"President-elect Obama has again demonstrated his genuine commitment to bringing all Americans of goodwill together in search of common ground," Warren said in a statement to Christianity Today. "I applaud his desire to be the president of every citizen.”
It is evident the President-Elect seeks to please everybody avoiding being principled on any issue. His one guiding principle seems to be, to be all-inclusive and please everybody at some point or another. Obama took a lot of heat from the gay community when he invited Rick Warren to pray at his inauguration. Now, without a doubt he will come under fire from Christian conservatives for allowing gay activist "Vicky" Bishop Gene Robinson also to pray at the event. In a NY Times article Robinson said of Obama's choice for the invocation, "“it was like a slap in the face.”
“I’m all for Rick Warren being at the table,” Bishop Robinson told The New York Times, “but we’re not talking about a discussion, we’re talking about putting someone up front and center at what will be the most watched inauguration in history, and asking his blessing on the nation. And the God that he’s praying to is not the God that I know.”
Warren did not answer directly when asked whether he would dedicate his prayer to Jesus. In a statement to The Associated Press, Warren would say only that, "I'm a Christian pastor so I will pray the only kind of prayer I know how to pray."
On the other hand, Robinson said in an article with Concord Monitor that he doesn't yet know what he'll say, but he knows he won't use a Bible.
"While that is a holy and sacred text to me, it is not for many Americans," Robinson said. "I will be careful not to be especially Christian in my prayer. This is a prayer for the whole nation."
How times have changed. We went from Billy Graham, a true Man of God to Rick Warren, to an openly Gay Bishop to sanctify the American presidency. Will all future presidents allow different groups -- which they seek to appease -- to pray or do something at their inauguration? Should we please God or man?
