As you have heard by now, Rev. Rick Warren was tapped by Barack Obama to deliver the invocation at the Presidential Inauguration and it has caused quite a stir among the gay community and advocates for gay marriage. Rev. Warren was very much for Prop. 8. Not to mention, as Rep. Barney Frank put it, “Mr. Warren compared same-sex couples to incest. I found that deeply offensive and unfair.”
His invitation to the inauguration is considered to be a slap in the face to many gays who hope that Barack Obama will help end much of the discrimination that takes place against the gay community. (Such as a federal anti-discrimination law for employment.)
I’m not a fan of Rev. Warren. Just like I’m not a fan of Billy Graham. I think it has to do with the fact that I’m not one for the Evangelicals and the close-minded beliefs that most of them carry. As an example, I don’t get why Billy Graham has been able to have a personal audience with every sitting president dating back to Truman. I mean, we haven’t had a ton of Evangelical presidents and we are a nation without a state religion, are we not? Not to mention, why is it that someone who has made anti-semitic in public, been taken seriously by millions of people? Seriously, I don’t get it. Then again, I don’t understand most organized religion. (I do respect the religious views of others… just some I don’t get.)
Billy Graham has been in poor health in recent years, which makes me wonder if Rev. Rick Warren is going to take the place of the Evangelical having the President’s ear. I’m not sure how okay I am with that. Especially if he tries to use it to further his agenda.
I understand that Barack Obama is not for gay marriage and believes that it is between a man and a woman. I was aware of his stance on gay marriage before I voted for him. However, he does seem to be a bit more open to gays serving openly in the military, believes that there should be more hate crime laws, and is against discrimination of gays in the workforce. It does bother me when I hear people say that they don’t believe that gays should have the right to marry. I try to point out to many of those people that I am bothered by those who marry for financial reasons, to obtain citizenship, or to obtain healthcare benefits. I’m bothered by those who get married and then try to have it annulled hours or days later. However, is it any of my business? Nope. Nor is the union between two men or two women anyone’s business, except for the couple involved. We have marriages that take place in court houses. Because it’s not a religious ceremony it should banned, right? After all, isn’t marriage a religious thing? That’s what I thought.
So, Rick Warren will give the invocation. I’m not thrilled at the idea. However, it’s not my inauguration and frankly, I probably won’t even remember the guy a week later.
Filed under: political morsel Tagged: | Barack Obama, Billy Graham, Inauguration, Rev. Rick Warren
Too true. Unless he says something completely offensive, no one’s going to remember he was there.
I’ve commented on this before on a gay friend’s site…basically I said give Obama a break, as he is building a bridge and also thanking people for supporting him despite their evangelical views. He’s showing that he is everyone’s president. But it was also pouring salt on the wound for the gay community, after their loses on the gay marriage issue. We have friends who have been deeply affected by this. Obama is in a very tight spot to be sure!
I have been struggling with this myself. I have vacillated back and forth between many different emotions both positive and negative. This is a very emotional subject for many people and very personal. What I have come away with is knowing that I have to just sit back and try and look at the bigger picture that Obama is in the process of developing. We need to give him some room. He is being squeezed tighter and tighter by constraints that he has no power over, so maybe we just need to sit back a bit with a wait and see attitude.
willpen- that’s what I’m doing. A lot of people have placed huge expectations on Obama and need to realize that he is not going to agree with everything that everyone believes in. Hell, I don’t even see eye-to-eye on everything with my friends. Although I’m not a fan of the likes of Rev. Warren and Billy Graham, I’m not going to send angry letters to Obama because of his selection. It’s just not worth it. Instead, I decided to post my feelings towards Rev. Warren on here while I even remember that he is participating in the inauguration.
I don’t care about Rick Warren. I would love to see the religious aspect out of the inauguration process, but that is probably unrealistic! Now if he seems to outweigh decisions made on scientific method, or is suddenly at Obama’s side a lot, then I will have a problem with him, as I did not vote for Rick Warren!
I have to say, it seems like pandering to me – I was so happy that Obama included “gay and straight” in his speech, and now this slap in the face to civil rights.
What I do not get is why every president since Reagan has to have an evangelical cheering squad. It’s just nauseating to see religion in politics.
Mari,
I so agree with you on the whole religious thing. For me the separation of church and state is such an important part of what Thomas Jefferson laid down in our Bill of Rights in the form of the first amendment.
However, like you said, this is something that is never going to go away no matter how we wish it to, and I honestly don’t feel like Obama would ever really cross that line.
This is a really late post, but I have to add to your cogent reflections that sitting back and giving Pres.-elect Obama some room on the Warren decision is maybe just exactly the wrong thing to be doing. I voted for Obama because I believed that he believed in diversity, acceptance, choice, and a whole bunch of other things that were Good…sitting still and watching what happens is EXACTLY what I did while Bush was president! Never again. Not one time. Never again will I give an elected person a pass on his/her behavior. My mouth is open now and it’s going to stay that way…no more sitting back and watching some jerk take away my rights…no more hoping that things will change for the better without my very vocal input. No more watching people like Warren take away the ability of my friends, family, co-workers, & others to live their lives as the Constitution of the United States of America GUARANTEES them. So…I wrote, yelled, screamed, yammered, shouted, called (you get the idea) every single Obama contact I have about Warren as the choice for invocation giving….and you know what I got in return WITHOUT FAIL? Thank you notes for contacting them with my support for P.-E. Obama! I did not get through to ONE SINGLE PERSON with my concern/complaint! NOT ONE! So, willpen, D, Mari? Don’t sit back and watch it again! Even though I can’t seem to get my complaint heard, I’m still writing, calling, yelling (yeah, I know) trying to be heard…and I AM SCARED! I am afraid I’ve invested too much hope, heartache, & money in another fraud…and I AM SCARED! As Rachel Maddow says, “Talk me down … please?”…ca