• Rick Warren’s Diviseness

    December 23, 2008 // 2 Comments »

    warren-rickwarrenObama’s choice of Rick Warren as his inaugaral invocator has been the source of much controversy, largely from the political and cultural left. This ought not to come as a huge surprise. Rick Warren is an evangelical megachurch pastor who holds to traditional (or what some would call conservative) Christian mores where same gender sexual relationships are concerned. That many on the left would find this choice troubling and problematic is understandable. Some of the substance of their criciticism is not. The most disturbing thing is the mantra repeated by liberal pundits over and over again on cable news channels: “Rick Warren is a divisive figure, his views aren’t mainstream.”

    Rick Warren’s stance on same sex relationships may be called many things. Conservative, traditional, reactionary, bigoted, any of these could be understandbly uttered in certain sectors of our culture. But to lambast the choice of Warren because he’s “divisive” is just vaccuous. It’s the worst sort of political rhetoric. Warren was an advocate of Proposition 8, true. And saying his support of this initiative was wrong, foolish, discrimitory, regressive or the like is all fair game in the public square. But to say, as many have, that his views “on social issues like gay rights… are…out of the mainstream” is just dishonest. In California, our largest and most diverse state, Rick Warren’s opinions on gay marriage were in the majority, to the tune of 47.54%. Now Rev. Warren and the majority may hold misguided views. History could very well bear this out. Progressive theologicans, church leaders, ethicists and cultural critics may very well be proven correct when the owl of minerva spreads her wings and history renders its verdict. But today is not that day. Rick Warren represents the views of many Americans on a host of social issues. One may not like that fact. One may declare that the host of Americans that hold such views do so because of ignorance, malice, bigorty or the like. But whatever undergirds such views, they are currenlty mainstream. They are views held by a large part of the American electorate, as was revealed last November. This doesn’t speak to the veracity of such viewpoints. Popular wisdom is often in hindsight proven to be anything but wise. But the fact that such wisdom seems at least to many to be conventional ought to establish its place as mainstream.

    Many views that are mainstream will often be considered divisive in certain contexts. Most Americans share Bill Clinton’s sentiments that abortion should be safe, legal and rare. Such sentiments, however mainstream, would be considered divisive if shared by a leader in many of America’s churches, as well as in some progressive feminist circles. Lydon Johnson’s reception of Martin Luther King in the White House was probably construed as a divisive act by many Americans at the time. That did not negate the fact that King’s views were becoming increasingly mainstream at the time.

    Decrying Obama’s choice of Rev. Warren is fair and legitimate and may serve an important function in public discourse. This is all the more reason to avoid carelessness when doing so. It would do pundits well to remember that when characterizing Warren as a bigoted and marginal figure they may be describing many of their neighbors and co-workers as well. When people do so in my neighborhood it’s often seen as divisive.

    Posted in Culture, Politics, Uncategorized