Rev. Rick Warren has conceded that
churches are probably responsible for some anti-gay attitudes in
America.
The 58-year-old Warren is the founder
and senior pastor of the Lake Forest, California-based megachurch
Saddleback Church – the eighth-largest church in the United States
– and the author of the best-selling book The Purpose Driven
Life.
While Warren is on a media tour to
promote an updated edition of his book, interviewers have peppered
him with questions about his disapproval of homosexuality.
When asked by The Huffington Post
whether gays go to hell, Warren answered: “No, not because they're
gay. We go to Hell because we choose to reject the grace of God.”
Gays who accept Jesus are “going to
Heaven … without a doubt,” he said.
When CNN host John Berman asked Warren
whether “some of our churches are responsible for some of the
attitudes towards gays in America, the negative attitudes?” Warren
answered “yeah.”
“Probably, yeah,” Warren said. “In
fact, there are some people who are extremely violent or hateful.
And hate is never of God, never.” (The video is embedded on this
page. Visit
our video library for more videos.)
(Related: Rick
Warren suggests gay marriage is inevitable.)