While there has been a lot of controversy and anger about Barack Obama's selection of Rick Warren to deliver the Invocation at his Inauguration, I think this is a great choice. Here's why.
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Barack ran on the platform that "there is no liberal America, there is no conservative America, there is just the United States of America." This mindset is what attracted me to Obama in 2004, and I feel very hopeful that he is attempting to govern out of this conviction.
Divisive social issues such as gay rights and abortion rights have long divided Americans, becoming a destructive wedge issue in the process. It's important that conservatives and liberals be able to talk across the divide, not just attack the other side.
By choosing Warren (an evangelical) and Lowry (a liberal) to give the Invocation and Benediction for his Inaugural, Obama is incarnating the principle he enunciated. Hopefully, he will make it possible for conservatives and progressives to have honest conversations and to disagree openly but civilly. The outcome of this conversation could well be the realization that there are interim steps that can be taken in the process of realizing gay rights. I think there is a national consensus to creating equal and equivalent legal rights for same-sex and heterosexual couples. Reaching out to evangelical Americans can make it easier to make progress toward full equality.
I know that many are unwilling to accept incremental process, but — strategically — this is the way forward. The right wing has been disciplined in "chipping away" at abortion rights over many years; progressives haven't liked what conservatives have done, but we need to recognize that this strategy has been effective. My opinion is that we progressives need to show the same kind of patience and strategic thinking to begin to realize gay rights. We should press for full legal equivalence of gay and heterosexual partners (something that is achievable). The argument seems to be over the definition of "marriage." My view: you cannot legislate the meaning of a word, anyway.
But here's the essential point: bringing someone like Rick Warren to the table helps begin the process of getting progressives and evangelicals talking — and listening. I don't think there's a downside.