Team Obama has announced that Rick Warren of Saddleback Church, Riverside, CA will deliver the invocation for the Obama/Biden inauguration ceremony in January. You will remember that in August the Obama/McCain debates began with a forum moderated by Mr. Warren at his church.
Mr. Warren, also a best-selling author, represents the next generation of Evangelicals. He claims to be, not "pro-life,"but "whole life." His mega-church has a relatively broad perspective, concerned with issues such as AIDS and global warming. But he also opposes same-sex marriage and abortion.
Some on the left who supported Mr. Obama feel betrayed by this choice. In a similar fashion those on the social and religious right feel that Mr. Warren shouldn't lend support to the Obama agenda.
In my estimation this choice supports my contention that Barack Obama is the most integrally religious president since Woodrow Wilson. (Mr. Obama's faith is influenced by the Prophetic Tradition of the Black Church.) It's beginning to appear that in this regard, Mr. Obama is right of center on the American religious spectrum. I'd judge the Warren Invocation more of a personal faith choice by Obama, rather than a matter of political expediency.
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