Barack Obama has selected Rick Warren to deliver the invocation at the president-elect's inauguration.
Based on yesterday's New York Times story about this and other inauguration decisions, you would think that complaints about Warren's selection represent a mere tempest in a teapot. The Times devoted all of one sentence (bolded) to the controversy:
Barack Obama has selected the Rev. Rick Warren, the evangelical pastor and author of “The Purpose Driven Life,” to deliver the invocation at his inauguration, a role that positions Mr. Warren to succeed Billy Graham as the nation’s pre-eminent minister and reflects the generational changes in the evangelical Christian movement.
..... The choice of Mr. Warren, pastor of a megachurch in Orange County, Calif., is an olive branch to conservative Christian evangelicals. Mr. Warren is an outspoken opponent of abortion and same-sex marriage — litmus-test issues for Christian conservatives. In fact, his selection set off a round of criticism by gay rights groups angered by his support for California’s ban on same-sex marriages.
Story Continues Below Ad ↓But Mr. Warren has also been one of the most prominent evangelical leaders calling for Christians to expand their agenda and confront global problems like poverty, AIDS, climate change and genocide in Darfur.
Mr. Warren flaunted his clout this year when he managed to draw both John McCain and Barack Obama to his Saddleback Church for a forum in which he interviewed them on stage about faith issues. He has sometimes angered the older generation of conservative evangelical leaders aligned with the Republican Party, as when he invited Mr. Obama to speak about AIDS at an earlier event at his church.
The Times, in essence, seems to be telling readers who despise Warren to chill.
Many are not in the mood, as Ben Smith and Nia-Malika Henderson at Politico duly noted yesterday, while they were sure to include a quote that ripped into our current president (bolds are mine):
..... (Warren's) support for the California constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage that drew the most heated criticism from Democrats Wednesday.
“Your invitation to Reverend Rick Warren to deliver the invocation at your inauguration is a genuine blow to LGBT Americans,” the president of Human Rights Campaign, Joe Solomonese, wrote Obama Wednesday. “[W]e feel a deep level of disrespect when one of architects and promoters of an anti-gay agenda is given the prominence and the pulpit of your historic nomination.”
The rapid, angry reaction from a range of gay activists comes as the gay rights movement looks for an opportunity to flex its political muscle. Last summer gay groups complained, but were rebuffed by Obama, when an “ex-gay” singer led Obama’s rallies in South Carolina. And many were shocked last month when voters approved the California ban.
..... The editor of the Washington Blade, Kevin Naff, called the choice “Obama’s first big mistake.”
“His presence on the inauguration stand is a slap in the faces of the millions of GLBT voters who so enthusiastically supported him,” Naff wrote, referring to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people. “This tone-deafness to our concerns must not be tolerated. We have just endured eight years of endless assaults on our dignity and equality from a president beholden to bigoted conservative Christians. The election was supposed to have ended that era. It appears otherwise.”
John Hawkins at Right Wing News has a roundup of some of the very harsh criticisms coming from the leftosphere.
During the Clinton Era, the Times's excuse-making for Clinton's failures to advance the far-left's environmental, trade-restricting, and gay-rights agendas were legion, and were somewhat successful in muting opponents' objections. Whether the current financially weakened and credibility-challenged Times can consistently do the same for Obama in the era of blogs, Twitter and the raging nutroots is a very open question.
Another very obvious item the Times "somehow" missed is Barack Obama's answer to Rick Warren's question at the "flaunted" Saddleback presidential interview. Warren asked, in a discussion of abortion and life, when a baby's human rights begin. Obama, as you can see in this video, hemmed and hawed before finally saying that it's "above my pay grade." It may or may not prove effective, but the Times is clearly going to do its best to cover for its man as long as it can.
Cross-posted at BizzyBlog.com.
—Tom Blumer is president of a training and development company in Mason, Ohio, and is a contributing editor to NewsBusters




















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Not a fan of Rick Warren.
December 18, 2008 - 10:35 ET by islero47Not a fan of Rick Warren. As the years go pass, his theology seems to become more watered down and PC. I think he started out well, but lost focus. Now he tries to be everybody's friend. He doesn't even rank very high as opposed to LGBT issues; in fact, he's an advocate for gay rights--just not gay marriage as far as I know.
Now, if it were James Dobson, the lefties would have something to really howl about.
Sarah Palin/Jason Lewis 2012
Obama, pathological nacissist: http://www.faithfree...
Update ....
December 20, 2008 - 22:58 ET by Tom BlumerApparently, and with good reason, prolifers aren't happy with Warren for accepting Obama's offer.
I Give Obama Credit
December 18, 2008 - 10:37 ET by GothampcI do have to give Obama credit for asking Rick Warren. While I'm not a huge fan of either man, I'd rather see Warren than Jeremiah Wright or Father Pflager.
Also have to hand it to Obama for asking Warren. Warren was the person that asked Obama a question that was above Obama's pay grade.
→ I agree Gotham
December 18, 2008 - 10:42 ET by Cool ArrowObama made the invitation fully aware of the homosexuals' objection to Warren.
... fully aware of the homosexuals' objection to Warren....
December 18, 2008 - 11:37 ET by Prester John...and knowing they have nowhere to go.
Now some might say that BHO is showing a certain amount of political cynicism here.
I wouldn't say it, but some might.
This invitation is also an attempted kiss-and-make-up .....
December 18, 2008 - 10:53 ET by Tom Blumerto those who heard his "above my pay grade" comment.
This is an attempt to fool
December 18, 2008 - 12:41 ET by mattmThis is an attempt to fool the public into thinking Obama is not what he is. Pastor Warren should have refused the invitation, and I e-mailed his church to tell him so:
["For pastor Warren to agree to do the prayer at the inauguration of Mr. Hussein Obama is a disgrace. Pastor Warren is falling for a PR ploy and is allowing himself to be used to portray a false image of Obama as being something other than the radical left-wing apostate (or worse) he is.
By participating in the farce the Pastor is aiding in the furtherance of a lie, and is disgracing the name of Christ by showing an immense amount of gullibility.
It's no wonder this country is on its way to Hell, when even our pastors aren't discerning enough to recognize when they are being manipulated. Pastor Warren should refuse the invitation, and suggest to Mr. Hussein that he invite Jeremiah Wright to do the prayer - but keep the bleeper handy.
"Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves." - Mt 10:16
It seems many Christian leaders have forgotten the "wise as serpents" part…."]
It Is Astounding
December 18, 2008 - 11:02 ET by considerthisBut then Democrats are excellent at overlooking anything in a person as long as they feel there is something to get out of it.
now we have a question...
December 18, 2008 - 11:03 ET by 007datkaAre gay people still believe that Mr.Obama is on their side??? Well, just wait and see. Mr.Obama is full of suprises, and we just got this one. I dont believe that we know Mr.Obama as we didnt before ,as we dont now!!! In California black people are those who betray US and just wait and see what is waiting not to just gay people ,but the whole USA! Most of gays supported this man, and what they got in return from black communities is Slap in their face!!! Faith dont teach hate, but black people show to us, that they are using faith for their own use, not their believs!!!
Who's intolerant?
December 18, 2008 - 11:09 ET by jdlybrandnewsisblues
Genuine Blow? Did he really say that? Must have had something else on his mind at the time. Libs are funny even when they don't try!
yeah, whatever
December 18, 2008 - 12:33 ET by jazzact13The choice of Mr. Warren, pastor of a megachurch in Orange County, Calif., is an olive branch to conservative Christian evangelicals
Warren comes off as being pretty much to conservatism as McCain was to it.
I can easily see him trying to pull a Campolo--on the one hand giving token treatment to biblical sexual morality, and on the other claiming 'social justice' demands that society and the church recognize all lifestyle choices and not condemn anyone.
This isn't an 'olive branch' at all.
"Thoroughly worldly people never understand even the world; they rely altogether on a few cynical maxims which are not true."
Chesterton, Orthodoxy