Pastor Rick Warren admitted on CNN on Thursday that Evangelical churches are at least partly responsible for some of the negative attitudes towards gay and lesbian people.

Appearing on Starting Point to promote an updated version of his book, A Purpose Driven Life, Warren reiterated his opposition to recognizing same-sex couples. But asked about the suicide of Rutgers University student Tyler Clementi — who committed suicide after his roommate broadcast a video of him with another man — the pastor said that Jesus teaches Christians not to “hate anybody” and admitted that some churches fall short of this responsibility:

JOHN BERMAN (HOST): [Tyler Clementi's] parents wrote that they left their Evangelical church recently because they felt the beliefs on homosexuality estranged them from their son, which meant he could not come to them. His mother said this, she said, ‘at this point, I think Jesus is more about reconciliation and love. He spoke more about divorce than homosexuality, but you can be divorced and join a church more than you can be gay and join churches.’

WARREN: Very good point. You know, Jesus taught, as a Christian, I am not allowed to hate anybody. I’m not allowed to do that. In fact, I am commanded by Jesus Christ to love everyone, to show respect to everyone. There’s a difference between acceptance and approval. God accepts me, accepts you unconditionally. He doesn’t approve of everything we do.

BERMAN: But pastor, don’t you think some of our churches are responsible for some of the attitudes towards gays in America, the negative attitudes?

WARREN: Probably, yeah. In fact, there are some people who are extremely violent or hateful. And hate is never of God, never.

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On Wednesday, during an interview with HuffPost Live’s Marc Lamont Hill, Warren attempted to downplay his endorsement for Proposition 8, California’s constitutional ban on same-sex marriage, claiming that he intended to communicate his private support to church members and was not trying to take a “public” position on the issue. Warren expressed regret for ever backing the measure, though that hasn’t stopped him from dismissing gay and lesbian relationships.

Earlier this week, Warren said that acting on same-sex attractions is no different from “punching a guy in the nose” or consuming arsenic.

On Wednesday, conservative Evangelical Pastor Rick Warren expressed regret for instructing his congregation to support Proposition 8, California’s constitutional ban on same-sex marriage. During an interview with HuffPost Live’s Marc Lamont Hill, Warren attempted to downplay his endorsement of the provision, claiming that he intended to communicate his private support to church members and was not trying to take a “public” position on the issue. Warren expressed regret for ever backing the measure:

WARREN:  I never made a single statement on Prop 8 until the week before. In my own church, some members say, “Where do we stand on this?” I released a video to my own members. It was posted all over like it was an advertisement. [...]

HILL: When your have a church of 20,000 people and you have a book that 32 million people have read and that 60 million people have accessed, to say, “I was just giving a message”—

WARREN: You’re exactly right, Marc, and I learned a lesson from that. What I learned from that is that anything I say privately is now public. And I actually learned from that mistake… Everyone took that to mean I was pontificating to the whole world.

HILL: If you could do it again, would you not have made that statement a week before Prop 8?

WARREN: I would not have. I would not have made that statement. Because I wanted to talk to my own people. As a duty, as a shepherd, I’m responsible for those who put themselves under my care. I’m not responsible for everybody else.

During the interview, Warren reiterated his opposition to same-sex couples — arguing that “It’s not a sin to love somebody, it might be a sin to have sex with them” — and suggested that he still backs the spirit of Proposition 8, just as he did in 2008. Then, Warren published his “private” video on his “News & Views” website for all of his followers to see and his comments were unsurprisingly picked up by the American Family Association’s OneNewsNow. The video is still preserved thanks to The American Prospect and RightWingWatch. Here again is that “private” video supposedly intended only for his 20,000 church members, in which Warren says, “If you believe what the Bible says about marriage, you need to support Proposition 8″:

Warren seemed to back away from his endorsement in 2009, telling Larry King that he “never once even gave an endorsement” of the proposition. Now that a majority of Americans consistently support marriage equality, he regrets that people actually paid attention to his anti-gay views.

Megachurch pastor Rick Warren remains as ill-informed on gay identity as ever. Unfazed by the notion that there may be a biological cause for homosexuality, Warren told Piers Morgan on CNN this week that acting on same-sex attractions is no different from “punching a guy in the nose” or consuming arsenic:

WARREN: Here’s what we know about life. I have all kinds of natural feelings in my life and it doesn’t necessarily mean that I should act on every feeling. Sometimes I get angry and I feel like punching a guy in the nose. It doesn’t mean I act on it. Sometimes I feel attracted to women who are not my wife. I don’t act on it. Just because I have a feeling doesn’t make it right. Not everything natural is good for me. Arsenic is natural.

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On CBS This Morning this week, Warren similarly defended his anti-gay positions by claiming that he can be “tolerant” and “accepting” without being “approving.” Though he may not act on his attractions to women who are not his wife, he seems to gloss over the fact that he did have the opportunity to act on his attractions to her by marrying her. By advocating against same-sex marriage, he works to prevent gays and lesbians from having the same security of a lasting partnership.

Warren has a long history of opposing marriage equality. Four years ago, he defended his support of California’s Proposition 8 by claiming that same-sex marriage is “equivalent” to incest, pedophilia, and polygamy. He also claimed that gays are “evil” and have “Christ-o-phobia.” Warren tries to offset his anti-gay beliefs by boasting his anti-AIDS work in Africa, but he has ties to conservative anti-gay leaders in Uganda who oppose using condoms to prevent transmission of HIV. The results of his particular efforts are unclear, but studies have shown that abstinence-only efforts have failed to lower HIV rates in Africa, and anti-gay stigma also contributes to the epidemic.