In further investigating the Rick Warren matter on weblogs and in online news journals, I came across a political commentary posted by one Kathryn Kolbert on the CNN.com Politics website, entitled: "Commentary: Choosing Rick Warren was a Mistake." Her comments were extremely revealing to me, as I am sure they were to many curious readers.
Kolbert succinctly argued against President-elect Barack Obama's choice to have Pastor Rick Warren give the pivotal, very significant and solemn inspirational invocation at his inauguration on January 20, 2009, by demonstrating in a very matter of fact manner all the ways in which Warren (a self-reputed "moderate" and "bridge-builder") exemplifies the anti-freedom & anti-gay values of the Evangelical Religious Right.
She contends with the anger & disappointment of the Nation's "progressive activists who worked so hard to elect Barack Obama" by admitting first that some people might be a bit confused by such attestations & discouragements from the extreme political left. She goes on to elucidate the whys & wherefores for the injustice and damned near disgrace of choosing Warren as invocateur for the inauguration.
Mrs. Kolbert says with regards to Warren's opposition to Marriage Equality in California that "it's not just his support for Prop. 8 that is so galling to equality activists. It's that Warren, in an interview with Beliefnet.com, has since equated allowing loving same-sex couples to get married with redefining marriage to permit incest and pedophilia."
Curious as I was, I set out to find this Beliefnet.com video interview with Pastor Rick Warren, and easily found it with a keyword search on their website. I was shocked, appalled and disgusted! Here was a man, a prominent moderate Evangelical leader, justifying anti-equality bigotry and hate-speech by actually agreeing with the interviewer that Gay Marriage is equivalent to incest, pedophilia & polygamy and by always referring back to the self-assured crux of the conversation: that it's not any matter iof whether or not Warren is opposed to Gay Marriage or Civil Unions; what is truly significant is that he opposes a redefinition of Traditional Marriage—as if to hide the bigotry, prejudice and hate behind a vapid veil of more solemn faith in a five thousand year old tradition!
The following is a dictation of the final segment of the Beliefnet.com Rick Warren Interview: On Gay Marriage & Divorce. But better yet for the full dramatic effect, just follow the previous link to view the video for yourself. The text of the interview:
RICK WARREN: "I fully support equal rights for all Americans [...] The issue for me is: I'm not opposed to [Civil Unions] as much as I'm opposed to the redefinition of a five thousand year old definition of marriage. I'm opposed to having a brother & a sister being together and calling that marriage. I'm opposed to an older guy marring a child and calling that a marriage. I'm opposed to one guy having multiple wives and calling that marriage."
STEVEN WALDMAN: "Do you think those are equivalent to gays getting married?"
RICK WARREN: "Oh, I do! For five thousand years marriage has been defined by every single culture and every single religion...this is not a Christian issue—Buddhists, Muslims, Jews. Historically, Marriage is a man and a woman, so I'm opposed to that.
"And the reason I supported Prop. 8 really was a free speech issue, because if...first, the court over-read the will of the people, but second, there were all kinds of threats that if it did not pass, 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. Well, to me, we should have freedom of speech, ok...Can we do this in a civil way?
"I have many gay friends. I've eaten dinner in gay homes. No church has probably done more for people with AIDS than Sattleback Church. Kay and I have given millions of dollars out of the portraiture of people getting AIDS through gay relationships, so they can't accuse me of homophobia. I just don't believe in the redefinition of marriage."(S. Waldman, "Rick Warren Interview: On Gay Marriage & Divorce,"
Beliefnet.com Interviews Rick Warren | The Rick Warren Interview,
Retrieved on December 22, 2008 at 11:20AM.)
Like I've written already, I find this rhetoric appalling, shocking and disgraceful!! Funny though, how Pastor Warren speaks as though this is a global, worldly issue by including Buddhists, Muslims & Jews in his argument for Traditional Marriage, when "historically" speaking, many world religions have once (or still do) give credence and legitimacy to incestuous, polygamist, pedophile relationships between men and women; thus, invalidating his entire overture right from the start.
After seeing this video interview, I realize ever more so that I am extremely disappointed and angry with Obama's pick for his inaugural invocation. Giving such a significant role in such a major event in our Nation's history to a man who blatantly and guiltlessly promotes hate-speech and homophobia (YES! HOMOPHOBIA, Rick Warren! I'd call him a homophobe, wouldn't you?) is a bold, shameless affront to all the just and fair-minded equality activists that supported Barack Obama's Campaign for President.
I am personally offended and ultimately very disappointed that I have put so much faith in Barack Obama as a proponent of Change and as a stalwart advocate for equality, only to be let down by his choice here.
I wrote in an entry in this blog, entitled "Rev. Rick Warren: An Anti-Gay Invocation," that I could understand Obama's choice of Pastor Rick Warren to deliver the invocation at his inauguration, because, as the President-elect himself argues, he has been trying to promote a dialogue between conflicting political and social camps by bringing together a diverse array of people to participate in this monumental occasion. He says that is what his campaign was all about, and I agreed with him, wholeheartedly!
But, as a gay man who dreams one day of escaping the aesthetic judgments and prejudices of the average homosexual, passing beyond my disfigurement and finding a relationship with a man that can develop openly, honestly and lovingly into a committed union: a Marriage, I can not and will not support Barack Obama's choice to have Rick Warren, a bigoted & hate-mongering Evangelical, give the opening invocation at the 2009 Presidential Inauguration. It's just not right!
As Kathryn Kolbert remarks in her CNN.com Politics Commentary:
After seeing this video interview, I realize ever more so that I am extremely disappointed and angry with Obama's pick for his inaugural invocation. Giving such a significant role in such a major event in our Nation's history to a man who blatantly and guiltlessly promotes hate-speech and homophobia (YES! HOMOPHOBIA, Rick Warren! I'd call him a homophobe, wouldn't you?) is a bold, shameless affront to all the just and fair-minded equality activists that supported Barack Obama's Campaign for President.
I am personally offended and ultimately very disappointed that I have put so much faith in Barack Obama as a proponent of Change and as a stalwart advocate for equality, only to be let down by his choice here.
I wrote in an entry in this blog, entitled "Rev. Rick Warren: An Anti-Gay Invocation," that I could understand Obama's choice of Pastor Rick Warren to deliver the invocation at his inauguration, because, as the President-elect himself argues, he has been trying to promote a dialogue between conflicting political and social camps by bringing together a diverse array of people to participate in this monumental occasion. He says that is what his campaign was all about, and I agreed with him, wholeheartedly!
But, as a gay man who dreams one day of escaping the aesthetic judgments and prejudices of the average homosexual, passing beyond my disfigurement and finding a relationship with a man that can develop openly, honestly and lovingly into a committed union: a Marriage, I can not and will not support Barack Obama's choice to have Rick Warren, a bigoted & hate-mongering Evangelical, give the opening invocation at the 2009 Presidential Inauguration. It's just not right!
As Kathryn Kolbert remarks in her CNN.com Politics Commentary:
There is no shortage of religioius leaders who reflect the values on which President-elect Obama campaigned and who are working to advance the common good: Rev. Joseph Lewery, who has been selected to give the benediction, is a life-long advocate for justice. There are others like him, and in our increasingly diverse nation, they aren't all Christian.
Rick Warren gets plenty of attention through his books & media appearances and has every right to promote his religious views. But he doesn't need or deserve a position of honor at the inauguration of a President who has given hope to so many Americans by rejecting the politics of division and emphasizing his commitment to constitutional values.(K. Kolbert, "Commentary: Choosing Rick Warren was a Mistake,"
CNN.com Politics, December 19, 2008 at 9:41AM.
Retrieved on December 22, 2008 at 7:04AM.)
Mrs. Kolbert is right in her conclusions: there are plenty of other American religious leaders that uphold the values that Barack Obama fought for in his Campaign for President and that he could have just as well chosen for the invocation. The socio-political implications of the choice of Rick Warren to give the invocation at the 2009 Presidential Inauguration are grave and divisive, opening the door to so many other arguments against an Obama Presidency, because of Rick Warren's other illicit values concerning as such a women's right to chose, amongst other things (as explained in the Kolbert Commentary).
I in no way can consider myself an allegiant equality activist, for I have had no frontline experience fighting for Marriage Equality and other equal rights for all under the law. I have only begun to voice my opinion on this blog and on comments I've posted to other blogs or news feeds I've read concerning these issues.
I've also associated myself via Facebook™ with ENGAGE to End Discrimination: The Marriage Equality Project, a fledgling, soon to be incorporated nonprofit organization based out of San Francisco, CA and founded by my Facebook™ Friend, Michael Friedman. I haven't been active in their Marriage Equality rallies & protests, but I have subscribed to their RSS feed on Blogger® and Google™ Reader and stay informed of developments within the organization by those means. I can't say that I am an allegiant equality activist, no! But, I can't say that, as a gay man living in California, I am just as equally disappointed and angered by Obama's choice as the best of them. In fact, ...
I can't stand this! I'm irate! Aren't you? Please, give me some feedback! Let me know if I'm letting my easily affected emotions become unhinged by something of little importance; or otherwise, affirm my disappointment & anger and join me in opposing this choice. I eagerly anticipate any feedback or thoughts I receive from my blog followers. This is a dialogue I'd very much like to have; if not, just to calm my nerve!
Maybe the choice of Inauguration Invocation Speaker should have followed more of the effect of decisions on Commencement Speakers for the College of William & Mary (speaking from experience), where candidates are selected based on writing samples and formal public speaking skills, as opposed to on popularity or stature within a particular community. What on Earth is Barack Obama trying to evoke with this choice? I can't find any good in it! Please help!
In closing, I must say: Peace Out! And Plenitudes of Pumpernickel & Plum-Pudding Pastries, as well as Cheer, Bliss & Merriment for you this Holiday Season! May you all experience the joy of giving & gratitude and the blessings of good tidings this wintry season. I know that I am grateful to have so many dear friends and family who care so deeply for me. And I'm thankful for the ungodly AWESOME gift that my William & Mary Theatre Assoc. friends purchased for me for Christmas—as some sort of recompense for all the tragedy I have experienced in the last year & a half. I'm eternally grateful to you all. You know who you are! :-) Happy Holidays!!
I in no way can consider myself an allegiant equality activist, for I have had no frontline experience fighting for Marriage Equality and other equal rights for all under the law. I have only begun to voice my opinion on this blog and on comments I've posted to other blogs or news feeds I've read concerning these issues.
I've also associated myself via Facebook™ with ENGAGE to End Discrimination: The Marriage Equality Project, a fledgling, soon to be incorporated nonprofit organization based out of San Francisco, CA and founded by my Facebook™ Friend, Michael Friedman. I haven't been active in their Marriage Equality rallies & protests, but I have subscribed to their RSS feed on Blogger® and Google™ Reader and stay informed of developments within the organization by those means. I can't say that I am an allegiant equality activist, no! But, I can't say that, as a gay man living in California, I am just as equally disappointed and angered by Obama's choice as the best of them. In fact, ...
I can't stand this! I'm irate! Aren't you? Please, give me some feedback! Let me know if I'm letting my easily affected emotions become unhinged by something of little importance; or otherwise, affirm my disappointment & anger and join me in opposing this choice. I eagerly anticipate any feedback or thoughts I receive from my blog followers. This is a dialogue I'd very much like to have; if not, just to calm my nerve!
Maybe the choice of Inauguration Invocation Speaker should have followed more of the effect of decisions on Commencement Speakers for the College of William & Mary (speaking from experience), where candidates are selected based on writing samples and formal public speaking skills, as opposed to on popularity or stature within a particular community. What on Earth is Barack Obama trying to evoke with this choice? I can't find any good in it! Please help!
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In closing, I must say: Peace Out! And Plenitudes of Pumpernickel & Plum-Pudding Pastries, as well as Cheer, Bliss & Merriment for you this Holiday Season! May you all experience the joy of giving & gratitude and the blessings of good tidings this wintry season. I know that I am grateful to have so many dear friends and family who care so deeply for me. And I'm thankful for the ungodly AWESOME gift that my William & Mary Theatre Assoc. friends purchased for me for Christmas—as some sort of recompense for all the tragedy I have experienced in the last year & a half. I'm eternally grateful to you all. You know who you are! :-) Happy Holidays!!
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