Well, That's A Way For Farrell's Ice Cream Parlor To Despoil My Pleasant Memories

by: Autumn Sandeen

Tue Nov 10, 2009 at 12:00:00 PM EST

Kai,

Thank you again for your response to my email.

After discussing your email with my family, and several gay friends,  I decided to remove the post from Facebook.

I honestly did not realize the impact it had on so many people. Farrell's is designed to be a fun place and I want everyone to always feel welcome.

Thanks for pushing so hard. I would love to meet you sometime. Free sundae on me!

Sincerely,
Michael Fleming
Farrell's Mission Viejo

Well. That is pleasantly suprising news!
~~Autumn~~

I left a comment for a Facebook photo wall photo:

My first job out of High School in 1977 was working at the Northridge, California Farrell's Ice Cream Parlor -- I have fond memories. Before that, I had many fond memories of Farrell's from being a customer of the business as a child.

So, I'm pretty disappointed with the FARRELLS ICE CREAM PARLOR comment of 1:54 PM on Saturday, November 7th for this photo. Frankly, Farrell's is telling me by highlighting Pastor Warren on this Facebook page -- given Pastor Warren's public statements just last year about people in my community -- that I'm not really the kind of or customer (or former employee) that Farrell's wants anymore. I can't imagine Farrell's highlighting someone who is known for racist, sexist, or anti-religious commentary, so seeing a photo up of someone who's made derogatory statements about people in a another class protected by California state law is a huge disappointment. Seeing that this photo is remaining on this Facebook page with the "official" commentary that Pastor Warren is a celebrity seems to me to be a very less than satisfactory response.

What a way to now despoil the pleasant memories of my first real job, as well as of one of my favorite restaurants as a kid. Posting this photo of Pastor Warren, with a tacit endorsement of his book in how the book is prominently displayed by an employee, was really unnecessarily divisive.

I was planning on visiting the Mission Viejo parlor on my next trip up from San Diego -- not anymore.

Well as I said, I left that comment on the Farrell's Ice Cream Parlor - Wall Photo that highlights lying homobigot Pastor Rick Warren at the Mission Viejo opening of Farrell's Ice Cream Parlor.

Do you remember what Rick Warren said during the Prop 8 Campaign? ...

[What Pastor Rick Warren said during the Prop 8 Campaign, links to where he lied about what he said, and Farrell's Ice Cream Parlor's "official" response posted on their Facebook page.]

Rick Warren's anti-gay ways continue -- on the road to support breakway Episcopalians

by: Pam Spaulding

Sun Apr 26, 2009 at 19:00:00 PM EDT

When a few hundred breakaway Episcopalians from North America gather in Bedford this summer to establish a new Anglican organization, their keynote speakers will all come from outside the denomination.

The Rev. Rick Warren, a Southern Baptist and pastor of the Saddleback Church in California, is the biggest name scheduled for the conference. Warren, author of the bestseller The Purpose Driven Life, prayed at the opening of President Barack Obama's inauguration and has lately been at the center of a controversy involving his participation in the successful effort to ban gay marriage in California.

...Warren offered Saddleback Church to Episcopalians in that state who have left their parishes and need meeting space, Gill said.

"He has reached out to be a friend to Anglicans who have left the Episcopal Church," she said. "It was on that basis that he was invited to speak."

The national church is suing the breakaway faction in Tarrant County, demanding the return of a church properties and endowments.

Rick Warren operatives trying to whitewash his anti-gay positions from Wikipedia entry

by: Pam Spaulding

Mon Apr 20, 2009 at 07:15:00 AM EDT

After I discussed the serial lying of Warren on international TV in my post, it was picked up by Huff Post and spread like wildfire. It obviously made it back to Warren's hive and one of his drones, Christian music artist Jim Anderson a "media representative" for the Saddleback pastor, sent out a missive to me to attempt some damage control ("Rick Warren's peeps start up the damage control machine - massive FAIL").

Now I've learned that Rick Warren's so desperate to repair his rep with the fundies (they blew up after he appeared to back away from the marriage issue ("True believers are angry at Rick Warren's 'betrayal' on Larry King Live") that folks high up in the food chain of his org are trying to white-wash the pastor's Wikipedia entry. Of course the editing of Warren's page is available for all to peruse here.

One editor, Benccc changed a portion of the Warren article to say that Prop 8 "amended the state constitution to eliminate the right of same-sex couples to marry." It had previously said that Prop 8 "amended the state constitution to ban same-sex marriages."

Then another editor, CarverM changed Benccc's edit to read that Prop 8 "amended the state constitution to read, "Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California."

Benccc went to the article's discussion page and pointed out that the original line and CarverM's edit "omits an essential fact. Thirty states ban same-sex marriage; Prop 8 is unique for having rescinded it. Readers aware of that fact may better understand why Warren's support for Prop 8 was the subject of protests".

And thus began an epic Wikipedia War that has resulted in Wikipedia officially "locking down" the Rick Warren page with a banner that warns "The neutrality of this article is disputed" and "This page is currently protected from editing until disputes have been resolved."

The two sides have been sharply drawn from the beginning, with one side calling for inclusion of controversies surrounding Warren, and the other side trying to strip anything but the most cursory mention of Warren controversies from the article.

- Warren did not compare same sex marriage to incest, polygamy and pedophilia during his notorious Beliefnet interview.
- Gay and lesbian people have never had the right to marry in California.
- Controversies surrounding Warren's position on gay marriage are, according to CarverM, "a tempest in a teapot" and unworthy of more discussion than a link to Wikipedia's Proposition 8 page.

'Exhausted' Warren a no-show on This Week

by: Pam Spaulding

Sun Apr 12, 2009 at 13:15:00 PM EDT

George Stephanopoulos just announced that Rick Warren cancelled his appearance on the show moments before it was scheduled - his staff citing "exhaustion" as the cause.

And in fact the Saddleback pastor did pull a no-show -- here's the ABC transcript:

STEPHANOPOULOS: Happy Easter and Happy Passover. For those of you tuning in this morning expecting to hear from Pastor Rick Warren, we were too, but the pastor's representatives canceled moments before the scheduled interview, saying that Mr. Warren is sick from exhaustion. We hope he recovers quickly and we're going to turn instead to the hostage standoff off the coast of Somalia.

Warren dropped out of the show after comments came to light that seemed to contradict the megachurch pastor's stated neutrality on Proposition 8, the California measure that banned same-sex marriage.

Warren said he had never endorsed the proposition, which passed by a narrow margin in November, during an interview last week on CNN. But a video of Warren offering an endorsement later hit YouTube, embarrassing Warren and his allies.

Also: Talk To Action's Bruce Wilson shares his thoughts with "Nobody Likes a Liar: Rick Warren's John Hagee Moment ?"

Experience has taught Rick Warren that he can get away with holding up Hitler youth, to Warren's church members, as a model of dedication to a cause. But, Warren may just have gone too far, because nobody likes a liar. As Larry King declared, "No matter what you think of Rick Warren, he's an extraordinary guy." Warren is indeed extra-ordinary, because ordinary Christian sensibility-as defined by the Ten Commandments that have helped shape Judaism and it's daughter religions, Christianity and Judaism-would commonly hold that it's at the very least unseemly to lie. Rick Warren appears to be under the impression that it's possible in this day and age to be filmed espousing one position, then declare on national television, that he had never done anything of the sort. And, why might Rick Warren think so ? Well, John Hagee got away with as much - though Hagee was careful in his statements to avoid, in strict terms, technically lying. Activists such as Pam Spaulding are rightfully holding Rick Warren's big anti-gay ego to the fire for one of the few things that might just knock the mega-evangelist off his global perch.

...[I]t's not all that surprising that Rick Warren thought he could lie shamelessly on Larry King Live and get away with it, but if there's one value shared among Christian and non-Christian alike it's this: nobody likes a liar.

Rick Warren's peeps start up the damage control machine - massive FAIL

by: Pam Spaulding

Sat Apr 11, 2009 at 12:17:01 PM EDT

WARREN: During the whole Proposition 8 thing, I never once went to a meeting, never once issued a statement, never -- never once even gave an endorsement in the two years Prop 8 was going.

WARREN: Here's an interesting thing: there are about 2% of Americans are homosexual, gay, lesbian people. We should not let 2% of the population determine -- to change a definition of marriage that has been supported by every single culture and every single religion for 5,000 years. This is not even just a Christian issue, it is a humanitarian and human issue, that God created marriage for the purpose of family, love and procreation. I urge you to support Proposition 8 and to pass that on.

Apparently the damage control is under way. On Friday I received an email from a Jim Anderson, who is a Christian music artist and self-described "worship leader" -- and a "media representative" for the Saddleback pastor. Folks, this is what massive PR fail looks like - it won't stop the laughter on the left, and it won't pacify the Religious Right:

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Correction for your post on Rick Warren's CNN Appearance
Date: Fri, 10 Apr 2009 09:47:37 -0700
From: Jim Anderson
To: pam
I'm providing this to you in an effort to clarify statements made by Pastor Rick Warren during his April 6th appearance on CNN "Larry King Live."  Several comments he made during that interview have caused confusion which I would like to clarify on his behalf as media representative for Saddleback Church.

Throughout his pastoral ministry spanning nearly 30 years, Dr. Warren has remained committed to the biblical definition of marriage as between one man and one woman, for life -- a position held by most fellow Evangelical pastors.  He has further stressed that for 5,000 years, EVERY culture and EVERY religion has maintained this worldview.

When Dr. Warren told Larry King that he never campaigned for California's Proposition 8, he was referring to not participating in the official two-year organized advocacy effort specific to the ballot initiative in that state, based on his focus and leadership on other compassion issues. Because he's a pastor, not an activist, in response to inquiries from church members, he issued an email and video message to his congregation days before the election confirming where he and Saddleback Church stood on this issue.

During the King interview, Dr. Warren also referenced a letter of apology that he sent to gay leaders whom he knew personally.  However, that mea culpa was not with respect to his statements or position on Proposition 8 nor the biblical worldview on marriage.  Rather, he apologized for his comments in an earlier Beliefnet interview expressing his concern about expanding or redefining the definition of marriage beyond a husband-wife relationship, during which he unintentionally and regrettably gave the impression that consensual adult same sex relationships were equivalent to incest or pedophilia.

Jim Anderson

Direct questions to:
Kristin U. Cole

a. larry ross communications
(p) 615.289.6701
(f) 615.825.9152

And come on, he knew that endorsement was going to circulate all over the place, and the Prop 8 folks had no problem with taking advantage of that. It's still a lie, a lie of omission because it's hard to explain away the very clear pro-Prop 8 statement.

And about that about the pedophilia/incest/polygamy stuff Anderson is alluding to? That BeliefNet interview didn't sound like an unintentional impression to me.

Rick Warren: But the issue to me is, I'm not opposed to that as much as I'm opposed to the redefinition of a 5,000-year definition of marriage. I'm opposed to having a brother and sister be together and call that marriage. I'm opposed to an older guy marrying a child and calling that a marriage. I'm opposed to one guy having multiple wives and calling that marriage.

As I said in my earlier post -- will Rick Warren ever be held accountable for trying to rewrite his bigoted history? If he's so confident about his position, why has he refused to debate it in public? Why did he try to back out of meeting with gay and lesbian families from Soulforce who were invited to his church? His attempts to weasel out from under his bigotry on live TV hardly represents integrity.

True believers are angry at Rick Warren's 'betrayal' on Larry King Live

by: Pam Spaulding

Thu Apr 09, 2009 at 08:00:00 AM EDT

WARREN APOLOGIZES ON LARRY KING FOR HIS SUPPORT OF ONE-MAN, ONE-WOMAN MARRIAGE

So if you want to understand why we are losing the culture war, you probably don't need to look any further than Rick Warren, he of the famously seeker-friendly model of tepid Christianity. On "Larry King Live" last night, Warren apologized for his support of Proposition 8, saying his supportive comments were only made at the very last minute and only in response to a question from a parishioner.

Proposition 8, as you recall, established the one-man, one-woman definition of marriage in the California constitution. If there was ever a constitutional amendment that should have the unhesitating support of any spiritual leader who believes in the Bible and the sanctity of marriage, this was it.

But Warren did everything in his power last night to distance himself from Prop 8. Said he, "During the whole Proposition 8 thing, I never once went to a meeting, never once issued a statement, never - never once even gave an endorsement in the two years Prop 8 was going."

He thus takes pride in being completely AWOL while this huge battle over the spiritual and moral fabric of our nation was taking place in his own state.

...Where are the voices of truth in the pulpits of America to stand against this rapid descent into the darkness? Where?

God help us, and God help the United States of America. We're in deeper trouble than we know.

And then Lurleen sends me this link from Faith & Freedom Network, where the Blend got a link up from Washington Hate Coalition whiner Gary Randall about Warren:

Rick Warren seemed to be apologizing to Larry King Monday evening for supporting Proposition 8 in California. He said his supportive comments were only made at the last moment and in response to a question from someone who attends his church.

There is no social issue that is more defining for biblical Christians than that of marriage and life.

..It seemed that Pastor Warren was trying to distance himself from the marriage issue.

I have had a great deal of respect for Rick Warren and his ministry, however his statements to Larry King are very troubling.

His statements were equally troubling to the other side because they are now accusing him of lying and trying to mislead people.

I have linked to Pam's House Blend. You can read his comments, their comments and see the video of his interview with King.

Rick Warren lies about his homobigotry on Larry King Live

by: Pam Spaulding

Tue Apr 07, 2009 at 07:22:30 AM EDT

Saddleback Church mega-church pastor and the man who delivered the invocation at the President's inaugural, Rick Warren, went on Larry King last night and insisted, despite all the video footage out there of him on his anti-gay efforts, that he isn't against gays or same sex marriage. (!). Right. What was that about bearing false witness? From the transcript:

KING: How did you handle all the controversy that resulted about the president selecting you?

PASTOR RICK WARREN, DELIVERED PRAYER AT OBAMA'S INAUGURATION: Yes, you know, Larry, there was a story within a story that never got told. In the first place, I am not an anti-gay or anti-gay marriage activist. I never have been, never will be.

During the whole Proposition 8 thing, I never once went to a meeting, never once issued a statement, never -- never once even gave an endorsement in the two years Prop 8 was going.

Let's continue...

The week before the -- the vote, somebody in my church said, Pastor Rick, what -- what do you think about this?

And I sent a note to my own members that said, I actually believe that marriage is -- really should be defined, that that definition should be -- say between a man and a woman.

And then all of a sudden out of it, they made me, you know, something that I really wasn't. And I actually -- there were a number of things that were put out. I wrote to all my gay friends -- the leaders that I knew -- and actually apologized to them. That never got out.

There were some things said that -- you know, everybody should have 10 percent grace when they say public statements. And I was asked a question that made it sound like I equated gay marriage with pedophilia or incest, which I absolutely do not believe. And I actually announced that.

All of the criticism came from people that didn't know me.

WARREN: Not a single criticism came from any gay leader who knows me and knows that for years, we've been working together on AIDS issues and all these other things.

Rick Warren: But the issue to me is, I'm not opposed to that as much as I'm opposed to the redefinition of a 5,000-year definition of marriage. I'm opposed to having a brother and sister be together and call that marriage. I'm opposed to an older guy marrying a child and calling that a marriage. I'm opposed to one guy having multiple wives and calling that marriage.

Steven Waldman: Do you think, though, that they are equivalent to having gays getting married?

Rick Warren: Oh I do.  ...

He continues trying to spin this, and flat out avoids commenting on the Iowa decision.

KING: All right. Do you, therefore, criticize or not comment on the Iowa court decision to permit gay marriage?

WARREN: Yes. I'm -- I'm totally oblivious to -- to what -- that's not even my agenda. My agenda is two things.

One, today is the 15th anniversary of the genocide in Rwanda. It's a national day of mourning, which I -- as you know, I've been heavily involved in -- in Rwanda and helping rebuild that nation and I'm very concerned about that.

This makes me sick. Will Rick Warren ever be held accountable for trying to rewrite his bigoted history? If he's so confident about his position, why has he refused to debate it in public? Why did he try to back out of meeting with gay and lesbian families from Soulforce who were invited to his church?

Larry King's staff needed to click over to the Blend's Rick Warren file.

UPDATE: I just received this defense of Warren in my inbox:

Pam,

I am disappointed in your accusing Rick Warren of being anti-gay.  He appears loving gay people in fact.  Jesus Christ loves homosexual and heterosexual people alike.  Rick Warren is following the steps of Jesus Christ who is the Truth.   I follow Him as well.

In His Name,

Tim VB

Then why did Rick Warren support stripping the civil rights of married gay couples in California by endorsing Prop 8. That has nothing to do with religious marriage. Jesus never condemned homosexuality. He said nothing about the subject at all.

Rick Warren needs to read the Iowa court decision on the separation of church and state.

What are the Little Ricks afraid of?

by: Pam Spaulding

Wed Mar 18, 2009 at 07:00:00 AM EDT

Cowards.

Melissa goes on Mike Signorile to talk about Rick Warren's 'outreach'

by: Pam Spaulding

Thu Jan 29, 2009 at 13:00:00 PM EST

MS: It sounds like you really didn't get a lot of information about this...and find out what his views really were...Did you connect with the Human Rights Campaign [a group she with which she has worked] and other gay groups before making your decision?

ME: No, I looked it up on the Internet. I tried to find what people were saying. I watched the beliefnet article, where he was asked about, "So gay marriage, is that like pedophilia and incest and stuff?" And I got to ask him, "So what's that all about?" And he gave me his response. Now, again, I'm just going to take him on what he says --

MS: But can we take people on what they say when they're working against us? Shouldn't't we go by what their record is? We have seen that this man has empowered the very forces in Africa that have allowed people to become infected with HIV. He pushed abstinence-only programs, he helped to demonize gay people. There are gay people locked up in jail ...because of Rick Warren...So shouldn't we go by his record?...

ME: ...Yes, absolutely we should. We should hold people accountable. Now, does that mean they are exiled from what we are trying to accomplish here, which is a united America? Or do we say, we see you now? You can't be part of this party and hide that. I really want people to know that I'm not defending him.

Saddlebacking defined

by: Pam Spaulding

Wed Jan 28, 2009 at 13:30:00 PM EST

And now ... without further delay ... the winning definition of "saddleback" ... by a gaping margin ... definition number 5.

"Saddlebacking: the phenomenon of Christian teens engaging in unprotected anal sex in order to preserve their virginities."
After attending the Purity Ball, Heather and Bill saddlebacked all night because she's saving herself for marriage.

Here's why this definition is perfect: Saddlebacking, like barebacking, involves one person riding up on another's backside. But in this case, it's not the bare-naked cock-in-ass that's the most important feature of the ride, but the fact that the person being ridden has been saddled - thanks to the efforts of the Rick Warrens of this world - with religious hang-ups and serious misconceptions about sex. Like the barebacker who casually tosses away his health - or his partner's health - because he believes, quite erroneously, that "risky = sexy," the saddlebacker offers up her ass because she believes, quite erroneously, that she can get fucked in the ass - vigorously, religiously - and still be considered a virgin on her wedding night.

I've set up a website - www.saddlebacking.com - to popularize the new definition. (Get to work, Google bombers!) Spread the URL far and wide, please, and let's get this term into common usage as quickly as possible.

Street Prophets - 'A Pastor's Take On Why Rick Warren Sucked Today'

by: Pam Spaulding

Thu Jan 22, 2009 at 09:00:00 AM EST

Warren bent over backwards to be inclusive, and that was the trouble. He was so bland and general as to be useless (Rev. 3:16: "because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth").

Rev. Lowery was rich and deep and multivocal: one friend counted no less than four hymns tucked away inside his benediction. But not Warren. He was sunny and bright and had at best half a voice. He has obviously not learned that you have to scratch deeper than the surface to embrace the whole. It's nice that he worked in the Jewish sh'ma and part of an Islamic prayer into his text, it's nice that he name-checked Martin Luther King among the cloud of witnesses. But those are what you learn in Ecumenical and Interfaith Studies 101. I see no evidence that Warren took on a different worldview as he wrote his prayer. There was only the determinedly optimistic vision of Jesus-as-Universal-Nice-Guy. I half expected to see Pat Boone show up in heavy metal gear to help the struggling preacher along.

On such a grand occasion, it takes a daring preacher to hold his or her own. You have to be willing to make the most alarming pronouncements about God and God's intentions to capture the audience's attention and let them know that something important is taking place.

... fumbled through a recitation of variations on the name of Jesus, followed by a clumsy transition to the Lord's Prayer. Any pastor worth his salt knows that you only drag that out when

  1. you want to conclude with participation from the congregation, and/or

  2. when you don't know what else to say.

I'm guessing that Warren was going for 1., and didn't quite realize that it would fall flat with a very public crowd made up of all faiths and none, leaving him to appear as if 2. were the case.

Rick Warren appearance at Ebenezer Baptist Church draws protestors

by: Pam Spaulding

Mon Jan 19, 2009 at 17:40:09 PM EST

Megachurch mega-homophobia purpose-driven Pastor Rick Warren soiled the Martin Luther King Jr. commemorative service outside Ebenezer Baptist Church today, on what would have been the civil rights leaders 80th birthday. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports on the peaceful protest by LGBT rights activists outside the house of worship.

Gathering at the corner of Jackson Street and Auburn Avenue, they hoisted signs declaring: "We still have a dream: Equality." And they chanted: "Gay, straight, black or white, we demand our civil rights."

..."Rick Warren is not a voice of unity or equality," said Jeff Schade, director of GLBTATL, which stands for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Atlanta.

The gay community, meanwhile, is also angry with President-elect Barack Obama for choosing Warren to deliver the invocation at his inauguration on Tuesday.

Kristin Cole, a spokeswoman for Warren, said the pastor would not comment before the inauguration. Cole, however, confirmed Warren's church believes "homosexuality is a sin" and that he urged his parishioners to support Proposition 8 in California, which amended the state constitution to ban gay marriage. At the same time, Cole pointed to Warren's work helping HIV patients in the United States and Africa.

Isaac Farris Jr., president of the King Center, introduced Warren at Ebenezer and urged critics to listen to the pastor. The center invited Warren to speak at Ebenezer last May, long before the Obama controversy erupted, Farris said last month. He was chosen, Farris said, partly because of his efforts to help solve social problems, including poverty.

Warren, known for preaching in Hawaiian shirts, wore a yellow tie and blue shirt beneath a dark suit.

He leaned on the message that has brought him to the forefront of evangelical Christianity in America, telling the crowd they needed to be open to be used by God, just as King was in his way and in his time.

...God's love, he said, "is unconditional, it is everlasting ... when you know that love, it takes the hurt right out of you. It takes the anger out of you."

"How did Dr. Martin Luther King manage to not shout back at the segregationists that called him every name in the book? It was the love of God," Warren said.

He did not directly address the same-sex marriage issue.

The Georgia Public Broadcasting News blog has photos of protestors who made it inside the church, shouting "Rick Warren is a bigot, Rick Warren is a bigot."

Photos: REUTERS/Tami Chappell

Hat tip, Charles Merrill.

HBO, Presidential Inaugural Committee still pointing fingers over invisible Robinson invocation

by: Pam Spaulding

Mon Jan 19, 2009 at 15:33:54 PM EST

Via Leah McElrath Renna @ HuffPost:

Coming on the heels of the controversy caused by selection of Rick Warren to deliver the Invocation at the Inauguration, the omission of the prayer delivered by openly-gay Episcopal Bishop Gene Robinson from the broadcast of the pre-Inaugural concert at the Lincoln Memorial is creating a controversy of its own.

In a conversation with this writer, Jeff Cusson, Senior Vice President for Corporate Affairs for HBO, confirmed that HBO was not involved in the decision to move Bishop Robinson's remarks to a time prior to the beginning of the actual broadcast:

"HBO had no involvement in the scheduling of those who appeared as part of the televised event. You'll have to talk to PIC about all of the scheduling decisions. We had a set broadcast time and went forth accordingly."

"We had always intended and planned for Rt. Rev. Robinson's invocation to be included in the televised portion of yesterday's program.  We regret the error in executing this plan - but are gratified that hundreds of thousands of people who gathered on the mall heard his eloquent prayer for our nation that was a fitting start to our event," said PIC communications director Josh Earnest.

Bishop Robinson was on NPR's Talk of the Nation today. The audio, according to the web site, will be up around 6PM ET.

UPDATE from Leah:

There are reports that HBO will include the prayer when they rebroadcast the show and that some clips from the Lincoln Memorial event, including Bishop Robinson's prayer, will be played on the Mall prior to the swearing in ceremony.

Video of Robinson invocation; Inauguration Committee nixed broadcast on HBO

by: Pam Spaulding

Mon Jan 19, 2009 at 04:35:03 AM EST

You couldn't see Bishop Gene Robinson's prayer at the Lincoln Memorial  on HBO's coverage (my earlier post is here), due to its exclusion from the broadcast. That was a decision made by the Obama team, not the cable network, btw (AfterElton):

Contacted Sunday night by AfterElton.com concerning the exclusion of Robinson's prayer, HBO said via email, "The producer of the concert has said that the Presidential Inaugural Committee made the decision to keep the invocation as part of the pre-show." Uncertain as to whether or not that meant that HBO was contractually prevented from airing the pre-show, we followed up, but none of the spokespeople available Sunday night could answer that question with absolute certainty. However, it does seem that the network's position is that they had nothing to do with the decision.

I thought I'd run some reactions from the blogosphere...

Lisa Derrick of La Figa:

I got off of the plane from LA to DC, rushed to my friend's house, ordered Chinese take out, tuned to HBO--and WTF?! They edited out Bishop Robinson! No Bishop Robinson?! Why? We can speculate, they can prevaricate, but they did this, and it sucks, and if this is act symbolizes the opening of Obama's administration, as handled by corporate media, America, we are fucked.

[B]y pointing out that Rev. Robinson's invocation would come at the start of the HBO-aired live concert in front of one of America's best-loved memorials, this high-profile announcement was portrayed as a separate-but-almost-equal bookend to Warren's invocation at the Capital steps.

Well, except it turned out not to be nearly so equal. In yet another deep insult to injury, HBO did not air Rev. Robinson's invocation. The salve to the gay community meant to calm the outrage over Warren's selection was for naught.

Could it be that the American media has finally decided these public events should be 100% secular? Don't count on it, friends, because you know as well as I do that pop-pastor Rick Warren will be front and center and at full volume to kick off President-Elect Obama's formal Inauguration on Tuesday.

When you're throwing folks a bone it's a good idea to make sure they can, you know, see the bone.

BONUS! I just received another photo of the protesting homobigots; it's below the fold.

The invisible, inaudible Bishop Gene Robinson

by: Pam Spaulding

Sun Jan 18, 2009 at 19:15:01 PM EST

As Blender David Hart noted on his blog and a diary, if you were channel surfing to catch HBO's inaugural concert at the Lincoln Memorial where openly gay Episcopal Bishop Gene Robinson delivered the invocation, you didn't see him.

Remember, this was the supposed salve on the wound to the LGBT community for the upcoming high-profile appearance of Rick Warren at the actual inauguration on Tuesday, which will be seen by millions and will float out there on YouTube in perpetuity. I had no illusions that Robinson's appearance would reach the same level of exposure as Warren's, but damn -- no broadcast of it at all? That's just freaking rich.

Leah McElrath Renna at HuffPost reports that some fundies showed up to protest Robinson's appearance. These folks were "Brother Ruben and the Official Street Preachers" since they didn't even bother to come up with original signs.

With a diverse and otherwise joyous crowd of adults and children of all ages streaming by, the three protest participants shouted about hate, hell and "homo-sex" - using a megaphone to assert that "homosexuals are eternally damned" and "Jesus doesn't love homosexuals."

On its website, the group claims to "preach a loving message to sodomites. We tell them the truth, that unless they repent they shall likewise perish in Hell Fire!"

If you want to read Robinson's prayer in full, it's below the fold.

Savage Love: define 'Saddleback'

by: Pam Spaulding

Sun Jan 18, 2009 at 07:30:00 AM EST

(1) "Logically, if 'barebacking' means having butt sex with no condom, then 'saddlebacking' should mean having butt sex with a condom."

(2) "Saddleback (verb): to submit someone to any kind of humiliating, unreciprocal sex act, either literally or metaphorically, consented to by passive partner due to submissive/masochistic tendencies, desire for approval, or other darker motive. E.g., 'I don't know why Obama is letting Rick Warren saddleback him into presiding over his inauguration.'"

(3) "The saddleback position involves placing your lubed dick between the butt cheeks of your partner. This position can be performed on your sides or on top of a facedown partner (maybe with a pillow under his or her hips). My favorite way of finishing up the saddlebacking is to lift up and come on my wife's sweaty back. The saddleback is a nice compromise position when your partner won't allow anal entry."

(4) "To saddleback is to rail against gay sex in public while secretly indulging in the same in private. Ted Haggard? Total saddlebacker. Larry Craig? Saddlebacker. Rick Warren? Probably a saddlebacker."

(5) "'Saddlebacking' should be the term for the phenomenon of Christian teens engaging in unprotected anal sex in order to preserve their virginities. 'After attending the Purity Ball, Heather and Bill saddlebacked all night because she's saving herself for marriage.' Please, please adopt this definition!"

(6) "Saddleback (verb): to ejaculate on the back of a partner at the culmination of doggy-style anal sex."

(7) "Before being invited to give the invocation, Mr. Warren was most noted for his book The Purpose Driven Life. Therefore, 'to saddleback' is to fuck with a purpose, i.e., to procreate. A heterosexual couple asked if they're trying to have children could reply, 'No, we're not ready for kids yet, but we'll probably start saddlebacking next year.'"

Open thread, and an open letter to Rick Warren that throws down the gauntlet

by: Pam Spaulding

Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 22:14:13 PM EST

Tonight's open letter is from Rodney N. Powell, a member of Faith In America's board of directors and a former student activist in civil rights movement, and he has no patience for the smooth, media-friendly mega-pastor Rick Warren's attempt to spin his brand of evangelical conservatism as enlightened or in any way reaching out to the LGBT community. He believes that Warren's actions and attitude are no different from those of segregationists and racists. Here is the powerful smackdown:

A partial transcript of a meaty portion of this open letter:

"When you seek to force your views and intolerance on others, you are no different from racists, segregationists, sexists, anti-Semites and other bigots throughout America's history of religion-based bigotry. Dr. King vigorously and harshly challenged and rejected the acceptance of institutions and persons who advocated and advanced religion-based racial persecution and its resultant bigotry and hate.

It is astounding to me, and I'm certain to other former student leaders of non-violent protest during the civil rights movement such as Congressman John Lewis, that you will deliver the keynote address at the Martin Luther King Commemorative Service at Ebenezer Baptist Church.

Mr. Warren, I do not believe Dr. King would find your spiritual leadership unifying, and I'm certain he would not find it to be part of his vision for America of a beloved community."

Faith in America's open letter to Rick Warren

by: Pam Spaulding

Thu Jan 15, 2009 at 23:19:25 PM EST

The letter and a copy of the book was hand-delivered to Pastor Rick Warren yesterday to Saddleback Church.  Faith In America wants Rev. Rick Warren better understand how his statements about the LGBT community wrapped in religion-based bigotry is wrong.

Another video is below the fold.

Obama's inauguration brings mixed feelings for many Black LGBTQ Americans

by: Pam Spaulding

Thu Jan 15, 2009 at 15:00:00 PM EST

Rev. Irene Monroe

The last time a nation came to Washington and was mesmerized and stirred to action by the oratory brilliance of an African American man was at the Lincoln Memorial on August 28, 1963 when the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his legendary "I Have a Dream" speech. In that speech King said "I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal." King, a Baptist preacher and the Moses of the 1960's Black Civil Rights Movement, knew in a distant future that a Barack Obama would come, but not in his lifetime.

"And I've seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the Promised Land!"

Those were Kings final words delivered on April 3 1968 at the Mason Temple (Church of God in Christ Headquarters), in Memphis, Tennessee. The following day King was assassinated.

With a nation then in moral chaos who would lead not only blacks in this country toward full equality, but all Americans?

Forty years later and the day after Americans will celebrated MLK Day 2009 our nation on January 20 will once again come to Washington mesmerized and stirred to action by the oratory brilliance and leadership of an African American man to be sworn in as our nation's 44th President of the United States - Barack H. Obama.

With the election of Barack Obama as our country's first African American president, my enslaved ancestors who built the White House could have never imagined that one of their progenies would one day occupy it.

Obama's campaign slogan "Yes we can!" resonates from black pulpits, giving boundless hope that as African Americans we can make positive changes in our lives, such as stem gang violence, the AIDS epidemic ravaging the entire African-American community, the epidemic level of fatherlessness, and teenage pregnancy just to name a few.

This historic election inspires many of our black boys and girls to not only consider attending college but to one day consider running for president too.

Obama has galvanized the country, bringing people of all races and ethnicities, sexual orientations, religions and cultures together.  

Whereas King was the Moses of his people leading us to the Promised Land, Obama is our Joshua, leading America's Israelites following our Moses and taking us there.

But on the day Obama will be sworn in not all of us will feel this historic moment include us too. With Rich Warren, founder of the evangelical megachurch, Saddleback Church, in Lake Forest, California and supporter of California Proposition 8, which amended the California Supreme Court's ruling that gay marriage is constitutionally permissible, chosen to give the invocation at his inauguration many LGBTQ Americans who voted for Obama feel thrown under the bus.

More below the fold...

Is Bishop Gene Robinson's invite too little, too late?

by: Pam Spaulding

Wed Jan 14, 2009 at 14:00:00 PM EST

A story in Tuesday's U.S. News & World Report features fawning quotations from Joe Solmonese, executive director of the Human Rights Campaign, who says the Robinson invitation shows that, "ultimately, Barack Obama is a friend to the LGBT [lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender] community," and Darlene Nipper, deputy executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, who called the Robinson invitation "an important step for knowing that this is someone who believes in the inclusivity of all Americans." USA Today faithfully repeats the new administration's talking points about how Obama was always going to invite Robinson and this isn't a response to the Warren flap, blah, blah, blah. Much is made about the fact that a lesbian couple is among the families accompanying the Obamas on a train trip and that there are several openly gay appointees in the works (none of them at the Cabinet level).

You won't see Obama inviting Ann Coulter to headline a key event, then "balancing" her with an invite to Patricia J. Williams. Ditto for Holocaust denier David Irving and Elie Weisel, or David Duke and Henry Louis Gates.

Warren doesn't just "disagree" with Robinson's being gay; he actively works to ensure that Robinson and other members of the LGBT community never enjoy full human rights, most recently by calling on his large and well-organized constituency to pass Proposition 8 in California, which successfully repealed the right of California's same-sex couples to marry. When reached for comment, Pam Spaulding of Pam's House Blend, one of the leaders in reporting the Warren story, noted: "You don't have to reach out to people who are diametrically opposed to the equality you've claimed to promote all through your campaign. Inviting Gene Robinson is not an equivalent salve to the open wound Obama created by inviting Warren. His announcement of Robinson late in the game rings hollow."

The compromise? Team Obama brought on board white gay pastor Andy Sidden to open the concerts with a brief prayer before a mostly black audience -- after having rejected two openly gay black pastors and two gay-affirming ones, including Michael Eric Dyson, a professor of theology at Georgetown University named by Ebony magazine as one of the hundred most influential black Americans.