Rick Warren—whose upcoming invocation at the Obama inauguration is causing a ruckus—has removed anti-gay language from the website of his Saddleback Church, Queerty reports. A page that explicitly barred gays from membership has suddenly gone missing, along with some Catholic bashing and a defense of dinosaurs in the Bible. Warren also posted a video in which he blamed bloggers for distorting his views and accused them of "Christ-o-phobia," the Boston Globe notes.
In the video, Warren defended his opposition to same-sex marriage and denied comparing homosexuality to incest or bestiality. "I believe in no such thing." He said his enemies were guilty of Christ-o-phobia, or being "afraid of any Christian." The "real story" of this whole brouhaha is that "a couple of different American leaders have chosen to model civility for the rest of the nation.'' A church spokesman, meanwhile, says the website's message on homosexuals is "being repurposed for clarity." (More Rick Warren stories.)