Outrage Grows Over Warren as Obama Pick for Inaugural Invocation

Outrage Grows Over Warren as Obama Pick for Inaugural Invocation
by Kilian Melloy
Friday Dec 19, 2008

President-Elect Barack Obama and evangelical mega-church pastor Rick Warren

Advocates of GLBT equality are angry, vocally so, about President-Elect Barack Obama having selected conservative, anti-gay pastor Rick Warren to deliver the Invocation at Obama’s inauguration next month.

In the days since the announcement, the uproar has only grown.

Obama, who has been praised for including a number of openly gay and lesbian advisers on his transition team, has been the brunt of angry rhetoric from GLBT supporters who feel betrayed by the pick, as well as by clergy who disagree with Warren’s views.

Warren, who is against marriage equality for gay and lesbian families, and who threw his weight behind California’s anti-gay Proposition 8, is the founder and pastor of the Saddleback mega-church, which boasts over twenty thousand members.

A controversial figure, Warren has also drawn praise for his work with the world’s poor.

However, Warren’s statements regarding reproductive rights, GLBT equality, and members of non-Christian faiths have alarmed many moderates and liberals, including clergy from traditional mainstream churches.

In a statement, the Right Reverend John Bryson Chane, Eighth Bishop of Washington for the American branch of the Anglican church (known as the Episcopalian church in the U.S.), expressed concern and disappointment at the choice of Rick Warren at the inaugural.

Wrote Rt. Rev. Chane, "I am profoundly disappointed by President-elect Barack Obama’s decision to invite Pastor Rick Warren of Saddleback Church to offer the invocation at his inauguration.

"The president-elect has bestowed a great honor on a man whose recent comments suggest he is both homophobic, xenophobic, and willing to use the machinery of the state to enforce his prejudices-even going so far as to support the assassination of foreign leaders."

Continued Chane’s statement, "In his home state of California, Mr. Warren’s [sic] campaigned aggressively to deny gay and lesbian couples equal rights under the law, relying on arguments that are both morally offensive and theologically crude.

"Christian leaders differ passionately with one another over the morality of same-sex relationships, but only the most extreme liken the loving, lifelong partnerships of their fellow citizens to incest and pedophilia, as Mr. Warren has done."

Added Chane, "The president-elect’s willingness to associate himself with a man who espouses these views as a means of reaching out to religious conservatives suggests a willingness to use the aspirations of gay and lesbian Americans as bargaining chips, and I find this deeply troubling."

The statement went on, "Mr. Warren has been rightly praised for his efforts to deepen the engagement of evangelical Christians with impoverished Africans.

"Yet extravagant compassion toward some of God’s people does not justify the repression of others. Jesus came to save all of humankind, and as Archbishop Desmond Tutu has pointed out, ’All means all.’

"But rather than embrace the wisdom of Archbishop Tutu, Mr. Warren has allied himself with men such as Archbishop Henry Orombi of Uganda who seek to ’purify’ the Anglican Communion, of which my Church is a member, by driving out gay and lesbian Christians and their supporters."

The Bishop’s statement continued, "In choosing Mr. Warren, the president-elect has sent a distressing message internationally as well.

"In a recent television interview, Mr. Warren voiced his support for the assassination of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

"These bizarre and regrettable remarks come at a time when much of the Muslim world already fears a Christian crusade against Islamic countries."

Added Chane, "Imagine our justifiable outrage if an Iranian cleric who advocated the assassination of President Bush had been selected to offer prayers when Ahmadinejad was sworn in."

The statement went on, "In choosing Mr. Warren to offer the invocation at his inauguration, the president-elect has sent the chilling, and, I feel certain, unintended message that he is comfortable with Christians who can justify lethal violence against Muslims."

The Bishop added that, "I appreciate that there is political advantage in elevating the relatively moderate Mr. Warren above some of his brethren on the Religious Right.

"But in honoring Mr. Warren, the president-elect confers legitimacy on attitudes that are deeply contrary to the all-inclusive love of God.

"He is courting the powerful at the expense of the marginalized, and in doing so, he stands the Gospel on its head."

Openly gay Congressman Barney Frank (D-MA) issued a statement of his own on Dec. 18, declaring, "I am very disappointed by President-elect Barack Obama’s decision to honor Reverend Rick Warren with a prominent role in his inauguration."

Wrote Rep. Frank, "Religious leaders obviously have every right to speak out in opposition to anti-discrimination measures, even in the degrading terms that Rev. Warren has used with regard to same-sex marriage.

"But that does not confer upon them the right to a place of honor in the inauguration ceremony of a president whose stated commitment to LGBT rights won him the strong support of the great majority of those who support that cause."

Added Frank, "The selection of a member of the clergy to occupy this uniquely elevated position has always been considered a mark of respect and approval by those who are being inaugurated."

Joe Solmonese, the president of the GLBT equality lobbying organization the Human Rights Campaign, wrote an editorial piece that was published on Dec. 19 in the Washington Post.

Wrote Solmonese, "It is difficult to comprehend how our president-elect, who has been so spot on in nearly every political move and gesture, could fail to grasp the symbolism of inviting an anti-gay theologian to deliver his inaugural invocation."

Noting that the Obama team’s answer to criticism over Warren had been to point out that the inauguration was also slated to include a GLBT marching band.

Wrote Solmonese, "You know how the gays love a parade."

Citing Warren’s involvement in the promotion of the anti-gay California ballot initiative that revoked the existing right of gay and lesbian families to marry, Solmonese continued, "[I]nviting Warren to set the tone at the dawn of this new presidency sends a chilling message to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Americans.

"It makes us uncertain about this exciting, young president-elect who has said repeatedly that we are part of his America, too."

Added Solmonese, "What the Obama team needs to understand is that for many LGBT Americans, this November was bittersweet.

"We were thrilled with Obama’s victory and, in fact, many of us worked the phones, pounded the pavement and wrote checks to make that happen.

"But the next day, we learned that Proposition 8 passed in California, and our hearts sank. It was the biggest loss our community has faced in decades."

Solmonese continued, "One of the biggest reasons for that hurtful outcome was the Rev. Rick Warren, who publicly endorsed Proposition 8 in late October.

"He told his parishioners and reporters alike that ’any pastor could be considered doing hate speech if he shared his views that he didn’t think homosexuality was the most natural way for relationships.’

"But civil marriage rights for same-sex couples had nothing whatsoever to do with religion."

Added the HRC president, "He may cloak himself in media-friendly happy talk that plays well on television, but he stands steadfastly against any measure of equality for LGBT Americans."

The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, a watchdog group that monitors media depictions of GLBT people, also issued a press release.

The Dec. 18 statement encouraged the media to treat the occasion as a chance to focus on Warren’s anti-gay stances.

Read the GLAAD statement, "The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) today called on the media to examine Rick Warren’s history of anti-gay rhetoric and efforts to oppose marriage equality upon his selection to deliver the invocation at President-elect Obama’s inauguration."

Neil Giuliano, the group’s president, was quoted in the release as saying, "The inauguration of a new President is a day when Americans should be brought together, to signal a new beginning for our country.

"It is therefore deeply troubling that the President-elect has selected someone whose defamatory and damaging anti-gay statements and views, including linking marriage for committed same-sex couples to incest and pedophilia, clearly divide rather than unite Americans."

Continued Giuliano, "Media outlets have a responsibility to scrutinize Rick Warren’s history of using his powerful platform to advance anti-gay rhetoric and prevent loving couples from being able to take care of and be responsible for one another."

Canadian newspaper The Montreal Gazette reported on President-Elect Obama’s response to the criticism that greeted news of the pick.

Said Obama during a Chicago press conference, "I think that it is no secret that I am a fierce advocate for equality for gay and lesbian Americans.

"It is something that I have been consistent on, and I intend to continue to be consistent on during my presidency."

Continued the President-Elect, "What I’ve also said is that it is important for America to come together, even though we may have disagreements on certain social issues."

Added Obama, "There are going to be a wide range of viewpoints that are presented.

"And that’s how it should be because that’s what America is about. That’s part of the magic of this country is that we are diverse and noisy and opinionated."

The article pointed out that Obama had also brought Dr. Joseph Lowry on board for the Inauguration. Dr. Lowry, the article said, advocates for the right of same-sex families to marry, and is scheduled to provide the benediction at the event.

Obama noted that he picked Dr. Joseph Lowery, a civil rights icon who supports same-sex marriage, to deliver the inaugural benediction.

Religious conservatives, who have been critical of Obama’s choice of Chicago chief of schools Arne Duncan for Secretary of Education due to Duncan’s support for a proposed gay-safe high school in that city, offered the President-Elect praise for including the high-profile evangelical leader in the event.

The Montreal Gazette noted that the Christian Broadcasting Network’s David Brody said of Warren’s selection that, "It makes a whole lot of sense" and was "classic Obama because it is a signal to religious conservatives that he’s willing to bring in both sides to the faith discussion in this country."

The right-wing religious Web site World Net Daily, which recently has boasted headlines such as, "How to Derail the Obama Express," quoted Warren in a Dec. 18 article about the flap.

Said Warren, as quoted by WND, "Hopefully, individuals passionately expressing opinions from the left and the right will recognize that both of us have shown a commitment to model civility in America."

Added the Saddleback pastor, "The Bible admonishes us to pray for our leaders.

"I am honored by this opportunity to pray God’s blessing on the office of the president and its current and future inhabitant, asking the Lord to provide wisdom to America’s leaders during this critical time in our nation’s history."

Kilian Melloy reviews media, conducts interviews, and writes commentary for EDGEBoston, where he also serves as Assistant Arts Editor.