{"id":578,"date":"2008-12-18T12:35:18","date_gmt":"2008-12-18T12:35:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/stevenwaldman\/2008\/12\/obama-defends-decision-to-invi.html"},"modified":"2008-12-18T12:35:18","modified_gmt":"2008-12-18T12:35:18","slug":"obama-defends-decision-to-invi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/stevenwaldman\/2008\/12\/obama-defends-decision-to-invi.html","title":{"rendered":"Obama Defends Decision to Invite Rick Warren to Pray at the Inauguration"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/param><\/param><\/embed><\/object>Barack Obama’s comments on the Rick Warren controversy:<\/p>\n

“I am fierce advocate for equality for gay and — well, let me start by talking about my own views. I think it is no secret that I am a fierce advocate for equality for gay and lesbian Americans. It is something I have been consistent on and something I intend to continue to be consistent on during my presidency. What I’ve also said is that it is important for America to come together even though we may have disagreements on certain social issues.And I would note that a couple of years ago I was invited to Rick Warren’s church to speak, despite his awareness that I held views entirely contrary to his when it came to gay and lesbian rights, when it came to issues like abortion. Nevertheless, I had an opportunity to speak, and that dialog, I think, is a part of what my campaign’s been all about, that we’re never going to agree on every single issue. What we have to do is create an atmosphere where we can disagree without being disagreeable, and then focus on those things that we hold in common as Americans. So Rick Warren has been invited to speak, Dr. Joseph Lowery — who has deeply contrasting views to Rick Warren about a whole host of issues — is also speaking.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The Rick Warren interview here.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Barack Obama’s comments on the Rick Warren controversy: “I am fierce advocate for equality for gay and — well, let me start by talking about my own views. I think it is no secret that I am a fierce advocate for equality for gay and lesbian Americans. It is something I have been consistent on…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":49,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-578","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\nObama Defends Decision to Invite Rick Warren to Pray at the Inauguration - Steven Waldman<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/stevenwaldman\/2008\/12\/obama-defends-decision-to-invi.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Obama Defends Decision to Invite Rick Warren to Pray at the Inauguration - Steven Waldman\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Barack Obama’s comments on the Rick Warren controversy: “I am fierce advocate for equality for gay and — well, let me start by talking about my own views. 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