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The other critic, Spiritual Marketplace author Wade Clark Roof, is refuted by Warren—and Steptoe. " We're told that [his philosophy] not only does something for you in the sense of giving your life meaning but it also makes you happy materially, religiously," Roof complains (erroneously). "What Rick is marketing is a kind of American religious ideology that conflates growth with salvation."

A few paragraphs later, Steptoe writes, "All Saddleback members must abide by strict covenants to tithe regularly, do mission work locally or abroad and live by Christian doctrines. 'You can't just be a consumer here,' Warren says. 'You have to participate and contribute.'"

Christian Coalition reportedly not paying its bills
Not to conflate growth with salvation, but it's no secret that the Christian Coalition of America has seen bigger and better days. Still, things may be even worse for the organization than thought, as it now appears it isn't paying its bills. A Virginia Beach law firm says the Christian Coalition owes it $75,000 in unpaid legal costs, and spokesman Drew McKissick seems to agree that the money hasn't been paid.

"Our accountants have been working with the firm to work this out, and hopefully it will be worked out soon," McKissick told The Virginian-Pilot, saying (in the Pilot's words) that the garnishment order may be more of a glitch than an indication of severe financial distress.

Maybe, but McKissick blames the organizations financial woes on its low membership, which he blames on Bush's election. The Pilot paraphrases him saying that "people became complacent, and it seemed that since a conservative Christian was president, there were no battles left to fight."

If a conservative Christian political organization believes that its constituency can't be mobilized right now, it has bigger problems than how much is in its coffers.

More on the federal marriage amendment:

• Gay-marriage foes duck polygamy issue | A proposed constitutional amendment banning gay marriage was tweaked Monday to give states the right to recognize same-sex civil unions, but sponsors shied away from including language that could squelch legal challenges in Utah to the constitutionality of prohibiting polygamy (The Salt Lake Tribune)
  
  
• Hiding behind the Constitution | Instead of asking what kind of society we want, both Democrats nor Republicans argue about what our structure of government can permit (William B. Rubenstein, The New York Times)
  
  
• Curbing courts on matrimony | The greatest problem with the president's solution is that it does not go to the root of the problem. The underlying problem has been brewing since the 1960s — and that is judicial activism or, more properly, judicial legislating, contrary to Article I of the Constitution (Donald Devine , The Washington Times)
  
  

Gay marriage (news):

• Quebec court paves way for gay marriages | It's the third Canadian province to allow same-sex marriage (Associated Press)
  
  
• Also: Gays win right to wed in Quebec | Gays and lesbians won the right to marry in Quebec, when the province's Court of Appeal rejected a bid by religious groups to have marriage declared solely a union between men and women (AFP)
  
  
• Benton stops all marriage licensing | Pressured by the attorney general to wait for a court ruling on gay marriages, county officials decide to treat "everybody equally" (The Oregonian)
  
  
• Also: Ore. county delays gay marriage licenses | Faced with the threat of a lawsuit, an Oregon county that had been poised to become the state's second to issue gay marriage licenses has now backed off until courts intervene (Associated Press)
  
  

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March (Web-only) 2004, Vol. 48