Well,  I could just sum it all up and say – I don’t like it.  In fact, I don’t like it one bit.  I had written earlier on Sacred Whore that a bad taste in my mouth sits here concerning Obama and equality for the GLBTQ community, and this choice for his inauguration just makes my stomach acid worse. 

While I respect the views of those who feel that Obama used gays/lesbians/bi’s to get elected, I disagree.  He had made it perfectly clear that he has always believed marriage to be between a man and a woman, so did Joe Biden, and so did John Kerry back in ‘04.  In fact, rarely have we found a Democratic presidential candidate that truly stood up for full equality for gays and lesbians – it’s for that reason that I have felt tenuous relations with the Democratic party.  Or both parties for that matter.  I just don’t like either of them.  LOL

What gets me is that Obama has spouted the “separate-but-equal” crap since the dawn of his campaign, and yet now he is inviting Pastor Warren to give the invocation at his inauguration.  This is the same guy that has been quoted as such:

For 5,000 years, marriage has been defined by every single culture and every single religion – this is not a Christian issue. Buddhist, Muslims, Jews – historically, marriage is a man and a woman. And the reason I supported Proposition 8, is really a free speech issue. Because first the court overrode the will of the people, but second there were all kinds of threats that if that did not pass then any pastor could be considered doing hate speech if he shared his views that he didn’t think homosexuality was the most natural way for relationships, and that would be hate speech. We should have freedom of speech, ok? And you should be able to have freedom of speech to make your position and I should be able to have freedom of speech to make my position, and can’t we do this in a civil way.

And….

If anyone, whether unfaithful spouses, or unmarried couples, or homosexuals or anyone else think they are smarter than God and chooses to disobey God’s sexual instructions, it is not the US government’s role to take away their choice. But neither is it the government’s role to classify just any “loving” relationship as a marriage. A committed boyfriend-girlfriend relationship is not a marriage. Two lovers living together is a not a marriage. Incest is not marriage. A domestic partnership or even a civil union is still not marriage.

Well, Pastor Warren, pardon my French, but that’s a really fucking stupid argument.  We all know that a Civil Union is not a marriage, that two lovers living together is not a marriage, etc., but heterosexual lovers have the option and the freedom to get married.  Homosexuals do  not have the freedom to get married.  And people like you are standing in their way because of your religious beliefs.

Here’s something else Rick Warren has stated:

Much of this debate is not really about civil rights, but a desire for approval. The fact that 70% of blacks supported Prop 8 shows they don’t believe it is a civil rights issue. Gays in California already have their rights. What they desire is approval and validation from those who disagree with them, and they are willing to force it by law if necessary. Any disapproval is quickly labeled “hate speech. Imagine if we held that standard in every other disagreement Americans have? There would be no free speech. That’s why, on the traditional marriage side, many saw Prop 8 as a free speech issue: Don’t force me to validate a lifestyle I disagree with. It is not the same as marriage.” And many saw the Teacher’s Union contribution of $3 million against Prop 8, as a effort to insure that children would be taught to approve what most parents disapprove of.]

No, you are wrong again.  The GLBTQ community could give a rat’s ass about approval from your community.   It’s the civil liberties that are at stake here, not begging for you to approve of a lifestyle.  In fact, go ahead and preach whatever you want – I’ll defend that right until my dying day.  Preach your disapproval – I’ll support the rights of our Rinpoches to teach us about the living Dharma, too, that says that certain attachments and ignorance (including yours) will ensure that we will continue to return to the samsaric realm of desire, suffering, and delusion.  However, I will not push to legislate my beliefs to limit your attachments.

Oh, and here is the source of Pastor Warren’s comments from Beliefnet:   http://blog.beliefnet.com/stevenwaldman/2008/12/rick-warrens-controversial-com.html

But I digress…..

I dunno.  These are just my initial thoughts.  At the moment, I’m not happy.  Life goes on.