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Rev. V. Gene Robinson's Invocation

With HBO blaming the Obama transition team for blocking Rev. Robinson's invocation, and the surrounding controversy over the mess up, many people have been left with no chance to hear or see Robinson's prayer.

Luckily, Christianity Today posted it and we have a chance to view.



Here is the text:

Good afternoon,

Before this celebration begins, please join me in pausing for a moment to ask God’s blessing upon our nation and our next president.

Oh God of our many understandings, we pray that you will bless us with tears, tears for a world in which over a billion people exist on less than a dollar a day, where young women in many lands are beaten and raped for wanting an education, and thousands die a day from malnutrition, malaria and AIDS.

Bless this nation with anger – anger at discrimination at home and abroad, against refugees and immigrants; women, people of color; gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people.

Bless us with discomfort at the easy simplistic answers we prefer to hear from our politicians instead of the truth about ourselves and our world, which we need to face if we are going to rise to the challenges of the future.

Bless us with patience and the knowledge that none of what ails us will be fixed any time soon and the understanding that our next president is a human being, not a messiah. Bless us with humility, open to understanding that our own needs as a nation must always be balanced with those of the world.

Bless us with freedom from mere tolerance, replacing it with a genuine respect and warm embrace of our differences.

Bless us with compassion and generosity, remembering that every religion’s God judges us by the ways we care for the most vulnerable. And God, we give you thanks for your child Barack, as he assumes the office fo the president of the United States. Give him wisdom beyond his years, inspire him with President Lincoln’s reconciling leadership style, President Kennedy’s ability to enlist our best efforts, and Dr. King’s dream of a nation for all people.

Give him a quiet heart, for our ship of state needs a steady calm captain. Give him stirring words, we will need to be inspired and motivated to make the personal and common sacrifices necessary to facing the challenges ahead.

Make him color blind reminding him of his own words that under his leadership there will be neither red nor blue states but a United States. Help him remember his own oppression as a minority, drawing on that experience of discrimination that he might seek to change the lives of those who are still its victims.

Give him strength to find family time and privacy and help him remember that even though he is president, a father only gets one shot at his daughters’ childhoods. And please God, keep him safe. We know we ask too much of our presidents and we’re asking far too much of this one, we implore you oh good and great God to keep him safe. Hold him in the palm of your hand that he might do the work that we have called him to do. That he might find joy in this impossible calling and that, in the end, he might lead us as a nation to a place of integrity, prosperity and peace.

Amen.

Bishop Gene Robinson to Deliver Prayer at Obama's Inauguration

The first openly gay, ordained Episcopal bishop, Rev. Gene Robinson, has been invited by Obama's inauguration committee to give a prayer at the inauguration ceremony being held this Sunday, January 18.

Robinson had expressed distaste for Obama's pick of Rick Warren to give the invocation, saying, "it was like a slap in the face." The controversial Warren had compared homosexuality to rape and incest.

Despite his differences with Rick Warren, Robinson has accepted the invitation, stating
"It's important for any minority to see themselves represented in some way. Whether it be a racial minority, an ethnic minority, or, in our case, a sexual minority -- just seeing someone like you up front matters."

The inaugural committee stated that it was always their plan to include the bishop.

UPDATE: My Two Cents on Rick Warren

UPDATE: As I stated below in my opinion piece, I felt strongly that we as a community ask Rick Warren to attend a forum to respectfully debate our differing opinions. Thankfully, the Courage Campaign has done just that, and they're asking the community to sign on the invitation to send to Rick Warren. Amazingly, Rev. Eric Lee, President of the Southern Christian Leadership (founded by MLK), is a supporter of gay marriage as well as the organization. So add your signatures to the invitation by going here. Be sure to pass this on!

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Since Obama announced that Rick Warren would be doing the invocation at his inauguration, I've been flooded with phone calls and emails about how we should react. In some cases, I was flat out asked what I think we should do as a community. There just isn't an easy answer to these questions.

After mulling it over, I decided to try and figure out what it is we're reacting to - Rick Warren's stance on Prop 8, or how he's used the pulpit and the Bible as a weapon? Many of us know people who voted Yes on Prop 8, and we've had lively yet respectful discussions with them. I don't think anyone of us would take anyone's right away to vote in a free, democratic country, or to express what they believe. Yet when it comes to Rick Warren, I believe we're reacting to his offensive words and how he uses the Bible and his religion against us. It's not about his opposition to same-sex marriage, it's about his blatant disrespect of us.

More...

So how do we respond? Protest his church? Bite back? Lose faith in the change that Obama has promised? I believe signing the petition that Equality California is sending to Obama, showing the President-Elect the numbers that disagree with his choice, is effective to a point. I believe contacting Obama's teams and the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies and voicing our opinions is effective to a point. So what do I think is most effective? In the spirit of Harvey Milk, reach out to Rick Warren's church, ask them to send representatives to an open forum where we can all respectfully discuss the issues that we disagree on. Or volunteer in the church's good-will efforts and outreaches to their community. Join them in their services. Involve ourselves with them.

BUT THE MESSAGE TO THEM NEEDS TO BE CLEAR. We're not confronting them on their stance about same-sex marriage or LGBT rights. We're confronting them on their use of religion as a weapon to further bigotry and discrimination. Two can respectfully disagree. But in this case, one forgot the respect.

Actions speak louder than words, and I whole-heartedly support direction action. But that's just one tool of many to create the bridge we must cross in order to legalize same-sex marriage. Without engaging our opponents directly, respectfully, and peacefully, and showing them our faces and those they directly affect, we're going to remain a faceless, angry mob, and that will only motivate them more to squash us.

Build bridges. Rise above. Show your face. ACT. And do it all with the respect that we don't always receive. Otherwise, will we be no better than they?

CNN's Inauguration Dust Up over Rick Warren

UPDATE: More information.



Rick Warren's endorsement of Prop 8:



I think many of us agree that the issue here is not that Rick Warren is against same-sex marriage, but his using the pulpit, the Bible and his religion as weapons. So want to do something about it?

Gays UN is calling for a call-in protest. They give specific instructions on how to contact the Obama team through the phone or through email, or the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies. See their event instructions here on Facebook.

You can also join a peaceful protest outside of Rick Warren's church on January 18th, hosted by All Or Not At All. See details on Facebook here or on the events calendar on the bottom of this blog.

Sign EQCA's petition to President-elect Obama. Ask him to immediately rescind this despicable invitation: www.eqca.org/actioncenter