Pastor Rick Warren will deliver the invocation at President-elect Barack Obama’s inauguration on Jan. 20. While he is a recognizable celebrity and best-selling author, Warren also advocates a number of deeply anti-progressive views. He supported California’s anti-gay marriage Proposition 8 and has likened gay marriage to polygamy and incest. He is strongly anti-choice, and has equated abortion to the Holocaust. Warren also supports the assassination of foreign leaders. Appearing on Fox’s Hannity and Colmes on December 3, Warren agreed with Sean Hannity’s assertion that “we need to take him [Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad] out,” saying that stopping evil “is the legitimate role of government.” He added, “The Bible says that God puts government on earth to punish evildoers.” Watch it:
On a positive note, Faith In Public Life notes that Rev. Joseph Lowery, a civil rights icon and supporter of same-sex marriage, is giving the benediction at the end of the event.
Update:
People For the American Way expresses its disappointment with the Warren selection: “He has repeated the Religious Right’s big lie that supporters of equality for gay Americans are out to silence pastors.”