Rev. Luis Leon will give President Obama's Inauguration Benediction

Luis Leon has been chosen to give the Inauguration Benediction. Luis is Episcopal Priest, who is a bit different than most.

His parish has gay, non-celibate priests and at one time, had a gay bishop. Luis' church will also bless same-sex relationships and ordain trans priests. Now that's progressive.

The Obamas has attended his church and knows them pretty well. I think this is a good choice for once. However, let's just hope there no hidden secrets about Luis out there.

UPDATE: Louie Giglio removed Himself from the Inauguration

This is from his spokesperson:

January 10, 2014

I am honored to be invited by the President to give the benediction at the upcoming inaugural on January 21. Though the President and I do not agree on every issue, we have fashioned a friendship around common goals and ideals, most notably, ending slavery in all its forms.

Due to a message of mine that has surfaced from 15-20 years ago, it is likely that my participation, and the prayer I would offer, will be dwarfed by those seeking to make their agenda the focal point of the inauguration. Clearly, speaking on this issue has not been in the range of my priorities in the past fifteen years. Instead, my aim has been to call people to ultimate significance as we make much of Jesus Christ.

Neither I, nor our team, feel it best serves the core message and goals we are seeking to accomplish to be in a fight on an issue not of our choosing, thus I respectfully withdraw my acceptance of the President’s invitation. I will continue to pray regularly for the President, and urge the nation to do so.

I will most certainly pray for him on Inauguration Day.

Our nation is deeply divided and hurting, and more than ever need God’s grace and mercy in our time of need.

I wished he apologized for his statements and possibly explain where he stands today. Louie should have known these issues would've popped up, but I guess he knows now.

Pastor Louie Giglio is no Longer speaking at the Inauguration

We now know that Louie will not speaking at the inauguration. I still wish we heard from him on where he stands today.

Bush Booed!

Oh my...Did y'all see Bush being Booed? This is amazing!

The Haters are Marching In

As much to be expected, the National Knights of the Ku Klux Klan will be mad as hell on Obama's big day. They have asked for their herd to wear black armbands and fly the American flag upside down during Obama's 1st day in office.

I understand their worst nightmare is happening. A cultural diverse man is taking the president's office. This is something they never wanted to see. But it is happening and they can't take it.

Should we be worried about them? Maybe. I can't imagine that a attack plan hasn't been discussed. But the Feds are out there, making sure nothing goes wrong. Other teams are checking the nets to see if any foolishness is festering in there.

Still, I'll be worried until the party is over. More people have joined these race hate groups since Obama gained big numbers in the polls.

CNN hits me with more info about this rise:

While experts said it is difficult to determine how many people belong to hate groups, they do agree with an SPLC estimate that claims there are about 900 operating now, a 40 percent increase from 2000. The vast majority of these groups promote white supremacist beliefs, and range from skinheads living in urban areas to the KKK ,which is based largely in rural settings.

It is difficult to pinpoint how many people subscribe to white supremacist views, because the Internet allows people to follow the movement under the cloak of anonymity. Leaders of the white supremacist movement are able to use their Web sites to reach a new subset of potential followers and push their racist rhetoric to the limit without outright calling for violence.

Levin said one challenge in protecting Obama is that the identity of a potential attacker would likely be unknown -- a person who believes in white supremacist ideology, but decides to act as a lone wolf.

Threats of violence are more likely to be found on Web sites that allow posters to remain anonymous.

Most white supremacist leaders have been careful in what is posted on their Web sites, "hyper-aware that they are being watched," Potok said.

But not all white supremacist leaders are mindful of their actions or care to be. Two months before the election, American National Socialist Workers Party head Bill White posted a magazine cover on his Web site featuring a picture of Obama in the cross hairs of a rifle scope with a headline "Kill This N-----?"

White is now in jail on unrelated charges that he "threatened use of force against" a juror who had helped convict another white supremacist as well as several other charges of making threats to unrelated victims.

Racism in the U.S. "remains a real problem" even though Obama won the White House, Potok said, and he predicted that hate groups will continue to grow during Obama's presidency.

I would like to believe things will change, but stuff like this makes me doubt that. However, I will hope for the best.

Make Room for One More

The Rt. Rev. V. Gene Robinson, the Episcopal Church’s first openly gay bishop, will deliver the invocation for Sunday’s kickoff inaugural event on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, according to the Presidential Inaugural Committee.

This is where MLK spoke...very interesting choice.

Many are glad about him being there while some are thinking this is a response to Ricky W. However Obama's peeps claimed this was already in the works. It doesn't matter to me, but I hope it will calm the gays who planned to jump ship.

Spidey Loves Obama Too

Obama loves comic books and he really loves Spider-Man. So with that in mind, Marvel comics wanted to join in on the historic moment with their special inauguration day comic book.

According HuffPo:

The comic starts with Spider-Man's alter-ego Peter Parker taking photographs at the inauguration, before spotting two identical Obamas.

Parker decides "the future president's gonna need Spider-Man," and springs into action, using basketball to determine the real Obama and punching out the impostor.

Obama thanks him with a fist-bump.

Cute...the comic will be regular price, so get yours on the 14th

Atheists Assemble!

The attack of the Atheists begins here. This week, they are aiming to remove the words "so help me God" from the end of the president's oath of office. And it doesn't stop there, they also want ministers gone as well.

Michael Newdow,who tried this "ban" in 2001 and 2005, is joined by the American Humanist Association, the Freedom from Religion Foundation and other super atheist groups in the new attack.

The new lawsuit says in part, "There can be no purpose for placing 'so help me God' in an oath or sponsoring prayers to God, other than promoting the particular point of view that God exists."

Newdow said references to God during inauguration ceremonies violate the Constitution's ban on the establishment of religion.

I wish them good luck, but it's not likely they will win. Still, I applaud their efforts.

The OTHER Rev. in the Room

Instead of talking about Ricky, let's talk about the other Rev. in the room, Rev. Joseph Lowery. This man has done so much in his lifetime and he's truly an example social justice and good faith.

Rev. Lowery start his journey right after Rosa Parks made her historic stance. He help lead boycotts and protest in Montgomery and with Dr. King founded founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference which he was president for 20 years.

Lowery also co-founder and leader the Black Leadership Forum. This group were active against the Apartheid and he was among the few to get arrested at the South African Embassy in during the Free South Africa movement.

Later he became a pastor in Atlanta and remains very active in the civil rights movement. In fact, he is huge supporter of LGBT rights and our right to marry. He has received many awards for his work and he is dedicated in the fight for social justice.

This choice was a wise choice for Obama. I hate that through all of this hype, we barely hear about the Rev. let alone the accomplishments Lowery has achieved. I only hope to do as a fourth of what he's done in my lifetime. So please everyone, look at Joseph Lowery as the balance to Rick Warren. Let his message, his work, and his purpose speak loudly that night and hopefully beyond.

Question of the Day

Is Obama's choice of Rick Warren for the invocation a gut punch to gays?

Some think so, some do not. I would love to hear what y'all think.