esrosedotblog

INCLUSION?

The gay politics/blog world is incensed over the choice of Rick Warren, the evangelist, to say the invocation at the Inauguration.

Warren and Obama are old friends. Friends who disagree but friends.

Warren was outspokenly for Prop 8 and doesn't hold views that are very satisfactory to gay spokespeople or to me, for that matter.

So there is an uproar. And this is why I do not like identity politics.

One can find a lot of reasons why Warren is a good choice for this position. Politically, he represents a bloc of people who don't necessarily agree with me or Obama. But he is more of the middle than the right right wing.

He could be the Billy Graham of this administration. Some may think we don't need one but my observation is that Billy always stayed in his corner (the amen corner) and didn't step out of it much. He was a spiritual guide for many political leaders and he had a vast constituency on a wide spectrum of religious adherence.

The last administration didn't have one. Not even Billy.

Another thing is that Obama is about inclusion. Not division. I am for that. It is a big reason why I voted for him.

As a result, I am going to have to swallow hard around some of the people who are included.

Another thing. The point has been made by gay political operatives that the problems around Prop 8 were that they did not reach out to the religious community. They polarized the dialogue and, as a result, many religious voted for the proposition. These folks believe, as I do, that we must engage the churches and the religious leaders.

The way to do that is through other religious leaders. Not with people like me who have a low regard for religion and its works.

And so on.

There are a lot of things that the Obamas are going to do that I won't like. I want the world my way.

But that means I am going to get into a lot of arguments with people who want it their way.

I think that Obama wants to find ways to do "it" our way.

I am tired of the ceaseless arguments between identities. I would like a larger umbrella.

If Obama can unfreeze Rick Warren and move him even a bit toward a more liberal gospel then I am all for it. After all, these guys are politicians at heart. Warren can see the opportunities for him in this. Be like Billy!

This is an experiment in collaboration.

I am willing to bite my tongue while it is going on and, at the same time, work from my side to get our point across. I may even write to the Obamas and tell them how I feel. That is what they want. That is what they are getting from many sides of many issues. The web site is right there for us to rant away on.

Inclusion.

Labels: Administration Obama, gay politics