Rick Warren, author of the popular book The Purpose Driven Life, is having a big impact on people's religious beliefs - but will he also have an impact on politics? That's a question which many are asking, but there are no clear answers as of yet.

The Philadelphia Inquirer reports:

The success of Saddleback and churches like it poses a direct, immediate challenge to mainstream Christianity. Warren says that 78 percent of his members had no religious background; clearly, his brand of evangelicalism is addressing spiritual, psychological and sociological needs that conventional churches have left wanting.

But as his celebrity grows, Warren may also be challenging mainstream politics. ... He distances himself from the strident, narrow agenda of traditional evangelical leaders - especially in his noble work combating poverty and disease. But it's hard to tell whether he realizes how much power he could have.

At the conference, he followed a reasonable biblical argument against gay marriage with an offhand comment comparing homosexuality with something that I won't dignify by repeating. He tried to convince Jews that they could still be Jews if they accepted Jesus Christ, and he implied that little separated Catholics and evangelicals - when their actual theological differences are profound.

People are going to have to keep an eye on Rick Warren. Even he probably doesn't know where this is all going and perhaps, from a political perspective, nothing at all will happen. If he does move in a political direction, though, he may have a significant impact — and given how noxious some of his views appear to be, that could prove to be very bad for those who don't fit into his preconceived notions about how people should behave or live.

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