 Rev. Jesse Jackson with Barack Obama |
First,
homosexuals were incensed that a reported 7 out of 10 blacks voted for
Proposition 8, which repealed the right of gays and lesbians from the
right of same-sex marriages.
Now, there is a
cacophony of outcries from the same demographic over President-elect
Barack Obama’s selection of uber-influential, ultra-conservative
Christian evangelist Rick Warren. Warren, who penned one of the most
commercially successful religious books of all time, the
20-million-selling “The Purpose-Driven Life,” became the
subject of objections from members of the left-wing quadrant of the
Democratic Party and the gay and lesbian community in particular.
 Kirbyjon Caldwell with President George W. Bush |
Some
felt that Obama could have selected an arguably even more famous and
less controversial minister to speak at his inauguration, Bishop T.D.
Jakes, pastor of 25,000-member The Potter House in Dallas.
There have been other African American ministers who have played major
roles in recent White House events, including inaugurations. The
politically independent Kirbyjon H. Caldwell, an influential minister
from Texas, was pegged by George W. Bush to introduce the
president-to-be at the 2000 Republican National Convention. Later, Bush
asked Rev. Kirbyjon H. Caldwell, pastor of the 14,000-member Windsor
Village United Methodist mega-church in Houston, to give the
benediction at his first and second inaugurations.
The
Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr., one of the remaining iconic figures from the
Civil Rights Movement, had a well-known, highly documented relationship
with Bill Clinton, then as a governor of Arkansas running for the
presidency in 1992 and then throughout the Clinton
Administration’s eight-year reign. Jackson was Clinton’s
closest religious advisor when the Commander in Chief endured his
impeachment hearings regarding indiscreet sexual interactions with
one-time White House intern Monica Lewinsky.
 Rev. Joseph Lowery |
Caldwell’s
first prayer caused controversy because he closed the benediction with
“in the name that’s above all other names, Jesus the
Christ. Let all who agree say amen,” according to media reports.
When Caldwell also gave the closing prayer at Bush’s for the same
event four years later, Caldwell altered the climatic closing with
“respective of all faiths, I submit this prayer in the name of
Jesus.”
Rev. Joseph Lowery, like Jackson
a Civil Rights stalwart, has been asked by Obama to play
Caldwell’s role and give the closing benediction. Lowery is a
veteran of the fight for equity and justice and is the co-founder of
the Southern Christian Leadership Conference with the iconic Dr. Martin
Luther King Jr.-terry shropshire
