Rick Warren Drama Continues
President-elect Barack Obama's announcement that Saddleback Church pastor and opponent of gay marriage Rick Warren will give the inaugural invocation continues to drive headlines. This weekend, Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., who is openly gay, told CNN's Wolf Blitzer "giving that kind of mark of approval and honor to someone who has frankly spoken in ways that I and many others have found personally very offensive, I thought that was a mistake for the president-elect to do."
At a press conference last week, Mr. Obama explained his decision. "A couple of years ago I was invited to Rick Warren's church to speak, despite his awareness that I held views that were entirely contrary to his, when it came to gay and lesbian rights. That dialogue, I think, is part of what my campaign has been all about, that we're not going to agree on every single issue," he explained.
"Mr. Warren compared same-sex couples to incest. I found that deeply offensive and unfair. And the president-elect was wrong when he said, well, he invited me to speak; I'm just inviting him to speak," Frank said Sunday. "If he was inviting the Reverend Warren to participate in a forum and to make a speech, that would be a good thing. We should have these. But being singled out to give the prayer at the inauguration is a high honor."
The Associated Press reports that Warren, while speaking to a group of American Muslims Saturday said he "loves gays and straights" and argued that "you don't have to see eye to eye to walk hand in hand." "Three years ago I took enormous heat for inviting Barack Obama to my church because some of his views don't agree [with mine]," Warren added. "Now he's invited me."
(AP Photo/Richard Vogel)
"Mr. Warren compared same-sex couples to incest. I found that deeply offensive and unfair. And the president-elect was wrong when he said, well, he invited me to speak; I'm just inviting him to speak," Frank said Sunday. "If he was inviting the Reverend Warren to participate in a forum and to make a speech, that would be a good thing. We should have these. But being singled out to give the prayer at the inauguration is a high honor."
The Associated Press reports that Warren, while speaking to a group of American Muslims Saturday said he "loves gays and straights" and argued that "you don't have to see eye to eye to walk hand in hand." "Three years ago I took enormous heat for inviting Barack Obama to my church because some of his views don't agree [with mine]," Warren added. "Now he's invited me."
Click Here For All Of CBSNews.com's Special Inauguration Coverage
