Barack Obama Ignites Firestorm Over Choice of Pastor Rick Warren

I didn't vote for Obama but I have to admit that the choices for his upcoming Presidency and inauguration ceremony are at once amusing, surprising and stunning. He promised, during his campaign speeches, to be inclusive and not partisan-driven in his quest to change the direction of the United States.

So far, he's apparently living up to those promises and changing the political landscape with his diverse cabinet selections. In the process, of course, he's managed to infuriate some segments of his supporters. The latest flap is his choice of the person who will deliver the religious invocation at his inauguration on January 20th.

Pastor Rick Warren, the evangelical pastor of a mega church in Lake Forest, California, is the lightening rod right now for liberal groups and gay activists. They feel betrayed due to Warren's vehement opposition of gay marriage and abortion. Warren is one of the most influential religious leaders in the country.

And it's not only the gays who are angry. A lot of mainstream Democrats are too. How dare he choose this man to utter religious words at his inauguration, they wonder.

I wonder where these people were when the Rev. Wright controversy was boiling over? Where was the outrage from the gays and Liberals? Jeremiah Wright said "Goddamn America!" Aren't these Liberals and gays Americans? Weren't they offended by his overtly racist views? Why was Hollywood silent during that high drama? Most likely due to their suffocatingly monolithic perspective on American life and values.

Obama didn't choose a Muslim cleric to administer the invocation, nor did he select Jeremiah Wright to do so. He's smarter than that, and besides, he's not a Muslim contrary to those who disdain him. He "reached out", as he promised, in a non-partisan, non-ideological manner to a person who is very influential.

I've seen Warren on CNN and other venues, and he seems to be common-sense oriented. I'm not a religious person, and I don't go to church. But I have to admire Warren for his involvement and leadership on reducing global poverty, human rights abuses and the AIDS epidemic. Warren's book, The Purpose Driven Life, has sold over 20 million copies in the last five years. In fact, Time magazine wrote that "many believe Warren is the successor to the Rev Billy Graham." That's powerful in itself.

The gays, lesbians, and other far Left fringe elements need to get over it. They don't represent the majority of people in this country, regardless of their activism and attempts at legitimizing a twisted lifestyle.

Obama has truly confirmed, through his selections, what Abraham Lincoln said: "You can please some of the people some of the time, All of the people some of the time, but not all of the people all of the time".