Share your thoughts on Rick Warren's inaugural prayer
Text of the invocation by Rev. Rick Warren for President Barack Obama's inauguration, as transcribed by CQ Transcriptions:
---
Let us pray.
Almighty God, our father, everything we see and everything we can't see exists because of you alone. It all comes from you, it all belongs to you. It all exists for your glory. History is your story.
The Scripture tells us Hear, oh Israel, the Lord is our God; the Lord is one. And you are the compassionate and merciful one. And you are loving to everyone you have made.
Now today we rejoice not only in America's peaceful transfer of power for the 44th time. We celebrate a hinge-point of history with the inauguration of our first African-American president of the United States.
We are so grateful to live in this land, a land of unequaled possibility, where the son of an African immigrant can rise to the highest level of our leadership.
And we know today that Dr. King and a great cloud of witnesses are shouting in Heaven.
Give to our new president, Barack Obama, the wisdom to lead us with humility, the courage to lead us with integrity, the compassion to lead us with generosity. Bless and protect him, his family, Vice President Biden, the Cabinet, and every one of our freely elected leaders.
Help us, oh God, to remember that we are Americans, united not by race or religion or blood, but to our commitment to freedom and justice for all.
When we focus on ourselves, when we fight each other, when we forget you, forgive us. When we presume that our greatness and our prosperity is ours alone, forgive us. When we fail to treat our fellow human beings and all the Earth with the respect that they deserve, forgive us.
And as we face these difficult days ahead, may we have a new birth of clarity in our aims, responsibility in our actions, humility in our approaches, and civility in our attitudes, even when we differ.
Help us to share, to serve and to seek the common good of all.
May all people of good will today join together to work for a more just, a more healthy and a more prosperous nation and a peaceful planet. And may we never forget that one day all nations and all people will stand accountable before you.
We now commit our new president and his wife, Michelle, and his daughters, Malia and Sasha, into your loving care.
I humbly ask this in the name of the one who changed my life, Yeshua, Isa, Jesus, Jesus (hay-SOOS), who taught us to pray, Our Father who art in heaven hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on Earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.
---
Let us pray.
Almighty God, our father, everything we see and everything we can't see exists because of you alone. It all comes from you, it all belongs to you. It all exists for your glory. History is your story.
The Scripture tells us Hear, oh Israel, the Lord is our God; the Lord is one. And you are the compassionate and merciful one. And you are loving to everyone you have made.
Now today we rejoice not only in America's peaceful transfer of power for the 44th time. We celebrate a hinge-point of history with the inauguration of our first African-American president of the United States.
We are so grateful to live in this land, a land of unequaled possibility, where the son of an African immigrant can rise to the highest level of our leadership.
And we know today that Dr. King and a great cloud of witnesses are shouting in Heaven.
Give to our new president, Barack Obama, the wisdom to lead us with humility, the courage to lead us with integrity, the compassion to lead us with generosity. Bless and protect him, his family, Vice President Biden, the Cabinet, and every one of our freely elected leaders.
Help us, oh God, to remember that we are Americans, united not by race or religion or blood, but to our commitment to freedom and justice for all.
When we focus on ourselves, when we fight each other, when we forget you, forgive us. When we presume that our greatness and our prosperity is ours alone, forgive us. When we fail to treat our fellow human beings and all the Earth with the respect that they deserve, forgive us.
And as we face these difficult days ahead, may we have a new birth of clarity in our aims, responsibility in our actions, humility in our approaches, and civility in our attitudes, even when we differ.
Help us to share, to serve and to seek the common good of all.
May all people of good will today join together to work for a more just, a more healthy and a more prosperous nation and a peaceful planet. And may we never forget that one day all nations and all people will stand accountable before you.
We now commit our new president and his wife, Michelle, and his daughters, Malia and Sasha, into your loving care.
I humbly ask this in the name of the one who changed my life, Yeshua, Isa, Jesus, Jesus (hay-SOOS), who taught us to pray, Our Father who art in heaven hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on Earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.
Replies to This Discussion
-
Permalink Reply by Lisa the Knitter on -
Two things in this prayer make me go, "huh":
1. "Help us, oh God, to remember that we are Americans" ...I've never asked God to remind me of my nationality. I may have prayed for him to help me *forget* my nationality from time to time.
2. "a more healthy and a more prosperous nation" ...More prosperous? When so much of our prosperity in the west comes at the expense of the developing (majority) world, it seems pretty sick to ask God to make the USA more prosperous.
-
Permalink Reply by dlw on -
I guess I agree with your huhs but let them slide for contextual reasons.
1. I prefer the term USAmerican myself, as my friends in MX are also Americans. But at a national speech, it basically means recognizing each other as "neighbors" whose lives intersect in ways that do not occur with people whose citizenship is with other countries, despite our different cultures and political views/affiliations.
2. The ability to import cheap "stuff" from the 2/3rds world doesn't make us prosperous as a nation. It can propagate a stagnant lower-wage, service-based economy with fewer checks against the misuse of economic power by its oligopolistic core.
These statements use ambiguous language, so as to step on fewer toes or what-not. But if prosperity is properly understood in collective terms, allowing for pollution and what-not, and tending to spill-over to others then the prayer isn't a bad one. It harkens back to Deuteronomy 8:17-18 where faithfulness to God is associated with the blessing of our labors with wealth accumulation as part of how we witness to the world.
dlw
-
Permalink Reply by MichaelTh on -
I did not find Warren's prayer offensive, but I do find Warren offensive. So much of our media stated carelessly over and over that gay rights activists were upset at Warren over Prop 8 and his views on gay marriage. While there is some truth to that the big issue was that he compared homosexuality to incest and pedophelia.
That is what outraged gay rights activists and their straight allies.
Warren has also made some irresponsible comments about gays in Africa. Bloggers as well as CNN's Christiane Amanpour have accurately reported on this issue.
Warren gets credit for his work on HIV/AIDS issues however it was revealed that he encourages abstinence only education in Africa and is against condom distribution (this also covered by CNN's Amanpour as well as numerous bloggers on the internet).
-Michael
-
Permalink Reply by dlw on
-
I agree w. Michael 100% in viewing these statements as irresponsible. Rick Warren must turn away or repent from them in order to qualify as a "Billy Graham"-like ambassador of USAmerican (Neo)Evangelical Christianity to the rest of the country and the world.
dlw
-
Permalink Reply by Dean on -
Would Jesus pass out condoms to prevent the spread of AIDS/HIV? This is not spread by air or water but by sexual contact. What Jesus are you serving?
-
Permalink Reply by dlw on
-
fair enough,
no.
Jesus would minister to all of the needs of people and call for them to turn from their sinful lifestyle choices. However, an orientation is not a choice, although it isn't immutable either...
I am serving the Jesus that loved those he disagreed with and reserved his strongest words for those who were hypocritical. Now, I hope that ain't you, but it seems that many who rail against homosexuality(like some Anglican pastors in Africa) fall significantly short on other matters.
dlw
-
Permalink Reply by MichaelTh on
-
I can't answer what Jesus would do in this particular situation. Maybe he would pass out condoms and maybe he wouldnt.
As for what Jesus I'm serving well the one found in the Bible of course! :-)
However, we are not talking about Jesus but Warren. I would never make the comparison between Jesus and Warren because Jesus is nothing like Rick Warren.
To discourage use of condoms in areas where HIV/AIDS is a huge issue is just socially irresponsible. People are dying from this and are spreading it to others and Warren thinks the answer is abstinence?? He is delusional if he thinks abstinence only education is the answer to this problem. Humans are sexual beings and will have sex (and even pre-marital sex too! )
Even though it should go without saying but I bet a lot of American conservative Christians sometimes even have pre-marital sex.
-
Permalink Reply by dlw on
-
I honestly don't know the details about the 'abstinence-only' education, but I can empathize with the desire for taking a strong position in that regard. I myself prefer abstinence plus contraceptive/stds education plus "depressing french films", plus socioeconomic analysis approach that gives weight to the psychological hazards of all sexual intercourse and the ways us guys getting the milk without having to buy the cow have done more harm than good for the well-being of females and the children of unwed mothers especially in recent history.
dlw
-
Permalink Reply by MichaelTh on
-
I'm for comprehensive sex education. I think we should give people the facts, and then let them make their own choices based on the information they have been provided.
I don't think people should be afraid of information -even if such information may be uncomfortable, embarrassing, etc.
-
Permalink Reply by dlw on
-
Facts, like telescopes and wigs for Gentlemen, were a seventeenth century invention.
Alasdaire MacIntyre.
You can never just give people the facts....and too many education systems focus on physical "facts" to the exclusion of less-agreed-upon psychological/spiritual "factoids".
For me, I cut it differently... I distinguish between the God-given ideals and the human
customs that help us to deal with our pervasive short-comings. In the US, traditional/ evangelical Christians may have been largely on the mark in terms of ideals, but we have neglected to build up wise customs and have let sex issues loom way larger in our concerns and the images we present to others.
I go out of my way to avoid addressing sexual matters with anyone outside immediate family and my community of committed believers who share my desire to honor the ideals through the customs we work out or build up for ourselves. I don't see much of the point, otherwise. Although, I do believe strongly that the "depressing french films" capture with realism the hazards from the bonds formed from (casual or committed) sexual intercourse(which are often felt more strongly by females due to their larger Amygdalas) and that the socioeconomic data has shown that the sexual revolution has not been helpful for the elevation of the status of women.
I believe the elevation of women is a critical part of the general redemption of humanity and Biblically-mandated. This is apparent when one contrasts the view of women implicit in the book of Genesis(or Job) w the results from the Israelite's later acculturation to Egyptian patriarchy.
dlw
-
Permalink Reply by Dean on
-
How about an exclusive marriage union between two people as the Bible instructs. Aids would virtually go away in a short time. God loves us so much that He warns us against sin and it's consequences. Uh, no, Jesus wouldn't pass out condoms.
-
Permalink Reply by dlw on
-
Dean,
I believe in exclusive lifetime committed relationships as the Biblical Ideal. In public schools, I believe we can point to the same ideal w. different language and an honest survey of all of the relevant facts. After all, all truth is God's truth and so it shouldn't surprise us that there are serious psychological consequences/hazards from sexual intercourse, to say nothing of how the sexual revolution has hurt females.
As far as condoms go, Jesus never tried to keep people from sinning via force or legislating morality, which is what abstinence only education amounts to, and would never countenance abortion, which is the whole point IMO of providing contraceptive education.
I believe AIDS(it's an acronym so all caps is better) will go away for many reasons, as we overcome evil thru self-sacrificial love w.o. hypocripsy in many many different ways. The best way we can get people to follow Christ is to try and point to Christ as thoroughly as possible with our lives, IMHO, that includes not insisting that we get our way in all political/cultural wars policy skirmishes.
dlw
© 2010 Created by J. Christopher LaTondresse.
