In a Friday night story on criticism of Pastor Rick Warren, for inviting Democratic Senator Barack Obama to the evangelist's annual “Global Summit on AIDS and the Church” held at the Saddleback Church in Orange County, California, ABC's Jake Tapper relayed how “many conservative Christian leaders...were furious with Warren for inviting Obama. Why? Because the Senator supports abortion rights.” But on FNC's Special Report with Brit Hume, though anchored by Brian Wilson, reporter Anita Vogel added an extremist label: "Evangelist Rick Warren, famous for his best-seller A Purpose Driven Life, has taken a lot of heat from Christian conservatives and the far right for even inviting Obama to this conference because of the Democratic Senator's support for abortion rights. Pastor Warren says that kind of thinking won't solve anything."
Unlike Vogel, who aired only soundbites of Warren, Obama and Republican Senator Sam Brownback denouncing the criticism, on ABC's World News Tapper allowed viewers to learn of the reasoning behind the objections:
Senator Barack Obama, at the conference: “What binds us together is greater than what drives us apart.”Jake Tapper, with text on screen: “But that view is not shared by many conservative Christian leaders who were furious with Warren for inviting Obama. Why? Because the Senator supports abortion rights. Eighteen leading conservative Christian leaders wrote to Warren: 'If Senator Obama cannot defend the most helpless citizens in our country, he has nothing to say to the AIDS crisis. You cannot fight one evil while justifying another.'”
Rev. Bob Schenck, National Clergy Council: “Senator Obama, speaking from the pulpit with Rick Warren, would seem to indicate that evangelicals endorse Senator Obama's policies which the majority would not.”
