Ahhhh… Pastor Rick.

Pastor Rick. Pastor Rick. Pastor Rick.

Surely you’ve heard of “Pastor Rick” - he’s the guy who loves everyone, even Pat and Sam! I’m glowing inside. I’m tingling, way down deep inside.

Now, I hate to sound snide. I don’t really want to be that way, but I’m afraid I get very cold when I hear a televangelist tell me that I’m loved.

You see, like so many others I remember Anita Bryant.

Anita Bryant was a Southern Baptist too, just like Pastor Rick.

She told me how much she loved me too, just like Pastor Rick. She told me that I’m exactly the same as a child molester, just like Pastor Rick. I can only assume she agrees with Pastor Rick that I’m the same as incest and bigamy.

You know, the only difference that I can find between Pastor Rick and Anita Bryant in this regard is that Anita loved me so much she wanted me to spend the rest of my life in prison.

I’ve never quite figured out how that fits into the vision of Christ’s love that I get from the Bible, but that’s just me.

I certainly can’t find where Pastor Rick has said that homosexuality should be illegal like Anita Bryant. I sure hope he doesn’t. I just don’t know for sure. The evidence so far isn’t encouraging, I’ll tell you that.

In any case, I haven’t forgotten Anita Bryant’s brand of love. So, when I hear Rick Warren saying essentially the same things today that Anita Bryant said 30 years ago I start to get a little squeamish - and more than a little angry.

Which leads me to Barack Hussein Obama. I find it extremely interesting to see his full legal name written out in the context of this issue. But, I digress.

I understand that the President elect desires a healing in this country. That’s why I support him. I understand he wants to work with people on those individual and insulated issues that we can actually move forward on. He is wise. He’s said that we should try to “disagree without being disagreeable”. I admire his call for comity and respectful discussion. I understand that Pastor Rick had taken steps to help the sick and the poor. I admire these steps. They are truly welcome and desperately needed.

That is why I do try to keep my anger in check when I respectfully say to our President elect that the choice of Rick Warren to give the invocation at your historic inauguration will carry with it the obligation for many discussions - discussions free of anything disagreeable, naturally - about Pastor Rick’s message that same-sex couples are to be considered the same as incest, pedophilia, and bigamy - and I still wonder if Pastor Rick wants to see Pat and I incarcerated for being homosexual lovers for 28 years.

I will welcome with intense anticipation hearing Barack Hussein Obama discuss his views on this (he obviously has extensive experience fighting bigotry), and I’ll be very interested to hear if he will both “reject and denounce” these statements by Pastor Rick.

And Anita Bryant.