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THE BIG QUESTION — Friday, Dec. 19

by The Hill - 12/19/08 1:25 PM ET

The Big Question is a feature where influential lawmakers, pundits and interest group leaders give their answers to a question that’s driving discussion in news circles around the country.

Today’s Big Question is:

Was it a good move for Obama to invite Rev. Rick Warren to deliver the invocation at his inauguration?

See responses below from Family Research Council President Tony Perkins, NAACP Chairman Julian Bond, and Americans for Tax Reform President Grover Norquist.

Tony Perkins, president, Family Research Council said:

President-elect Obama has asked the Reverend Rick Warren, pastor of California’s Saddleback Church and bestselling author of The Purpose-Driven Life, to deliver the invocation at Obama’s inauguration next month. I’m heartened by his choice of one of America’s leading evangelical pastors-who is pro-life and pro-marriage-for this honor. Read the full response

Julian Bond, chairman, NAACP said:

No — Warren’s opposition to choice in marriage rights and reproductive rights makes him an unsuitable choice for this honor.

Grover Norquist, president, Americans for Tax Reform said:

It was wise of Obama to invite Rick Warren to deliver the invocation at the innauguration. At Democrat conventions it is understood that those with pro-life values are banned from the podium. That is a party position. But the innauguration is a national, not a partisan event. It belongs to all Americans.

Neil Giuliano, president of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) said:

The inauguration of a new President is a day when Americans should be brought together, to signal a new beginning for our country. It is therefore deeply troubling that the President-elect has selected someone whose defamatory and damaging anti-gay statements and views, including linking marriage for committed same-sex couples to incest and pedophilia, clearly divide rather than unite Americans. Media outlets have a responsibility to scrutinize Rick Warren’s history of using his powerful platform to advance anti-gay rhetoric and prevent loving couples from being able to take care of and be responsible for one another.