Five months earlier, on June 28, 2008, Obama made a controversial speech at a conference sponsored by Sojourners, a Christian progressive organization. The frank speech, in which Obama declared "We're no longer just a Christian nation," landed him in hot water with both liberals and conservatives.
In particular, some liberals were outraged by Obama's insistence that "... if we don't reach out to evangelical Christians and other religious Americans and tell them what we stand for, then the Jerry Falwells and Pat Robertsons and Alan Keyeses will continue to hold sway."
So on December 1, 2006, Warren, who had quietly been separating himself from selected Republican policies, and Obama, who had quietly been advocating outreach to conservative Christian communities, appeared together publicly at Warren's 23,000-attendee church.
And while the event was neither held during Sunday morning church services nor was it nationally televised, religious right howls over this 2006 AIDS event were vehement.
As if to demonstrate neutrality toward Democratic presidential candidates, Warren hosted Sen. Hillary Clinton as the headline speaker for his 2007 World AIDS conference one month before the start of the 2008 Democratic primary election season.
Warren Hosts First Obama-McCain Debate
On August 16, 2008 at Saddleback Church, Pastor Rick Warren hosted and moderated the Saddleback Civil Forum on the Presidency, which was the first debate between 2008 presidential candidates Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama.
Warren posed fairly the same unrehearsed questions to both candidates, although an odd mix-up occurred whereby McCain seemed to have heard a few questions and Obama's responses before McCain's time slot.
Again, Obama warmly prefaced his words with homage to Warren:
"Well, first of all, let me thank you for having me here, Rick. I love the ministries that are taking place here at Saddleback. This is the second time I've been here and the first time we had a wonderful time... "
Obama Invites Warren to Lead Nation in 2009 Inaugural Prayer
In mid-December 2008, Democratic President-elect Barack Obama invited Rick Warren, conservative evangelical pastor and an ordained Southern Baptist Convention minister, to lead the nation in the January 20, 2009 Inaugural Day Invocation.
Obama bestowed this sacred and historic honor on Warren because, "... a couple of years ago, I was invited to Rick Warren's church to speak, despite his awareness that I held views that were entirely contrary to his when it came to gay and lesbian rights, when it came to issues like abortion. Nevertheless, I had an opportunity to speak."
And because, "During the course of the entire inaugural festivities, there are going to be a wide range of viewpoints that are presented. And that's how it should be, because that's what America's about."
The Barack Obama-Rick Warren Partnership, 2009 and Beyond
Both Barack Obama and Rick Warren have made it abundantly clear that their areas of disagreement, including respect and rights for gay Americans and for those on both heartfelt sides of the abortion debate, are less important to either of them than the benefits of working together.
But the rest of us are left with far more questions than answers about the odd ideological pairing of Obama and Warren, and what it means for unreconcilable perspectives on certain burning civil and moral questions.
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