The Christian’s retaliation, however, horrified me more. Two months later members of the Christian Association of Nigeria killed 660 Muslims, including patients at a clinic. “Twelve mosques and 300 houses went up in flames. Young girls were marched to a nearby Christian town and forced to eat pork and drink alcohol. Many were raped, and 50 were killed.” They hacked two boys to pieces with a machete, then burned the remains in a rubber tire.

There is more. At the time Anglican Archbishop Peter Akinola was the president of the Christian Association of Nigeria, the group which attacked the Muslims. From Griswold’s piece:
When asked if those wearing name tags that read “Christian Association of Nigeria” had been sent to the Muslim part of Yelwa, the archbishop grinned. “No comment,” he said. “No Christian would pray for violence, but it would be utterly naive to sweep this issue of Islam under the carpet.” He went on, “I’m not out to combat anybody. I’m only doing what the Holy Spirit tells me to do. I’m living my faith, practicing and preaching that Jesus Christ is the one and only way to God, and they respect me for it. They know where we stand. I’ve said before: let no Muslim think they have the monopoly on violence.”

This from not only a Christian pastor, but an Anglican primate. As I read this I thought his name sounded familiar so I did some hunting. Sure enough, Akinola is the oft-touted hero of conservative Anglicanism. He has strongly opposed the ordination of non-celibate homosexuals and the liberalization of western Christianity. He is one of the founders of the Convocation of Anglicans in North America, an organization disputing, among other things, the ordination of Gene Robinson. In December 2006, two American congregations voted to place themselves under his authority. Rick Warren has called him “a man of peace and his leadership is a model for Christians around the world.”

Now, I know virtually nothing about the Anglican hullabaloo; I don’t even know what’s going on in my own LCMS. From my perspective, however, it is scandalous that conservative Anglicans would align themselves with a man who all but admitted to approving these brutal, murderous attacks on Muslims. I don’t give a damn what you think about homosexuality - there is no excuse for getting in bed with such a pathetic excuse for a Christian minister. Unless I’m badly misunderstanding something this is orders of magnitude worse than ordaining Gene Robinson.

HT: The Kibitzer

See Rick Warren's tangled web on his visit to Syria. See more on Rick Warren's ecumical embrace of politically correct religions, such as Anglicanism.