Rick Warren, Interfaith Dialogue, and Obama

Barack Obama has selected Pastor Rick Warren of Saddleback Church to deliver the invocation at his inauguration ceremony in January. Not everyone is happy. The furor from LGBT activists (many of whom supported Barack Obama) is especially understandable. Only a few hours after the announcement, the Human Rights Campaign's Joe Solmonese had released a letter expressing HRC's frustration. Warren is a very important figure in the religious life of America, and indeed the world. I've talked about him at the University of Denver's Interfaith Student Alliance blog. The post I refer to mentions Warren as being a powerful mobilizer for Christian youth worldwide. He spoke of "armies of compassion" that could perform services for others. He is also very vocal about AIDS and poverty relief.

The guy is exceedingly influential. Obama's choice of Rick Warren to invoke in January is thus a nod to the President-Elect's acknowledgment of the importance of religion in the lives of Americans. But not all Americans subscribe to the Christian faith, and not all American Christians are in step with Warren's admittedly conservative views. What does this all mean?

Some say that Obama and Warren see eye-to-eye on social justice issues, which is true, and that they both recognize the important role that faith plays in America. But Warren's selection is seen by many as an exclusionary choice, one that Obama, for all his talk of "bringing everybody together" has apparently missed. As an interfaith activist, I am perturbed by the choice, to be sure, and I hope that Obama will prove to be a fierce advocate for building bridges among our nation's diverse religious communities. On January 20th, the world will be watching.

christianity, human rights, rick warren, barack obama, inauguration, interfaith

Obama and the Weather

Eboo Patel has a new one up at the WaPo's Faith Divide: Obama and the Weather

It's a very keen metaphor that he employs. Forecast calls for SWEET.

The Convention, pt. 4 (Invesco)

I was informed quite early this morning that my press credentials would not suffice to get me into Invesco Field for the big speech. I was sad, yes, but I went downtown anyway. I stopped in at the Tattered Cover for some mate, an Economist, a danish, and a book of Sudoku, my guilty pleasure.

Took the Light Rail to Invesco and simply walked in. I held out my creds as I would have at the Pepsi Center, and I tried to carry myself as someone who belonged there. It worked. I ended up in the bleachers watching sound checks for will.I.am (WIllisms issmsm.s.semam.s..s..eiwiwle.) and Stevie Wonder, which was a real treat. It was seriously THE Stevie Wonder, and I saw him. And Michael McDonald, and Al Gore, and a whole slew of other cool and interesting people.

I finished the entire Economist while we waited, stuck underneath a speaker stand on the field. I also did a handful of Sudoku puzzles, of which I was very proud. Sometime in the afternoon, I'm not sure when, the meeting actually started. Lots of people spoke. Bill Richardson said a bunch of funny stuff, there was music, I watched the field fill with tens of thousands of people. Dick Durbin (Illinois reppin!) introduced a video about the Nominee. There were baby pictures, MIchelle stories, and some highlights. I was walking around the field during all of this, watching the crowd. They were quiet - very quiet. Just watching and waiting.It was eerie and wonderful.Then Senator Obama took the podium. The crowd exploded. As I rewatch the footage, I realize that he said "Thank you" for just under three minutes. Then he accepted the nomination. The crowd exploded again.

Again, as I rewatch this I can't help but realize that there were substantial things that I missed, like the Thank You Party in the beginning, a few of the things he said, and the way he ended the speech. I was wandering around, taking it all in; I was still listening, but it was hypnotic. The guy can talk. When he spoke of the military, the crowd chanted USA USA USA, which would normally have concerned me, but this loud patriotism felt strangely comforting. And then he said THANK YOU again and the fireworks went off and the crowd blew up and there were streamers and confetti and Obama's and Joe Biden's family came out on stage and everyone cheered and cheered.

Whatever happens in November, this was truly a night to remember. 82000-odd people at Invesco, and another 38 million watching at home. I am terribly lucky to have been so close, down on the field with the media, watching history. Hopefully November will keep with the theme. I got to bed late and tired.

Some little explosions and streamers and confetti:

And more:

The Convention, pt. 3

Today was slower than usual. Lined up a few delegate interviews for my correspondent. We wanted to find some Clinton delegates and figure out what was what with the roll call later in the evening.

 

As it just so happened, I was sitting in Press Pavilion #4 during the roll call, nursing a Fat Tire and watching each delegation rant and rave about the wonderful features of their state. I thought I had missed Illinois, but then they caught a deferment. Mayor Daley spoke briefly and deferred to New York. Hillary Clinton suspended the roll call for a vote by acclamation.

 

It worked, and Barack Hussein Obama II (betcha forgot he's got numbers after his name) became the Democratic nominee. It was all very nice.

The Convention, pt. 2

I spoke with a number of delegates today as part of my "press duties." Accidentally spoke with at least one well-known Representative, which was slightly embarrasing once I realized who she was. On the whole, though, the day was a success. My legs are still killing me from the weekend's climb, but if you're wearing a suit, even a limp looks slightly cool.

 

Went to the Truman National Security Project meeting downtown, which was cool. Bill Clinton's Secretary of Defense William Perry was there, as was former Secretary of the Navy Richard Danzig, who is now advising Barack Obama on defense policy. This guy could be the new SECDEF, and he's funny to boot! They spoke of many things, especially Russia's recent adventures in the Caucasus, and Danzig especially kept referring to all of America's foreign policy potential. He was talking not just about DoD, but also USAID, Peace Corps, Commerce, etc. It's what I call "full spectrum dominance."

 

I for one would LOVE to see about a third of the DoD's budget (a third would be close to a bazillion dollars) go towards the State Department. That would be awesome.