The Choice Is Ours Now (Melissa Etheridge on Rick Warren)

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/melissa-etheridge/the-choice-is-ours-now_b_152947.html

This is a message for my brothers and sisters who have fought so long and so hard for gay rights and liberty. We have spent a long time climbing up this mountain, looking at the impossible, changing a thousand year-old paradigm. We have asked for the right to love the human of our choice, and to be protected equally under the laws of this great country. The road at times has been so bloody, and so horrible, and so disheartening. From being blamed for 9/11 and Katrina, to hateful crimes committed against us, we are battle weary. We watched as our nation took a step in the right direction, against all odds and elected Barack Obama as our next leader. Then we were jerked back into the last century as we watched our rights taken away by prop 8 in California. Still sore and angry we felt another slap in the face as the man we helped get elected seemingly invited a gay-hater to address the world at his inauguration.

I hadn't heard of Pastor Rick Warren before all of this. When I heard the news, in its neat little sound bite form that we are so accustomed to, it painted the picture for me. This Pastor Rick must surely be one hate spouting, money grabbing, bad hair televangelist like all the others. He probably has his own gay little secret bathroom stall somewhere, you know. One more hater working up his congregation to hate the gays, comparing us to pedophiles and those who commit incest, blah blah blah. Same 'ole thing. Would I be boycotting the inauguration? Would we be marching again?

Well, I have to tell you my friends, the universe has a sense of humor and indeed works in mysterious ways. As I was winding down the promotion for my Christmas album I had one more stop last night. I'd agreed to play a song I'd written with my friend Salman Ahmed, a Sufi Muslim from Pakistan. The song is called "Ring The Bells," and it's a call for peace and unity in our world. We were going to perform our song for the Muslim Public Affairs Council, a group of Muslim Americans that tries to raise awareness in this country, and the world, about the majority of good, loving, Muslims. I was honored, considering some in the Muslim religion consider singing to be against God, while other Muslim countries have harsh penalties, even death for homosexuals. I felt it was a very brave gesture for them to make. I received a call the day before to inform me of the keynote speaker that night... Pastor Rick Warren. I was stunned. My fight or flight instinct took over, should I cancel? Then a calm voice inside me said, "Are you really about peace or not?"

I told my manager to reach out to Pastor Warren and say "In the spirit of unity I would like to talk to him." They gave him my phone number. On the day of the conference I received a call from Pastor Rick, and before I could say anything, he told me what a fan he was. He had most of my albums from the very first one. What? This didn't sound like a gay hater, much less a preacher. He explained in very thoughtful words that as a Christian he believed in equal rights for everyone. He believed every loving relationship should have equal protection. He struggled with proposition 8 because he didn't want to see marriage redefined as anything other than between a man and a woman. He said he regretted his choice of words in his video message to his congregation about proposition 8 when he mentioned pedophiles and those who commit incest. He said that in no way, is that how he thought about gays. He invited me to his church, I invited him to my home to meet my wife and kids. He told me of his wife's struggle with breast cancer just a year before mine.

it's what Obama has been trying to get people to understand.

:puke:

..it's just because she has a CD to promote?

She's welcome to her opinion, but it doesn't impact mine.

As you may have noticed in California last election, getting what you want requires VOTES. Votes require people. Treating people who disagree with you as if they aren't REAL Americans, and should not be included in the inauguration of the president of ALL Americans doesn't seem very smart.

"Brothers and sisters the choice is ours now. We have the world's attention. We have the capability to create change, awesome change in this world, but before we change minds we must change hearts. Sure, there are plenty of hateful people who will always hold on to their bigotry like a child to a blanket. But there are also good people out there, Christian and otherwise that are beginning to listen. They don't hate us, they fear change. Maybe in our anger, as we consider marches and boycotts, perhaps we can consider stretching out our hands. Maybe instead of marching on his church, we can show up en mass and volunteer for one of the many organizations affiliated with his church that work for HIV/AIDS causes all around the world.

Maybe if they get to know us, they wont fear us.

I know, call me a dreamer, but I feel a new era is upon us.

I will be attending the inauguration with my family, and with hope in my heart. I know we are headed in the direction of marriage equality and equal protection for all families.

Happy Holidays my friends and a Happy New Year to you."

Though, in this context, the typo is kinda cute, as it winds up having the same meaning. :)

it. :)

He hadn't been out of the state legislature for long and his RW public positions were well known. At the time I was working on legislation and he was a lobbyist. I expected to have to deal with a major asshole. Instead, I found him to be a really nice guy. In dealing with a mere peon like me, he didn't even have the arrogance one often finds in even former state legislators. The kind of guy who if you met him in the course of work, you wouldn't mind having a nice chat with over a cup of coffee.

Perhaps with the recent release of the film "Milk" more folks now might be familiar with Senator Briggs as the sponsor of California's Prop 6, aka "The Briggs Initiative," which would have prohibited gays (and possibly also straight supporters of gay rights) from teaching in schools. Although Prop 6 eventually failed, I remembered how ugly that proposition campaign was. And here was this ordinary nice guy who had been the proposition's sponsor. However pleasant Briggs was when I dealt with him, I never forgot he still was the guy who had whipped up ugly divisive hate only a few years before.

However pleasant and personable the messenger may be, and in this case it's Warren, do not forget the message he expounds when he's not gladhanding and shmoozing a celebrity rock star. Or a Dem President.

I put it in another thread and was asked to repost it as an OP and declined to do so because of the vitriol behavior of some on this board. While I don't agree with Warren's beliefs, I do think it's time to change some people's minds.

it's a bit "shut the fuck up " to the DU GLBT community.

its amusing how often this gets posted by a certain segment of DU that has been trying to get us GBLTers to shut the fuck up.

If you agree with the Republican party on a majority of issues, you should be a Republican. If they want to try to change their party from the inside, more power to them.

Mmmmmkay then...

I think she's being disingenuous.

It's interesting though-- for some to suggest that straight people just don't know what its like to be gay in America.. yet when a gay person expresses a different opinion, she's either disingenuous, fake or opportunist.

that she sounds as though she doesn't understand.

You're not only reading between lines, you're making up lines to construe this as a STFU to anyone.

If you don't agree with what she's saying, I have no problem with that. FWIW, I don't agree with her opinion any more than you do, but her opinion is just as worthy of respect and consideration as yours or mine.

:kick:

I remember a story that Al Franken said when on Air America about some southern right-wing congressman who was spewing anti-gay rhetoric for his reelection and someone who was gay and had some children invited him for dinner. He accepted. When he then saw how the family was a loving group of people that needed each other, he completely changed his ways and was then for equal marriage rights for all.

What Melissa did was reach out to someone who has a lot of clout and could change his ways and then broadcast that from his pulpit. Though not a fan of Warren, I could see that there is the possibility for him to change his ways.

"He explained in very thoughtful words that as a Christian he believed in equal rights for everyone."

Okay...

From: http://allafrica.com/stories/200803281265.html

“The Church of England is wrong and I support the Church of Uganda(CoU) on the boycott,”Dr Warren said on Thursday shortly after arriving in Uganda.

The Bishops are protesting the Church of England’s tolerance a homosexuality. Announcing the boycott in February, Archbishop Henry Luke Orombi said that Uganda’s action had been prompted by the invitation of bishops of The US Episcopal Church (TEC) who in 2003 elected as bishop, Gene Robinson, a divorced man living in an active homosexual relationship.

Dr Warren said that homosexuality is not a natural way of life and thus not a human right. “We shall not tolerate this aspect at all,” Dr Warren said.

Not JUST a supporter that is, but an ACTIVIST for gay rights!

It's very sad to see so many people being so ugly towards her as if suddenly she's the enemy.