Inauguration Service Brings Together Many Faiths

Suzanne Sataline reports about the inauguration. When he was planning his inauguration ceremony, Barack Obama took some heat for choosing an evangelical minister, the Rev. Rick Warren , to give the benediction. Warren, as expected, offered a decidedly Christian message by mentioning his savior, Jesus, and reciting the Lord’s Prayer. The inaugural prayer service at the Washington National Cathedral this morning gives many other faiths their due. Readings were scheduled to be delivered by a pastor from mainline Protestant faiths, rabbis from both Reform Judaism and Conservative Judaism, the primate of the Greek Orthodox Church in America, leaders of a Muslim group and a Hindu temple, and Catholic hierarchs. Of these faiths, Obama is a mainline Protestant. Included in the program is at least one minister linked to the new president’s past. The Rev. Otis Moss Jr. , the former pastor of a Cleveland Baptist Church is a longtime friend of Obama’s former pastor, the Rev.  ... (link)