I know I’ve been writing a lot about politics lately. Just bear with me.
Just when the GLBT community was offered an olive branch for the slap in the face it received when Rick Warren was invited to give the invocation at Obama’s inauguration, HBO turns around and does this. Today, Bishop Gene Robinson (for those of you not in the know, he is an openly gay Episcopalian minister and his presence was supposed to help counter the hate filled freak Rick Warren who openly proclaims gays are all incestuous – polygamist – pedophiles) was to give the kick off to the ceremonies at the Lincoln Memorial with a prayer, it was then to be followed up by a choral and vocal event from the DC Gay Mens Chorus, Heather Headley, and Josh Groban. Clearly I was interested more in the choir (and Josh) than the Bishop but no thanks to HBO, I was not given the chance to see either. HBO decided to cut it from the program. This has of course infuriated the GLBT community. Now, before you get all bent, in so far as HBO is concerned, HBO is a premium subscription channel on cable. As a public service, this broadcast was released live to any person who had cable, meaning they did not have to pay to see it. Anyone without cable or who was not standing on the mall was never going to see or hear this event anyhow since the major networks were not going to cover it. HBO was under no obligation to provide this broadcast HOWEVER, the question now is – was the cut intentional or was there another reason for it? 2 of the biggest names in singing were part of that opening. Heather Headley and Josh Groban, those names alone attract MILLIONS of fans. So why was it cut? The GLBT blogs exploded this afternoon with everything from HBO caving to religious extremest propaganda to it being just a very poor decision by HBO. They didn’t cut anything else out of the broadcast. Regardless, with an administration coming into the White House that has promised to be IN THE FRONT of equality on a variety of issues including gay rights, they have stumbled with poor decisions and bad press management now twice and that’s not setting them up very well to deliver a consistent message.
The video below is from YouTube (thank god for YouTube). You can see the performance. Unfortunately, you’ll only ever be able to READ the invocation by Gene Robinson since it was not captured on video apparently. I’ve included it below the video.
A Prayer for the Nation and Our Next President, Barack Obama
By The Rt. Rev. V. Gene Robinson, Episcopal Bishop of New HampshireWelcome to Washington! The fun is about to begin, but first, please join me in pausing for a moment, to ask God’s blessing upon our nation and our next president.
O God of our many understandings, we pray that you will…
Bless us with tears – for a world in which over a billion people exist on less than a dollar a day, where young women from many lands are beaten and raped for wanting an education, and thousands die daily from malnutrition, malaria, and AIDS.
Bless us with anger – at discrimination, at home and abroad, against refugees and immigrants, women, people of color, gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people.
Bless us with discomfort – at the easy, simplistic “answers” we’ve preferred to hear from our politicians, instead of the truth, about ourselves and the world, which we need to face if we are going to rise to the challenges of the future.
Bless us with patience – and the knowledge that none of what ails us will be “fixed” anytime soon, and the understanding that our new president is a human being, not a messiah.
Bless us with humility – open to understanding that our own needs must always be balanced with those of the world.
Bless us with freedom from mere tolerance – replacing it with a genuine respect and warm embrace of our differences, and an understanding that in our diversity, we are stronger.
Bless us with compassion and generosity – remembering that every religion’s God judges us by the way we care for the most vulnerable in the human community, whether across town or across the world.
And God, we give you thanks for your child Barack, as he assumes the office of President of the United States.
Give him wisdom beyond his years, and inspire him with Lincoln’s reconciling leadership style, President Kennedy’s ability to enlist our best efforts, and Dr. King’s dream of a nation for ALL the people.
Give him a quiet heart, for our Ship of State needs a steady, calm captain in these times.
Give him stirring words, for we will need to be inspired and motivated to make the personal and common sacrifices necessary to facing the challenges ahead.
Make him color-blind, reminding him of his own words that under his leadership, there will be neither red nor blue states, but the United States.
Help him remember his own oppression as a minority, drawing on that experience of discrimination, that he might seek to change the lives of those who are still its victims.
Give him the strength to find family time and privacy, and help him remember that even though he is president, a father only gets one shot at his daughters’ childhoods.
And please, God, keep him safe. We know we ask too much of our presidents, and we’re asking FAR too much of this one. We know the risk he and his wife are taking for all of us, and we implore you, O good and great God, to keep him safe. Hold him in the palm of your hand – that he might do the work we have called him to do, that he might find joy in this impossible calling, and that in the end, he might lead us as a nation to a place of integrity, prosperity and peace.
AMEN.
