Do we have to do this to Warren?
I mean really, who cares what Rick Warren said about the government of Syria. He's not being asked to become an adviser to President Obama's Middle East policy team. Nor, I might add, is he being asked to give a sermon on his views of homosexuality, Proposition 8 or gay marriage. He's being asked to give the invocation to Obama's Presidential inauguration. The invitation is no more an endorsement of his political views than sitting on a board with Bill Ayers was an endorsement of bombing the Pentagon or becoming a member of Trinity United was an endorsement of damning America.
It's become a formula for scandal in this country, and I hate it. You take every person who endorses, or works with, or is honored by, a politician and pour over every single public statement they have ever made. If you find something controversial, even if it has no connection to their relationship with the politician, you stick it to them and use it to characterize their entire worldview and personality - Rick Warren is the guy who compared homosexuality to pedophilia, just like Jeremiah Wright is the guy who said god damn America. God forbid that Rick Warren has ever said publicly that gays or Jews or Muslims are going to hell, a position that is more or less required by belief in the Bible. A juicy quote like that is exactly the kind of thing that would light up the liberal blogosphere, even if the quote is taken out of context or is the result of a bad-faith interpretation of his comments.
The result of this is that we end up with a media - including the non MSM internet media - that is obsessed with hot button, emotional issues that provoke reactions rather than engage conversations. This kind of reporting is a part of a political culture of outrage (outrage!!!!) that divides us as a nation. And it feeds into the institutional needs of interest group politics, who always have a fundraising incentive to demonize the opposition rather than constructively engage with them. This is one of the ways that the media is fueling the culture war.
The other thing this meme has done is discourage politicians from reaching out and listening to people across different segments of our society. Hysterics over issues like this cause politicians to censor who they talk to, and vet all people they interact with to cover anything that could create a commotion. It sucks. I don't want politicians to only interact with people who are sanitized for public consumption. The fact is, many of the most interesting people I know hold opinions on at least one issue that would be very controversial or out of the mainstream. I definitely hold at least a half dozen opinions that would infuriate at least one interest group out there. If anyone who holds such views is effectively removed from appropriate public consideration, we're going to end up with nothing but bland, inside the beltway politicians talking to bland, vetted, boring advisers and cultural and religious leaders.
I understand that many gay rights groups are upset and angry over the abomination that was Prop 8 in California. I myself am angry and upset with the passage of Prop 8. And I understand that the invocation is a position of honor. But this attack on Warren is incredibly counter-productive. Part of the problem that caused Prop 8 is the continued belief among many evangelicals and conservative Christians that legal equality for gay couples is an attack on Christian values or their own Christian lifestyle, an ignorance that was fed by Warren's absurd view that Prop 8 would lead to prosecution of anti-gay pastors. Lashing out at Warren and suggesting that he cannot give the invocation at the Presidential inauguration is actually confirming this position in the minds of millions of conservative Christians across the country. Warren represents tens of millions of people across the country, including unfortunately a majority of voters even in the blue state of California. We are never going to reach any of those people by declaring that their views are beyond the boundaries of acceptable public discourse. We might reach them, however, if we are able to move past the us versus them mentality that leads to persecution of gay couples and try to come together as a nation.
Rick Warren, for all his flaws, is an evangelical who sees that there is a major problem with the cultural divisions in America and wants to try to end those divisions. We should be doing what Obama is doing: welcoming his attempt at conciliation, trying to find areas of common ground, and showing respect for the man, and not demanding a set of concessions (or preconditions) before we engage with him. And we certainly be going out looking for more reasons to galvanize the left into hating him more.
It's become a formula for scandal in this country, and I hate it. You take every person who endorses, or works with, or is honored by, a politician and pour over every single public statement they have ever made. If you find something controversial, even if it has no connection to their relationship with the politician, you stick it to them and use it to characterize their entire worldview and personality - Rick Warren is the guy who compared homosexuality to pedophilia, just like Jeremiah Wright is the guy who said god damn America. God forbid that Rick Warren has ever said publicly that gays or Jews or Muslims are going to hell, a position that is more or less required by belief in the Bible. A juicy quote like that is exactly the kind of thing that would light up the liberal blogosphere, even if the quote is taken out of context or is the result of a bad-faith interpretation of his comments.
The result of this is that we end up with a media - including the non MSM internet media - that is obsessed with hot button, emotional issues that provoke reactions rather than engage conversations. This kind of reporting is a part of a political culture of outrage (outrage!!!!) that divides us as a nation. And it feeds into the institutional needs of interest group politics, who always have a fundraising incentive to demonize the opposition rather than constructively engage with them. This is one of the ways that the media is fueling the culture war.
The other thing this meme has done is discourage politicians from reaching out and listening to people across different segments of our society. Hysterics over issues like this cause politicians to censor who they talk to, and vet all people they interact with to cover anything that could create a commotion. It sucks. I don't want politicians to only interact with people who are sanitized for public consumption. The fact is, many of the most interesting people I know hold opinions on at least one issue that would be very controversial or out of the mainstream. I definitely hold at least a half dozen opinions that would infuriate at least one interest group out there. If anyone who holds such views is effectively removed from appropriate public consideration, we're going to end up with nothing but bland, inside the beltway politicians talking to bland, vetted, boring advisers and cultural and religious leaders.
I understand that many gay rights groups are upset and angry over the abomination that was Prop 8 in California. I myself am angry and upset with the passage of Prop 8. And I understand that the invocation is a position of honor. But this attack on Warren is incredibly counter-productive. Part of the problem that caused Prop 8 is the continued belief among many evangelicals and conservative Christians that legal equality for gay couples is an attack on Christian values or their own Christian lifestyle, an ignorance that was fed by Warren's absurd view that Prop 8 would lead to prosecution of anti-gay pastors. Lashing out at Warren and suggesting that he cannot give the invocation at the Presidential inauguration is actually confirming this position in the minds of millions of conservative Christians across the country. Warren represents tens of millions of people across the country, including unfortunately a majority of voters even in the blue state of California. We are never going to reach any of those people by declaring that their views are beyond the boundaries of acceptable public discourse. We might reach them, however, if we are able to move past the us versus them mentality that leads to persecution of gay couples and try to come together as a nation.
Rick Warren, for all his flaws, is an evangelical who sees that there is a major problem with the cultural divisions in America and wants to try to end those divisions. We should be doing what Obama is doing: welcoming his attempt at conciliation, trying to find areas of common ground, and showing respect for the man, and not demanding a set of concessions (or preconditions) before we engage with him. And we certainly be going out looking for more reasons to galvanize the left into hating him more.
