[lbo-talk] BHO defends Rick Warren

[John Thornton]

RCu8598882 at aol.com wrote:
> If Warren attacks gays in his invocation, then he would be dragging  his 
> hateful agenda into the public square, as the religious right likes to  term the 
> issue. In that case, the man should be escorted from the stage and  I would 
> expect Obama to go after him in his inaugural address. I know that I  would. But 
> Warren is probably not so dumb to attack gays at this  public event of 
> enormous significance to the country. And a man who attempts to  move the evangelical 
> population,  twenty five percent of the population, I  would remind you, into 
> environmental issues with the idea of saving the planet  rather than raping 
> it (a la Pat Robertson and company) is a diffferent kind  of person than say, 
> James Dobson or Tony Perkins. They would denounce same  sex marriage and 
> abortion if given the chance in an inaugural invocation in  the hopes of  destroying 
> the Obama presidency before it got underway. So I  value dialogue, even with 
> people who are hateful. Its fun.
> Richard Currie

Why not find a Christian centrist minister who doesn't bash queers to 
say whatever magic incantations Obama feels need to be said?
Is Warren the only Christian minister who has done work on issues 
concerning poverty and/or who believes the science behind climate change?
If he is that means Christianity is in an even sorrier state that I 
imagined.
This choice signals that in spite of the fact that Obama claims he is a 
"fierce advocate for gay rights" he really considers gay rights to be 
open to debate and negotiation.
As someone else here wrote, Obama wouldn't bring in an openly racist 
minister to signal inclusiveness to the rather large segment of the US 
population that is racist.
This is absolutely no different.
Defending Obama's choice of Warren as inclusive is BS.
Warren has no interest in inclusiveness. He is a hate monger who 
advocates excluding those he dislikes, such as queers.
This was a shitty choice Obama made and there is no defending it unless 
you approve of queer bashing.

John Thornton