Barack Obama has created a controversy, not on the right, but on the left, for choosing Pastor Rick Warren to deliver the invocation at the inauguration. Warren is the pastor of Saddleback Church in California, where he hosted a forum for Obama and John McCain back in August. Obama has defended his choice of Warren because he wants the event to reflect diverse views.
That’s all well and good, but the left has reacted to Obama’s choice of Rick Warren with indignation. You see, liberals have this great fear that Rick Warren will utter the name of “Jesus Christ” during his invocation, and that prospect has them tied in knots. Back in 2001, Reverends Franklin Graham and Kirbyjon Caldwell were criticized for invoking Christ at George W. Bush’s inauguration, and even prompted a lawsuit from infamous busybody atheist Michael Newdow, who is better known for attempting to have the words “under God” removed from the Pledge of Allegiance.
But there is another reason why Rick Warren is being targeted by the left. It has to do with the fact that he favored California’s Proposition 8, a state constitutional amendment that limits marriage to one man and one woman. Voters approved Proposition 8 on Election Day by a 52-48% margin, and gay rights activists haven’t gotten over it.
The Human Rights Campaign, which the Associated Press calls “the nation’s largest gay rights organization,” says Warren’s opposition to gay marriage is a sign of intolerance.
Pot, meet kettle.
Gay rights activists, in the aftermath of the Proposition 8 vote, have written the book on intolerance. But it’s typical of liberals to demand tolerance for all manner of debauchery, while showing zero tolerance toward those who have different beliefs.
Within days after California’s passage of Proposition 8, gay rights activists were so distraught over losing at the polls that some of them actually threatened violence against churches and those who supported the constitutional amendment.
After it was learned that California’s black voters helped push Proposition 8 over the top (yes, the same black voters who voted 95% for Obama also voted 70% for the marriage amendment), actress and liberal activist Roseanne Barr wrote on her blog that “[Black voters] showed themselves every inch as bigoted and ignorant as their white christian right wing counterpartners who voted for mccain-palin and bush-cheney.”
The anti-Proposition 8 crowd ended up taking the brunt of their fury out on the Mormon Church, which heavily supported the amendment, but Christians have been targeted, too.
One individual who attended a gathering of Christians in San Francisco’s Castro district — a gathering that had nothing to do with Proposition 8 — just days after Election Day, describes how they were treated by a mob of gay rights activists (as cited on MichelleMalkin.com):
“Then a crowd started gathering. We began to sing ‘Amazing Grace,’ and basically sang that song the whole night. (At some points we also sang ‘Nothing but the Blood of Jesus’ and ‘Oh the Blood of Jesus.’) At first, they just shouted at us, using crude, rude, and foul language and calling us names like ‘haters’ and ‘bigots.’ Since it was a long night, I can’t even begin to remember all of the things that were shouted and/or chanted at us. Then, they started throwing hot coffee, soda and alcohol on us and spitting (and maybe even peeing) on us. Then, a group of guys surrounded us with whistles, and blasted them inches away from our ears continually. Then, they started getting violent and started shoving us. At one point a man tried to steal one of our Bibles. Chrisdene noticed, so she walked up to him and said ‘Hey, that’s not yours, can you please give it back?’ He responded by hitting her on the head with the Bible, shoving her to the ground, and kicking her. I called the cops, and when they got there, they pulled her out of the circle and asked her if she wanted to press charges. She said ‘No, tell him I forgive him.’”
What happened to Margie Christoffersen is another example of the type of “tolerance” gay rights activists show toward those who believe differently. Christoffersen was a manager at El Coyote, a Beverly Boulevard landmark restaurant that used to enjoy a large clientele. Many of those customers were gay, and Christoffersen, a devout Mormon, donated $100 in support of Proposition 8. She never advertised her politics or religion in the restaurant, but her donation eventually showed up on a donor list, and El Coyote became a target. A boycott was organized on the Internet, with activists trashing El Coyote on restaurant review sites. Then came protesters, some of them shouting “shame on you” at customers. The police arrived in riot gear one night to quell the angry mob.
Says Christoffersen, “I’ve almost had a nervous breakdown. It’s been the worst thing that’s ever happened to me.”
Even though liberals made a clean sweep on Election Day, winning the White House and increasing their majorities in both the House and Senate, they’re just as angry as ever. So when gay rights activists scoff at Barack Obama’s choice of Rick Warren to deliver the inauguration invocation because of his intolerance toward them, just remember that gay rights activists, and liberals in general, demand tolerance for themselves, but have proven themselves wholly unwilling to show tolerance toward others.
before the Tigers begin games against teams from Conference USA. Memphis (9-3) is not ranked in either the AP or ESPN poll, but they are currently #18 in the RPI, with the #4 strength-of-schedule, meaning they have played the fourth-toughest schedule in college basketball. That number will gradually fall as teams enter conference play, since the Conference USA schedule is sort of a cakewalk for the Tigers.