Pastor Rick Warren: 'I'd Go to Jail Rather Than Cave' to Contraceptive Mandate

Rick Warren, the well-known author of "The Purpose Driven Life" and the founding pastor at Saddleback Church in California, is well-known for his willingness to speak out on social and theological issues. That being said, Warren is typically relatively benign in tone and declarative sentiment when it comes to partisan politics.

In 2008, the pastor declined to endorse either presidential candidate, though he did moderate a presidential forum during which both Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Barack Obama were able to share their perspectives on a wide variety of faith-related issues.

(Related: 5 Reasons the Obama Admin May Be Losing the Contraceptive Mandate Battle)

But when it comes to the Obama administration's contraceptive mandate -- a regulation that will force many Catholic and religious employers to violate their beliefs, he is making some bold declarations. Earlier this week, Warren took to Twitter, where he made his stance vehemently known.

"I'm not Catholic, but I stand in 100% solidarity with my brothers & sisters to practice their belief against govt pressure," he wrote in one tweet. "I'd go to jail rather than cave in to a government mandate that violates what God commands us to do," Warren wrote in another.

The faith leader isn't alone in his stance, either. LifeNews.com has more:

Richard Land, a pro-life leader who is a top official with the South Baptist Church, said the same thing the day prior.

“When it comes to abortifacients, and many birth-control methods are abortifacients,” Land said, this mandate is “reprehensible in its demands for people to violate their conscience.” “We are not going to do this. We have a First Amendment right to freedom of conscience, and we’re going to defend it. If we have to defend it by going to jail, so be it.”

Here are Warren's tweets:

Evangelicals, like Warren and Land, have been coming out en masse to defend Catholics against the government's new health care regulations.