Comments on: Rick Warren Praised African Archbishop Who Advocates Imprisoning Gays

By: Jon

Jon — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 14:41:52 +0000

Wrong, Dic. Warren’s piece in Time Magazine was in support of the archbishop’s stance on gay rights. He threw in the Muslim thing as a bonus ass-kiss.

If anybody has needlessly re-energized the religious right in the past few weeks it is Barack Obama. His impulse to elevate one of them may have been good (I personally don’t think so), but the choice of Warren, one of their most prominent spokesmen — a bigot and virulent enemy of women’s and gay rights — was inappropriate because it has elevated Warren to the national stage at the very moment we’re fighting him on Prop 8 in California.

And Robert, being opposed to two people getting married because they are gay is the very definition of homophobia, which means “unreasoning fear of or antipathy toward homosexuals and homosexuality.”

By: Dic

Dic — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 14:27:48 +0000

Rick Warren praised the arch-bishop for confronting Muslim fundamentalists. There was nothing in his comments that praised the man for his anti-gay stance. There is no reason to think that Warren was even aware of the extremity of the Nigerian law. When Sarah Palin was linked to the New Apostolic Reformation cult, she refused to comment on her relationship with Mary Glazier, Thomas Muthee, and other NAR people, or clarify her own positions vis-a-vis the NAR. That made her association with them, as tenuous as it may have been, a legitimate issue of concern. But Rick Warren has spoken about homosexuality, and has a long track record of reaching out to others outside the evangelical community and seeking dialogue rather than confrontation. He believes that gay sex is a sin, but he does not want to kill or harass gay people.

All the Liberal blather about Warren is the worst, most foolish thing that the Liberal blogosphere can do right now. Moderate-leaning evangelicals were warming to Obama and turning off on the Religious Right – and now absolutist fools who’ll settle for nothing less than a completely secularized America with no trace of religion are lambasting a black evangelical president that they in fact helped elect for not marginalizing the majority of Americans during his inauguration! I think the anti-Warrenites really want to reinvigorate the Religious Right so they’ll have things to write about. Shut up about Warren and let the Religious Right fade away – and let Obama be president of all Americans!

By: Paula Brooks

Paula Brooks — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 12:03:31 +0000

Ah excuse me … are you even paying attention to what Warren has said in the past?

He has used every last bit of influence he has to bash gays at every chance he could get…

He is a bigot in the finest definition of the word and this is why he should not be in the inauguration any more then David Duke or Lewis Farahkahn should.

By: Robert

Robert — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 01:27:00 +0000

Stop using the word “homophobe” as you obviously have no idea what it means. To be against same-sex marriage does NOT make you a homophobe.

By: Jon

Jon — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 20:28:10 +0000

People who believe, as Warren does, that humans lived side by side with dinosaurs back in the Flinstone Era are extremists.

By: Fred

Fred — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 18:42:42 +0000

Pres. Elect Obama is not going to “disinvite” Rick Warren. Warren is a very influential, successful pastor of one of the country’s largest churches. Warren has a long-established track record of reaching out to various groups who don’t normally come under the evangelical rubric. He has reached out to lesbians and gays in the past. He has reached out to Muslims, Jews, and atheists. Rick Warren is a well-known, respected pastor and his selection to participate in Obama’s inauguration is entirely appropriate.

The few detractors who are whining about this selection need to look at the bigger picture. Pres. elect Obama will not be just the President of the Gays. He is REQUIRED to represent the entire country—that means that he must be the President of evangelical Americans, conservatives, progressives, people of all races, all socioeconomic backgrounds, etc. LGBT folks have no special, exclusive claim over Obama’s presidency. In fact, Barack Obama is not exactly the most ardent supporter of gay rights, and he never claimed to be.

Rick Warren is not an extremist. He is slightly right of center on gay issues, and has, in fact, taken a lot of criticism from other evangelicals and Christians for not being more resistant to gay marriage and civil unions. Warren deserves credit for taking an open, inclusive stance, given his Baptist heritage and his role as a pastor.

Militant LGBT folks need to stop beating this dead horse. Obama is going to represent all Americans, and most likely will take a moderate, balanced stance on gay issues. He is not the Martin Luther King of the gays. Get over it and find ways to be more constructive rather than clinging to unrealistic and unfounded expectations.