My Take on Warren

Ok, this is my own lame contribution to the many words being said about the Warren-Obama-Inauguration-Prayer issue. To all the gays: CALM DOWN.

You're forgetting something very important. EVANGELICALS ARE VERY EASILY DUPED.

Obama is a smart politician. He never (rarely) takes anything back. There have been numerous decisions that many pushed back against, yet in the long run they were effective decisions, and I firmly believe the Warren thing is the same kind of well-thought kind of decision.

Back to my point... EVANGELICALS ARE VERY EASILY DUPED. I mean, George W. is not an exclusivist, nor is he a Biblical literalist, but the evangelicals were all DUPED into thinking that he shared their shallow, ignorant religion. (Not that G.W.'s religion is deep and informed or anything...)

I'm at home for the holidays, and attended my parents' (uber conservative) church this past Sunday. After the service, I happened to overhear some women bitching about Obama when one of them said, "well at least he asked Rick Warren to do the prayer!" to which all the other women agreed with enthusiasm.

I know these women, and for them to say ANYTHING positive about:

- a black man
- a liberal
- a democrat
- Barack Obama

...is HUGE. These are the same bitches that send around emails saying Obama is the anti-Christ, or an Arab terrorist, etc. Just as easily as they believe that kind of bullshit, they can believe that Obama can become "one of us" just by asking a light-weight preacher like Rick Warren to deliver a stupid prayer.

Now, concerning the negative effects this has on the movements for gay equality: what are they?? There are none that I can think of. Would there be negative effects if Obama was solidly liberal in every choice he made? Absolutely! That would energize the evangelicals like we've never seen and society would regress 50 years! What Obama has done in this decision, and in others, is to sort of appease these masses rather than inciting them. They're definitely not on Obama's side, but they're not angry, and, from what I've seen while at home, many folks (very Republican, conservative folks) even seem hopeful that he is going to be good for the economy.

So, if by NOT asking Warren, or by rescinding his decision, nothing is really done FOR gay rights, and if by asking him, nothing is really done AGAINST gay rights (it's not like this is tied to ANY policy decision of Obama's) but rather, a lot of unlikely people are turned on to a president that will likely push for greater rights for gays, then I think Warren and his little prayer should stay in the bulletin.