Bishop Robinsons Inaugural Prayer Not Heard

The slight of Bishop Robinson --- whether accidental or deliberate --- will likely enrage those on the left unhappy with the Obama team's move to the political centre.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Religious Intelligencer) - The Bishop of New Hampshire disappeared from America's television screens on Sunday as the live broadcast of President-elect Barack Obama's inaugural festivities omitted the opening prayers of Bishop Gene Robinson.

A long-time supporter and active campaigner of President-elect Obama, Bishop Robinson had been invited by the Presidential Inaugural Committee to give a prayer at the inaugural concert. The invitation came after activists protested Obama's selection of Rick Warren to give the invocation at the president's swearing-in ceremony.

The slight of Bishop Robinson --- whether accidental or deliberate --- will likely enrage those on the left unhappy with the Obama team's move to the political centre. Gay activists had charged the Obama campaign with treachery for having solicited their support during the election, but dumping them once victory was in hand. The selection of Rick Warren was especially galling as the California Baptist had been a vocal supporter of Proposition 8 --- the state initiative that overturned the California Supreme Court's legalization of gay marriage.

HBO, a cable network owned by Time-Warner Communications, had been given exclusive broadcast rights to the "We Are One: The Obama Inaugural Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial", the Opening Celebration for the 56th Presidential Inaugural held at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC.

HBO said it would be broadcasting the "event that evening on an open signal, working with all of its distributors to allow Americans across the country" with cable television the opportunity "to join in the Opening Celebration for free."

The cable network's press statement said the "Opening Celebration will be a declaration of common purpose and new beginnings. The Sunday afternoon performance will be grounded in history and brought to life with entertainment that relates to the themes that shaped Barack Obama's campaign and which will be the hallmarks of his administration."

Calls to HBO's media office asking why the New Hampshire cleric's invocation was omitted from the broadcast were not returned as of our going to press. However, complaints from gay activists to HBO over the disappearance of Bishop Robinson were answered with an email saying a technical "glitch" was at fault. HBO's glitch was not the only failure that afternoon, as at least one of the large speaker towers at the Lincoln Memorial was turned off for Bishop Robinson's prayer, prompting chants of "we can't hear you" from the crowd.

Concert-goers reported that while Bishop Robinson could be seen on the "Jumbotron" viewer, he could not be heard by the crowd --- estimated at 750,000 by organizers. One person present told ReligiousIntelligence.com that the HBO logo did not appear on the jumbotron until after Bishop Robinson's prayer was concluded --- apparently indicating the prayer as a pre-concert event. Those close to the front of the podium, including a reporter for Christianity Today, reported the sound system was working around the stage --- and privately recorded videos of the invocation were taken, showing that Bishop Robinson did indeed appear that day.

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The text of the prayer released by the Bishop's office reads: "O God of our many understandings, we pray that you will bless us with tears - tears for a world in which over a billion people exist on less than a dollar a day, where young women in many lands are beaten and raped for wanting an education, and thousands die daily from malnutrition, malaria, and AIDS. "Bless this nation with anger - 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 our 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 as a nation 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.

"Bless us with compassion and generosity, remembering that every religion's God judges us by the way we care for the most vulnerable. "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, inspire him with President Lincoln's reconciling leadership style, President Kennedy's ability to enlist our best efforts, and Dr King's dream of a nation for all people.

"Give him a quiet heart, for our ship of state needs a steady, calm captain. "Give him stirring words; 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 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.

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"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 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."

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This article first appeared in the Religious Intelligencer and is used with permission.