Dear President-elect Obama
On hearing the news that Pastor Rick Warren will be delivering the invocational prayer at Barack Obama’s Presidential Inauguration, I am not outraged. I am, however, highly disappointed. The Purpose Driven Life author’s public support of California Proposition 8, although perfectly within his rights of both free speech and religious liberty, do in my opinion disqualify him for such an honor. Mr. Obama ran on a platform of inclusion, of populist government, and of a United States of America. Mr. Warren is one of many divisive figures in this arena and as such, I question the wisdom of tasking him with this honor. What signal does that send to our non-heterosexual citizens? Is this not their country too? Could not someone pray to God on their behalf as well as Mr. Warren’s? Just as Mr. Warren is a poor choice for this, so also would Jay Bakker — a christian pastor and outspoken defender of LGBT rights. The solution — the inclusive thing to do — is having someone grinding neither axe. A neutral prayer giver in this case would have avoided this entire controversy.
But rather than just bitch or brood about it, I’ve submitted a letter to Mr. Obama via change.gov, which I’ve included here. If you feel strongly one way or the other, I encourage you to do the same. I highly doubt this will ever pass in front of Mr. Obama’s eyes, but I highly appreciate the venue all the same.
Dear President-elect Obama,
I wish to add my voice to those expressing profound disappointment in having Rick Warren lead the invocation at your historic inauguration. Although many of his church’s outreaches seek to end poverty and truly care for many people, that good will is apparently not extended to the civil rights of non-heterosexuals. I understand that the evangelical movement and those at its forefront are a valuable and legitimate part of our nation and that the freedom of religious expression is fundamental to our nation’s founding impulse. However, I must urge caution at their involvement in matters of state — even something small like this. Theirs is a fundamentally intolerant subculture, which as a Christian myself, is a sad thing to say. I am not alone in my feeling that the influence of the evangelical christian right helped shape many of the most negative aspects of the Bush Administration and the last eight years. If reform is truly your task at hand, I must again strongly urge caution. We certainly cannot exclude, or attempt to sideline, this valuable constituency. However, these places and moments of honor, such as a President’s Inauguration, should exclude bigotry, intolerance, hate, and those who would by action and word deny that all men are indeed created equal. Invite them to the table with open arms, but let’s not have them say grace.
With so many neutral or even gay-friendly christian pastors and ministers available, I just can’t help but feel like we went with name recognition and best-selling author popularity over more inclusive choices. Frankly I’m surprised that there wouldn’t be representatives of all our major faiths. Perhaps there is. Regardless, I’m surprised and highly disappointed and can’t help but feel that had <em>The Purpose Driven Life</em> sold only 12 copies, this well-intended man and his intolerance wouldn’t be anywhere near this inauguration.
Thank you so much for your leadership and I look forward to where our nation can go in these next 4-8 years. Above all thank you for caring what we the people think.
Sincerely,
Nathaniel Salzman
p.s. Please stop sending me fundraising emails. The election is over and we’ve got other work to do. The next campaign and the DNC coffers will have to fend for themselves for a while.
I admit that the irony of this response isn’t lost on me. I’m expressing a preference of exclusion against Pastor Warren. Ultimately, I’m not <em>offended</em> by his involvement in the Inauguration, and in the grand scheme of things it’s not going to steer our nation one way or another. As I say in my letter, I’m simply disappointed. It’s a poor choice, in my opinion. I have a desire to see not a christian, a muslim, an agnostic or atheist public space, but a pluralist one — a public and political environment where a diversity of ideas about faith, morality, and justice converge on their common points. A place where my beliefs do not take precedence over yours or vice versa. I understand that this is simply my point of view, but a pluralistic public space is perhaps the only way we can all truly coexist in this diverse nation. When one religious or moralistic way of thinking outweighs all others, you eventually get the Taliban. You get the Inquisition. You get the Holocaust. You get the Crusades. You get Proposition 8. Sadly, we cannot rely only on the church for our national direction. For much to our shame, we Christians have found “Biblical” grounds for slavery, anti-semitism, segregation, genocide, imperialism, and hate throughout the ages. Which is why our nation’s public space, and our public policy, must look beyond even just my own point of view.
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