Rick Warren Critic Admits he Was Wrong to Jump to Conclusions - Praises Warren
Civil Forum on the Presidency
WASHINGTON, Aug. 16 /PRNewswire/ -- The Reverend Rob Schenck (pronounced
SHANK), who was recently quoted in the Los Angeles Times and on National
Public Radio criticizing Pastor Rick Warren for announcing he would not pose
questions on hot-button issues to presidential candidates Barack Obama and
John McCain during tonight's Civil Forum on the Presidency, reversed his
negative opinion before the event had even ended.
"I was wrong to jump to negative conclusions," said Schenck, president of
the National Clergy Council and a minister to elected and appointed officials
in Washington, DC. "I made the wrong assumptions. As a result of his
Saddleback Forum, Rick Warren helped us to get a clearer picture of the
candidates, their moral and spiritual principles and their philosophy of
government. It was better than I had prayed it would be."
Rev. Schenck, who has been a critic of Warren's in the past, did add he
would have been even harder on each of the candidates than Warren was and
would not have let them ramble on at times with well-worn stump speech
language. Still, Schenck praised the contribution the forum has made to the
election process.
"While it is not the final word on which candidate is best, Christians and
all Americans should find this forum very helpful as they consider who they
will pick to occupy the White House in 2009. Rick Warren didn't cover it all,
and we all have ideas on how we could have done it better, but he did
accomplish more than anyone else has so far in unpacking who the two
candidates really are. I applaud him."
SOURCE National Clergy Council
Peggy Birchfield, National Clergy Council, +1-202-546-8329, ext 103, weekend
hours mobile +1-703-447-7686
