Barack Obama’s inauguration on Jan. 20 is building up to be one of the most monumental in contemporary American history.

The Obama team, responding to the criticism that followed the announcement that Warren would give the prayer, acknowledged that the two men disagree on gay equality and reproductive freedoms, but “agree on many issues vital to the pursuit of social justice, including fighting poverty and moving toward a sustainable planet.”

Is Rick Warren the only minister in the United States who wants to fight poverty and protect Earth?

The Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Obama’s pastor of some 20 years until he was tossed under a bus for too forcefully pointing out that back-of-the-bus attitudes still exist, might support a sustainable planet and the eradication of poverty. He also would travel far beyond Warren on social justice issues.

Obama’s post-election decision to select Warren for the invocation and his primary fight decision to distance himself from Wright make me think about labels and perceptions, definitions and perspectives, especially in regard to race.

The black minister’s perhaps most controversial statement suggested a causal connection between the U.S. intervention in the Middle East and terrorist attacks against the United States. When the Wright videos were playing in greater rotation on cable than “Seinfeld” episodes, how many of you heard friends, family and neighbors say Obama’s association with the minister showed bad judgment, that Wright’s statements were appalling and anti-American? How many people did you hear vow not to support Obama for his association with Wright and his attendance at Chicago’s Trinity United Church of Christ?

You might go back to those people now and ask them how happy they are with the president-elect’s selection of Warren.

But you also might ask them if they were appalled when two white evangelists — Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson — suggested that American liberalism invited the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.

Falwell, appearing on Robertson’s “700 Club,” said, “God continues to lift the curtain and allow the enemies of America to give us probably what we deserve.”

Robertson replied, “Jerry, that’s my feeling.”

Curious. Falwell and Robertson talk about America getting punished for politics and policies and they get invited to White House consultations, praised as patriotic and all-American. Wright talks about “chickens coming home to roost” and gets buried, denounced as subversive and anti-American.

Warren may not preach the hate of Robertson or James Dobson, but he has shared their beliefs on issues of abortion and homosexuality, and Warren is not a moderate.

In an e-mail sent prior to the 2004 election, Warren said for Christian voters issues such as abortion, same-sex marriage and stem cell research were non-negotiable, “not even debatable because God’s word is clear on these issues.”

Until very recently, the Web site for Saddleback contained the statement, “Because membership in a church is an outgrowth of accepting the Lordship and leadership of Jesus in one’s life, someone unwilling to repent of their homosexual lifestyle would not be accepted at [sic] a member of Saddleback Church. That does not mean they cannot attend church — we hope they do! God’s Word has the power to change our lives.”

And, this past election season Warren encouraged votes for Proposition 8, which amended California’s constitution to deny gays the right to marry.

Warren has said legalizing same-sex marriage is like redefining marriage to allow incest and pedophilia.

In defense of the Warren choice, the Obama team promoted the inauguration as “the most open, accessible and inclusive inauguration in American history.”

Obama was quoted as saying, “During the course of the entire inaugural festivities, there are going to be a wide range of viewpoints that are presented. And that’s how it should be, because that’s what America’s about. That’s part of the magic of this country.… We are diverse and noise and opinionated.”

Of course I welcome the president-elect’s calls for unity and inclusion, but I just don’t understand and certainly don’t find any magic in giving Rick Warren the honor of delivering the inaugural invocation.

I don’t know what Warren will say on Jan. 20, but I’ll remind you of what he said approaching a vote on Proposition 8: “About 2 percent of Americans are homosexual or gay, lesbian people. We should not let 2 percent of the population determine, to change a definition of marriage that has been supported by every single culture and every single religion for 5,000 years. This is not even just a Christian issue, it’s a humanitarian, a human issue.”