"This is My House Too"

This report on Barack Obama's speech during the AIDS Conference at Saddleback Church won't make the "holier-than-thou" crowd any happier with Rick Warren (my thoughts on those people can be found here):

LAKE FOREST, Calif. (AP) -- Potential presidential candidate Barack Obama stood before one of the country's largest evangelical churches Friday for a frank discussion of sexuality and spirituality that included the declaration that condoms should be made more widely available to fight AIDS

The Democratic senator's appearance at the Saddleback mega church was a source of dispute among evangelical leaders, with some of the most conservative saying that a politician who supports abortion rights should not have been allowed to speak at such a prominent church.

Obama urged unity despite political differences to fight the disease that has killed 25 million people since the first case was reported in 1981. Some 40 million currently are infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

"We are all sick because of AIDS," Obama said. "We are all challenged by this crisis."

In a show of political unity, Obama took an AIDS test with a potential White House rival on the Republican side -- Sen. Sam Brownback of Kansas. Brownback draws his support from the conservative evangelical community, but Obama has been urging liberals not to allow Republicans to claim itself the party of Christians.

After addressing Brownback as his friend and applauding his efforts on issues such as AIDS, Obama said: "There is one thing I've got to say, Sam, though: This is my house too. This is God's house. So I just want to be clear."

Heh. That ought to be good for another hundred irrational rants from the Warren critics.