Barack Obama is set to violate the terms of his Oath of Office even before he speaks the oath on January 20, 2009. By choosing to have Christian preacher Rick Warren give an official religious invocation before the Inauguration, Obama is unconstitutionally mixing church and state and creating the impression that the Inauguration is a religious ceremony and that the office of President of the United States is a religious office.<Br><Br>Making this situation worse is the fact that Rick Warren has publicly stated that he believes that only people who believe in God should be allowed to become President of the United States. To have a person who is such a prominent proponent of religious discrimination in presidential politics be involved in the inauguration of the President of the United States is an outrageous insult against atheist and other non-religious Americans.<Br><Br>For these reasons, atheists urge Barack Obama to reconsider his decision to have Rick Warren deliver a religious invocation to introduce the Presidential Inauguration 2009.
Barack Obama is set to violate the terms of his Oath of Office even before he speaks the oath on January 20, 2009. By choosing to have Christian preacher Rick Warren give an official religious invocation before the Inauguration, Obama is unconstitutionally mixing church and state and creating the impression that the Inauguration is a religious ceremony and that the office of President of the United States is a religious office.<Br><Br>Making this situation worse is the fact that Rick Warren has publicly stated that he believes that only people who believe in God should be allowed to become President of the United States. To have a person who is such a prominent proponent of religious discrimination in presidential politics be involved in the inauguration of the President of the United States is an outrageous insult against atheist and other non-religious Americans.<Br><Br>For these reasons, atheists urge Barack Obama to reconsider his decision to have Rick Warren deliver a religious invocation to introduce the Presidential Inauguration 2009.
We, the undersigned, note that:
1. The Inauguration is a secular, public occasion to begin the term of a President who is supposed to serve all Americans, regardless of creed. 2. Rick Warren has publicly declared that he believes that only people who believe in God should be allowed to become President of the United States.
Rick Warren's agenda is contrary to Constitution's ban on any religious test for public office. Furthermore, a religious invocation is in violation of the separation of church and state.
When you take the Oath of Office, you will pledge to uphold the Constitution. Please, don't break that promise with the first act of your Inauguration. We, atheist citizens of the United States of America, urge you to keep the 2009 Inauguration a secular event that speaks equally to all Americans, and to remove Rick Warren from the official inaugural ceremonies.
We signed the "Atheists Against the Rick Warren Inaugural Invocation" petition!
# 36:
2:11 pm PST, Jan 10,Roxie Schliesman, Wisconsin
# 35:
6:20 am PST, Jan 10,BiLL Fowlie, Maine
# 34:
7:20 am PST, Jan 8,William A. Wisdom, Pennsylvania
It's not just GLBT Americans who have reason to be concerned about the involvement of Rick Warren in Barack Obama's inaugural. The introductory invocation by Rick Warren is a slap in the face to non-religious Americans as well. That's why
# 33:
3:45 pm PST, Jan 7,Sally Cramer, Pennsylvania
# 32:
2:22 pm PST, Jan 7,Barry Dancis, Pennsylvania
It's fine with me that Rick Warren attends the inauguration but not as a representative of the best and most inspiring aspects of our natures. His unrepudiated hateful remarks of the past are not acceptable
# 31:
8:08 am PST, Jan 7,Santiago Ochoa, Venezuela
I'm not from the US but anything that helps separate church and state is worth signing.
# 30:
2:31 pm PST, Jan 6,Glen Loev, Pennsylvania
It's now even more obvious that although Obama was elected over McCain (whew!) we still have much work to do to rebuild the critically important separation between Church and State.
# 29:
1:18 pm PST, Jan 6,Scott Pleune, Pennsylvania
Rick Warren is not a friend of human freedom and rights.
# 28:
1:18 pm PST, Jan 6,Scott Pleune, Pennsylvania
Rick Warren is not a friend of human freedom and rights.
# 27:
12:33 pm PST, Jan 6,Shaun McGonigal, Pennsylvania
# 26:
12:14 pm PST, Jan 6,Sally Flynn, Pennsylvania
# 25:
11:31 am PST, Jan 6,Barry McGowan, Pennsylvania
# 24:
6:52 am PST, Jan 4,Silky Wylder, Wisconsin
# 23:
1:06 pm PST, Jan 3,David John McMichael Biritz, Kansas
Three words Barack: Loving Versus Virginia!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If you do othing about this issue on your first day as president we will think you are a lieing fraud.
# 22:
9:36 pm PST, Dec 30,Linda Ewen, New York
# 21:
5:24 am PST, Dec 29,Alyn Miller, Massachusetts
The simple fact is that ANY invocation of a deity violates church and state separation. That it has been done before does not make it any more legal.There are places in the world where "Honor" killings are considered justifiable and have been for centuries - does this somehow make them less horrific to a civilized human being?
Add to that that Mr. Warren is a religious bigot. The invitation of such a man to speak, much less conduct a religious invocation, at the inaugural is a pandering, unhealthy decision. This is not the man to "reach out to" to heal rifts.
# 20:
8:39 am PST, Dec 28,MB. Wulf, Massachusetts
I maintain that having prayer at the presidential inauguration is a violation of Constitutionally protected separation of church and state.
A public school teacher can't offer a prayer at the front of her class. The Mayor can't erect a nativity scene on the lawn of Town Hall. The Ten Commandments can't be posted in the Courthouse. So how is it that the president-elect can make his inauguration a venue for the endorsement of religion? I very much resent it, and there are thousands of others who feel the same way. Please do not have Rick Warren or any other person making prayers at a federal podium at President Obama's inauguration!
# 19:
3:17 am PST, Dec 27,DC Larson, Iowa
# 18:
2:17 pm PST, Dec 23,Michiel Smit, Arkansas
# 17:
9:17 pm PST, Dec 22,C Rafael Apollo Lido, Minnesota
# 16:
4:38 pm PST, Dec 22,Rob Carpenter, California
Rick Warren is one of those people who seem to take delight in contributing to the dumbing down of America. His continued use of "Appeal to Tradition" and other proven fallacy agruments that any educated person knows shows a lack of stability in his agruments and opinions. I hope that Mr. Obama reconsiders his choosing such a sorry and pathetic figure anywhere in his administration.
# 15:
8:12 pm PST, Dec 21,Pam Boland, Georgia
# 14:
1:05 pm PST, Dec 21,Terre Dunivant, California
# 13:
7:49 am PST, Dec 21,Natasha Kotecki, Virginia
# 12:
12:37 pm PST, Dec 20,Lynda Harding, United Kingdom
# 11:
9:12 am PST, Dec 20,William R. Clark, Massachusetts
30 million Americans identify themselves as non-religious. The LGBT
community also comprises 30 million citizens. Even allowing for overlap, this is a HUGE minority. Please remember, Mr. Obama, that you are
THEIR president as well.
# 10:
9:00 pm PST, Dec 19,DONNA BAKER, Illinois
# 9:
8:21 pm PST, Dec 19,Name not displayed, Louisiana
# 8:
5:20 pm PST, Dec 19,Billy Britt, Georgia
# 7:
2:11 pm PST, Dec 19,Steve Dale, Australia
GET RID OF RELIGION FROM GOVERNMENT OR GIVE ALL RELIGIONS EQUAL TIME AND SAY,YOU CANT HAVE ONE WITHOUT THE OTHER.
# 6:
8:49 am PST, Dec 19,Lee Riemenschneider, Indiana
The choice of Rick Warren sends a message of prejudice and intolerance to many Americans. This is outrageous! I was hoping my vote would also bring a change away from the Republican's strong emphasis on the bigotry of the religious right.
# 4:
4:50 am PST, Dec 19,James Cook, Ohio
It wouldn't be acceptable if Rick Warren had said black people or people from Texas shouldn't be allowed to become President of the United States. Why is it acceptable that Rick Warren has said atheist people shouldn't be allowed to become President of the United States? The answer: it is NOT acceptable. Rick Warren does not represent the spirit of American liberty. He should not speak for America at the inauguration.
# 3:
9:51 pm PST, Dec 18,Ari R. Kolman, Canada
The same way the phrase “Family Values” means everyone except Gays & Lesbians, is the same way Rick Warren means everyone except Gays & Lesbians, this is really hard to swallow that this man could spread hate and be considered to head up Barack Obama’s Inauguration, please don’t let this happen.. This is terrible and Barack will lose a lot of support by allowing this to happen.. But what if he’s being pressured or threatened by the Bush Administration and we don’t know about it? Well it’s sickening to think about, but if it happens it truly is not the way to do things, but I pray it doesn’t happen. I Love Obama and expect wonderful decisions to be made by him, but what if this decision is decided by Bush or something? Well, Please Obama reconsider this and don’t allow this awful man that spreads greed and hate to head your inauguration party…. It will , Legitimizing homophobia and ignorance and every bad thing this man stands for… Thank you for caring…
# 2:
9:21 pm PST, Dec 18,Name not displayed, New York
# 1:
8:51 pm PST, Dec 18,Jonathan Cook, New York
I don't expect to ever run for President myself, but I do expect that others who, like myself, do not believe in God, should be able to run for office in equal standing, as the Constitution guarantees. Rick Warren has said that we atheists should not be allowed to be President. That opposition to the Constitutional principle of equality under the law, without any religious test for public office, makes Rick Warren an extremely poor choice for involvement in your inauguration.
