Obama picks Rick Warren for inaugural invocation, gay leaders furious

[Marokai Backbeat]

It pisses me off, but what is there to do about it? Obama has shown no willingness to make a serious stand on anything so far.

[Marokai Backbeat]

However Rick Warren is actually much more progressive than many of the previous speakers selected to offer the inauguration prayer. I fully understand some of the pain members of the LGBT community must be feeling as a result of Warren's unfortunate statements defending traditional marriage by stating that gay marraiges were almost an equivalent of incent and child abuse. Warren definitely mispoke, and unlike almost all leaders of the evangelical community in the past 20 years does have gay friends and acquaintances and does not "damn people to hell" like many of the fundamentalist preachers of old.

I have to say, his moderate myth certainly has gone far if it's gotten "Progressive" Atheists to buy into it. As the head of Americans United for Seperation of Church & State said "Warren is Jerry Falwell in a Hawaiian shirt."

The only thing he is more moderate over is treatment for AIDs and a variety of other diseases and supports more anti-poverty efforts. Other than that, he's your average evangelist, there's nothing special or moderate about this man from everything that I've seen and read of him and his church. (Did you know he supports programs to "cure" people of homosexuality and his church explicitly and clearly bans gays and lesbians from membership? Oh yeah, that's "more progressive.)

As for the misspeaking BS, he very clearly said it and repeated it was some sort of abnormal behavior in a variety of other interviews. He explained his position on marriage saying "I am opposed to a brother and sister being together and calling that a marriage, I am opposed to multiple people getting together and calling that a marriage, I am opposed to a man and a child getting together and calling that a marriage," in comparison to gay marriage, and when asked to clarify, "Do you think those are equivalent to gays getting married?" he very clearly and very openly and honestly replied. "Oh I do!"

This guy sickens me, his church sickens me, everyone who thinks he's some sort of progressive evangelist sickens me, and Obama sickens me for not taking a stand on anything.

[Marokai Backbeat]

How can anyone here actually believe the BS that he's some sort of 'moderate.'

[Marokai Backbeat]

It's a freaking invocation.  I don't think it's a big deal who he picks.

It's the symbolism. It's someone who represents more of the same old thing that we've seen for years, as opposed to something different that America voted for. It's insulting to gay & lesbians, it's yet another unnecessary and ridiculous "compromise", and it's just plain stupid.

[Marokai Backbeat]

Sorry, I'm not a puppet of the "Gay Rights Movement". I refuse to feign outrage about this useless issue.

How cute.

[Marokai Backbeat]

Sorry, I'm not a puppet of the "Gay Rights Movement". I refuse to feign outrage about this useless issue.

How cute.

(he is a gay who is pro gay marriage)

What irritated me was someone who is gay putting the words Gay Rights Movement in quotation marks, as if it's a joke, its useless, or something along those lines. It's insulting and just self-contradictory. I have no respect for gay people who have no willingness to fight for what is rightfully ours.

[Marokai Backbeat]

Has this Rick Warren pick make you donate to an equality group, or protest, or do any other form of fighting, or have you just been complaining on this message board?

Do you actually care?

[Marokai Backbeat]

So can we expect an anti-semite or a racist to be speaking at the inauguration? After all, we need to be tolerant of our differences.

And I certainly hope those Jews won't complain or anything. They just need to shut the hell up and respect differing opinion.

[Marokai Backbeat]

So can we expect an anti-semite or a racist to be speaking at the inauguration? After all, we need to be tolerant of our differences.

Rick Warrren just opposes changing the state constitution, and believes that marriage should be with a man and woman.  You cannot compare that to racism and anti-semitism.

There's a difference between opposing such things respectfully, and proudly proclaiming in public you believe gay marriage is equal to incest, polygamy, and pedophilia.

[Marokai Backbeat]

I actually don't find polygamy unacceptable. But one wouldn't lead to the other. And comparing the two is ridiculous because one is the oppression of one group of people simply for being a group of people, the other is regarding the structure of marriage itself as opposed to oppressing a group of people.

[Marokai Backbeat]

Sounds like someone is auditioning for press secretary.