Yesterday’s ceremonies made it official — Barack Obama is the president of the United States.The event will remain a bright note of hope for our nation, the beginning of a presidency — of an era — where we as a nation attempt to heal the bitter rancor on issues that have so long divided us, to rebuild the bridges we have all burnt a thousand times over.Unfortunately, there are already those who would attempt to interfere with that process and keep the wounds festering and the bridges burning.Before he was even inaugurated, President Obama began taking heat from — ironically — the staunchest base of the party that elected him.Obama’s choice of evangelical pastor Rick Warren to deliver the invocation at the inaugural ceremony had pundits from across the left howling with rage. They claim Warren, author of the best-selling self-help book “The Purpose Driven Life” and pastor of the colossal Saddleback megachurch, is prejudiced against gay people. They say he equates gays with pedophiles. Their evidence?One interview. In fact, about 20 seconds of one interview — seconds which are taken grievously out of context.Watch the clip on YouTube.com for yourself, and see just how out of context it really is.When asked about why he does not support gay marriage, Warren explained he does not think we should change the definition of marriage. He goes on to say he doesn’t think incest, polygamy or pedophilia should be considered marriage either. When asked if he thinks those are equivalent to gays getting married, he said, “Yes.”I will admit the wording is unfortunate, but it still isn’t the slur detractors are condemning him for committing. Remember, the question he is responding to is whether marriage — marriage, specifically, not the lifestyle in general — between two people of the same sex is equivalent to marriage of incestual couples, pedophiles and polygamists.Rick Warren doesn’t think gays are the same as pedophiles. He thinks marriage between gays is the same as marriage of pedophiles, in that he doesn’t think either of them are really in line with the standing definition of the concept.Let me repeat — Warren does not think homosexuality is equivalent to pedophilia. The pastor himself has vigorously asserted this ever since detractors began using it as ammunition to attempt to have him pulled from the ceremony.What’s tragic is that one unfortunate incident has been blown out of context and has done great harm to what could have been a great symbolic rebuilt bridge.Warren’s career is one that should not be as controversial as it is. In fact, had the left chosen not to focus so much effort into destroying him, Warren would likely be taking heat from traditional evangelical   superstars, whom he has routinely called out for being harsh on gays.The man the far left is criticizing for being homophobic is the man the far right is criticizing for being too soft on gays.Even if Warren’s words are misconstrued, to blast him for being a bigot, you would have to ignore the countless admonitions he placed on his contemporaries to stop focusing so heavily on personal moral issues and start acting out the Christian calls for social justice they have sacrificed on the altar of personal values. You would even have to ignore his words from the very same interview the much-maligned, much-misinterpreted “slur” comes from.In the same interview, Warren says “I support full equal rights for everyone in America — I don’t think that we should have unequal rights depending on a particular lifestyle, so I fully support equal rights.”  He also says he supports partnership benefits.Those are some pretty interesting words for a homophobe.It’s true Warren opposes gay marriage and supported Proposition 8. But this stems from an argument on the definition of marriage, not on the belief that homosexuals are as bad as pedophiles.If you want to criticize Warren for these views, go ahead. But don’t misuse an excerpt of a film clip to make him seem like a bigot.As infuriating as this response is, it’s entirely expected. But give credit where it’s due — Obama ignored the complaints of his own party base to make a symbolic gesture of great importance. I hope, once the dust settles, Rick Warren will be but a footnote in history. But one thing is for sure: Barack Obama will be more than a footnote, and I hope his entry in the books will be about a leader who continued to ignore petty, divisive nagging and reunited a broken nation.–Contact Matthew Albright at [email protected]