Video: Rick Warren, on gay marriage and incest
Here's an interview of Rick Warren, who Obama has chosen to give the Inauguration invocation, talking about gay marriage and Proposition 8. It shows, in a sense, both sides: The reasonable, chatty guy that appeals to Obama, and the comparison of gay marriage to incest and polygamy, which drives gays (and, it should be said, many heterosexuals who support gay marriage) up the wall.
Obama sees political advantage (for himself, his party and, in fairness, the country) in showing respect to a leader of the religious right. The issue is whether a political preacher who weighs in passionately on passionately divisive issues can serve the unifying function an Inauguaration strives toward. Andrew Sullivan: "I understand why Obama did this. I just wonder if he understands how deeply hurtful it is to be asked to pray with someone who has compared my marriage with the sexual abuse of children, incest and polygamy."
Tonight, by the way, Warren issued a statement on the controversy over his selection. It's after the jump.
WARREN STATEMENT
"I commend President-elect Obama for his courage to willingly take enormous heat from his base by inviting someone like me, with whom he doesn't agree on every issue, to offer the Invocation at his historic Inaugural ceremony. Hopefully individuals passionately expressing opinions from the left and the right will recognize that both of us have shown a commitment to model civility in America. The Bible admonishes us to pray for our leaders. I am honored by this opportunity to pray God's blessing on the office of the President and its current and future inhabitant, asking the Lord to provide wisdom to America's leaders during this critical time in our nation's history."
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