Pastor Rick Warren appeared to slightly backpedal in an appearance on Meet the Press this morning about his opposition to marriage equality for gay and lesbian couples.

See the interview at msnbc.com.

He said said this about his opposition to Proposition 8: “I didn't fight it in the last issue. What was misunderstood is that people on both sides tried to make me the campaign leader. I only mentioned it one time. And I mentioned it to my own congregation when I was asked, ‘What is our position on this?’.”

He immediately adds that that’s not quite now things happened, “Well, I made a video for our congregation. Well, that was dumb. Because immediately it went everywhere, because it looked like I was the big campaigner.”

Warren then repeated, “Of course I have a position on it; I believe what the Bible says”

Daily Beast notes, “[I]t seems Warren regrets that the comments went public, and that he may have hurt some feelings.” But it also notes that the new message is identical to the old message.

DC’s MetroWeekly collects a bunch of Warren’s prior statements to show what he means about “what the Bible says”, including this: “On moral issues, I come out really clear.... We should not let 2% of the population determine -- uh, to change the definition of marriage that has been supported by every single culture, and every single religion for 5,000 years.”

And that’s an excellent cue for another way to look at what the Bible says about marriage. This lesson was offered in June by the self-proclaimed “World’s Best Christian”,  Mrs. Betty Bowers:

Video: Rick Warren wants Bible marriage. What does that mean? [contd.]

It’s unfortunate that David Gregory didn’t ask Warren about the draconian anti-gay proposed law in Uganda and how his missions there have responded to the proposed law—or about how his message there has contributed to the political atmosphere that has given rise to the proposal. (See an excellent analysis at Box Turtle Bulletin.)

Daily Beast's clip of Warren’s notorious pronouncement from Dec. 2008 is included below—the one where he made this statement:

“I’m opposed to having a brother and sister be together and call that marriage. I’m opposed to an older guy marrying a child and calling that a marriage. I’m opposed to one guy having multiple wives.” [Do you think those are equivalent to gays getting married?] “Oh, I do!”

And he later attempted to clarify that statement:

You know, I believe, God created sex exclusively for sex between a man and a woman ... While I believe that the gay view of sexuality is contrary to God's word, I do believe that God gives us free choice. And he gives us a choice to obey it or disobey it....

Source: Cue the cock's crow: Rick Warren denies, denies, denies preaching against gays, campaigning for Proposition 8 against same-sex marriage - Last Word