Rick Warren, Pastor of Saddleback Church to Give Invocation at Barack Obama's Inauguration, Riles Gays, Liberals

The liberals and gays have another reason to fume at Barack Obama's actions and their dissatisfaction with his transition office. Personally, I think he is doing a great job and surrounding himself with the best from the Clinton era, the Bush era and his own picks. Now the conflict has centered around his choice to deliver the invocation at his upcoming inauguration. Rick Warren, the pastor of the powerful Saddleback Church. Was I terribly surprised that Warren was chosen? No and I like Rick Warren a great deal. According to media reports, both men are very close. Obama praised the church in his second book "The Audacity of Hope." As you recall, Warren hosted a values forum between Obama and his rival John McCain during the general election. Of course, the progressives have expressed skepticism at this choice.

"My blood pressure is really high right now," said Rev. Chuck Currie, minister at Parkrose Community United Church of Christ in Portland, Oregon. "Rick Warren does some really good stuff and there are some areas that I have admired his ability to build bridges between evangelicals and mainline religious and political figures... but he is also very established in the religious right and his position on social issues like gay rights, stem cell research and women's rights are all out of the mainstream and are very much opposed to the progressive agenda that Obama ran on. I think that he is very much the wrong person to put on the stage with the president that day." Source: Huffington Post

Warren's views are generally opposite to Obama's but that should not be an impediment to working together or even to their friendship. They do agree on topics like AIDS and poverty relief. As you know, opposites attract and you can't surround yourself with people who share all of your views and positions. That's a recipe for disaster. Barack Obama has shown that he has a penchant for diversity, as evidenced from his selections in his cabinet. Hillary Clinton, his arch rival, was his nominee for Secretary of State.

So, Barack Obama is supposed to tiptoe around gays and lesbians and do everything they consider right. Obama's move, in my opinion, is a conciliatory gesture towards social conservatives who strongly opposed him in the general elections. Warren was vehemently in favor of Prop 8, which has riled the gays in this country.

“Your invitation to Reverend Rick Warren to deliver the invocation at your inauguration is a genuine blow to LGBT Americans,” the president of Human Rights Campaign, Joe Solomonese, wrote Obama Wednesday. “[W]e feel a deep level of disrespect when one of architects and promoters of an anti-gay agenda is given the prominence and the pulpit of your historic nomination.” Source: Politico

Really? Where did Rev. Billy Graham stand on this subject? Why the big dust-up now? Have these people forgotten that Barack Obama opposes same-sex marriage? So, who is the right person to lead Barack Obama into office? NEWS FLASH -- everything in this country does not revolve around gays and lesbians, as well as progressives.

Wait, here's the obvious fact that the liberals and gay activists have deliberately ignored. Rev. Joseph Lowery, a civil rights icon and the co-founder of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., is a supporter of same-sex marriage and will deliver the benediction at the inauguration. So, why the big dust-up over Rick Warren? The gays and lesbians, as well as the liberals, are being selfish and getting touchy-feely over the fact that Barack Obama made a decision to be inclusive and not exclusive. You have to surround yourself with people you don't necessarily agree with, but will work with towards a common goal. In my book, that is a good quality in a president. So quit whining! If you ask me, Patti Labelle should be singing at the inauguration, not Aretha Franklin, but hey, am I losing sleep over this? No!