This week’s letter of the week comes from local activist Michael Funke who calls out president elect Obama for selecting anti-gay evangelical pastor Rick Warren to perform the invocation at his inauguration later this month. Thanks for the letter, Michael. You can pick up your prize, an Old Mill pint glass and a cool beverage to fill it, at our offices, 704 NW Georgia.
President-elect Barack Obama has thrown gay and lesbian supporters under the bus by inviting Saddleback Church Pastor Rick Warren to provide the invocation at his inauguration. I support Obama. But, I strongly disagree with the selection of Warren and have joined thousands of other supporters in registering my opposition at www.change.gov.
When Obama selected Warren to do the invocation, the Saddleback Church website included the following statement: “someone unwilling to repent of their homosexual lifestyle would not be accepted as a member at Saddleback Church.”
Since Warren was selected, the church has erased that statement from the website.
Warren attempted to clarify his position in a video message to Saddleback members last week, when he accused those who oppose his participation in the inauguration – including Obama supporters – of being “Christophobes.”
In other words, those of us who oppose Warren’s condemnation of gays and lesbians have an irrational fear, contempt and hatred for Christ and Christianity. It’s not about Warren’s views; it’s about Obama supporters who hate Christianity.
Warren insults Obama and his supporters, and proves his bigotry, with this comment. He makes the case for those of us who oppose his participation in Obama’s inauguration. This is not the change I voted for. Selecting a bigot to do the invocation is not bipartisanship. Warren doesn’t just represent a different social view. He represents hate.
Obama says he is a “fierce advocate for gay and lesbian Americans.” He can prove it by telling Warren to stay home. Obama also told us that change begins with us. Make some change: go to www.change.gov, scroll down to the bottom, click on “contact” on the left side, and tell Obama you want him to change his mind and un-invite Rick Warren.
Michael Funke, Bend
This article appears in Jan 1-7, 2009.
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Hard core liberals turning upon their messiah already. Good stuff!
I for one hope and pray that Warren does NOT omit
Jesus name in his prayer. After all Jesus paid the
price for us by dieing on the cross for our sins, all
we have to do is believe with our hearts that Jesus
is the answer to our sins, and ask Him to save us
from our sins, He will if we really trust Him.
Rick Warren is a bornagain Christian, he ought to
stand up for his beliefs and not water them down.
Obama’s selection of Warren will be the first in a long line of disappointments to come for those that supported and bought the fantasy sold by the illusion of the Obama campaign. You are making this about Warren, who has never pretended to be anybody else than he portrays. Please consider that Obama is the one hiding who he really is.
Amusing missive. Apparently, Funke thought that someone who had never even changed a light bulb in his entire life, was the Black Messiah of The Jumped Up Church Of Glorious Orgasmic Change. Funke found out that The Dude Who Walks On Water actually had sat on a Johnson Outboard motor and it got stuck. So much for the man who water skis with no hands.
Warren takes his reasonable point of view directly from the Christian Bible. Any so-called Christian hypocrite who supports the gay lifestyle is pissing on the very Bible they thump.
Now, now. He said he is everyones President. Change includes everybody. That’s what Obama said. That’s why Obama gained so much support.
Talk the talk, but stumble when you walk.
This country is in a lot of trouble. Obama has his work cut out for him. He and Congress have to roll up their sleeves and start tackling the SERIOUS problems that have been brewing for decades. Our economic survival as a world power is at stake here and it affects ALL of us.
Quite frankly, his choice of Rick Warren doesn’t matter to me and millions and millions of Americans.
Obama did not choose a rabbi…so is he dissing the jews, he did not pick a black preacher…so is he dissing the black supporters, come on,,, so matter who his choice was, it was going to be attacked. He is everyone’s president, but he can’t be all things to everyone. If you voted for him and you think he is always going to make the decisions that best represent
“You” then what happens to the diverse group of people who voted for him. Picking Rick Warren is just not that
big of a deal. When he starts revoking your rights or not fighting for them,,, then you can bitch.
Speaking of progress, Mr. Funke notes that “(s)ince Warren was selected, the church has erased that statement from the website.”
Well I say hallelujah. It sounds to me like Pastor Warren is leading his flock in a more tolerant direction already. Praise be.
The most ironic part about all of this Pastor Warren business is the fact that the “leftists” are worrying about the best way to bring church and state TOGETHER.
Y’all sure have a lot of opinions about what I think. Even though I know none of you. For the record, I’m not a liberal. I am a leftist. There is a difference. More importantly, my support for Obama always recognized that he is not as perogressive as I am. I never bought any fantasy and, actually, I don’t believe Obama hid all that much about what he is. That said, his election provides an opportunity for those of us on the left to bring about progressive change that will benefit the overwhelming majority of Americans because Obama actually understands, listens and is willing to change. The left’s role is the same as it has always been–to organize and mobilize people, to light a fire under the feet of elected officials, to demand change. Folks like Jegglie can whine and pout and fume all they want on this or that website. It takes a lot more than a few posts to create change.
This is a very shrewd political move by Obama. The evangelicals are the core of the Republican Party’s support. If Democrats can wean some of them away, the GOP will be consigned to minority party status for a generation. And the evangelicals really belong in the Democratic fold: People who claim to be followers of Christ should respond more to a message of compassion, social responsibility and peace than to the Republican message of greed, selfishness and eternal war.
HBM: What planet do you live on????
Ray–Erasing the statement from the website doesn’t mean the church now admits gays and lesbians. Dig around the site and you’ll see that they are just as intolerant as ever. They just don’t want to admit it so openly.
“HBM: What planet do you live on????”
It’s called the Reality Planet, Jed. A place Republicans rarely, if ever, visit.