CNN Blames Christianity for Gay Teen Suicides

Megachurch Pastor Rick Warren has just updated re-released his mega-seller “The Purpose Driven Life” (which I very much enjoyed) and is now on a promotional tour. Just now he was on CNN where John Berman and Brook Baldwin are filling in for the insufferable Soledad O’Brien.

Because Warren is Christian (and white), though, he was asked the kind of questions no Muslim or Black pastor is ever asked on CNN — not-so-subtle gotcha questions about whether or not he would tolerate a Muslim president and, of course, about homosexuality. They actually asked Warren if the Christian attitude towards gays drives gay teens to suicide.

I would have no problem with this kind of questioning if black pastors and Muslim clerics were brought on the air and grilled in a similar way, but they never are. And we all know that as a whole the black community and most especially the Muslim community are much more strident in their criticism of gays than the likes of a Rick Warren.

But what Berman and Baldwin and CNN are up to has nothing to do with making the world more tolerant towards gays. It’s all about the insinuation in the questions that by default equates Christianity to homophobia. Using “tolerance” as a shield, this is CNN’s way of smearing Christians.  

This of course is its own form of prejudice. Singling out Christians in this way is nothing short of bigotry.