Obama picks Rev. Rick Warren for Inaugural Ceremony
Obama's inaugural choice sparks outrage
" 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."
I'm not a huge fan of Rick Warren. Despite his stances on things like global poverty & human rights abuses, I have difficulty getting past his stance on gay marriage. I believe that the gay marriage issue is one of equal protection under the law, and that to deny gay couples the right to marry, is to define them as something other than normal citizens, and that should be Unconsitutional based on the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. I don't see it as a religious issue, because Marriage as defined by the State is an inherently civil matter. No one is asking Churches to open up and recognize gay marriages religiously. Anyway, I think Rick Warren is dead wrong on the issue, and his backing of CA Prop 8 had a very negative consequence, one that still might do a lot of damage to the country in terms of equal rights.
That said... I think he's a brilliant pick for Obama. Obama has proved time and again to be a very shrewd politician. Picking Rick Warren will mollify the Evangelicals on the right somewhat. While this might piss off some of the very liberal and gay rights crowd (and I am among the latter group, as a heterosexual male, I support gay rights), it buys Obama some political capital to play with. It reminds me of a Thomas Jefferson move. Jefferson was one of the founding fathers most directly responsible for moving the early Country towards a strict Separation of Church and State. He was a fierce opponent of the religious interfering with government - and yet - after elected President, he attended Church more and more regularly and very publicly. Why? Because it helped disarm his opponents while he still worked to overturn what they were trying to accomplish. It was an extremely successful strategy that lead to an Era of freedom of and from religion in the U.S. spanning the next few Presidents terms.
I do believe Obama will help move gay rights forward in this country - maybe not to the extent that some people want to see, myself included, but I believe he will help. When he does, and the Evangelicals get up in arms about it, he'll be able to point back at the Inaugural and his selection of Rick Warren and say that he understands them too. It sends a powerful message of governance from the center. It's something Bush promised to do with his "Uniter not a divider" rhetoric, but failed to deliver.
Anyway, I'm not too worried. In terms of gay marriage, the cat is out of the bag. While many States have been enacting bans on gay marriage, others are realizing that it is probably for the better to recognize it. New Jersey sounds like they will be the next to allow it - and while California is still in limbo, it might swing back to the right side of this debate. And eventually there will be enough problems that the U.S. Supreme Court will be forced to deal with it - and unless Conservatives really stuff the bench, I would be shocked if they didn't find the issue based on the Equal Protection Clause, and overturn all those Jim-Crow-like bans.
Anyway - I don't think Rick Warren is indicative of Obama not caring about Gay rights. He's not going to push the issue too far and spend too much political capital on it, but I would be extremely surprised if he didn't really support gay marriage rights - despite his campaign rhetoric on supporting Civil Unions but not Gay Marriage.
" 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."
I'm not a huge fan of Rick Warren. Despite his stances on things like global poverty & human rights abuses, I have difficulty getting past his stance on gay marriage. I believe that the gay marriage issue is one of equal protection under the law, and that to deny gay couples the right to marry, is to define them as something other than normal citizens, and that should be Unconsitutional based on the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. I don't see it as a religious issue, because Marriage as defined by the State is an inherently civil matter. No one is asking Churches to open up and recognize gay marriages religiously. Anyway, I think Rick Warren is dead wrong on the issue, and his backing of CA Prop 8 had a very negative consequence, one that still might do a lot of damage to the country in terms of equal rights.
That said... I think he's a brilliant pick for Obama. Obama has proved time and again to be a very shrewd politician. Picking Rick Warren will mollify the Evangelicals on the right somewhat. While this might piss off some of the very liberal and gay rights crowd (and I am among the latter group, as a heterosexual male, I support gay rights), it buys Obama some political capital to play with. It reminds me of a Thomas Jefferson move. Jefferson was one of the founding fathers most directly responsible for moving the early Country towards a strict Separation of Church and State. He was a fierce opponent of the religious interfering with government - and yet - after elected President, he attended Church more and more regularly and very publicly. Why? Because it helped disarm his opponents while he still worked to overturn what they were trying to accomplish. It was an extremely successful strategy that lead to an Era of freedom of and from religion in the U.S. spanning the next few Presidents terms.
I do believe Obama will help move gay rights forward in this country - maybe not to the extent that some people want to see, myself included, but I believe he will help. When he does, and the Evangelicals get up in arms about it, he'll be able to point back at the Inaugural and his selection of Rick Warren and say that he understands them too. It sends a powerful message of governance from the center. It's something Bush promised to do with his "Uniter not a divider" rhetoric, but failed to deliver.
Anyway, I'm not too worried. In terms of gay marriage, the cat is out of the bag. While many States have been enacting bans on gay marriage, others are realizing that it is probably for the better to recognize it. New Jersey sounds like they will be the next to allow it - and while California is still in limbo, it might swing back to the right side of this debate. And eventually there will be enough problems that the U.S. Supreme Court will be forced to deal with it - and unless Conservatives really stuff the bench, I would be shocked if they didn't find the issue based on the Equal Protection Clause, and overturn all those Jim-Crow-like bans.
Anyway - I don't think Rick Warren is indicative of Obama not caring about Gay rights. He's not going to push the issue too far and spend too much political capital on it, but I would be extremely surprised if he didn't really support gay marriage rights - despite his campaign rhetoric on supporting Civil Unions but not Gay Marriage.
1 Comments:
I think it's a smart political move personally. Of course though with today's current media everything will be over-analyzed and beaten to death.
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