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
Kevin
January 10th, 2013
10:14 pm
Anyone opposed to homosexuality is given one option — keep your mouth shut or else.
The intolerant left strikes again.
Louie Giglio to Offer Inaugural Benediction–NOT SO FAST!
January 10th, 2013
10:50 pm
[...] As our own Jim Galloway posted, somewhat snarkishly (but 100% accurately): “This is unexpected from a well-known, conservative pastor? Somebody didn’t do his homework.” [...]
Will Jones - Atlanta Jeffersonian Exegesis
January 10th, 2013
11:25 pm
Nothing “left” about it all. The faction whose “sensibilities” are being “protected” is an adjunct and “arm” created by the “de facto” “rightwing’s core element of the French assembly as described by Carlyle in his “History of the French Revolution.”
It is fascism against oppressing those who would be the holy and righteous Children of G-d in America-Zion.
Will Jones - Atlanta Jeffersonian Exegesis
January 10th, 2013
11:26 pm
…fascism oppressing…
» Blog Archive Pastor Chosen for Inauguration Benediction Bows Out - Wall Street Journal » TransAlchemy
January 10th, 2013
11:30 pm
[...] are revealedthê GuardianPastor nixed from Obama inaugural over anti-gay remarksNBCNews.com (blog)Atlanta Journal Constitution (blog) -Salonall 628 news articles »via alchemy – Google News Tags: Atlanta, Atlanta [...]
Voter
January 10th, 2013
11:50 pm
@Kevin – Good point
Son of a Bishop
January 11th, 2013
12:10 am
Thank You President Obama for Exemplifying Real Christian Values… http://sonofabishop.blogspot.com
Samuel Marcus Brown
Decatur, GA
Democrats Are The Devils
January 11th, 2013
1:45 am
or else, what !?!? if god is for you., who can be against you !?!? just try !
mike
January 11th, 2013
7:09 am
20 years ago? I guess one cannot change an opinion in 20 years. Way to go preacher since there are those who would have made a 20 year old talk an ongoing distraction. Maybe he has moved on but there are plenty of people stuck in the 40’s, 50’s and 60’s in this country.
jhd
January 11th, 2013
7:11 am
they need to find someone that will direct the benediction and prayer to obama as the supreme god
Yeah Right
January 11th, 2013
8:34 am
Living With Open Eyes, you should change your name to Living With Closed Brain. Your eyes can be open all you want, but you’re blind so it won’t matter. But you seem to know an awful lot about how and why the gays are gay. Is there something you wish to tell us? Hmmmmmmm?
Vashtai
January 11th, 2013
9:24 am
I particularly love you who are quoting from “revised” versions of the Bible. If you read the original translation from the Greek Bible, there is not one mention of homosexuality. But about a hundred years ago, mankind started tinkering with and embellishing the Bible to suit their present day needs. They even managed to insert homosexuality into the New Testament during the last century!
The only good thing about all you bible thumpers is you are all dying out. People are leaving your churches faster than you can replace them. Even though the 1st Amendment to the Constitution starts out with, “Congress shall pass no laws respecting an establishment of religion,” because of religion many states legally bar homosexuals from marrying. The sooner we get “God” out of government, the better we will be as a nation. The first job would be removing tax exempt status from religious organizations. The National Debt would disappear within a few years.
And as I’ve said here before, Jesus was probably a homo. Think about it: He was a carpenter when carpentry was an art, there is no mention in the Bible of any female love interest for Jesus, and most telling, he exclusively hung out with 12 male “disciples.”
double
January 11th, 2013
10:42 am
After reading most of these post.I am of the opinion the adulterer must be the better tither.
melshop
January 11th, 2013
11:44 am
Couple of points: Regarding divorce, no church I know of supports it. In the SBC church, those who remarry can not be remarried in the sanctuary and most pastors will not perform the ceremony. You are misinterpreting what Jesus said. He said, to paraphrase, that God did not create divorce. God created marriage. Man created divorce. Since man was going to have divorce regardless of God’s desires (hardness of heart) here are the rules (referring to Moses teachings). However, Jesus didn’t “overrule” those rules. He merely stated those rules were because of man’s hardened condition, not of God’s desire.
Churches have had to deal with the issue of divorce because it is prevalent in society. Yes, they do preach on it and are actually preaching on it more because of the growth of divorce.
Churches offer support groups to heal those hurt by it, counselors to help prevent it, and countless other ministries for the spouses and children. That is not supporting divorce but tending to the wounded.
The wounded, however they become wounded, need church and need Jesus the most. That is not a time to tell them they are sinning, but to love them. That is what Jesus would do.
The time eventually comes in the lives of every divorced person that they must be accountable for their actions in the situation and ask God for forgiveness. Every divorced Christian I know has done this. Then it is up to the person to decide how God would have them handle their life. Some try to work things out with their spouse. Some, I know, have decided never to remarry. Others felt that God’s mercy and grace allowed for someone else to come into their life to love and remarry.
That is where it is not my place to judge. That is where God tells us not to judge.
A choice that is not an option is to continue in their sin. They cannot continue going from relationship to relationship, divorce to divorce. That is what Jesus said. Divorce is a very serious matter, because God takes marriage very seriously.
With homosexuals, it is the same way in SBC churches and many other denominations. There are counselors, support groups, and many others geared to tend to those wounded. That is also not a time to judge them, but to love them. That is what Jesus would do.
However, there will come a time when they must also take responsibility for their actions. There will come a time for repentance. Just as in any sin.
What a homosexual then does with his or her life from the point of salvation is also between them and God. Some I know choose to try to become heterosexual through various treatments and ways – and yes – some are successful. Some opt to not have any romantic or sexual relationships and deal with their conflicts with God’s grace daily. I will not judge them for those choices.
A choice that is not an option is to continue in sin. No one can continue in sin (any sin) and have a relationship with God at the same time. The Bible explains this in several passages, mostly relating to money, but also applicable to anything you put above a love of God.
Regarding Jesus, why he was single (although some try to assert that He was married) and his sexuality I will say only this: Jesus had a bigger mission – so big that a relationship of any kind wasn’t on his agenda. Also, he had the love of His Father, so he had no other need for such an earthly attachment which would pale in comparison.
Also, Jesus is God so he fulfills the image of God (which God designed a married male and female couple to do) in and of Himself both when He was on earth and now in heaven. He was perfect and contained all the attributes of God (since He is God), so Jesus could related to both males and females equally – just as God relates to each person intimately with understanding.