Dan Barker, Co-President of Atheist Group Freedom From Religion Foundation, Files Lawsuit Against Prayer at Barack Obama’s Inauguration

Dan Barker, co-president of atheist group Freedom From Religion Foundation, has filed a lawsuit against prayer at Barack Obama’s upcoming inauguration. He said that the government is picking a winner between “believers” and “those who don’t believe” and subjecting atheists and agnostics to someone else’s religious beliefs. Wow, so I am guessing that we must walk on egg shells around atheist and promote their beliefs at the expense of ours. He has joined with Michael Newdow, who fought to have the words under God removed from the Pledge of Allegiance, in a federal lawsuit seeking to enjoin the Presidential Inaugural Committee from sponsoring prayers at the official inauguration.

The 34-page legal complaint similarly seeks to enjoin Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, Jr., from adding the phrase “So help me God” to the presidential oath of office. “We’re hoping to stop prayer and religious rituals at governmental functions, especially at the inauguration,” Barker told FOX News Radio. “The inauguration is not a religious event. It is a secular event of a secular country that includes all Americans, including those of us who are not Christians, including those of us who are not believers,” he continued.

Barker, who said government’s not picking sides on the issue of religion is “hard wired into our Constitution,” called the 29 members of the suit all atheists and agnostics who love their country and participating in the inauguration. “Yet we are subjected to someone else’s religious views with the endorsement of the government, which makes us feel like second class outsiders,” he said.

Barker argued that by allowing religious phrases to be used in the ceremony as well as inviting Revs. Rick Warren and Joe Lowery, who are named as defendants in the suit, to participate in the inaugural festivities, the government is picking a winner in the dispute over religion and atheism. “Those people who do pray do believe in God and they are in fact trying to use the government to pick sides. In America we are free to disagree. We can disagree with Rev. Rick Warren but we’re not free to ask our government to settle the argument,” Barker said, adding that government causes harm when it takes on “the mantel of religion and expresses religion as an official governmental function.” Source: Fox News

So, here is another group trying to influence the belief system of others. The gay and lesbians had a problem with Rick Warren and now these atheists have a problem with prayer. It is time for Christians to make their positions known, since every other group seems to be throwing their weight around. The last time I checked, the United States of America was built on religious principles. Dan Barker and his posse are fighting a losing battle. Yes, I am not ashamed to say, “in God we trust.”

Filed under: Atheist, Barack Obama, Dan Barker, Freedom from Religion Foundation, Inauguration, Joseph Lowery, Michael Newdow, Prayer for Bailout, Rick Warren

Rick Warren, Pastor of Saddleback Church to Give Invocation at Barack Obama’s Inauguration, Riles Gays, Liberals

The liberals and gays have another reason to fume at Barack Obama’s actions and their dissatisfaction with his transition office. Personally, I think he is doing a great job and surrounding himself with the best from the Clinton era, the Bush era and his own picks. Now the conflict has centered around his choice to deliver the invocation at his upcoming inauguration. Rick Warren, the pastor of the powerful Saddleback Church. Was I terribly surprised that Warren was chosen? No and I like Rick Warren a great deal. According to media reports, both men are very close. Obama praised the church in his second book “The Audacity of Hope.” As you recall, Warren hosted a values forum between Obama and his rival John McCain during the general election. Of course, the progressives have expressed skepticism at this choice.

“My blood pressure is really high right now,” said Rev. Chuck Currie, minister at Parkrose Community United Church of Christ in Portland, Oregon. “Rick Warren does some really good stuff and there are some areas that I have admired his ability to build bridges between evangelicals and mainline religious and political figures… but he is also very established in the religious right and his position on social issues like gay rights, stem cell research and women’s rights are all out of the mainstream and are very much opposed to the progressive agenda that Obama ran on. I think that he is very much the wrong person to put on the stage with the president that day.” Source: Huffington Post

Warren’s views are generally opposite to Obama’s but that should not be an impediment to working together or even to their friendship. They do agree on topics like AIDS and poverty relief. As you know, opposites attract and you can’t surround yourself with people who share all of your views and positions. That’s a recipe for disaster. Barack Obama has shown that he has a penchant for diversity, as evidenced from his selections in his cabinet. Hillary Clinton, his arch rival, was his nominee for Secretary of State.

So, Barack Obama is supposed to tiptoe around gays and lesbians and do everything they consider right. Obama’s move, in my opinion, is a conciliatory gesture towards social conservatives who strongly opposed him in the general elections. Warren was vehemently in favor of Prop 8, which has riled the gays in this country.

“Your invitation to Reverend Rick Warren to deliver the invocation at your inauguration is a genuine blow to LGBT Americans,” the president of Human Rights Campaign, Joe Solomonese, wrote Obama Wednesday. “[W]e feel a deep level of disrespect when one of architects and promoters of an anti-gay agenda is given the prominence and the pulpit of your historic nomination.” Source: Politico

Really? Where did Rev. Billy Graham stand on this subject? Why the big dust-up now? Have these people forgotten that Barack Obama opposes same-sex marriage? So, who is the right person to lead Barack Obama into office? NEWS FLASH — everything in this country does not revolve around gays and lesbians, as well as progressives.

Wait, here’s the obvious fact that the liberals and gay activists have deliberately ignored. Rev. Joseph Lowery, a civil rights icon and the co-founder of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., is a supporter of same-sex marriage and will deliver the benediction at the inauguration. So, why the big dust-up over Rick Warren? The gays and lesbians, as well as the liberals, are being selfish and getting touchy-feely over the fact that Barack Obama made a decision to be inclusive and not exclusive. You have to surround yourself with people you don’t necessarily agree with, but will work with towards a common goal. In my book, that is a good quality in a president. So quit whining! If you ask me, Patti Labelle should be singing at the inauguration, not Aretha Franklin, but hey, am I losing sleep over this? No!

Filed under: Barack Obama, Benediction, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Gays and Lesbians, Inauguration, Invocation, Joseph Lowery, Progressives, Prop 8, Rick Warren