Blog Voices on the Warren Invocation

Praying For Realignment

by digby

I’ve been writing for a long time about the Religious Industrial Complex and how they hope to end the culture war by marginalizing pro-choice and pro gay rights voices within both parties. They’ve entirely succeeded with the Republicans and have now turned their attention to the Democrats. It just took a giant step forward with the announcement that Obama has invited Christian Right leader Rick Warren to give the invocation at the inauguration.

There are those who feel this is a very savvy political move on Obama’s part — by inviting Warren to give the invocation at the most watched inauguration in history, Obama is validating the views of the Christian Right and they may very well be moved enough by that to become Democrats. But it naturally follows that in order to keep their votes, the Democrats would have to honor their agenda and views — the evangelicals are big voting bloc and if the Democrats become the social conservative party, they could count on their votes for sure. (If they don’t make substantial moves toward social conservatism, this won’t work, obviously.) It doesn’t leave much room for liberals, but perhaps that’s a good thing. They are nothing but trouble, defending women’s civil liberties, agitating for gay rights and hectoring the government about not torturing and starting wars and all that. It would be a big relief if they didn’t need them.

It occurs to me that this may have been one of the lessons the political establishment took from the Clinton years. Gore had the presidency denied him in 2000 largely because the Democrats had alienated a significant enough slice of the left that it defected to a third party, making the outcome much closer than it should have been. They may see the way to permanent realignment to be the replacement of liberals (who are universally loathed among their friends) with the salt-of-the-earth, well organized and easy to appease social conservatives. It makes some sense. It would keep liberals rootless and powerless but they could continue to serve as the useful punching bag for the political establishment.

Wanker of the Day

Atrios

Aside from the bigot part, Rick Warren is, you know, a liar.

Warren claimed he supported Proposition 8 because of a free-speech issue — asserting that “any pastor could be considered doing hate speech . . . if he shared his views that homosexuality wasn’t the most natural way for relationships.”

That’s some lying we can believe in, my friends.

…more complete quote:

And the reason I supported Prop 8 really, was a free speech issue. Because if it had…. First, the court overid the will of the people. But second, is, there were all kinds of threats that if you… that did not pass, then 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. And that would be hate speech. To me, we should have freedom of speech. And you should be able to have freedom of speech to make your position, and I should be able to have freedom of speech to make my position. And can we do this in a civil way?

More Atrios

Who would Jesus assassinate?

…it should be obvious, but in case it isn’t, imagine the headlines here if a prominent cleric who had called for the assassination of Bush spoke at an equivalent Iranian event? That’s some diplomacy we can believe in, my friends!

Prop 8 Homophobe Rick Warren to Deliver Inaugural Benediction

By: Teddy Partridge

This is a horrific insult to the thousands of LGBT Americans who worked to elect Barack Obama president and the millions of LGBT Americans who voted for him.

Oh Puke! Rick Warren to Deliver Obama Invocation

By: Lisa Derrick

WTF? Rick Warren? He’s basically James Dobson in Dr Phil’s goatee. In 2004 Warren declared that marriage, reproductive choice, and stem cell research were “non-negotiable” issues of Christian voters, yet those things were part of Obama’s platform!

Rick Warren, Warmongering Torture Apologist, to Usher in Era of Hope and Change

By: Blue Texan

So to review, Warren publicly chastized Obama for refusing to reject and denounce abortion, said four California judges “threw out will of the people“, and openly calls for the murder of a head of state — but is completely unwilling to hold BushCo morally accountable for torturing.

Great choice, guys.

Obama Selects Eliminationist Preacher Warren for Inauguration Pulpit: The Audacity of Hate

By: Kirk James Murphy, M.D.

Barack Obama’s had too many repeat performances with Rick Warren for his choice to be explained away as an accident or an oversight.

Barack Obama has all the equality any American could ever imagine. Now that he’s used progressive American to support his effort to be President, he’s got what he wants. Whatever his appointments may seem to offer LGBT folk and their allies, the choices Barack Obama makes about the Inauguration show Americans and the world who and what he holds close. Barack’s repeated elevation of the hate preacher and eliminationist Rick Warren show us all who Obama chooses to associate with: an ambitious, influential hater.

Are these the values, the beliefs, that Obama really wants to embrace?  Is this what he wants to show to the world, or even to his family and children?

There are many preachers in America who don’t hate gays; who don’t have all these “concidental” associations in their past.  It would be simple enough for Obama to show that he believes in tolerance and equality by choosing one of them.  If not, who he chooses here, will be used, fairly, to judge who he is.

Obama picks homophobe pro-‘Prop 8’ evangelical preacher to give the invocation at inaugural

John Aravosis

… in addition to invoking Obama’s name to justify homophobia, Warren talks about how (he claims) gays are only 2% of the population. And how we shouldn’t let 2% of the population decide what we do on this issue. Gee, wonder how he feels about Jews, who are also 2% of the population.

Rick Warren is a major fail and a total affront

Joe Sudbay

I’m sure the brain trust around Obama thought Rick Warren would be a great idea. You know, because they’re so smart that they’re post-partisan. But someone on the Obama team missed the intense anger that erupted after Prop 8 won and we lost rights (or maybe they didn’t care). It’s visceral. Believe me. Visceral and real. And putting one of the leading supporters of that campaign on the stage at the inauguration is an affront to us.

That may not matter to Team Obama. He’s got huge approval ratings, after all. Maybe we’re expendable now. Obama’s brain trust has decided he needs new friends. So have fun with Rick Warren. If he’s there on January 20th, I won’t be. And, unlike Rick Warren, I actually worked hard to get Obama elected. It’s weird and disturbing. I’d expect George Bush to have a homophobe on the stage. But Obama? That’s not the kind of change I expected, and it’s not change I can believe in.

NGLTF blasts Obama over Warren

John Aravosis

This is a divisive choice. It doesn’t matter if Obama and his people think they’re being post-partisan by picking a raging bigot to share the dais with the first black president. Warren doesn’t bring us together. He tears us apart. And he already has.

Obama hearts Rick Warren

By John Amato

We’ve covered many of Warren’s sins (Rick Warren is the new Jerry Falwell: ‘The Bible says that God puts government on earth to punish evildoers.’) so why did Obama bring him on for this?

I’ve been very supportive of Obama so far, but I have to say that Obama’s decision on this one is highly insulting.

Bigotry You Can Believe In

by: Matt Stoller

Obama’s Strategy Is Winning Evangelicals!

by: Matt Stoller

I just got this email from the Family Research Council.

With roughly 2,000 political appointments to make, Team Obama has had its hands full. This week, the President-elect concentrated on rounding out his Cabinet, naming his hometown school chief, Chicago’s Arne Duncan, to head the Department of Education. Duncan is best known for advocating the use of the city’s taxpayer funds to create a segregated high school for homosexuals.

That ‘be nice to bigots’ strategy is paying some serious dividends.

Rick Warren?

by BarbinMD

What a spit in the eye to the GBLT community in particular, and to anyone who supports equality, dignity and justice under the law.

Rick Warren? Are you kidding me?

by noweeman

If a republican had been elected, I would understand choosing a right-wing zealot to give the invocation. I’d be disgusted, but I’d understand. But, a republican did not get elected, and I expect better.

Updates:

Yay!

by: Matt Stoller

I suppose my only quibble with this photo is that Obama always promised to throw progressives under the bus.  It shouldn’t be a surprise.  But it is!  Through lovely actions like this, Obama is accelerating the process of waking up from the dreamland progressives have been in for years.  There aren’t that many lines Obama can cross and actually find his legions of annoying trolls silenced, but attacking the gay community in the wake of proposition 8 is one of them.

With fun illustration (not really a photo).