Christian leaders said the swearing-in of the nation's first African-American president is a sign of racial progress but worried that the battle to end abortion and defend traditional marriage would intensify in the coming months.
[01.21.09] Record-setting crowds braved frigid weather on Tuesday to witness the historic inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th president of the United States. But while many applauded the event as a victory for racial progress, several ministry leaders warned that Christians must remain vigilant in a fight against abortion and same-sex marriage that is likely to intensify.
During his invocation, Saddleback Church pastor Rick Warren called the swearing-in of the nation’s first African-American president a “hingepoint of history.”
“We are so grateful to live in this land, a land of unequaled possibility, where the son of an African [man] can rise to the highest level of our leadership,” Warren prayed. “We know today that Dr. King and a great cloud of witnesses are shouting in heaven.”
Thirty-six years after the 1973 landmark case made abortion-on-demand legal, many Christians worry President Barack Obama will turn back the clock on years of progress made by the pro-life movement.
Jan. 22, 2009 — As tens of thousands of Americans descended on the National Mall for today’s March for Life, the 35th annual protest of the 1973 Roe v. Wade abortion decision, pro-life groups expressed concern that President Barack Obama will use his power to strengthen the abortion industry worldwide.
“Today is the 36th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, and abortions here in the U.S. are at their lowest number in years,” said Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the pro-life group Susan B. Anthony List (SBA List). “So it’s unfortunate that President Obama is poised to make subsidizing abortion abroad one of his first priorities. I strongly urge President Obama to reconsider his decision to bypass the will of American taxpayers and promote the radical agenda of the abortion lobby.”
