Perhaps the first thing that came to the minds of many who heard Reverend Rick Warren's named to lead the inaugural prayer for President-elect Barrack Obama was "graciousness." Perhaps the most important moments of the early campaign occurred in Reverend Warren's church when the President Elect sat before religious conservatives and shared his views on a variety of issues relevant to all Americans. Besides bravely putting aside the notion that he would govern according to the view of his longtime Chicago pastor by going to church with the Republicans also, the open, honest forum was one of the only bright spots in John McCain's campaign. President-elect Obama's acknowledgment of Reverend Warren was an olive branch to an entire spectrum of the electorate that has fundamental disagreements with the future 44th President of the United States. In that recognition of Obama's graciousness, one is naturally drawn to appreciate a religious figure who held honest policy differences with a powerful political figure and yet remained on friendly terms. Reverend Warrens' ability to transcend narrowly held political ideologies in view of the larger human concerns was only echoed by President-elect Obama's request for the man to lead an the inaugural prayer.
If President Bush, in retrospect, bemoans his attempt at raising the tone of political discourse in Washington as a failure, he was perhaps, premature. Then again, perhaps not. Within a heartbeat of Barrack Obama's magnanimous gesture, gay right activists were doing everything but burning crosses on Warren's church lawn in order to brand the clergyman as a bigot. Likewise, with equal intolerance, they complained bitterly that the president-elect had chosen a person to pray who did not represent "all Americans." One must assume that these groups would never pray with Reverend Warren, no matter how graciously he extended the invitation. However, the reason for their refusal is Reverend Warren's intolerance. This is the continuing lie propounded by the gay marriage crowd. If you don't endorse gay marriage, you are a homophobe bigot. In general, any group that insists that men and women pretend that others are married so that they feel "included" must be selfish to the core. This was once again plainly shown by the invidious bile spewed in President-elect Obama's face by gay activist groups that are self-absorbed, self-obsessed, and harshly intolerant of the views of others.
These activists are plainly not victims. The precursor to all persecution is to establish the sinfulness of one's opponent's position. If you have and extreme disagreement with your opponent's doctrinal position, you demonize the opposition and attack his or her credibility. After one's credibility has been diminished and your opponent isolated, the persecutions begin. No one is persecuting homosexuals in 21st century America; however, the left is endeavoring to demonize those whose views on choice and matrimony they disagree with. The result would be to brand certain religious beliefs as a national heresy.
The far left groups are, on a personal level, trying to injure Reverend Warren and his standing, not only in terms of his political views, but as a spiritual person. This should be off the table and not part of the discussion. Reverend Warren may disagree with some on the left in a political sense, but Pastor Warren's right to pray or lead prayer in a land were religious freedom is our most precious inheritance should never be impinged. President-elect Obama is correct, Reverend Warren's spirituality and his standing as person whose religious values are sincere should be off the table when it comes to inauguration politics.
©2008 Paul Benedict, all rights reserved. You must have written permission from the author in order to republish this work.
Published: Saturday, December 20, 2008
Last modified: Tuesday, December 23, 2008
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Reader Comments:
Posted By: Eva Young
Date: 2008-12-20 22:44:10
The problem many gays have with Warren is that he has stated gay relationships are on par with incest and polygamy. He also doesn't allow "unrepentent" gays to join his church - and promotes conversion therapy for gays - which is quackery. He is clearly in the same category as Jerry Falwell, James Dobson and Lou Sheldon.
Posted By: Paul Benedict
Date: 2008-12-20 22:58:02
Hi Eva,
It is one thing to disagree with some one. It is quite another to try to injure that person by "excommunicating" him from the public square. No one is doing that to homosexuals. The excess of intolerance by those who claim to be victims of intolerance is the issue. Some don't believe that the Son of God is risen from the dead. We accept one another. That's America.
Posted By: Nathan
Date: 2008-12-21 11:19:14
Why stop at Rick Warren? If Barack Obama wants to truly be inclusive, why not share the inaugural stage with Louis Farrakhan who has proven himself to be an anti-Semite or David Duke who has made his racist views quite well known. Are they not a part of America? Why is it acceptable for a person to disparage one group, but not another? Why elevate one person, but exclude these others?
Posted By: Paul Benedict
Date: 2008-12-21 11:39:01
Good questions... The answer, in part, is that the views of Farrakhan and Duke are not based on religion. Many religious leaders disagree with members of other religions, but they do not disparage them. Duke could pretend that his hatred is based on his religion, but his views are merely anti-social.
Is homosexuality now a religion? It certainly is not; however, the belief in "gay marriage" enters into the areas of religion. Why? Because it is a lie. Gay groups are demanding that other people lie for them, or "take it on faith" that same sex groups are married.
What kind of new religion is this? It is one that espouses and intolerance, tyranny (forcing others to lie), and disrepect of the religious texts and beliefs of others. In the balance what does this new belief offer?
Posted By: Landon Bryce
Date: 2008-12-21 11:52:13
Dear Mr. Benedict,
Where do you get the idea that no on is persecuting homosexuals in the 21st century? Hate crimes against gays are rising in the United States. The United States became the only Western nation not to join a United States resolution condemning the death penalty for homosexuality. Most gay people in the United States can be fired or evicted for being gay and have no legal recourse.
Would you deny that any of those things qualify as persecution?
Posted By: Paul Benedict
Date: 2008-12-21 13:09:12
I'd be interested in on seeing sources for your claims on people being evicted for being gay.
Posted By: Nathan
Date: 2008-12-21 18:37:07
So you are saying that because Rick Warren is a religious leader, that whatever he says, no matter how offensive, should be regarded as civil discourse.
Here are some examples of civil discourse from other religious leaders. Please give me the religious rationale for their reasoning.
Billy Graham: "All homosexuals should be castrated."
"[homosexuals are] brute beasts...part of a vile and satanic system [that] will be utterly annihilated, and there will be a celebration in heaven." Jerry Falwell: Quoted in Jim Hill & Rand Cheadle, "The Bible Tells Me So", Anchor Books (1996), P. 69-70:
"We have to get rid of that and start curing those sinners. It's past time that this nation stopped placating sin and start putting them in education programs. Courts can force drug offenders into treatment centers and violent people into anger management. There's no reason our courts can't do that with homos." Steve Kern, pastor of the Olivet Baptist ChurchAnd imagine if Barack Obama had invited a holocaust denier on stage with him what the uproar would be, and yet there has been no uproar against another religious leader, Governor Huckabee. He stated recently that gays are not as deserving of civil rights because thay have not experienced the same violence that African American have.Jewish people were not the only victims of the Holocaust. Thousands of people died at the hands of the Nazis in the same concentration camps and burned in the same ovens simply for being gay. Even now, thousands of gays around the world are persecuted and imprisoned or killed each year by their own government.If Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is a holocaust denier, what is Mike Huckabee?
Posted By: Nathan
Date: 2008-12-21 19:30:15
Lambda Legal says gay couple unfairly denied housingAdvertiser Staff
Lambda Legal announced today that it intends to sue the University of Hawai'i on behalf of a gay couple it says was not allowed to move back into family housing on the Manoa campus after living there for one year.
Joseph O'Leary was working toward a history degree during the 2006-2007 school year and lived in famly housing with Phil Ngo, according to Brian Chase, Lambda Legal senior staff attorney. When they reapplied for family housing for the 2007-2008 school year, Chase said, their request was denied in a letter that says family housing is reserved for different-sex couples.
Ngo and O'Leary now live in a more expensive off-campus apartment that requires O'Leary to pay for "significant" travel expenses, Chase said. O'Leary also had to give up his subsidized student meal plan, Chase said.
The extra costs amount to "several thousand dollars per year," Chase said.
UH spokesman Gregg Takayama said he would have no comment until UH lawyers have seen the lawsuit.
Posted By: Paul Benedict
Date: 2008-12-22 00:22:20
Hi Nathan,
As I thought, you seem to be confusing two separate issues. No one is allowed to evict some one without cause, and being gay is not a cause.
The case you mention is about a couple that applied as a family to receive extra funding from the state. This second case could be covered under civil union law, and is, probably, in Califronia.
Still, I would not equate one's inability to access a form of government assistance/ welfare as persecution.
Posted By: Nathan
Date: 2008-12-22 15:40:53
Deftly sidestepping my other comment?
Posted By: Nathan
Date: 2008-12-22 15:53:28
Bronx Landlord Charged With Evicting AIDS PatientNew York Times (04/23/97) P. A25
Abstract: A Bronx landlord has been charged with unlawful eviction, burglary, criminal possession of stolen property, grand larceny, and aggravated harassment, after ordering his superintendent to destroy the belongings of a 53-year-old tenant who was in the hospital for AIDS treatment. The superintendent and a homeless man recruited to assist in ransacking the apartment were also charged. The eviction was discovered by two social workers who the AIDS patient had asked to visit his apartment to pick up some money being kept in a dresser. When they arrived they found the apartment where the patient had lived for 17 years open and empty. AIDS activists say the attack underlines the type of housing discrimination that AIDS patients often face.
How to Define a Family: Gay Tenant Fights Eviction
For Miguel Brashi and Leslie Blanchard, two gay men who lived together for more than a decade, the one-bedroom apartment on East 54th Street in Manhattan was the focal point of their lives. Now, two and a half years after Mr. Blanchard\'s death, the apartment is at the center of a legal battle as Mr. Brashi fights eviction in a case that could be precedent-setting.
Under rent-control guidelines, a landlord may not evict either the \'\'surviving spouse of the deceased tenant or some other member of the deceased tenant\'s family who has been living with the tenant.\'\'
In court papers, Mr. Brashi, who is represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, said his long-term relationship as Mr. Blanchard\'s \'\'gay life partner\'\' makes him eligible to remain in the apartment. According to the court documents, the two men had entwined their lives - sharing their business, their friends, checking accounts and vacations - until Mr. Blanchard\'s death of AIDS in September 1986. \'Their Family Home\'
In his presentation today, William B. Rubenstein, a staff counsel for the A.C.L.U.\'s Lesbian and Gay Rights Project, asked the court to protect \'\'tenants who have made a rent-controlled apartment their family home.\'\'
Posted By: Paul Benedict
Date: 2008-12-22 16:08:15
Hi Nathan,
It's a little hard to follow the abstract on this case you cite; however, it sounds like they got the bad guys here. The correct laws were on the books as I suspected.
For the record, althought I am very opposed to "gay marriage" for a great variety of reasons that other articles in my column make apparent, I don't have a big issue with civil unions.
Also, although it is not clear to me what the context of Rick Warren's comments were, his apparent comparisons of gay marriage and polygamy didn't seem to make a bunch of sense.
We are ALL entitled to our beliefs. I don't think that homsexuals ought to be vilified because another person's religion teaches that homsexuality is sin. On the other hand, because "gay marriage" makes no sense, that is, believing in it is an act of faith, those who vehemently disagree with it do not deserve to be vilified either.
Posted By: Nathan
Date: 2008-12-22 16:15:56
No other group would tolerate the things that have been said about the gay community, but because they have come from religious leaders, these comments have been excused.
Rick Warren associates being gay with immaturity and promiscuity. What other group of people would tolerate being disparaged and painted with these broad strokes?
Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon are a lesbian couple that were together for 55 years. They were the first to be married in California following the California Supreme Court Decision.
Rudolf Brazda is a 95-year-old German citizen and the last known gay survivor of the Holocaust who lived for 35 years with his partner until he died in 2002.
I want Rick Warren to look these people in the eyes and tell them their relationship was not as loving and meaningful as his relationship with his wife. I want him to explain to them why their relationship is equivalent to incest and pedophilia. I want to hear him tell them they are immature and promiscuous.
Despite his offensive attack on the gay community, no one is trying to "excommunicate" Rick Warren from the public square. No one has said his books should not be published. No one has called for newspapers or television shows to stop quoting or interviewing him. No one has said he does not have the right to his opinion or to speak his mind.
Giving the invocation at the presidential inauguration is a honor and a privilege, not a right. The gay community poured millions of dollars and thousands of volunteer hours into the campaign to help elect Barack Obama. On a night when the gay community should be joining in and celebrating this victory, we will be seeing Barack Obama honoring a man who has denigrated our community in front of the nation.
I would much rather Barack Obama had selected Fred Phelps. At least he is up front about his hate and does not hide behind a facade of affability.
Posted By: Paul Benedict
Date: 2008-12-23 12:11:04
Hi Nathan,
You are trying, desperately, to silence Pastor Warren. Likewise, the gay community activists (whether they be homosexuals themselves or not) are trying to pick a fight with religion by way of the self-evident absurdity of “gay marriage.” The same uncloaked hatred towards Pastor Warren will then be released against all churches that do not espouse politically correct messages. Love does not equal marriage. Marriage, sadly, does not equal love. Sex does not equal love. I imagine your vitriol against Pastor Warren based in equal parts of logic and language within context.
Posted By: Nathan
Date: 2008-12-23 17:56:40
Repeating something often enough doesn't make it true.
I don't see the gay community boycotting to stop the publication of Rick Warren's books. I don't see the gay community asking newspapers and television shows not to air his views. What I do see is is the gay community questioning the wisdom of elevating and awarding a divisive figure who has needlessly disparaged our community. Again, giving the invocation is an honor, not a right.
Are you saying comparing homosexual relationships to polygamy, pedophilia and incest is not vitriol and not offensive? Is it now acceptable to paint an entire group of people as "immature" and "promiscuous?" Show me the basis for this. I am truly disappointed if that is the case.
Posted By: Paul Benedict
Date: 2008-12-23 22:29:21
Hi Nathan,
Because some of your generalizations have been a little out of context, it is hard to be certain which quotes of Pastor Warren's you to. He may have meant immature spiritually... which is a very innocuous comment. Immature born-again Christians may lie, commit adultery and do other things that are not according to God's plan for their lives. God gives people authority through His Son Jesus Christ to overcome "immaturity" and to walk according to His Perfect plan for their lives. Speaking of immaturity in a born-again son of God should not be confused with speaking of immaturity in people in general.This all is based on verses that might be found, for instance, in I Corinthians chapter 3. These are religious beliefs, plainly. They are not political beliefs. Pastor Warren has very few political beliefs concerning homosexuality, that I am aware of (and I don’t study his teachings), besides his views on Proposition 8. His religious beliefs should NEVER be defamed. If some one’s religious beliefs involve hurting some one else, that is different. Otherwise, if you feel some one’s religious beliefs are offensive, you should go to a different church. No big deal.