Rick Warren/Pope Benedict vs. The Gays

I was going to do another post on Obama's choice of Rick Warren to give the invocation at his inaugurationl, but I'm visiting my mom and family in Mountain Home, Arkansas for Christmas.

I was going to say how much I disagree with Thom Hartmann, Melissa Etheridge, and Chris Crain about how great it is that Obama reached out to the anti-gay Christian evangelicals. I still don't buy the Rick Warren PR that he is a "moderate" evangelical who accepts gays. Maybe he has been less of a bigot than Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson and James Dobson, and I would welcome a dialogue between the LGBT community and Warren, but I agree with Rachel Maddow that this was a bad mistake for Obama. Obama has helped improve Rick Warren's national reputation as an important religious leader and sends the wrong message to gays and lesbians who supported him. After the last 8 years, and the passing of Prop. 8 in California, it would have been a nice change to have a more gay-friendly, inclusive religious figure give the inaugural invocation, or better yet, keep religion out of the inauguration all together.

And those pointing to Saddleback Church scrubbing the anti-gay stuff off their website, or Rick Warren's concillatory words to Melissa Etheride were premature: Now Warren has come out swinging against gay activists, accusing us of "Christophobia":
Rachel Maddow: "Christophobia"? Rick Warren Scandal Getting Wierder

Even worse than Rick Warren, the POPE says that saving humanity from homosexuality is as important as saving the environment. Pope Says Humanity Must be Saved from Homosexuality

Peter Tatchell tells why the Pope is wrong! Why is Pope Benedict and the Catholic Church so scared of gays??

Anyhow, I'm going to spend the rest of the week here with my family and try not to think about Rick Warren or The Pope's war on gays and lesbians.

Pope: Gays a Threat to World Peace

The fascist Pope Benedict continues his attacks on gays and lesbians by suggesting Gays are a Threat to World Peace

ATICAN CITY, Jan 1 (Reuters) - Pope Benedict ushered in the New Year on Tuesday by criticising policies that undermine the traditional family, saying they eroded one of the most important foundations for peace in the world.

The Pontiff, delivering a traditional New Year prayer for peace, appeared to take a swipe at efforts in several countries to grant legal recognition to gay and unwed couples -- although he did not single out any policies by name.

He said the traditional family led by a husband and wife instilled values that promote peace, and added it was an "irreplaceable" institution.

"Those who are hostile, even unknowingly, to the institution of the family ... make peace fragile for the entire national and international community," the Pope told crowds gathered in a sunny St. Peter's Square.

The German-born Benedict has made defending the traditional family a priority since being elected Pontiff in 2005 following the death of John Paul II, focusing much of his attention on Europe.

Gay marriage is legal in several European countries including predominantly Catholic Spain, where hundreds of thousands of Catholics rallied on Sunday in favour of the traditional family. The Pontiff had addressed the Spanish rally via a live video-link.

Speaking earlier on Tuesday at St. Peter's Basilica, the leader of the world's 1.1 billion Roman Catholics urged followers to reject challenges to the family "eclipsing the truth of man".

"I wanted to shed light on the direct relationship that exists between the family and peace in the world," the Pope said.

"The family is the primary agent of peace and the negation or even the restriction of rights of the family ... threatens the very foundations of peace."

Quoting from a message he issued in December to mark the Church's World Day of Peace on Jan. 1, Benedict said the family was "the first and irreplaceable educator of peace".

He also said that if the world wanted to live in peace, it would need to recognise those universal values that all people share as part of a single, "human family". (Editing by Keith Weir)

Source: Reuters North American News Service

Are there any sane rational people left in the Catholic Church??