Sunday, January 3, 2010
After pleading with parishioners for $900,000 to keep his Saddleback megachurch church out of the red, Bible thumpers dug deep and donated a staggering $2.4 million. Warren announced the haul to cheers of adoring throngs during a sermon at the church on Saturday.
Warren, who delivered the invocation at the inauguration of President Obama last January, is a multimillionaire, best-selling author of “The Purpose Driven Life.” He also owns and travels on a private jet. Warren found himself facing controversy for his support of California’s Proposition 8, which overturned gay marriage.
I’m not surprised by the size of the donations because hate and homophobia don’t come cheap. However, I would be very interested in knowing if President Obama and Mrs. Obama sent Pastor Warren a donation?
From the Left 
So Warren got more than 2 1/2 times what he asked for?
What a shame California can’t tax this donation. The state is suffering from the worst economic conditions since the Great Depression and could use the money.
I never liked the mega churches with big budgets. Those that keep it simple and have a more outward focus of helping others in need, practice what they preach.
Perhaps Warren’s Dec 31st plea allowed his hateful flock to review their tax situation & decided making a donation will bring salvation @ tax time?
Let’s see if Warren’s pile of money is used to feed & help the poor & struggling, or simply funds more hate campaigns.
I notice on the Saddleback website, in the “Something for Everyone” section…. they have Men, Women & Couples listed. I had difficulty finding the LGBT section.
$2.4 million? NFW? You’re joking, right?
When I think of all the need out there today with the millions of unemployed folks, the foreclosures, and homelessness. Oh well, people are fools and Rick Warren is a bigot.
Saddleback Church is smack dab in the middle of all the wealth in Orange County, so I’m not surprised by this haul of cash near the end of the year.
It’s a crime donations can’t be taxed as income. If a church can use its resources to dictate the outcome of an election, then they should be taxed as if it were a business.
I want to know if some of this money will be used to fight Ted Olson in court when he tries to overturn Prop 8.
I live in Orange County and let me tell you something … I am seeing more and more homeless people and less jobs. It is really quite sad. I live in one of the nicest areas too and there are more foreclosures than I can count. On top of that the banks are keeping these homes hidden from the market (but that is another story). Too bad Warren didn’t call for donations to charities versus his ego.
The subtext of the preachers is always the same: give me money and I will see to it that you receive eternal life in return.
The names may change but the game is always the same.
they are not real christians – all for a name…
As a would-be businessman, I’d have to say there’s a certain attraction of dealing in a product/service for which no warranty claims can arise. That product being the enhancement of the consumer’s status upon exit from this world.
Well, I’m still paying off my student loans.
If any members of the Saddleback church would like to send me $12,490, I will be eternally grateful. Can’t promise you eternal life but I promise to never lie, cheat or steal.
Tax organized religion at 50%. Tax these smarmy preachers and pastors at 38%. The states and the Fed need the money!
Now what was that thing Jesus did in the Temple to the moneychangers? Oh, yes, he turned over their tables. I think they lost some revenue on that incident.
This goon and his organization don’t pay taxes, yet he whines that he hasn’t enough money? Gag me.
Seabec, Rock, and Harry: Churches definitely should pay their fair share in taxes.
Rick Warren’s Saddleback corporation will be whining about donations from now on as the jobless recovery becomes a permanent part of the landscape for at least the next 2 to 3 years. I fully expect he will invent some dramatic end-of-year screed which involves “keeping the church out of the red,” and idiot Christians will happily write out a check.
Isn’t Orange County extremely conservative? I have friends in Playa Del Rey, CA and they say when Angelinos visit Orange County they refer to “crossing the Orange curtain.” I am never surprised when it comes to the stupidity of people who attend megachurches.
Yeppir, feminazi. Orange County has a lot of right wingers in it. But it’s also a county with a thriving Hispanic population.
Santa Ana, Anaheim and Orange are half or more Hispanic. 60% of Orange County voted for Barack Obama in 2008. So, some of the stereotypes about the place are just that — stereotypes. Laguna Beach even has a large gay population. It’s Southern California and people move there for the weather and jobs.
Arizona Leatherneck: That’s a big change from when I went to high school behind the Orange Curtain. Back then, it was almost as rightist as Alabama.
Lib Homo — I live in Long Beach. I drive to Orange County once a month to go to the South Coast Plaza Mall in Costa Mesa. I have friends in Laguna Beach. It’s as liberal as Long Beach. The county has become very diverse and heavily Hispanic. It’s a nice place. But like all of the Southland, you have liberals living next door to Reaganites. It’s the thing that baffles people from the east. Especially, east coast media elites.
Orange County in 2010 is a lot like where Los Angeles County was in 1980.
Pockets of conservatism mixed with liberalism and a growing immigrant population. To dismiss Orange County as Reagan Country is to not understand what has taken place there over the past 30 years.
Pingback: “Saddleback Saved, As Flock Coughs Up $2.4 Million For Rick Warren’s Church” and related posts « Twitter