I have a new story up today with more from the McCain-Obama joint appearance at Saddleback Church. On Barack Obama’s “above my pay grade” comment on abortion, an Obama adviser told me: “It’s always going to be the case that there is a wide range of opinions on that difficult issue. And that’s why it was important that Sen. Obama didn’t come up with an easy answer.” Well, that’s one way to look at it.

At the forum, Pastor Rick Warren played it straight down the middle between McCain and Obama. But in other circumstances, he’s been happy to talk about his opinions:

There’s no doubt Warren is solidly conservative on the traditional social issues. Back in May 2005, I attended a meeting with him and about 20 journalists in Key West, Florida, organized by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life. Warren was asked several questions about abortion and gay marriage. He kept trying to tell everyone that, while important, those weren’t the only issues on his list. But he also made it clear where he stands. “Of course, if I believe every child is born for a purpose…then obviously I would believe that abortion short-circuits a person’s purpose,” he said. On marriage, he said, “I don’t accept gay marriage. I don’t think that a gay relationship is exactly what God wants in life…[But] in the hierarchy of evil, I would say homosexuality is not the worst sin. But I would also say homosexuality is not natural. I think that there are certain parts of a body that are made to fit together.” When it came to politics, Warren made some seriously Republican-sounding statements, like, “What I worry about is the tyranny of activist judges…I do not believe in judges who go out and find all kinds of excuses to thwart the will of the majority.”