Anatomy of a Presidential Decision

For the last year or so, the Catholic church and other organizations, faith-based and secular in their missions, have been battling with the Obama government over its mandate requiring that they pay for abortifacient drugs through their employee insurance plans. The Obama government has met them in court and, other than one meeting with Catholic leadership at the beginning of the fight, told them to talk to its hand. It has not listened to their objections, except to very narrowly allow that actual church staff are exempt. Catholic hospitals must comply. Christian-owned businesses have also had to go to court against the mandate, with varying rates of success. Domino’s Pizza has won so far, as has Tyndale House publishing, but Hobby Lobby has lost. Much time, effort and expense has gone into these battles, on the part of the government and the groups seeking to undo the mandate.

Fast forward to today. Rev. Louie Giglio was slated to deliver the invocation at President Obama’s second inaugural. Think Progress, using the terms “think” and “progress” very loosely, dug up an old quote from a Giglio sermon regarding the gay movement. The quote is neither hateful nor bigoted. It’s actually more nuanced than most things that get said by people on both sides of most issues. It’s far more nuanced than anything that came from, say, Rev. Jeremiah Wright.

“We must lovingly but firmly respond to the aggressive agenda of not all, but of many in the homosexual community. … Underneath this issue is a very powerful and aggressive moment. That movement is not a benevolent movement, it is a movement to seize by any means necessary the feeling and the mood of the day, to the point where the homosexual lifestyle becomes accepted as a norm in our society and is given full standing as any other lifestyle, as it relates to family. “

I’ll point out, again, that he said this in the 1990s. Less than a year ago, Barack Obama was against gay marriage but now he is not.

Well, Think Progress highlights the old quote, and, just like that, Giglio is no longer going to be a part of the inauguration.

Both fights have the same trajectory, which is the systematic marginalization of mainstream Christianity, out of the American mainstream. So, for whatever it’s worth, he is at least consistent.