Liberal groups and Democrats are up in arms with the Obama's selection of the Rev. Rick Warren's participation in his Inauguration ceremony. As written by CNN:
Prominent liberal groups and gay rights proponents criticized President-elect Barack Obama Wednesday for choosing evangelical pastor Rick Warren to deliver the invocation at the presidential inauguration next month.
President-elect Barack Obama has chosen pastor Rick Warren to deliver the invocation at his inauguration.
Warren, one of the most influential religious leaders in the nation, has championed issues such as a reduction of global poverty, human rights abuses and the AIDS epidemic.
But the founder of the Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California, has also adhered to socially conservative stances -- including his opposition to gay marriage and abortion rights that puts him at odds with many in the Democratic Party, especially the party's most liberal wing.
"[It's] shrewd politics, but if anyone is under any illusion that Obama is interested in advancing gay equality, they should probably sober up now," Andrew Sullivan wrote on the Atlantic Web site Wednesday.
Groups such as People for the American Way are publicly opposing the selection, hoping for a more inclusive person leading the invocation. Representative Barney Frank wrote an interesting, albeit brief, op ed on the Huffington Post about this decision, calling it "very disappointing".
So, where do I stand on this issue, you may wonder?
My initial reaction was the Obama has the right to have whomever he wants to at his inauguration. It's his ceremony, it's his day. He does have a long standing friendship with the reverend, and this very public figure speaks to millions of Americans who may have felt displaced at his election. It's a subtle way to reach across the aisles to everyone, to make an inclusive statement that everyone is welcome at the table.
I also do understand the concern from many of my allies and groups whose missions I totally support. Rev. Warren has actively worked against gay and lesbian causes, most recently supporting the heinous measure Proposition 8, which took away rights of citizens by writing discrimination into the California constitution. He claims he's not homophobic, because he gave protesters "water and donuts" (which is as about insulting to say as "I don't hate gay people. I have many friends who are gay!).
In fact, I believe the sting from Proposition 8 is still being felt among people and these groups, so Warren's inclusion is even more bothersome to those of us on this side of the issue.
Personally, for me, I find Warren's views on same sex marriage unconscionable. The fact that I want to be with my partner for the rest of my life, and share in the same financial legal benefits and protections that two opposite sex people get the minute they say I do does not threaten anyone or anything. Should people want to strive to protect marriage, then they need to be working on a dual front: offer more classes for couples to have successful marriages, and/or outlaw divorce. But since most of the Republican politic ans who loudly blather on about protecting the "sanctity of marriage" are on their second or third marriage, or have admitted to publicly cheating on their spouses, it's not going to happen soon.
But, I digress...
For me, this issue comes down to the fact that Obama has promised change. He promised change in his campaign from day one. And change means we include everyone in the discussion. For the past eight years, my ideas, views, and beliefs were not represented in Washington DC or in the White House. For the past eight years, I was shut out of the American dream by a president who proclaimed in that house the desire to write discrimination into the Constitution based on an immutable part of my personality. Obama's change is not now disallowing conservative voices in his government, but offering a totally inclusive administration. His move to include Warren in his ceremony is not a reversal of his campaign, it's merely the natural result of it.
Obama's spokesperson has refuted any anti-gay claims that Warren has made, ensuring us that Obama does not believe in them.
The end result is, should we desire society to change and accept all of its citizens, we first have to get them to listen to us. And the way to get them to listen to us is to have them come to the table, sit down, and get to know us. Maybe, over these next eight years, Obama will inspire disparate groups, who often spend time shouting over each other, to talk with each other. Then, maybe, consensus will come.
We can only hope.