Atlanta pastor withdraws from Obama inauguration ceremony
The evangelical pastor chosen to give the benediction at President Barack Obama’s inauguration withdrew from the ceremony Thursday after remarks he made two decades ago condemning the gay rights movement surfaced.
The Rev. Louie Giglio of Passion City Church in Atlanta said in a statement he withdrew because it was likely that the “prayer I would offer will be dwarfed by those seeking to make their agenda the focal point of the inauguration.”
Addie Whisenant, a spokeswoman for the Presidential Inaugural Committee, said the committee had chosen Giglio because of his work to end human trafficking.
“We were not aware of Pastor Giglio’s past comments at the time of his selection and they don’t reflect our desire to celebrate the strength and diversity of our country at this inaugural,” Whisenant said in a statement.
The liberal website ThinkProgress posted audio of the sermon Wednesday. In the talk, which the pastor said he gave 15 or 20 years ago, Giglio cites Scripture and called same-sex relationships sinful and an abomination. He warned congregants about what he called the “aggressive agenda” for acceptance of the “homosexual lifestyle.” And he recommended the writings of an advocate for therapy that aims to convert gays and lesbians into heterosexuals.
Repeatedly in the sermon, Giglio urged congregants to welcome gays and lesbians to the church and says God loves them.
In Thursday’s statement, Giglio said “speaking on this issue has not been in the range of my priorities in the past 15 years.”
Obama’s inaugural planners have put an emphasis on reflecting diversity in the festivities, including the participation of gay Americans. Obama personally selected Richard Blanco, whose work explores his experience as a Cuban-American gay man, as the inaugural poet. And the Lesbian and Gay Band Association of St. Louis was one of the first selections to march in the inaugural parade.
Whisenant said the committee was considering others to deliver the benediction at the Jan. 21 event.
The Think Progress post cited by the AP points to remarks from Giglio found on “a Christian web site:”
The 54-minute sermon, entitled “In Search of a Standard – Christian Response to Homosexuality,” advocates for dangerous “ex-gay” therapy for gay and lesbian people, references a biblical passage often interpreted to require gay people be executed, and impels Christians to “firmly respond to the aggressive agenda” and prevent the “homosexual lifestyle” from becoming accepted in society.
Think Progress cited this passage:
”We must lovingly but firmly respond to the aggressive agenda of not all, but of many in the homosexual community. … Underneath this issue is a very powerful and aggressive moment. That movement is not a benevolent movement, it is a movement to seize by any means necessary the feeling and the mood of the day, to the point where the homosexual lifestyle becomes accepted as a norm in our society and is given full standing as any other lifestyle, as it relates to family.”
And this one:
”I would refer you maybe just to the article “Born gay?” by Joe Dallas, who is the president of a ministry that helps with homosexuals in “recovery.” It was found in Christianity Today in June of 1992. It really unfolds for us that the evidence that they say is there, that the media wants to tell us is there really isn’t there at all. But I want to tell you this tonight. Even if it was there…
“How do you respond to that? How do you respond to the news reports that we’re hearing in the last few months that there is a genetic tendency to be an over-eater and it’s been supposedly proved by the scientists? That there is a genetic tendency to addictive behavior. Alcoholics by and large have a genetic tendency to addictive behavior. I predict in our lifetimes and not a very long period of time from now, scientists and geneticists will have found a way to prove a gene theory for every malfunction in sinful society. And do you know why? We talked about it the very first week—because we do not want responsibility for our choices.”
I still can’t fathom what the White House thought it was getting when it booked a well-known, conservative pastor. Somebody didn’t do his homework.
Beyond that, opinion toward same-sex marriage is one of the most rapidly shifting areas of cultural policy ever seen in American politics. One wonders how many people will soon be penalized for being on the wrong side of this one – which could be a dilemma for a president who wants to be seen as reaching out to religious conservatives.
To that point, here’s a paragraph from a statement that Giglio has posted on the Passion City Church website:
The issue of homosexuality (which a particular message of mine some 20 years ago addressed) is one of the most difficult our nation will navigate. However, individuals’ rights of freedom, and the collective right to hold differing views on any subject is a critical balance we, as a people, must recover and preserve.
- By Jim Galloway, Political Insider
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264 comments Add your comment
John
January 10th, 2013
12:18 pm
If anything everybody said 20 plus years ago to somebody disqualifies a person for participation in political life, is there anybody, including the President., who is fit to hold public office or participare in this inauguration?
DebbieDoRight - A Do Right Woman
January 10th, 2013
12:19 pm
AqGirl — Too funny!!
Mmmm Hmmm
January 10th, 2013
12:19 pm
For someone so homophobic, he sure looks gay. That muscular physique… those tight shirts… that perpetual tan… that perfect hair… Just sayin’
BigAintheBigA
January 10th, 2013
12:20 pm
Who gives a flip about Obama’s inauguration? His whole presidency is a farce. Why not just have some weirdo pray to the Giant Spaghetti Monster?
Be Reasonable
January 10th, 2013
12:22 pm
@Good,
Question: To whom are you referring? Are you bigoted against someone because of their religion? “Evolve and treat others as you would have them treat you.”
East Lake Ira
January 10th, 2013
12:23 pm
Bend over ‘merica, we’re coming to love you.
Dave
January 10th, 2013
12:23 pm
Maybe we need some non-judgmental preachers, Rev. Wright? Jesse Jackson? Al Sharpton?
Whadda you think JJ? They are not the least Judgmental are they….NOT!
ball
January 10th, 2013
12:26 pm
I am glad to see a minister actually stand for what the Bible teaches rather than soft-pedalling what the people want to hear and what makes them feel better about their poor choices.
Ol' Timer
January 10th, 2013
12:32 pm
@Ernesto — And each one of those Bibles speaks of gnashing the heads of babies against rocks, too!
JFKDawg
January 10th, 2013
12:34 pm
Wasn’t Obama on the traditional marriage side until recently? And he excuses this guy for having an anti-Gay position in the 90’s? Sounds like the pot calling the kettle black.
swatguy
January 10th, 2013
12:37 pm
“We must lovingly but firmly respond to the aggressive agenda of not all, but of many in the homosexual community. … Underneath this issue is a very powerful and aggressive moment. That movement is not a benevolent movement, it is a movement to seize by any means necessary the feeling and the mood of the day, to the point where the homosexual lifestyle becomes accepted as a norm in our society and is given full standing as any other lifestyle, as it relates to family. “
Love is more important than like and sin is sin. Satan wants wrong to look as right make sin allright.
I have no problem with Louie Giglio’s statement. Christ loves all but not the “Sin”.
FarTrain
January 10th, 2013
12:37 pm
Sounds like somebody didn’t do their homework alright, namely Jim Galloway! On the front page of his own paper, the AJC says he withdrew. Now which one is right. Was he dropped or did he withdraw? The right hand doesn’t know what the left hand is doing.
Rev Tim
January 10th, 2013
12:43 pm
Christians as a whole dont have antigay policies. Many Methodist, Lutheran, and Episcopal Priest have no issues with gays, there is a whole denomination that ministers to the gay community, Metropolitan Community Churches. I personally find it offensive that those hate mongers out there have hijacked my faith and pretend they have a clue as to what God thinks. That you know the heart of God, the arrogance! The bible only discusses homosexual rape, read the scriptures in context, and Jesus never mentioned it. Paul only refers to it in the context of unbridled lust, and he also calls out straight folks in the same passage, using the same words. So this whole argument is about a bunch of men who are afraid of homosexuality, who are so wrapped up in their fears that they will make stuff up about God to justify their fear and loathing. Loathing, fear, disdain, hatred, none of theses is love. And this whole marriage thing is funny. You act like since the beginning of time marriage has been one man and one woman. NOT TRUE! someone made mention like polygamy was next or some asinine comment such, polygamy is what everyone in the old testament and most of the new testament practiced. Our version is very new. And also is NOT God’s definition (historically). I know those of you who know everything will take offense to this post, but if it makes you think…I done what I’ve been called to do.
RGB
January 10th, 2013
12:48 pm
The Obama administration wants a pastor who is a Christian who says homosexuality is OK.
And just recently, they aligned themselves with anti-Second Amendment individuals who routinely hire security personnel who protect their clients with handguns–not to mention his own security detail.
Before that, the Obama Administration found allies who denounced those who “don’t pay their fair share” of taxes who, of course, don’t pay taxes.
Obama desires a cloak of respectability without actually having the substance that makes one respectable. Hypocrisy personified. Obama’s substance is a paper-thin, almost translucent, veneer. Ditto for his followers. In the end, neither the followers nor ordinary Americans will benefit, only the one who “rules”.
FarTrain
January 10th, 2013
12:59 pm
Obama is nothing more than a self-serving, egotistical, arrogant, pompous person who is the closest thing to a dictator this country has ever witnessed. Jimmy Carter is still buying up all the “Thank You” cards he can get his hands on and sending them to BO. Those who voted for him, and support him, will regret doing so after these 4 yrs. are over, and should be the ones who suffer the most. You will have deserved it. I am not usually one to say, “I told you so”, but I did inform ye thusly.
Tim j dong
January 10th, 2013
1:04 pm
I can’t wait til’ the Drug Addicts start shoving their immorality, venom & hate down our throats like these homosexually obsessed bloggers do, this country will b such a better place. This is a MORAL issue. Face it, you’re not born gay. There’s just too much evidence the other way – Elton John, Anne Heche, Lindsay Lohan, Cinthia Nixon, M. Stipe, Ricky Martin – all ur posterboys (& girls) are flip-floppers! Do what u do n private, but don’t demonize the rest of us b/c we don’t agree w/ Dung-Hole Worship.
Tim j dong
January 10th, 2013
1:04 pm
And ‘gay’ is about the worst misnomer I could possibly think of. I mean how many ‘happy’ 50-60 somethings, homosexual men do you know? Most (in fact all of MY friends that age) are totally miserable & depressed because their ‘community’ has totally shunned them. The young bucks detest them & just want them to go away. They are totally alone. I wish it wasn’t so, but the homosexual lifestyle is an unfortunate, lonely trap. There’s no pot of gold
Be Reasonable
January 10th, 2013
1:08 pm
@Danny-X and Good,
If you ask most Christian pastors, I am sure they would say divorce is wrong also. I am fairly certain none of them would say divorce is good. By the same token, I would say Christ loves the divorced just the same as he loves gays.
Thinking something is wrong is not the same as hating people who do it. If you ask me if going 80 mph on I-285 is wrong, I will say yes. Does that infer that I hate all the “speeders” in the world?
Also, please be aware that the Bible is split into before and after Christ. Before Christ, the Jewish law was the standard. After Christ, He became the standard. Many things in the Old Testament that were prohibited under Jewish law are no longer forbidden according to Christ. So instead of saying “The Bible is against it”, the question to Christians is, “Is Christ against it”. So things like types of thread or cloth are no longer applicable.
I know I am a sinner also. I don’t view my sins as any less than those of others, including gays and lesbians. Christ loves and and accepts all who come to him. I wish all would accept him. But I don’t hate others who choose not to.
Stephen
January 10th, 2013
1:14 pm
America has truly become Sodom and Gomorrah.
Elliot Garcia
January 10th, 2013
1:16 pm
the gays are taking over!
Rob
January 10th, 2013
1:16 pm
So, inclusion and diversity of opinion only matter if the opinion agrees with the person hosting the event. Regardless of Mister Obama’s beliefs, the United States is founded freedom of speech and belief. The probably is the liberal media think tank and Hollywood media have drummed and numbed society into believing that the only opinion or thought that matters is theirs. This includes you, Mister Galloway.
Mister Giglio is not a bigot. He has a belief that this issue is morally wrong. He’s not advocating exclusion or hatred.
Mark my words, the day will come when this country founded by Christians no longer welcomes them but punishes them.
Elliot Garcia
January 10th, 2013
1:16 pm
the gays are taking over!
TJSwift
January 10th, 2013
1:17 pm
Pffft.
Leftists are all for diversity, just as long as it doesn’t run counter to their groupthink.
Kevin
January 10th, 2013
1:19 pm
Why is it that someone is considered controversial only if they advocate for heterosexuals and not for homosexuals? So much for tolerance, eh?
Joshua Barlowe
January 10th, 2013
1:23 pm
Those who preach tolerance (liberals) should be the first to practice it.
Funny how that never happens. No one is allowed to disagree with them on anything.
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January 10th, 2013
1:23 pm
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Bob Dylan
January 10th, 2013
1:24 pm
Your old road is rapidly aging. Please, get out of the one if you can’t lend a hand.
Jon Lester
January 10th, 2013
1:24 pm
I hope I live long enough to see an inauguration that doesn’t try to be anything more than the Constitution requires of it.
Concrusher
January 10th, 2013
1:24 pm
Republican Talipbaptists, they aren’t just for breakfast anymore.
Liberalism is a mental disorder
January 10th, 2013
1:24 pm
Any Pastor or so called Christian that conducts gay marriages is a Christian in name ONLY. The Bible could not be more clear on the issue.
BTW Christian therapy is not aimed at “converting” homosexuals. It is aimed at healing the hurts and scars from their past that creates same sex attrations.
USMC2841
January 10th, 2013
1:25 pm
This man taught from the Bible. If you disagree take it up with the author. Which if any of the amendments to the Constitution do liberals want to keep? 1 is out with forcing the Church to cover contraception and accept homosexuality. 2 is under attack by people who are well protected by the same guns they intend to ban. 4 has been crucified by The Patriot Act. 13 is null and void as soon as I have to work at the point of a government gun so someone else can benefit from my labor. If you allow any of these to be taken they will take them all.
Don't Tread
January 10th, 2013
1:29 pm
Maybe they’ll nominate some nice Imam in his place. Oh wait…they don’t like homosexuals either. Guess they’ll have to go with an atheist and a “Mother Earth” speech.
Concrusher
January 10th, 2013
1:30 pm
The similarities between the Talibaptists and Muslims are striking.
Real Athens
January 10th, 2013
1:30 pm
Texas Peter:
You know what’s the worst thing about Texas?
Texans.
Edward
January 10th, 2013
1:31 pm
Tim j dong: do you kiss your children with that lying, nasty mouth? You’re so full of #^&* you should wipe your mouth with toilet paper. You ignorant fools are on the wrong side of history yet again. Good riddance to your kind when you die out.
Don't Tread
January 10th, 2013
1:32 pm
USMC:
The 5th, of course! They wear that one out.
As far as the others, there’s a good chance that you’ll have to fight for them. (Again.)
R.T.
January 10th, 2013
1:33 pm
Last time I checked, Jesus didnt argue about the Bible. Just Read it, Understand it, and don’t pollute it with your misinformed and unwavering ignorance. Thank You…..And God Bless America.
Truth
January 10th, 2013
1:34 pm
Please remember this from the article:
Repeatedly in the sermon, Giglio urged congregants to welcome gays and lesbians to the church and says God loves them.
Hate the Sin & Love the Sinner.
asdf
January 10th, 2013
1:34 pm
if we’re really going to cite the old testament, we should acknowledge the differences between what was commanded to set israel apart, and what is commanded to honor God. There is a reason that much of the stuff in the old covenant wasn’t mandated in the epistles.
Johnny
January 10th, 2013
1:37 pm
So, Obama and his campaign didn’t want people to judge him because of his actions 15-20 years go with Mr. Ayers. But, it is ok to use comments from someone else 20 years ago against them. Hmmm?
Snoopy1
January 10th, 2013
1:40 pm
It seems a lot of the commenters didn’t read carefully that the PASTOR pulled out on his own. HE made the decision to not accept to appear to not have the “message” overshadowed by other’s agenda! The president’s committee didn’t make the decision. With that said gay or straight, it should have been about diversity not “sexuality” or a stupid comment this pastor made TWO decades ago.
Sam Mathew
January 10th, 2013
1:42 pm
God loves all. But in marriage, it was clearly stated by the same person that it should be in between a man and a woman, then multiply. I am not at all judging the homosexuals, I love them. Which religion in the world teach same-sex marriage? Not a single religion in the world. The word
“marriage” may be taken out of the dictionary later on if the events are moving in this direction. In the national
Cathedral, the Episcopal Church is going to conduct the first homosexual marriage. When I met a group of ladies from Holland at the Bahrain airport in 1999, they were returning from Sri. Lanka. In our talk, they said in one voice ” we don’t need GOD’s help, we know, how to handle our affairs”. If the Creator is irreverent, then everybody has the right to create their own moral and spiritual laws!
Craig
January 10th, 2013
1:45 pm
Jesus warned “you will be persecuted if your are my disciple” Jesus said homosexuals were not going to make it into heaven. His disciples, those of us who learn from him, believe the same. Persecution? We ain’t seen nothin’ yet. It will come and it will separate the sheep from the goats. You comfortable, groovy, cool Christians better count the cost.
Anonymous
January 10th, 2013
1:53 pm
“What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us!?” -Romans 8:31
JSH
January 10th, 2013
1:55 pm
What inauguration, I don’t have a president.
Real Athens
January 10th, 2013
1:55 pm
Marine:
Forcing the church to cover contraception is a grossly overreaching idea. I haven’t seen any condoms in the collection plate. Last time I checked, the Gun Lobby has their fair share of new, GOP recruits worried about the pendulum swing and their re-electability. Oh, and please elaborate how “libs” are responsible for the Patriot Act?
Fenton Hardy
January 10th, 2013
1:56 pm
All the postings from the “Christians” makes me glad I’m an agnostic. What a pack of fools. Word of God – BS. No one here knows the word of God. The Bible was written by men.
Real Athens
January 10th, 2013
1:58 pm
Craig:
“Jesus said homosexuals were not going to make it into heaven”
I’d be interested in reading Jesus’ reference to homosexuality. You won’t find one.
DannyX
January 10th, 2013
1:58 pm
“But in marriage, it was clearly stated by the same person that it should be in between a man and a woman, then multiply. I am not at all judging the homosexuals, I love them. ”
I’m not judging divorce, but Jesus clearly states that it is almost always never allowed. When it is allowed adultery in the marriage occurred. Re-marriage laws are also ignored. Now seeing how over 50% of all Christian divorces end in divorce proves that there is an awful lot of sin being ignored in southern churches.
2 people inside a church of God, in a ceremony performed by a “man of God” leader, swear “until death do us part,” only to get divorced a few years later, some even remarry in the same church.
Maybe good Christians should do a little research on what traditional marriage really is. Now I don’t hate divorced people, love the person, hate the sin. Isn’t that how it goes?
Gays should fear your God when the people that fill your pews do.
Real Athens
January 10th, 2013
2:00 pm
Because you voted for a different candidate you “don’t have a President.” Really? Do share your toys with other children? Can anyone play in your sandbox?