I think Barack Obama’s decision to have Rick Warren deliver the inaugural invocation is… well, not “good” exactly, but right. I know that Rick Warren holds a lot of non-progressive social views. He is very outspoken in his opposition to a woman’s right to choose, he has called his position against stem cell research “non-negotiable,” and he strongly supported Proposition 8. But he has also tried to broaden the agenda of the religious right by including traditionally progressive issues like climate change, poverty, AIDS and human rights.
Also, lost in the resounding outcry of protest over the Rick Warren pick is the fact that there is another man who will stand on the inaugural stage alongside Barack Obama. Reverend Joseph E. Lowery will deliver the benediction. Reverend Lowery is an icon of the civil rights movement and co-founder of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference with Martin Luther King. In 2006, at Coretta Scott King’s funeral, he famously called out President Bush over the war in Iraq, and he is a supporter of gay marriage.
Reverend Lowery’s participation in the inaugural ceremony is not getting nearly the press coverage that Rick Warren’s is, but I think it’s important to note that both men will play prominent roles. I also think it’s important to note that while many of us were dismayed (and/or outraged) by the passage of Proposition 8, a large segment of Obama supporters voted yes on that proposition (seventy percent of blacks and over half of Hispanics).
I disagree with Rev. Chuck Currie, minister at the Parkrose Community United Church of Christ in Portland, Oregon, who said that the choice of Rick Warren sends a very wrong message about who America is and what our aspirations are. On inauguration day, President Obama will share the stage not only with Rick Warren, but with Rev. Joseph Lowery, President Bush, Aretha Franklin, Violinist Itzhak Perlman, pianist Gabriela Montero, clarinetist Anthony McGill, cellist Yo-Yo Ma, poet Elizabeth Alexander from Yale University and Chief Justices Paul Stevens and John G. Roberts. That’s quite a diverse cast – ethnically, politcally and artistically… I think it shows exactly “who America is.”
P.S. For me, the title of this post is “bold.” I think it counts toward the goal of one bold move per December day…
Wow — I think this IS a bold step….by anyone’s standards! To take a very emotionally-laden, strongly-and-massively-held view and say, “whoa, horsey!”, let’s consider everything here. It is the hardest thing to do this!
And, doing this blog is an example, too, of who America is…or should be — i.e., feisty, challenging, truth-speaking, inviting diverse opinion, and being willing to learn and be changed. At least, this is what I thought I was emigrating to when I bought my one-way ticket to the US!
So, thank you for exemplifying what this country stands for and should be living out!
The roll-call of guests at the inaugural stage brought tears to my eyes. Thanks!
In bold journeying with you,
Teresa
I agree that Obama is about the big tent, letting everyone in. I just wish he would also let in a Buddhist and Hindu priest, an imon and a rabbi. What’s with the Christianity thing anyway? And how about a few pagans for good measure?
And I have to say, Warren is not my favorite person. I just learned this morning about his comments comparing same sex marriage to pedophilia, incest and polygamy. This does not make me like him any more. It gives me pause as to whether he should be in the tent, or maybe standing just outside in the rain and snow…