Olive Branch

Barack Obama has invited openly gay Bishop Gene Robinson to give the invocation at an inaugural concert at the Lincoln Memorial. Via press release from the HRC:

Right Rev. V. Gene Robinson, bishop of the U.S. Episcopal Church in the diocese of New Hampshire has accepted an invitation from President-elect Barack Obama’s inaugural committee to deliver the invocation at a concert held at the Lincoln Memorial. The concert, which will be held on Sunday, January 18th, is the first inaugural event the president-elect will attend. Bishop Robinson, the first openly gay priest to be ordained bishop by a major Christian denomination, is a member of the Human Rights Campaign Religion Council.

“Bishop Robinson models what prayer should be—spiritual reflection put into action for justice,” said Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese. “It is encouraging that the president-elect has chosen this spiritual hero for all Americans to lead the nation in prayer at the Lincoln Memorial inaugural concert.”

Does this mitigate the Rick Warren debacle in your mind?

UPDATE: Politico says the invite was out before the Warren mess started: "An Obama source: 'Robinson was in the plans before the complaints about Rick Warren. Many skeptics will read this as a direct reaction to the Warren criticism – but it’s just not so.' Robinson has been referred to as 'the most controversial Christian in the world.'"