Several readers have emailed me privately about their disappointment, even outrage at the choice of Rick Warren. The concern centers around Warren's strident attitude and language against homosexuals and all others he views as other.
As I have already posted, I too was disappointed but not so fully surprised. Back in June of 2007, Obama gave the keynote address at the UCC General Synod Meeting. It was this speech that gave me the final nudge to get involved with his campaign. In it he refers directly to Warren as "his friend". Below is a portion of his speech where he describes why he is supportive of certain members of the Christian Right.
I think the issue here is not that Obama condones all of the theology of the Right, but he is unwilling to throw the baby out with the bath water as it were. This is by no means an excuse.
By no means...but it might shed light on his willingness to keep the door open.
Why keep the door open? I think it is because he believes as do many evangelicals that societies ills are "not problems in search of a 10 point plan, but are moral problems, rooted in both societal indifference and individual callousness – in the imperfections of man."
I pulled a piece of this speech found below. The full text is here.
Somehow, somewhere along the way, faith stopped being used to bring us together and started being used to drive us apart. It got hijacked. Part of it's because of the so-called leaders of the Christian Right, who've been all too eager to exploit what divides us. At every opportunity, they've told evangelical Christians that Democrats disrespect their values and dislike their Church, while suggesting to the rest of the country that religious Americans care only about issues like abortion and gay marriage; school prayer and intelligent design. There was even a time when the Christian Coalition determined that its number one legislative priority was tax cuts for the rich. I don't know what Bible they're reading, but it doesn't jibe with my version.
But I'm hopeful because I think there's an awakening taking place in America. People are coming together around a simple truth – that we are all connected, that I am my brother's keeper; I am my sister's keeper. And that it's not enough to just believe this – we have to do our part to make it a reality. My faith teaches me that I can sit in church and pray all I want, but I won't be fulfilling God's will unless I go out and do the Lord's work.
That's why pastors, friends of mine like Rick Warren and T.D. Jakes and organizations like World Vision and Catholic Charities are wielding their enormous influence to confront poverty, HIV/AIDS, and the genocide in Darfur. Religious leaders like my friends Rev. Jim Wallis and Rabbi David Saperstein and Nathan Diament are working for justice and fighting for change. And all across the country, communities of faith are sponsoring day care programs, building senior centers, and in so many other ways, taking part in the project of American renewal.
When I told my husband about the Warren choice, he reflexively said "are you sure it was his choice?" After 8 years of a puppet president, he couldn't help but wonder. I take heart, at least, that all of the choices being made are indeed Obama's choices. We may not understand them at first glance or agree with them in the long run...but I have to believe that we are at least on a better course moving toward a better future with strong leadership at the helm.
May it be so.
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