Inaugural Prayers

With all the controversy surrounding the choice of Rick Warren to deliver the invocation at the Obama Inauguration, Steve Waldman over at Beliefnet.com has taken the opportunity to track down all of the inaugural prayers going back to the swearing-in of Franklin Delano Roosevelt.  The Reverend Billy Graham was a favorite of both Bushes, Clinton and Nixon, the first time around.   Also, interesting to see that Nixon, Eisenhower, Kennedy and Johnson all included prayers by rabbis and Greek Orthodox bishops.
 
Episcopalian Bishop V. Gene Robinson – who will offer the invocation at an Obama event Sunday night – must have seen this list, too…He tells the New York Times that he is “horrified” by how Christian many of these prayers were and promises to offer a prayer for all Americans.