Is Rick Warren a theocrat?

Martin E. Marty of the University of Chicago Divinity School explains in his current Sightings column that Rick Warren appears to be a theocrat, unlike President-elect Barack Obama.

Marty observes that in his May 28, 2006, "Call to Renewal" Obama said "Democracy requires" of "the religiously motivated" that "their proposals be subject to argument, and amenable to reason." Obama further said that basing government policy-making on uncompromising adherence to "God's edicts" is "a dangerous thing."

While Warren has said:

. . . But for those of us who accept the Bible as God's Word and know that God has a unique, sovereign purpose for every life, I believe there are five issues that are non-negotiable. To me, they're not even debatable because God's Word is clear on these issues.

Marty explains that the "five issues" have to do with abortion, stem-cell harvesting, homosexual "marriage," human cloning, and euthanasia," and responds:

He chose these five, about which the printed Bible displays only a few inches of text that can even be used as inferences to support them, as "non-negotiable" themes. He shelves as negotiable the multiple yards of printed biblical texts on some social issues which to him seem negotiable. With the President-Elect I affirm that Pastor Warren's "uncompromising commitments may be sublime," but I do see that "to base our policy-making on such commitments would be a dangerous thing."

Marty concludes:

What Pastor Warren and millions in his camp advocate works only in a theocracy, where the whole population accepts or is forced to accept one faith's "God's Word."

The rest is here.