Mike Tidmus

Barack Obama and his buddy Rick Warren (Photo: via Second Floor)

There are not a whole lot of people happy with President-Elect Obama’s selection of bigot Rick Warren to handle the one nation under god bit at the Inauguration. According to Joe.My.God. even the freakshow known as Free Republic is coming unglued; only they’re pissed that Warren is selling out, in their knuckle-dragging purview, to a pro-abortionist.

From Think Progress:

Anti-gay, anti-choice, pro-assassination pastor to give inaugural invocation. … Pastor Rick Warren will deliver the invocation at President-elect Barack Obama’s inauguration on Jan. 20. While he is a recognizable celebrity and best-selling author, Warren also advocates a number of deeply anti-progressive views. He supported California’s anti-gay marriage Proposition 8 and has likened gay marriage to polygamy and incest. He is strongly anti-choice, and has equated abortion to the Holocaust. Warren also supports the assassination of foreign leaders. Appearing on Fox’s Hannity and Colmes on December 3, Warren agreed with Sean Hannity’s assertion that “we need to take him [Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad] out,” saying that stopping evil “is the legitimate role of government.” He added, “The Bible says that God puts government on earth to punish evildoers.”

From Pharyngula:

This is not an auspicious beginning. Guess who is going to deliver the invocation at Obama’s inauguration? None other than the smilin’ face of right-wing fundamentalism, Rick Warren. … Obama had a chance to set a non-sectarian, progressive tone at this event, and he has chosen to kow-tow to the wretched evangelical movement.

From Pam Spaulding at Pam’s House Blend:

Obama inaugural team, this is a big f*ck up a la Donnie McClurkin. These folks can’t claim they didn’t know where Warren stood on the matter of civil rights for LGBTs … This selection is clearly not about “change” — it’s about making a high profile decision to give the stage over to a known homophobe; choosing Rick Warren is tantamount to asking any of the professional “Christian” set to stand up there. There is no excuse for this; given so many leaders of the faith community that are in alignment with equality for all.

From Kevin Naff, Washington Blade:

His presence on the inauguration stand is a slap in the faces of the millions of GLBT voters who so enthusiastically supported him. There are plenty of affirming religious figures in this country who could step into that role and not alienate and offend scores of Americans. 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.

From Oxdown Gazette:

In another Donny McClurkin moment, magnified by the context of this historic inauguration, the Joint Inaugural Committee has chosen Prop 8 homophobe and noted religious nutcase Rick Warren of the Saddleback Church and Store™ to deliver the Benediction at his Inauguration. … 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.

From Good As You:

Here is mega-pastor Rick Warren directly comparing same-sex marriage to both incestuous and pedophiliac marriage, passing off the incredibly flawed conservative talking point that civil marriage equality will lead pastors to be prosecuted for “hate speech,” and justifying why he supports tyrannical votes on minority rights: … Wow. Ya know, we thought it would be at least spring before we found bus tire marks on our face! What an early Christmas present you’ve just given us, Obama transition team!!!

From People for the American Way:

It is a grave disappointment to learn that pastor Rick Warren will give the invocation at the inauguration of Barack Obama. … I’m sure that Warren’s supporters will portray his selection as an appeal to unity by a president who is committed to reaching across traditional divides. Others may explain it as a response to Warren inviting then-Senator Obama to speak on AIDS and candidate Obama to appear at a forum, both at his church. But the sad truth is that this decision further elevates someone who has in recent weeks actively promoted legalized discrimination and denigrated the lives and relationships of millions of Americans.

From The Human Rights Campaign:

Dear President-elect Obama … Let me get right to the point.  Your invitation to Reverend Rick Warren to deliver the invocation at your inauguration is a genuine blow to LGBT Americans. Our loss in California over the passage of Proposition 8 which stripped loving, committed same-sex couples of their given legal right to marry is the greatest loss our community has faced in 40 years. And by inviting Rick Warren to your inauguration, you have tarnished the view that gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Americans have a place at your table. … Rev. Warren cannot name a single theological issue that he and vehemently, anti-gay theologian James Dobson disagree on.  Rev. Warren is not a moderate pastor who is trying to bring all sides together. Instead, Rev. Warren has often played the role of general in the cultural war waged against LGBT Americans, many of whom also share a strong tradition of religion and faith.

From The Task Force:

The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force denounces the selection of Rick Warren to deliver the invocation at the Jan. 20 inauguration. Warren, pastor of Saddleback Church in California, is an outspoken opponent of marriage equality, reproductive choice and stem-cell research. Warren has gone so far as to equate marriage between same-sex couples with incest and pedophilia. … President-elect Obama campaigned on a theme of inclusivity, yet the selection of Rick Warren to give the invocation is a direct affront to that very principle. This was a divisive choice, and clearly not one that will help our country come together and heal. We urge President-elect Obama to withdraw his invitation to Rick Warren and instead select a faith leader who embraces fairness, equality and the ideals the president-elect himself has called the nation to uphold.

From Box Turtle Bulletin:

This is the same Rick Warren who recently said that the relationships of his “many gay friends” are no different from child rape, incest or polygamy. He also jumped on the paranoia bandwagon surrounding same-sex marriage by falsely claiming that Prop 8’s failure somehow would have overturned the Constitution’s First Amendment guarantees of freedom of speech and religion. (It can’t. No law or state constitution can.).

UPDATE: (12-17, 05:37 pm):

From Leah McElrath Renna, Huffington Post:

Progressive groups are decrying the choice of Rick Warren to deliver the Invocation at the Presidential Inauguration as “disappointing” – but it is far more than that. It is an act of spiritual violence against lesbian and gay American citizens and a profound betrayal of the philosophy of inclusion and unity espoused by President-Elect Obama. … With an entire world of spiritual leaders at his beck and call for this historic event, Obama can and should do better. The message for American gay men and lesbians in the choice of Rick Warren is that – once again – “everyone” means everyone but us.