Hey, bloggers, Rick doesn’t like you either:
http://www.saddlebackfamily.com/blogs/newsandviews/index.html?contentid=1723
Warren also lies in the above video, claiming that he’s never compared gay marriage to incest and pedophilia.
To hear Warren make that comparison go to:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8sehLdHveho
Below the fold: Rick Warren running scared from us, and more:
Another good reason to keep up the fight, Rick Warren is spooked by the negative attention he’s earned:
http://www.americablog.com/2008/12/you-have-rick-warren-officially-spooked.html#disqus_thread
Also in 24/7 Rick news: Mr. Inclusiveness Hypocrite Warren tried to back out of meeting with gay and lesbian families:
http://pandagon.net/index.php/site/comments/hypocrite_rick_warren_tried_to_back_out_of_meeting_with_
gay_and_lesbian_fam/
Even Richard Cohen at the Washington Post, believes this time around Obama has a more critical Preacher Problem:
This time it is not Obama’s preacher who has decided to honor a bigot, it is Obama himself. And, once again, we get the same sort of rationalizations. Obama says he does not agree with Warren about all things. Obama says he himself is not anti-gay and, in fact, although he does not support same-sex marriage (as opposed to civil unions), he has been a stalwart champion of gay causes. Therefore, it seems to follow, he can honor an anti-gay activist.
I can understand Obama’s desire to embrace constituencies that have rejected him. Evangelicals are in that category and Warren is an important evangelical leader with whom, Obama said, “we’re not going to agree on every single issue.” He went on to say, “We can disagree without being disagreeable and then focus on those things that we hold in common as Americans.” Sounds nice.
But what we do not “hold in common” is the dehumanization of homosexuals. What we do not hold in common is the belief that gays are perverts who have chosen their sexual orientation on some sort of whim. What we do not hold in common is the exaltation of ignorance that has led and will lead to discrimination and violence.
Finally, what we do not hold in common is the categorization of a civil rights issue — the rights of gays to be treated equally — as some sort of cranky cultural difference. For that we need moral leadership, which, on this occasion, Obama has failed to provide. For some people, that’s nothing to celebrate.
A stopped clock is right twice a day — although like most conservatives, Cohen may only be able to feel compassion when an issue strikes close to home, he’s done a good job of summing up the (nasty) situation.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/22/AR2008122201848.html
All Rick Warren news, 24/7: gee, wonder why the traditional media isn’t picking this up and repeating it endlessly like the Rev. Wright clips?
Putting this guy in the spotlight before he is ‘ready’ (could he ever be?) may end up a blessing in the end. Sometimes the warts are too big to stand the light.. Keep it up.
But don’t expect Obama to publicly slap down ANOTHER man of the cloth just now. The fear out here (I’m in KY for Christmas) is no longer that Obama is the wrong flavor of Christian or a secret muslem. It is that he is a closet atheist who will ‘drive god from this government’. Unless Warren steps aside, he’ll be in Washington in January. Obama needs the wingnuts to at least to keep quiet for a spell to get the most significant parts of his job done. Think of Warren as Obama’s “beard”. Sickening to use the language of ‘passing’ but there it is.
While bringing Warren and Obama low over this is ‘right’ on several levels, it’s not quite time to break the illusion of bi-partisanship and inclusion (irony is NOT lost on me). While this is indeed an illusion it is one that is necessary to get the emergency-level stuff done in the beginning.
I don’t think Obama is without shame for crucifying gays and lesbians, but his calculus is almost required by the situation. If he doesn’t turn around and deliver rights once his 100 days are up, then he doesn’t deserve anyone’s vote for re-election. I think we all have people in our lives we care for enough to defend their rights with our votes.
Keep the heat up on everyone, left and right. I have a feeling that if we can all stand this embarassment, and make the public aware as they could ever be of the difference between right and wrong here, things can only turn out for the best. A man of color denying rights to one group while celebratng the ascent of another is a story that can’t stand for very long at all.
I’ve read that there are other well-known Christian preacher fellows without Warren’s same bigoted, misogynistic, torture apologist, okay-let’s-assasinate-Iranian-Premier bent.
To choose Warren for his “triangulation” instead of a less divisive minister is not only a slap in the face of women and gays (and those who hate torture, and the very idea of assasinating another country’s leader), but telling us to STFU when we object to him, is another slap, and that we. don’t. count.
And hey, why not a rabbi? Surely there are some rabbis out there who aren’t bigots and misogynists and who hate torture, too.