Why Did HBO Censor Bishop Robinson’s Invocation?
Did you enjoy seeing the Rev. Gene Robinson at the inaugural invocation at the Washington Mall today? Oh, what’s that? You don’t recall seeing Rev. Gene Robinson?
Well, that’s because HBO, who Obama sold the exclusive televised rights to the broadcast events, chose to censor the openly gay Bishop from the televised feed.
An unfortunate accident? Maybe. But after the fracas following Obama inviting the wildly homophobic Rev. Rick Warren to perform the inaugural invocation on Tuesday, one might think the president-elect and his team would be a bit more mindful about how this looks.
One thing’s for certain. Don’t expect HBO to censor out Rick Warren from the festivities this Tuesday. HBO has stated that it was the decision of the Obama naugural Committee to have the invocation well before the televised broadcast. Whatever excuse the Obama people will choose, exactly ZERO Americans saw Bishop Robinson on TV welcoming America to a day celebrating a president who is supposedly, to quote Colin Powell, a transformational figure. And a billion people will see Rick Warren do his "thing" on Tuesday. Some transformation.
SEE the You Tube vid by Christianity Today by clicking HERE.
Herewith for posterity, is the printed form of the good man's words:
↓ By The Rt. Rev. V. Gene Robinson, Episcopal Bishop of New Hampshire
Opening Inaugural Event
Lincoln Memorial, Washington, DC
January 18, 2009 " ...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.
