This morning, the National Prayer Breakfast returned to Washington, D.C., an annual event in which the president, members of Congress, foreign dignitaries, military leaders, and religious types all network with each other over a shared love of eggs and Jesus. But a cloud hangs over this year’s event, because CREW, a government watchdog group, is complaining about the event’s sponsor, the shadowy organization commonly known as “the Family.” CREW’s executive director explains:
“It is a combination of the intolerance of the organization’s views, and the secrecy surrounding the organization. It doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be allowed to hold their breakfast; of course they should. The question is, Should American officials be lending legitimacy to it, giving their imprimatur by showing up.”
What’s so bad about this organization? Well, for one they have ties to a law proposed in Uganda that would execute gay people for being gay. But Obama went anyway, because, seriously, everyone who’s anyone was going to be there, and it’s tradition, and he was hungry. But to appease the CREW people, Obama also made sure to mention that killing gay Ugandans is wrong.
“We may disagree about gay marriage, but surely we can agree that it is unconscionable to target gays and lesbians for who they are — whether it’s here in the United States or, as Hillary mentioned, more extremely in odious laws that are being proposed most recently in Uganda.”
Yep, that’s Hillary Clinton he’s referring to (that’s how big this thing is; she didn’t even go to the State of the Union). Apparently, she also mentioned that killing gay Ugandans is wrong. It seems clear that they thought certain people in the room needed to hear that multiple times. It’s a very complex concept. You really have to hammer it home.
National Prayer Breakfast Draws Controversy [NYT]
Obama Takes On Birthers, Uganda Anti-Gay Law At Prayer Breakfast [HuffPo]
