CNN is reporting that the Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies has chosen Saddleback Church’s Rick Warren to deliver the inaugural invocation at Obama’s swearing in ceremony in January. Warren was an outspoken supporter of Prop 8 and has also been openly critical of Obama’s stance in favor of reproductive choice.

In a newsletter sent in October by the Lake Forest CA-based church, Warren said of Prop 8, “This is not a political issue — it is a moral issue that God has spoken clearly about.”

Warren hosted a “presidential forum” at his church last summer attended by both Obama and Senator John McCain and challenged each candidate on “faith-related issues.”  Ultimately, Warren did not endorse either candidate.

Obama said (albeit quietly and not more than a few times) that he opposed amending California’s state constitution to outlaw same-sex marriage, and he enjoyed enormous support from the gay community in terms of fund-raising as well as turning out gay voters. Although CNN is saying Warren was chosen by the CCIC, that Obama has obviously signed off on this is a bitter disappointment. Choosing a divisive figure to lead the invocation at his own inauguration encourages more of the same: bigotry masquerading as “religion.”

Et tu, Barack?

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2. Rachel Maddow on Prop 8 voters
3. Saturday 11/15 biggest protest ever on Prop 8
4. Prop 8 tied in new internal poll
5. Reaching the Chinese-American & Taiwanese-American community to vote NO on Prop 8 in California