(NOTE: I attended Saddleback church while living in Orange County for two years during the late 1980s)
The more I hear the critics of President-elect Obama's decision to have Pastor Rick Warren deliver the invocation during his inaugural, I keep thinking of Rodney King's famous comment that effectively ended rioting in Los Angeles-- "Can't we just get along."
O.K. I found Warren's support of Proposition 8 in California to be highly offensive, and one may take exception to his position on abortion as well, but does anyone really understand that what we elected Obama to do was not just be the president of progressives, but the president of every American, whether he be Democrat or Republican, liberal or conservative?
More below.
While some may judge Warren by his Prop. 8 actions and his views on gay marriage, there are some other parts of Rick Warren that distinguish him from many other megachurch pastors.
Here's a passage from a Wall Street Journal story:
Despite his popularity, Mr. Warren has been criticized by many, including theologically conservative and fundamentalist Christians who argue he is an imprecise interpreter of the Bible and a profiteer who has commercialized Christianity.
Randall Balmer, a Barnard College historian who has written about the religious life of presidents, said that Mr. Warren's outreach has made some religious leaders uncomfortable.
"The religious right still insists the only salient issues are abortion and same-sex unions," he said. "Rick is very clear about poverty and aid to developing countries and global warming. He represents the massive broadening of the political perspective."
And Warren has taken heat from his own congregants for his invitations to Obama to speak at his church:
He (Obama) and Mr. Warren have made common cause before. In 2006, Mr. Warren took grief from some of his fellow Christians when he invited then-Sen. Obama to speak at an AIDS forum at his Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif. In August, Mr. Warren invited Mr. Obama back, along with presidential rival Sen. John McCain, for back-to-back interviews on a range of religious subjects.
In both his appearances at Saddleback, Obama didn't back down as he confidently stated his positions, many of them contradictory to those of Warren.
He wasn't afraid to state his positions clearly during his Saddleback trips (even when faced with potentially hostile reactions from congregants), and he was ready to defend himself vigorously when then-GOP presidential hopeful Sam Brownback tried to project Obama as a stranger visiting a strange church full of folks with contrary beliefs in 2006.
As he opened his remarks Friday at a World AIDS Day summit at Rick Warren's Saddleback Church, Republican Sen. Sam Brownback said he was feeling a little more "comfortable" than he did the last time he shared a stage with Barack Obama. "We were both addressing the NAACP," Brownback explained. "They were very polite to me [but] I think they kind of wondered, 'Who's this guy from Kansas?' And then Barack Obama follows, and they're going, 'OK, now we've got Elvis.'"
Figuring their joint appearance at an Orange County evangelical church finally put the shoe on the other foot, Brownback turned to Obama and said, "Welcome to my house." The audience of evangelicals howled with laughter. But when Obama had the chance to speak a few minutes later, he returned to what Brownback had said: "There is one thing I've got to say, Sam: This is my house, too. This is God's house."
Everyone laughed again -- neither Brownback's opening nor Obama's comeback were offered with the rancor that a cold retelling of them probably suggests -- but the point had been made anyway. In Obama's eyes, at least, the Republican Party can no longer claim ownership of all things evangelical.
The Salon piece continues:
By allowing Obama to speak at his church, by throwing his arms around him -- both figuratively and literally -- Warren gave Obama both entrie and credibility; he put him on a stage where he wasn't some distant Other to be demonized or mocked, but a man to be measured alongside another, more familiar one.
What impressed me the most about Obama when he began his presidential run was his authenticity and his courage to take strong positions even in the face of potentially hostile reactions.
What also impressed me was Obama's lack of fear when it comes to reaching out to those whose beliefs he may disagree with on many an occasion.
I'm not trying to put down those who have expressed their anger with Warren over his Prop. 8 support and his stands on gays and other issues, but I'm very happy that Barack isn't afraid to try to find common ground with potential opponents Both his appearances at Saddleback encouraged my belief in him, and his decision to invite Warren to give the inaugural invocations proves even further that Barack is trying to be the uniter George W. Bush failed to be during his eight years as Washington's illegitimate White House occupant.