The Power Of Prayer

LGBT..Sounds like a sandwich.

We have entered a new age of radicalism in the U.S. Radical liberlals, radical conservatives, radical religious leaders, radical gay people, radical atheists, you name it, it's now radical. They are all pushing a specific agenda and refuse to compromise on anything. This is all a product of the me me me mentality that pervades our entire country. THere will be no end to this, so quite frankly, discussing it is a waste of time. Will Pastor Warren and gays EVER agree on anything? Absolutely not. Go find something more worthwhile to report on.

Obama has done exactly what he said he would do from the very beginning. Bring people of opposing views tgether on what they have in common. I am my own spiritual representative. I can't rely on anyone else with something as important as my salvation. That is one of the problems in the world we don't get to know and understand what the Bible says to us specifically. We rely on someone to tell us. We are all Gods children. We are all sinners. And there is not one sin that is bigger than the other. Sin is sin. I believe that we all should have the same rights. I don't agree with changing the language as to what a marriage is. The other issue I have is comparing this struggle with the struggle of African Americans. And I truly believe this is why some African American are not supportive. Again some! Their is a history of slavery in America, a history of systematically oppressing a whole race. No right to vote, to education or to exist in certain parts of these United States. The police do not profile gays and lesbians across the land. Blacks don't ever have the conversation as to whether they should come out the closet or not. So I believe in civil unions and that you should have the same rights as any couple. But everytime I hear someone say that this is the same struggle as Blacks I cringe. I remember growing up and watching every night on TV black people being attacked by police dogs, beaten with batons and butts of rifles. For rights that you already have and were born with.

There are 18,000 couples in California who may have our marriages annulled by the homophobic actions of Rick Warren and his ilk. If Obama had asked any one of us to speak at the inaugural, I might believe that he was reaching out to both sides. Obama has only reached out to one side. The people who want to annul my marriage. He has not reached out to me. Anyone out there who has not had the experience of being taken to court to have their marriage forcibly annulled should be listening, not speaking.

One day we'll be able to inaugurate a president without any prayer at all, no calling upon a magic man in the sky to bless the event. One day we will grow up.

One day we'll be able to inaugurate a president without any prayer at all, no calling upon a magic man in the sky to bless the event. One day we will grow up.

I am a straight Jewish woman and consider myself a ???person of faith,??? the phrase Ms Renna uses. I am fully supportive of gay marriage and abhor Reverend Warren's stance on this issue. However, I definitely agree with Mr. Cain that he is ???just some guy asked to give the prayer???. It is Ms Renna and others who raise Rev Warren's stature just by making this claim. Given that we are supposed to have separation of church and state in this country, I do not want anyone to be considered the "spiritual representative of our nation as a whole." Jews have long lived in a country in which Christianity is the norm and Christians don't even consider that we (or Muslims, Hindus, others) might be offended by this concept. Should we be raising a big fuss over this. Please consider the big picture. Long ago, I learned to pick my battles. As a nation, we should and will eventually accept gay marriage as a right, possibly, and hopefully, while Obama is our President. He has a huge undertaking to get our country back on track. Please, let's give him a chance.

I cannot agree. In the USSC DALE decision,the Boy Scouts were protected from secular intrusion upon their religious belief systems. In retaliation,several areas of the nation deemed ''gay affirming'' moved to marginalize both the Scouts as well as organizations such as Catholic Charities and the Salvation Army based upon these belief systems. Champions of gay rights made these into the ''other'',unworthy of evenhanded protections that culminated in Oregon schools kicking the Scouts out and inviting in student GLTB clubs.
Enough was enough and the SOLOMON Amendment was passed in Congress with bipartisan support that would cut off federal aid to schools that booted the BSA. Thus retaliatory measures trumped one upon the other,with both sides of the gay rights debate getting their licks in.
The point here is that the Constitution that gays look towards in affirming marriage protects the right of Rev. Warren and others to embrace their belief systems. Marginalizing these by injecting ''hate'' ''homophobia'' or ''intolerance'' cannot trump this vital protection,as even the USSC affirmed. Obama has every right to name his man,and picking Warren already proves that he seeks the ''post-partisanship'' that he avowed during the campaign.[neatly,and at the same moment,also hinting of a top command for an openly gay officer]. Somebodies ox will always be getting gored. Obamas play is shrewd, to say the least.

I feel that Mr. Crain raised a very valid point when bringing up Rev. Lowery's participation via the benediction of the inauguration. The fact that Ms. Renna's overlooks this selection as a postivie counterbalance to Rick Warren's narrow view of LGBT's and refuses to even acknowledge this as part of Mr. Crain's (and Mr. Obama's) argument of finding common ground with people is equally shortsighted. We don't need a gay Malcolm X--what we need is to support the person we found most qualified to understand our plight and attain equality. We already elected that person. Let's not lose sight of the forest for the trees.

One question: in the president-elects quest to be inclusive, where and how is the GLBT community represented in the administration he is putting together. He has kowtowed to all the minorities in the country to ensure representation in his cabinet. There is NO openly GLBT person who has been identified as one of his staff or advisors. If he had GLBT representatives he was listening to, he would know our issues and not made this mistake. I agree with Leah whole-heartedly. Once again it's OK to include everyone but GLBT people. Who can we trust at the highest levels of government to truly represent our interests?

Chris Pett
Chicago, IL (loyally Democratic)

It's a cliche, and probably already been said, but this is a classic example of holding your friends close, and your enemies closer. Obama is tossing the wingnuts a bone.

The gay community is entitled to their opinions but at the same time they need to focus on the broader spectrum and that is that in order for this country to move together as a whole, we need to all come together. This does not mean EVERYONE WHO SHARES THE SAME BELIEFS ONLY. Guess what, America is divided enough on race, religion, and socio-economic status. In a time when the nation has decided to come out of the dark ages and elect its first black president, we as a nation need to support him in bringing America back on track. Not trashing him for prayer pick.

It is a complete outrage that hate monger Rick Warren has been chosen to speak at Obama's inauguration. Obama has been quoted as saying "That's how it should be, because that's what America is about...that's part of the magic of this country is that we are diverse and noisy and opinionated."

Oh really? Is Barack Obama going to give equal time to the very "noisy and opinionated" national director and self-claimed pastor Thom Robb of the Zinc, Arkansas chapter of the Ku Klux Klan, the biggest Klan organization in America?

Because after all, diversity is about differences in opinion and our president-elect should provide a platform for all of America to hear the voices of inequality!

It is a complete outrage that hate monger Rick Warren has been chosen to speak at Obama's inauguration. Obama has been quoted as saying "That's how it should be, because that's what America is about...that's part of the magic of this country is that we are diverse and noisy and opinionated."

Oh really? Is Barack Obama going to give equal time to the very "noisy and opinionated" national director and self-claimed pastor Thom Robb of the Zinc, Arkansas chapter of the Ku Klux Klan, the biggest Klan organization in America?

Because after all, diversity is about differences in opinion and our president-elect should provide a platform for all of America to hear the voices of inequality!

The country was NOT founded upon separation of church and state; and the vast majority of those who wrote our Declaration of Independence (save two) were professing evangelical Christians (one of whom was an apparent Christian based upon historical records, but was not professing openly as the others). Reverand Rick Warren is a perfect choice for the inaguration; he knows the Lord and he can call upon God to cover and bless our country in honesty and integrity ~ the prayers of a righteous man avialeth much...unrighteous people pleasing preachers' words fall deaf to God's ears. We NEED His covering in this country. We have been self-absorbed far too long.

Rev. Warren could go a long way in helping resolve this problem by giving his support to those opposing the efforts of the Prop 8 supporters who are trying to repeal the gay marriages held before Prop won. Personally, I don't think they will win in undoing those marriages because you can't pass a law and then enforce its provisions on any violations of that law before it became a law.