We have less than a month to go until 01-20-09, the date emblazoned on the bumper stickers and lapel buttons of progressives everywhere. And it’s a double-header as far as reasons to rejoice: the end of the Bush years of war, torture, and economic shell games; and the inauguration of Barak Obama, a progressive community organizer, and the nation’s first black President.
President-Elect Obama has been making his list, checking it twice. Just to name a few of his Cabinet choices, and the responses from various stakeholders: Tim Geithner for Treasury - the market breathes a sigh of relief; Illinois Representative Ray LaHood of Illinois for Secretary of Transportation - a rare Republican fan of Amtrak; Nobel Prize-winning physicist Steven Chu for the Department of Energy - a departure from the "weird science" policies of the past eight years; and the unabashedly pro-union Hilda Solis for Secretary of Labor, probably the one choice the PE has made that approaches radically liberal. The nation should be abuzz with anticipation of impending competence.
The one pick that seems to be getting the most attention, though, is that of Rev. Rick Warren, conservative evangelical minister and author of The Purpose-Driven Life. Rick Warren, however, is not your typical Right Wing Reverend. He has gotten considerable flack from his own conservative ranks for giving as much heed to Jesus’s "Blessed are the poor" message as to the "eye for an eye" edict in Exodus, and for his questioning the wisdom of taking the "fill the earth, and subdue it" command a little too literally. He does not stray far from the flock, however, as he maintains the classic anti-choice and anti-gay-marriage stance that remain the acid test for conservative evangelicals. Still, Obama has seen some grounds for agreement, which is the starting place for any dialogue. And up until now, Obama has received a lot of praise for his Team of Rivals approach to appointments, so this particular pick should not be such a surprise.
But the message coming out of the progressive base these days is one of shock and despair that Obama has tapped an opponent of choice and of gay rights, for: Chief of Staff? No. The Head of the Office of Faith-Based Initiatives? No. Pope? Nope.
To say a prayer.
OK, the symbolism is not lost on me. We are talking about the opening act - literally the Invocation - of his historic Presidency. Vocal members of the LGBT community are feeling especially betrayed by this invitation to Rev. Warren, in the wake of his highly visible support for California’s Proposition 8. But I’m looking at this from my own personal angle. Up until the Saddleback Church appearances of then-candidates Obama and McCain, I was only peripherally aware of Rick Warren, due to the visibility of his aforementioned book. It has been the basis of study groups in a number of churches, including one in my parents’ home church. I really know nothing more about the book, other than what I could find on Wikipedia or Amazon websites. But just knowing that my parents’ conservative congregation has devoted some time to it tells me plenty about the book, and its author. This is someone who has credibility within the conservative sphere of influence. So the fact that the progressive President-Elect Obama has tapped the conservative Rev. Warren to participate in the kick-off of his Presidency seems to me to be a full circle.
I am really not all that surprised that Obama’s invitation to Rev. Warren has raised a bit of a stir; however, the extent to which it is dominating the progressive media does surprise me. When I first heard about Obama’s Inaugural Ceremony line-up, my focus was not so much on any symbolism invested in the "opening act," as it was on the arc of Obama’s overall choices. The benediction is being given by Rev. Joseph Lowery, a liberal, and strong proponent of gay rights. So if you are going to tap a conservative to be part of a message of "change," Rick Warren is probably the best candidate. As mentioned earlier, there is some common ground there with some environmental and social issues. Then wrap up the ceremony with the Rev. Lowery, to point the way forward, to a more progressive philosophy. Yeah, I thought. Nice touch. Somehow, though, Obama’s detractors cannot get past that "first" thing. It is all or nothing. No, they are not calling for impeachment, nor are they lamenting that McCain didn’t win instead. But this controversy does appear to be taking on the characteristics of a political acid test.
Where does the term "acid test" come from, anyway? It is a way to test gold for authenticity. If the metal is fake, it will survive the test. But if the metal is real gold, the acid will destroy it. So the term "acid test" has come to mean that ultimate trial - the one certain test of authenticity. Unfortunately, it also means that the only way to know the value of something is to destroy it. I don’t think that those who so vehemently object to Warren’s Invocation intend to destroy or diminish Obama’s ability to get things done. But I do wonder if the constant drumbeat of "No, no, no" over this one thing, as symbolic as it may be, might be having exactly that effect.
Should we insist on an all-or-nothing standard? It seems to me that we are just wrapping up eight years of UniThought politics. If the Republicans have taught us anything lately, it is that when dissenting viewpoints are shut out by turning away those who hold them, we inevitably shut out other valuable contributions by those same individuals. I have also been dismayed in the past eight years at the Bush doctrine of not even talking to our adversaries. I am counting on Obama to steer foreign policy more towards the model summed up by Yitzhak Rabin when he said "You don't make peace with friends, you make peace with very unsavory enemies." I think his pick of Rick Warren portends that we can indeed look forward to that kind of change. (Not that I would call Rev. Warren a "very unsavory enemy." But hopefully, you get the point.)
Obama cannot rescind his invitation without further alienating the very people he seeks to draw into his dialog: conservative evangelicals. People like my parents. What impresses me the most is that the extending of this invitation is so classically Obama. This is exactly why I voted for him. This is exactly why he won. He understands that by pushing, you get push-back. He’d rather pull people along in the wake created by those things on which we can all agree. He has found such concord with Rev. Warren in issues of environment, poverty, and treatment for AIDS. Rev. Warren is a link - if only a hair-thin one - to those Americans who did not vote for Obama, but to whom Obama said "I will be your President, too."
Perhaps Melissa Etheridge said it best in her blog today on The Huffington Post, in which she describes a meeting she had with Rev. Warren, after which she concluded that "Maybe if they get to know us, they won’t fear us."
And maybe we won’t fear them.
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