Warren and Obama: We Asked, Will They Answer?

The controversy over President Elect Barack Obama’s choice to have the invocation at his inaugural delivered by homophobic evangelical Pastor Rick Warren continues here on FDL, and across the blogosphere and establishment media.

On Thursday, Obama made a brief statement about Warren that, truth be told, felt a little pat to most of us here. So, Firedoglake reached out to the incoming administration for comment and clarification. We were told to expect a response, but as of this writing, we have yet to hear anything substantial.

So, let’s open this up to the community and call this an open letter to the president elect. . . and to anyone else that wants to weigh in. If FDL does get an official response, we will be sure to keep you all posted. . . oh, you know we will.

The following are the questions (edited down from a longer list) that were sent in for comment and now await response:

• Was the choice of Rick Warren to deliver the invocation at the inaugural the first choice of President Elect Obama? Was it his decision alone? Did the president elect consult with others when making his choices for this ceremony? If so, whom did he consult?
• What is the message that the new President hopes to send by tapping Warren for this very prominent spot?
• What can the administration expect from Warren and his very large network after he is granted this privilege?
• Has Warren been given any direction as to the content of his invocation? Will anyone be reviewing the invocation in advance? If so, whom?
• By pairing Warren with Rev. Joseph Lowery, and referencing the presence of Lowery as a response to those that criticize the presence of Warren, are you saying that these men, their work, and/or their own stories are somehow equivalent?

• Is there a place for non-believers and atheists in Barack Obama’s view of America? What does the prominent role of two high-profile preachers say to those citizens? Was any consideration given to skipping the traditional religious component in the inaugural ceremonies?
• Does the president elect believe that Warren’s faith truly embraces all the world’s people?
• I understand that President Elect Obama wants to be extremely inclusive, both in this inaugural ceremony and in his administration, in general, but are there people or viewpoints that are just too extreme to fit under his definition of inclusiveness? What might those be?
• I have several lawyers on staff here who would say that Warren’s positions on LGBT citizens are blatantly discriminatory. As a legal scholar himself, does the president elect agree that there is room under law for Warren’s interpretation of equal rights?
• Does the president elect think that Rick Warren is a bigot? Why/why not? Is Warren’s vision truly representative of the tone that the new president wants to set on his first day? If not, why is Warren going to share this moment with the new president?
• Finally, the president elect has said that he disagrees with Pastor Warren on issues that affect the LGBT community; does that mean that Barack Obama supports civil marriage equality? Especially now, in aftermath of November’s passage of California’s Proposition 8 and other measures intended to limit he rights of LGBT citizens, with the noticeable showing of support for equal rights across America, does the president elect still oppose civil marriage rights for LGBT citizens? How does a constitutional scholar legally justify that position?

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