Pastor Rick Warren's keynote address to the Islamic Society of North America last weekend (watch my report here) wasn't the first time he has spoken before a controversial Islamist group. Warren also was the keynote speaker at the Muslim Public Affairs Council's annual conference in December 2008:
Dr. Rick Warren's historic address to more than 800 attendees of the Muslim Public Affairs Council's 8th annual convention is now available to view online. Warren is pastor of the Saddleback Church and was recently selected to deliver the invocation during President Elect Obama's inauguration next month.
Excerpts from Dr. Warren's speech:
"I love Muslims. I also happen to love Hindus and Jews and Buddhists. Now this one will shock, I happen to love Democrats and Republicans. And for the media's purpose, I happen to love gays and straights.... We don't have to see eye to eye to walk hand in hand."
"I always thought Christians were misunderstood until I started hearing about Muslims. I've noticed two things: the media almost never gets it right, and the media love conflict... Al-Qaeda no more represents Islam than the Klu Klux Klan represents Christianity."
"Religious congregations are the only set of organizations on earth that can successfully combat the five global illnesses of spiritual emptiness, corrupt leadership, disease pandemics, dire poverty, and illiteracy, and we must actively and directly cooperate with mosques to get the job done."
Now, MPAC's rap sheet may not be as bad as ISNA's or CAIR's, but they ain't exactly the Girl Scouts, either. See here and here for more background on MPAC. Question: who does background research for Warren before he agrees to appear at an event? And was he aware of MPAC's and ISNA's dubious track records, associations and ideologies beforehand?