OK. That's going too far. Joseph Lowery is a hero and seeing him

[cali]

bad mouthed here is just disgusting. Furthermore, Lowery supports gay marriage. I can't tell you how angry it makes me to see people jumping all over him on DU. On frickin' DU.

And let me add, that there are people here who are using this horrible Warren thing for their own purposes. There are people here who despise Obama and have hardly made a secret of it.

American civil rights career
Lowery was pastor of the Warren Street United Methodist Church, in Mobile, Alabama from 1952 until 1961. His career in the civil rights movement began in the early 1950s in Mobile, Alabama. After Rosa Parks' arrest in 1955, Lowery helped lead the Montgomery bus boycott. He headed the Alabama Civic Affairs Association, an organization devoted to the desegregation of buses and public places. In 1957, with Martin Luther King, Jr. Lowery founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and subsequently led the organization as its president from 1977 to 1997.

His property was seized in 1959 along with that of other civil rights leaders by the State of Alabama as part of a libel suit. The U.S. Supreme Court ordered the suit reversed. At the request of Martin Luther King Jr., Lowery led the Selma to Montgomery march in 1965. Lowery is a co-founder and former president of the Black Leadership Forum, a consortium of black advocacy groups. The Forum protested Apartheid in South Africa in the mid 1970s until the election of Nelson Mandela. Joseph Lowery was among the first five African Americans to get arrested at the South African Embassy in Washington D.C. during the Free South Africa movement. Lowery served as pastor of Cascade United Methodist Church in Atlanta from (1986-92), adding over a thousand members and leaving the church with ten acres of land. He is now retired but remains active in the civil rights movement.

To honor Reverend Lowery, the City of Atlanta renamed Ashby Street for him. Joseph E. Lowery Boulevard is just west of downtown Atlanta and runs north-south beginning at West Marietta Street near the campus of Georgia Tech and stretching to White Street in the West End neighborhood, running past Atlanta's Historically Black Colleges and Universities: Clark Atlanta University, Spelman College, Morehouse College, and Morris Brown College. Perhaps not coincidentally, the street intersects both Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive and Ralph David Abernathy Freeway.

Reverend Lowery has advocated for LGBT civil rights<2> and supports same-sex marriage<3>.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Lowery#American_civil_rights_career

[firedupdem]

1. Lowery is a great man and I'm glad he will be a part of the

inaugural. He has done great works in this country and worked for the disenfranchised everywhere. If he's being slammed it's not surprising but very unfortunate.

[JerseygirlCT]

14. I agree! He's a great man, and very worthy of the honor. nt

[lapfog_1]

2. Mind telling me where this is happening here at DU?

It's become such a strange place in the last few days that nothing would surprise me.

PM if you don't want to post a link.

[cali]

3. I sent you a pm. n/t

[Fire1]

17. cali, I'd like to know, also. pm please.

[ruggerson]

4. I"m sure there are people using the "horrible Warren thing"

for their own purposes.

But, the vast, vast majority of us are reviled, angered and hurt about it.

This same "faux outrage" tactic was used against many of us during the McClurkin mess (which granted was in the middle of a primary fight), mostly by people who were then "shocked" when Prop 8 passed.

[cali]

6. I know that, and you know damn well that I share that sense

of outrage and pain. That said the support here for the GLBT community far outweighs those who are in the "get over it" camp. But I'll be damned if I let the Lowery slamming go unnoticed. It's fucking vile.

[ruggerson]

7. well thank you for letting me know that he supports marriage equality

it's an important part of the picture.

[cali]

10. you are most welcome.

and it is important. He's a prominent voice.

[FrenchieCat]

5. It seems like if the throwing out of the good out with the bad......

gets momentum,
by the time all is done,
there won't be anyone left standing.

[cali]

8. yes. that's a distinct possibility. When DUers start trashing

someone like Lowery, it's not a good sign.

[Fire1]

18. You mean, throwing the baby out with the bath water?

[Mike 03]

9. Informative post. I had no clue who this person was or that he had been attacked here.

Cali, your posts are always insightful, detailed and eloquent.

Seeing LBJ attacked here over and over upset me.

Thanks.

[Starry Messenger]

11. What a great bio.

I had no idea people were attacking him. I'm sorry. Talk about someone who walked the walk. I'm glad he's going to be there!

[jonnyblitz]

12. I am going to add his name to ny "DU Sacred Cows that nobody

better dare criticize" List real quickly so I can get back to my mission of bringing Obama down by posting on DU. :crazy: :rofl:

[cali]

13. I have no idea whether or not you're on a mission to

mindlessly attack Obama. But attacking someone like Lowery who fucking supports marriage equality is moronic.

[Lilyeye]

15. I would guess yes. All that poster does is attack Obama in every post.

"And let me add, that there are people here who are using this horrible Warren thing for their own purposes. There are people here who despise Obama and have hardly made a secret of it."

Without a doubt.

[Lilyeye]

16. Thank you for posting this. I couldn't have agreed more.

[Phx_Dem]

19. Some people have gotten so wrapped up in their hate

they are starting to sound as bad, or worse, than the people they're railing against. If they think that's the way to convince people to be more open-minded, they're sadly mistaken.

[Douglas Carpenter]

20. some would trash every progressive cause - because Rick Warren was nominated to the Supreme Court

oh wait a second!!

:crazy:

Rick Warren wasn't nominated to the Supreme Court? :think:

He's giving a two minute prayer? :shrug:

And there are people here on DU seriously comparing this two minute prayer to the Nazi holocaust?

:banghead:

[MH1]

21. Leftover trolls.

(re: there are people here who are using this horrible Warren thing for their own purposes. There are people here who despise Obama and have hardly made a secret of it.)

It seems certain people think they know exactly where the lines are that they have to avoid, and manage to keep their trolling within those lines. I wonder how long they'll get away with it? Remembering the case of Tellurian (for one example of a troll too long left to play) doesn't make me feel better.

[LynneSin]

22. I somehow hope, perhaps wishful thinking, that there is a reason it was Warren and Lowery

Warren is not your typical fundie pastor - most fundies find him a bit too progressive because of Warren's work to fight AIDs and Global Warming. It would be nice to think, and perhaps I'm just daydreaming or ranting from the effects of this flu, that after this inauguration Rick Warren and Dr. Joseph Lowery will sit down together and talk about this issue with Prop #8 and gay rights. Lowery does not seem like a man who will bite his tongue - he spoke out against the war at Dr. Coretta King's funeral. Perhaps if anyone can have some inway into the mind of Rick Warren it would be a person like Dr Joseph Lowery

[Shiver]

23. Thank you so very much for saying this

It's been bugging me since the whole incident started. Joseph Lowery is a man I have long held a deep respect and admiration for. Seeing people say that his presence means nothing and others spreading lies about him is as big an offense, to me, as Warren doing the invocation. I would recommend this post if I could.

Also:

And let me add, that there are people here who are using this horrible Warren thing for their own purposes. There are people here who despise Obama and have hardly made a secret of it.

This should be seen as being as offensive as the Warren pick itself. It's one thing to be outraged if this honestly outrages you. It's another to use that outrage to further a divisive agenda.