Rick Warren at the Inauguration

Progressives have raised a bit of ire about Obama's cabinet, but their real fury has been leveled at the person who will lead a 5-minute prayer at the inauguration. Chuck Currie, a spiritual progressive in Portland, was quoted nationally when he wrote a blog post about this, so I decided to respond with my point of view. Due to technical difficulties, I thought my first version of the post was lost in cyberspace, so I re-wrote it, and did a better job the second time. When I pressed "Submit" on the second post, the first one appeared on Chuck's blog. Oh, well. Below is the second version of what I wrote to Chuck:

Chuck,

First of all, I must be significantly more liberal than you if you think that Obama campaigned on a "progressive agenda." His healthcare plan is not single-payer but instead maintains large profits for insurance companies; he opposes gay marriage; he supports corporate personhood; he supports certain kinds of warfare and continued huge military spending; his tax increases on the wealthy are very small and now will likely be delayed; he supports so-called "clean coal"; he does not oppose capital punishment; etc. At best, his policy positions can be described as moderate.

Having said that, I was an enthusiastic Obama supporter because I believe that he has the rare personality and presence that will bring our nation together and move it in the direction of effective, compassionate, and yes, progressive government and society. His progressive Christian faith is a big part of who he is in this regard. I have never given money to a political cause before, but contributed significantly both to Obama AND to No on 8.

I have been very happy to watch Obama's cabinet come together--a "cabinet of adults," as one commentator put it. Bush rightly was criticized for surrounding himself with ideologues who were more interested in power and ideology than in competence and the good of the country. I do NOT want a liberal version of the same thing, as such would continue the same negative spiritual energy that has hurt our country so badly over the last eight years. Obama has signaled that he will be in charge, and his will not be a conservative administration even though there are some conservatives in the cabinet.

He's doing similar things with the religious ceremonies at the inauguration. He's reaching out to evangelicals AND spiritual progressives with his two selections. Warren has certain objectionable political views, but does not insist that others agree with them and, in fact, goes out of his way to give progressives an occasional voice in his church. I would not want him to "preach" at the inauguration, but having him deliver a prayer is a powerful way of saying to evangelicals, "I am not going to marginalize you and oppress you," as Bush did with spiritual progressives. It says nothing about the policies he will promote, but it says something about the spirit he will exude.

As an exile from an evangelical upbringing (I currently attend a liberal mainline church in Beaverton), I know that many evangelicals are weary of the Republican Party and the religious right's aging leadership. They will support a pro-choice, pro-gay politician if s/he connects with them on other values such as compassion for the
poor. If we're really to have a progressive future in this country, we need to unify the country around the core principles we agree on rather than continuing to polarize and marginalize. This is the real principle that Obama ran on.

It is vitally important that we make a clean break from the past eight years. Secular progressives tend to focus on policy positions, but spiritual progressives should recognize that the main problem during the past eight years has been the spiritual bankruptcy of the Bush administration. The ridiculous policies were just a symptom of this existential paralysis. If we are to really begin to heal and undo the damage, we are going to need to achieve critical mass at a spiritual level. Creating another members-only "club" and marginalizing everyone outside it is not the way to achieve this.

Shalom,
Mark Mullins