Rick Warren Is an Unapologetic Christian Radical -- And There's No Need to Apologize for Opposing Him By Amy Goodman,

AMY GOODMAN: President-Elect Barack Obama is drawing criticism from many supporters for his choice to deliver the invocation at next month’s inauguration. Obama selected the Rev. Rick Warren, a leading evangelical opponent of abortion and same-sex marriage. Warren supported California’s recent gay marriage ban and has compared abortion to the Nazi Holocaust. In a recent interview with the Web site beliefnet.com, Warren said he thinks gay marriage is comparable to incest, polygamy and child abuse.

RICK WARREN: I’m opposed to having a brother and sister be together and call that marriage. I’m opposed to an older guy marrying a child and calling that a marriage. I’m opposed to one guy having multiple wives and calling that marriage.

STEVEN WALDMAN: Do you think those are equivalent to gays getting married?

RW: Oh, I do. I just say, for 5,000 years, marriage has been defined by every single culture and every single religion. This is not a Christian issue. Buddhists, Muslims, Jews -- you know, historically, marriage is a man and a woman.

AG: I’m joined now by Max Blumenthal, Puffin Foundation writing fellow at the Nation Institute. His work has appeared in the Nation, Salon and many other publications, he is currently writing a book on the U.S. evangelical movement. His latest article, “Rick Warren’s Hypocritical Double Life,” is online at dailybeast.com. Max Blumenthal joins us by video stream.

Welcome to Democracy Now, Max.