David Domke agrees, adding that both men have a lot to gain from their relationship. STEVEN WALDMAN (Founder, Beliefnet): It's a statement that he's trying to having a kind of spiritual bipartisanship by having someone of tremendous stature like Rick Warren, but who clearly is politically different.īRADLEY HAGERTY: Waldman says Warren has to step away from the culture wars if he wants to be the next Billy Graham. Steven Waldman, founder of Beliefnet, a religious Web site, says the president-elect is sending a message that he's not beholden to the left or the right. As an evangelical, Warren represents a constituency that voted overwhelmingly against Mr. And it was under close questioning by Pastor Warren that the Democrat uttered one of his few gaffes, saying that deciding about when life begins was above his pay grade. Obama and his Republican rival, Senator John McCain, to talk about religion at his church in August. Obama's presidential campaign gained momentum, Warren found himself at the center of politics. Professor DAVID DOMKE (Communications, University of Washington Author, 'The God Strategy'): Warren responded and they had a good conversation, and that began a conversation about the fact that they disagreed on some things, but that they also had a lot of other things in common.īRADLEY HAGERTY: He says the men have forged a friendship. Obama was writing his book 'Audacity of Hope,' he asked Warren to read his chapter on religion before it went to press. David Domke, a professor at the University of Washington and author of 'The God Strategy,' says when Mr.

Obama and Pastor Warren began even earlier. And that dialogue, I think, is a part of what my campaign's been all about.īRADLEY HAGERTY: The relationship between Mr. President-elect OBAMA: Nevertheless, I had an opportunity to speak. Obama noted in his news conference today. President-elect BARACK OBAMA: I want to say, first of all, how blessed I am to be here today, and how grateful I am to Saddleback and to Pastor Rick.īRADLEY HAGERTY: Warren was criticized by evangelicals for giving a stage to the liberal Democrat, a gesture that Mr. Obama was a young senator from Illinois, Warren invited him to a conference on AIDS at his church in California. This is a general within the cultural war.īRADLEY HAGERTY: Now, the president-elect is on the opposite side from Warren when it comes to abortion and gay rights, but he admires Warren's activism on poverty and AIDS in Africa. SMITH: So this is not somebody who sat on the sidelines of the cultural war. That, Smith says, shows that Warren's image as a moderate is a myth. And, Smith says, Warren is on record saying that gay marriage is equivalent to marriage between siblings or polygamy. He says Warren supported California's Proposition 8, which revoked the right to marry for gay couples. DAVID SMITH (Vice President, Human Rights Campaign): We are a constituency that worked very, very hard for his election, and we have been utterly and completely disrespected.īRADLEY HAGERTY: David Smith is vice president of the Human Rights Campaign, a gay rights organization.

Obama's decision to give him such a prominent role at the inaugural is a bitter disappointment for some. Obama would make this controversial choice.īARBARA BRADLEY HAGERTY: Rick Warren is pastor of a megachurch called Saddleback and is famous for a blockbuster bestseller, 'The Purpose-Driven Life.' He's been called a new type of evangelical, more moderate with a broader agenda. NPR's Barbara Bradley Hagerty reports on why Mr. They say Warren is hostile to gay rights. President-elect Barack Obama has asked Rick Warren, a conservative evangelical pastor, to deliver the opening prayer at the inauguration, and many gay activists are outraged. From NPR News, this is All Things Considered.

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