A few years ago, a friend of mine gave me a copy of Rick Warren’s Purpose Driven Life to read. I felt bad about the fact that I started the book but never completed it. After hearing the recent soundbites of Warren equating homosexuality to pedophilia and incest, two incontrovertible crimes against humanity, I imagine it may be quite a while before I ever finish the book. I’m sure it’s a good read, but the recent news has kind of left a bad taste in my mouth.

I don’t want to go into a long, drawn out diatribe on this whole Rick Warren thing. There are just a few things I want to point out.

1) I think President-elect Obama made one of his first missteps as our new leader when he chose Warren to offer Invocation at his Inaugural ceremony. Warren is considered by many to be a good man. He is respected around the world and his literature has become required reading for many people of faith. But some of his beliefs are so antithetical to Obama’s, one has to wonder what positives there would be in extending such an invitation. I am in the midst of partaking of Doris Kearns Goodwin’s book Team of Rivals, and from the introduction alone, one could replace Lincoln’s name with Obama’s and the difference in the two and their approach to forming an administration would be nominal. To me it is true that the best discourse may come from those whose ideals are not always perfectly aligned. Such differences can provoke better decision-making.

However, why would Obama alienate the very people who gave him such a strong backing during his campaign, especially by embracing someone who is not even going to be a part of his cabinet? There is no real benefit to bringing such controversy to a historic ceremony that is full of pomp and circumstance but not at all impactful when it comes to policy decisions. Why rock the boat if you don’t have to? And why spit upon those who so lovingly lifted you upon their shoulders and helped to carry you into the White House?

2) That being said, it must be reiterated that Reverend Warren is not a part of the Obama administration. And it should also be pointed out that Obama has proven himself to be a shrewd, meticulous and determined man. He has made it clear that the final decisions to be made will be made by him. “The buck stops with me.” So, while his choice for this historic yet — in the grand scheme of things — relatively insignificant ceremony was a bad one, I truly believe that Obama’s policies will, in the long run, be more offensive to Reverend Warren’s sensibilities than to the LGBT community. Obama says he supports the Gay community (and abortion rights, which also differ greatly from Warren’s own ideals) and, at this point, I take him at his word. We shall see.

3) On a personal level, it bothers me when people try to equate the struggles of African-Americans to the struggles of Gay men and women. I think the discrimination both groups receive is the same, and I think that the psychological effect such discrimination has on the two groups is the same. But I think there are differences that make one a struggle from crib to grave and another an internal struggle that can remain hidden until it is either forced or voluntarily brought to the fore. I am not diminishing the pain and suffering endured. I am not diminishing the torment one must feel, spending a life rejecting what is only a natural feeling, a feeling that is often portrayed by friends and foe alike as sinfully unnatural. And I am not diminishing the obvious physical and psychological torment endured during overt gestures of hate by the intolerant. I guess I feel that one group (usually) has control over when and how their “outing” is revealed while the other group is thrust into combat the minute they emerge from the womb. The struggle for both is a tough one, but the road on which these struggles transpire is markedly different.