Rick Warren Speaks at Muslim Conference???

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On July 5, 2009, the AP reported that "Evangelical megachurch pastor Rick Warren," founder of Saddleback Community Church in Orange County, California, spoke at an Islamic convention in Washington DC and stated, "America's largest Islamic organization showed courage when it invited him to speak at its annual convention."

The Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), of whom Warren was speaking, is a group that has been named co-conspirator by the Justice Department in the largest terrorism financing trial in U.S history. The trial involves a Hamas charity called the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development (HLF). Its leaders were found guilty on all counts..

ISNA was established in 1981 by alumni from the Muslim Students Association (MSA). The MSA is a group founded by members of Muslim Brotherhood, a violent organization, as well as Palestinian Islamic Jihad leader Sami Al-Arian. The MSA also has a history of promoting radical speakers at annual anti-Semitic forums across the country, including pro-Hamas Abdul Malik Ali. The MSA-UCLA’s newspaper, Al-Talib, also referred to Osama bin Laden in its July 1999 issue as a “freedom fighter,” “philanthropist” and a “great Mujahid.”

According to the AP. "Warren told the crowd that the two largest faiths on the planet — Muslims and Christians — must work together to combat stereotypes, promote peace and freedom and solve global problems." He also said they should partner in working to end "the five global giants" of war, poverty, corruption, disease and illiteracy. "Some problems are so big you have to team tackle them."

Are you for real, Warren? Ask most of them how they would react if their daughter came to them to say that she's fallen in love with a Christian and has given her heart to Jesus. Do you seriously think that there can be a working relationship? How many of the people in the crowd came from countries that persecute Christians? Will part of the plan to cooperatively promote peace and fight poverty include discouraging the sawing of heads off of relief workers?

Okay, Okay, that all sounds like me just spouting off stereotypes. How about this question, then. We all know that wishful thinking won't end war or poverty. Even team tackling isn't going to end these two things. They've been around from the beginning of time. Wishful thinking certainly isn't going to effect the seed of war and poverty; which is greed, essentially.

Any Christian knows that to truly effect war and poverty, we need God's power and love. And the only way to the Father is through... (remember the verse Warren?)...his son, Jesus Christ. Will part of your program to end the "five global giants" include getting together with our new partners and praying? Seems to me to be the logical thing for a Christian to do....
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