Sister Joan Chittister famously said, "We are each called to go through life reclaiming the planet an inch at a time until the Garden of Eden grows green again." Reflecting on that journey -- a blog at a time -- is the focus of this site.
Monday, January 19, 2009
Initial Inaugural Invocation on YouTube
Thanks to Christianity Today's Sarah Pulliam:
15 comments:
Anonymous
said...
Well, that's about as a-religious as one can get, eh? Sounded more political than anything else. But then, from his earlier comments, that's the way he wanted it. I wonder, though, if a true Muslim would forgo the use of Allah. I'm just sayin'.
How do you feel about gay anger over the fact that +Gene's prayer was scheduled for before the cablecast and consequently not heard by millions of LGBT viewers? This is surely something that Obama needs to make apologies and amends for, and soon. BTW, not surprisingly, most of the newspaper accounts you cite make no mention of +Gene's sexuality or his concern for LGBT equality, though they do emphasize those of his remarks that could be taken as referring to traditional family values. Once again, we're invisible!
Diego .... Obama doesn't care about gay anger. He received a vast majority of the GLBT vote and does not need your support to govern. He'll throw the community a few bones as he nears the next election, but he knows you have no other place go to go. Mostly, he'll make nice with the Rick Warren crowd to ensure 8 rather than just 4 years.
Bateau Master--That is what I fear, but am unwilling (yet) to believe. At any rate, he should be taken to task for it, just as he was for inviting Warren in the first place. I believe in speaking truth to power, even if it gets us nowhere. Thanks for the reply, even if it wasn't what I wanted to hear!
Ironically, I just got back from a two day event analyzing how effectively the right wing uses "divide and conquer" to keep polarizing and distracting liberal/progressive activists from their shared, common goals.
Thanks, Bateu Guy for giving me a GREAT "case in point!"
Seems like we have prayed and prayed for someone who would not shove his particular brand of religion down our throats and now that we have one...
The invocation tomorrow is balanced with the benendiction (by a much better preacher). The situation with Gene is hard for those of us that have been looking forward to this. In interviews and statements Gene has acknowledged that but highlights the positives and the possibilities.
So we have a healthy time of righteous indignation and move on.
Diego - "gay anger"? You have some evidence that millions of gays are angry that Bp. Robinson's prayer wasn't heard over HBO? You really think that Mr. Obama "needs" to make apologies, etc. for? I doubt it. In both cases.
Bateau Master, you've got that right. Where are those people who see homosexual issues as the most important influence on their voting decisions going to go? Obama politically grew up in Chicago. He can count votes, folks.
tikva: as far as being a-religious goes, I thought it was a Bishop's overriding duty to proclaim the Gospel. Seems to me that if a Bishop is put in a position where he or she cannot do so, they should decline, not bastardize their prayer.
Unless, of course, they see that they have obligations higher than that.
Susan, I'm not sure who constitutes the "right wing" in this case. Bateau Master? Me?! Some mole in the Obama administration who connivingly scheduled +Gene's prayer for ten minutes before the event began? I'm also not sure what particular set of "shared, common goals" you are referring to, but I know that one of my goals is for LGBT Americans to get a seat at the grown-up table where we can take part in the conversation, rather than at a card-table off to the side, where we can seen (at most) but not heard. If all we wanted was what you elsewhere call an "iconic presence," we could have spared +Gene the trip; we had the music of gay composer Aaron Copland, and the D.C. Gay Men's Chorus also figured prominently, albeit anonymously, in the main event. I'm afraid that "iconic" seems like a highfalutin word for "token"; I hope--and still believe--that gay people will be recognized as much more than a token presence in Obama's America.
RonF, millions of gay viewers, actual and potential, were denied the opportunity to see +Gene pray. I doubt, and never claimed, that they were all angry, but there was a lot of gay anger on the web yesterday. Perhaps, as you sneer, Obama did not "'need'" to apologize, but it appears that he agrees with me that it was necessary to make amends (see http://www.episcopalcafe.com/lead/politics/obama_makes_it_right.html).I'm sorry you seem to think that gay rights are the only issue I care about; they're not, but they are the one under discussion here.
Tikvah, +Gene said that he wanted all people of faith, regardless of which faith, to feel able to pray with him, for the USA, for its place in the world, for its new president and for what the nation and the president face together in this trying time. That is not political to me.
BTW, Arab Christians, Arab Anglican Christians, pray to Allah. Allah means God in Arabic, as Dios means God in Spanish.
Sorry, Diego ... opening prayer at concert for 400,000 ... (televised or not) ... on the presidential platform for Tuesday's swearing in ... part of the presidential party to view the Inaugural Parade ... invited guest to the Nat'l Cathedral Day of Prayer on Wednesday ... and all that after staffers have spoken out against "don't ask, don't tell" as just a START on the issues we'll be pushing this year ... well, if that's what "token" looks like to you, where do I sign up?
ronf, Gene gave an invocation, addressed to the nation - it wasn't a sermon for the "we're included and you're not" crowd.
I wasn't looking for a sermon. Bp. Robinson was asked to give an invocation. That's a prayer. He's a Bishop. If he can't give a Christian prayer, he should have declined. Or was worldly attention more important to him than his oath to God?
I'm not clear on what you mean by the "we're included and you're not" crowd.
I wonder if anyone, anywhere, at any time, has said or done anything that met with your approval?
The vast majority of people are. From what I can see Bp. Robinson isn't one of them.
I have never met +Gene. I have seen a number of videos of him preaching and being interviewed. I find him a very Christ-centered person. Living his vows.
However, he does not wear his faith as a chip on his shoulder. He seeks to draw people together in what they share in common. Some may view invoking God's blessing on the events of celebrating the election of a historic presidency a place to shove Jesus down the throats of all the non-Christians within the sound of one's voice. Many of the rest of us do not.
15 comments:
Well, that's about as a-religious as one can get, eh? Sounded more political than anything else. But then, from his earlier comments, that's the way he wanted it. I wonder, though, if a true Muslim would forgo the use of Allah. I'm just sayin'.
How do you feel about gay anger over the fact that +Gene's prayer was scheduled for before the cablecast and consequently not heard by millions of LGBT viewers? This is surely something that Obama needs to make apologies and amends for, and soon. BTW, not surprisingly, most of the newspaper accounts you cite make no mention of +Gene's sexuality or his concern for LGBT equality, though they do emphasize those of his remarks that could be taken as referring to traditional family values. Once again, we're invisible!
Diego .... Obama doesn't care about gay anger. He received a vast majority of the GLBT vote and does not need your support to govern. He'll throw the community a few bones as he nears the next election, but he knows you have no other place go to go. Mostly, he'll make nice with the Rick Warren crowd to ensure 8 rather than just 4 years.
Bateau Master--That is what I fear, but am unwilling (yet) to believe. At any rate, he should be taken to task for it, just as he was for inviting Warren in the first place. I believe in speaking truth to power, even if it gets us nowhere. Thanks for the reply, even if it wasn't what I wanted to hear!
Ironically, I just got back from a two day event analyzing how effectively the right wing uses "divide and conquer" to keep polarizing and distracting liberal/progressive activists from their shared, common goals.
Thanks, Bateu Guy for giving me a GREAT "case in point!"
Seems like we have prayed and prayed for someone who would not shove his particular brand of religion down our throats and now that we have one...
The invocation tomorrow is balanced with the benendiction (by a much better preacher). The situation with Gene is hard for those of us that have been looking forward to this. In interviews and statements Gene has acknowledged that but highlights the positives and the possibilities.
So we have a healthy time of righteous indignation and move on.
Hm. Not bad at all, actually.
Diego - "gay anger"? You have some evidence that millions of gays are angry that Bp. Robinson's prayer wasn't heard over HBO? You really think that Mr. Obama "needs" to make apologies, etc. for? I doubt it. In both cases.
Bateau Master, you've got that right. Where are those people who see homosexual issues as the most important influence on their voting decisions going to go? Obama politically grew up in Chicago. He can count votes, folks.
tikva: as far as being a-religious goes, I thought it was a Bishop's overriding duty to proclaim the Gospel. Seems to me that if a Bishop is put in a position where he or she cannot do so, they should decline, not bastardize their prayer.
Unless, of course, they see that they have obligations higher than that.
Susan, I'm not sure who constitutes the "right wing" in this case. Bateau Master? Me?! Some mole in the Obama administration who connivingly scheduled +Gene's prayer for ten minutes before the event began? I'm also not sure what particular set of "shared, common goals" you are referring to, but I know that one of my goals is for LGBT Americans to get a seat at the grown-up table where we can take part in the conversation, rather than at a card-table off to the side, where we can seen (at most) but not heard. If all we wanted was what you elsewhere call an "iconic presence," we could have spared +Gene the trip; we had the music of gay composer Aaron Copland, and the D.C. Gay Men's Chorus also figured prominently, albeit anonymously, in the main event. I'm afraid that "iconic" seems like a highfalutin word for "token"; I hope--and still believe--that gay people will be recognized as much more than a token presence in Obama's America.
RonF, millions of gay viewers, actual and potential, were denied the opportunity to see +Gene pray. I doubt, and never claimed, that they were all angry, but there was a lot of gay anger on the web yesterday. Perhaps, as you sneer, Obama did not "'need'" to apologize, but it appears that he agrees with me that it was necessary to make amends (see http://www.episcopalcafe.com/lead/politics/obama_makes_it_right.html).I'm sorry you seem to think that gay rights are the only issue I care about; they're not, but they are the one under discussion here.
Tikvah, +Gene said that he wanted all people of faith, regardless of which faith, to feel able to pray with him, for the USA, for its place in the world, for its new president and for what the nation and the president face together in this trying time. That is not political to me.
BTW, Arab Christians, Arab Anglican Christians, pray to Allah. Allah means God in Arabic, as Dios means God in Spanish.
Looks like HBO has seen the light or heard the word!
http://telling-secrets.blogspot.com/
Congratulations to all .... they are paying attention. Happy Inauguration, the real work starts Wednesday.
Sorry, Diego ... opening prayer at concert for 400,000 ... (televised or not) ... on the presidential platform for Tuesday's swearing in ... part of the presidential party to view the Inaugural Parade ... invited guest to the Nat'l Cathedral Day of Prayer on Wednesday ... and all that after staffers have spoken out against "don't ask, don't tell" as just a START on the issues we'll be pushing this year ... well, if that's what "token" looks like to you, where do I sign up?
ronf, Gene gave an invocation, addressed to the nation - it wasn't a sermon for the "we're included and you're not" crowd.
I wonder if anyone, anywhere, at any time, has said or done anything that met with your approval?
ronf, Gene gave an invocation, addressed to the nation - it wasn't a sermon for the "we're included and you're not" crowd.
I wasn't looking for a sermon. Bp. Robinson was asked to give an invocation. That's a prayer. He's a Bishop. If he can't give a Christian prayer, he should have declined. Or was worldly attention more important to him than his oath to God?
I'm not clear on what you mean by the "we're included and you're not" crowd.
I wonder if anyone, anywhere, at any time, has said or done anything that met with your approval?
The vast majority of people are. From what I can see Bp. Robinson isn't one of them.
I have never met +Gene. I have seen a number of videos of him preaching and being interviewed. I find him a very Christ-centered person. Living his vows.
However, he does not wear his faith as a chip on his shoulder. He seeks to draw people together in what they share in common. Some may view invoking God's blessing on the events of celebrating the election of a historic presidency a place to shove Jesus down the throats of all the non-Christians within the sound of one's voice. Many of the rest of us do not.
There is a time to every purpose under Heaven.
Post a Comment