Barack Obama is a major league asshole...

Guest Post by Ted Leibowitz

...for choosing homophobic Proposition H8te-supporting minister Rick Warren to give the inaugural invocation.

Here's an ad that Warren made supporting Proposition H8te:



Seriously? Warren and his "we're not homophobes but gay people should not be allowed to marry" crowd keep talking about the biblical definition of marriage as between one man and one woman. How many wives did the biblical big guys have?

Samuel 12:7-8 "And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man. Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, I anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul; And I gave thee thy master s house, and thy master's wives into thy bosom, and gave thee the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that had been too little, I would moreover have given unto thee such and such things."

Rick Warren's bible tells of the Lord God of Israel giving a man multiple wives. Not allowing, actively giving. Enough with the "marriage is between one man and one woman and has been for 5000 years" bullshit.

As recently as 1890, just over 100 years ago, the Mormon Church (you know, those fine folks who sought to "protect marriage" by pumping tens of millions of dollars into the pro-Prop H8te campaign) not only allowed and practiced but advocated for polygamy. The only reason they disavowed the practice was to gain statehood for Utah.

5000 years my ass.

As for the procreation argument, what do these homophobes think about heterosexual married couples who plan to not have children? Should they not be allowed to be married? Should married, childless couples be stripped of the rights granted them when they tied the knot?

The honeymoon is over, Mr. Obama. Time to start acting like the forward-thinking leader this country and planet so desperately needs. Embracing Rick Warren lends legitimacy to his intolerance and is a huge step in the wrong direction.

Hat tip to AmericaBlog, go there for more on the topic.

Update: Huffington Post weighs in, says nothing.

Update II [12.18.08]: Obama's defense of his choice of Rick Warren saying, "We're not going to agree on every single issue" misses the point of why people are upset about it.

Update III [12.18.08]: Wonkette weighs in and uses profanity, too. You go, girl.

The problem for Obama with the Rick Warren pick isn't social issues. That makes it seem like it's all about gay marriage in particular, or gay rights in general. It's not. The problem with Rick Warren is that he's a clear and present homophobe who equates gay marriage to polygamy, incest, and pedophelia. He says he's not a homophobe, yet he equates gays to criminal predators:

WARREN: "I'm opposed to having a brother and sister being together and calling that a marriage. I am opposed to an older guy marrying a child and calling that a marriage. I am opposed to one guy having multiple wives."

INTERVIEWER: "Do you think those are equivalent to gays getting married?"

WARREN: "Oh, I do."

In the clip below, Hillary Rosen provided interesting context on the humanity and decency aspect of denigrating a social group using the bible as statue: "At one time the bible was used to justify slavery. If [Warren] was a preacher out there using 'moral weapons' against African Americans (instead of gays), we wouldn't even be having this conversation."



Rick Warren preaches a faith based on fear, hatred, and divisiveness. Rick Warren equates gays marrying to criminal acts. Rick Warren and his bigoted, hateful views should not be on the inauguration stage. The way we in 2008 look back on racist public figures from the 50s and 60s is the way our children will look back on Rick Warren.

(Cross-posted at State of the Day.)

[Creature's note: I would like to welcome Ted, my co-blogger and best friend, to The Reaction. Welcome, Ted, and congrats for landing a coveted guest posting slot here at the best group blog around.]

[MJWS's note: I've long been a fan of Ted's blogging over at State of the Day, Creature's home, and he's a welcome addition to our team here at The Reaction. I'm sure he's already turning heads with this post title. You can be sure that he'll continue to prod and poke, stimulate and provoke, in posts to come. And for more from Ted, check out BAGeL Radio, one of the finest music outlets around.]