In response to my post here, my friend Pete at Emerging Christianity had this thoughtful response to add to the conversation:
I have some conflicting thoughts about it (which is easy, safe, and comfortable for me as a heterosexual). So I want to first-off acknowledge and affirm the frustration Adele and many from the gay community must be feeling over this recent announcement.
When I first
heard the announcement, my initial response was: "Smart. Very smart.
He's reaching out to the Evangelical base and showing them he cares and
can relate to them." Then I thought, "Hmmm... Warren is pretty
conservative, I wonder if that's going to piss anyone off." Then I
thought, "You know, he is awfully progressive when it comes to AIDS and
HIV issues, and Global Warming, maybe it will be ok..." and then I
remembered: "Oh yeah, he was pretty much in favor of Proposition 8."
And then I thought: "This is going to be a shit storm."
And so it goes.
I caught myself saying to Jen (my wife) when I first heard the news, "Well, he's conservative, but if conservative Christians in general were more like Rick Warren, there wouldn't be much of a problem with the American Christian Culture Wars of the past few decades." And Jen raised her eyebrows at me, which generally means: I might be wrong. And I was. Because supporting politics like Prop. 8, legislating morality, in my opinion, IS engaging in Culture Wars; the last thing the Christian church should be doing. Christianity was not meant to be a religion aligned with political (or military, for that matter) power. Forgive me for saying this: I have little personal interest in trying to change people's opinions about issues like homosexuality - I believe there will always be faithful Christians on both sides of that fence, who can be faithful on both sides of that fence. But I have a HUGE interest in changing people's opinions about how they should treat others. Missional Christianity (I don't use that term much, but I love it) is about the active outworking of the Kingdom of God. That is not a kingdom of rules, bullet-point-legality, or socio-political attacks - it is a Kindom of love, of justice, of freedom, of transcendence, good fruit and good news!
On one hand, I think Obama's pick was politically daring
and even savvy. Perhaps he can prove himself to some of the naysayers
calling him a "Secret Muslim." But do those paranoid folks deserve to be placated?
I
also think Obama's pick is an important reflection of his own
character: Obama doesn't see the world in black-and-white, and he is
tirelessly committed to building bridges and finding common ground. I
can always get behind that!
But I do understand why my friend Adele is hurt by this move. And so I am wounded with her. Warren's political stance on homosexuality (apart from his theological stance, which could be manifested much differently) is inappropriate for a so-called progressive, 21st Century evangelical who claims to care about human rights.
Let
James Dobson and Pat Robertson fight their culture wars. I wish Warren
had emerged as a clear alternative for conservative-leaning Christians,
looking for a kinder way.
Instead, this is becoming the wrong kind of political fodder, at a time when American needs hope, unity and grace the most.
