Pissed. Offended. Angry, hurt, disappointed, etc... All the things that some of us have been expressing. All these emotions embody my initial reaction to hearing that Rick Warren was giving the invocation.
I'm not religious, and I could care less about the need to invoke God at the swearing in of a political leader, but the symbolism does matter to me and I was deeply upset by the choice. I thought it was wrong to provide that kind of endorsement to Warren, and, more significantly to me, I thought it was politically stupid, especially after Prop 8, to discount the kind of reaction the choice was sure to spawn.
I've given up hope that Obama would choose someone else. I'm resigned to muting the TV for the first 5 mins of the ceremony, although it took my wife some time to talk me down from not watching at all.
What really brought me back to sanity after pulling my hair and asking every person I met "Did you hear who Obama picked to give the invocation..." was this book I'm reading and this moment in time and I started to think bigger and I started to think more long term about this new struggle for providing equal rights to all.
Chief Justice Taney, author of the Dred Scott decision, presided over President Lincoln's inaugural. He swore Lincoln in on the same Bible Obama will so swear.
That got me thinking...
When Lincoln ascended to the presidency he wanted to maintain slavery in the South- not because he liked slavery, but because he thought it was enshrined in the Constitution and could not be abolished. But he believed Congress could limit the practice of slavery in the other states and territories.
Even so, in less then 3 years, he would sign the Emancipation Proclamation and free the slaves, even while thinking that such a declaration was a violation of the Constitution. After the War the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments soon followed and 150 years later we have Barack Obama.
Justice Taney would continue to oppose Lincoln. A respected jurist before Dred Scott, he was subsequently regarded the way most our jurists our now- as political pawns who care less about the law then about the outcome.
Now, thinking about Warren;
A lot can change. What is now is not what will be. In 1861 we had a stalwart of slavery on the Supreme Court of the United States as Chief Justice and four other Southerns committed to slavery. 4 years later slavery was abolished by the man Taney swore-in who had previously promised to protect the institution of slavery in the South as Constitutional. Imagine how many pastors and preachers held the opinions of Taney? Or how many people needed years to agree with Lincoln- or generations in most cases, no matter where you live (I'm a Southern, so I don't want to suggest it's just the South that has a long memory) to accept people who happen to be black as equals.
In this instance, we are far ahead of that curve. First, we didn't get Taney and Dred Scott, we got Lawrence. We have elected homosexuals all across this country and more are on the way. Dallas almost elected a homosexual mayor! Dallas! Have any of you been to Texas or Dallas? I have, and that says a lot. Our country is moving- maybe not Prop. 8 moving, but we're close and we're going to win this fight in a matter of years, not decades. And these thoughts encouraged me.
We've been kicked down and homosexuals have been, basically, made degraded to second class citizenship by what was thought to be the most progressive state in the Union. It's been easy to feel like we're back tracking- that we're losing. And the Warren choice emphasized that feeling, at least to me. But then I thought about the significance of our movement and of the millions of people across this country who support equality for all- and I'm encouraged, because...
Warren is just a man. A man many, many, many people disagree with. He has a big church, a lot of money and books, and he is jolly looking because he's fat. But he doesn't have the Supreme Court in his pocket- no, that card belongs to the Democrats who currently run the show (although it's like they've lost the ability to run the majority) and President-elect Barack Obama.
I truly believe Obama represents the intentions of the voters who elected him. And the vast majority of those who supported him are for equality of all kinds- including the right to marry whomever we want.
It's his decision as to how to best accomplish that goal. It's our job to ultimately hold him and the Democratic majority accountable as they do- which is why I whole heartedly support everyone's right to disagree with Obama and Warren and be pissed and mad and angry and voice their frustrations. I'm just now moving beyond that, so I offer this hope...
My hope is that symbolic placations (of which Lincoln was a master) will lead to greater leverage on this issue, as Obama nominates progressives to every open seat on the Federal bench and any that become vacant on the high court. And I hope, deep down, that that was the motivator for this political choice of who should give the invocation.
Warren is not the Chief Justice and this country is not as passionately divided over equality for homosexuals as it was over slavery, despite the passion that's been stirred with the Warren choice. My hope is that Obama knows this and can use an appearance of moderation to promote something truly moderate- but radical to many- equality for all under the law regardless of sexual orientation.
Happy Holidays -