President-elect Obama has reached out to obese creationist bigot Rick Warren, provoking outrage among his supporters. The president-elect wants to fill his platform with Americans of every stripe, representatives of every argument in the big noisy debate that is this great nation. It's a splendid idea, and the outrage is unjustified. We can all learn from each other, even from apparently vicious religious fanatics like Warren.
Glancing through the online excerpts from Warren's best-selling The Purpose Driven Life, we discover that our sole reason for being is to worship God, but only Warren's God and only in Warren's way. We do so in order to reach heaven. Which means that everybody who doesn't share Warren's credo won't get to heaven. Also that all those who deviate from Warren's dogma have no reason to exist. Leading to the inescapable conclusion that we might as well dispose of all the Jews, Moslems, Hindus, atheists and so on right now and get it over with. They're just taking up valuable space that could be better filled with Warren supporters. Would we have considered these matters in this way if Obama hadn't inspired us to delve into Warreniana? Of course not.
The genius of the president-elect's strategy is apparent. By giving the most prominent platform to those with the most detestable views, Obama forces us to rethink everything we thought we knew, to shed our prejudices and embrace ideas we otherwise would reject out of hand. That's why the inauguration will also include representatives of the Klu Klux Klan, the American Nazi Party, The Aryan Nation, The Flat Earth Society, The North American Man Boy Love Association, Al Qaeda, The American Enterprise Institute, and Skull and Bones.
Hitherto we have considered these repulsive and dangerous fringe organizations. By allowing them to air their views not only to mainstream Americans but to each other, the new administration counts on our finding what we have in common rather than focusing on our differences. In this way we will all become more alike, leading to universal peace and harmony.
This is exactly the same principle expressed by Warren Beatty's character in the film Bulworth: If we all just screwed each other much more, racial differences would simply disappear. Obama supporters should therefore swallow their outrage. By granting the national bully pulpit to Rick Warren, the Obama administration has ensured that the universal screwing starts with a big bang.