Calm down: Rick Warren is not a big deal

(Originally published on The Bilerico Project)

You might be surprised at my thoughts on the current Rick Warren scandal. I've hesitated to blog about it for the past couple of days, but as this story has grown bigger and bigger, it's time I stepped out and said something. It just needs to be said.

Calm down. Rick Warren is not a big deal. This tempest in a teapot will only harm our community.

With so many prominent bloggers, activists and politicos outraged, I realize this post won't be the most popular I've written. As I've mulled this over the past few days, certain key elements fell into place for me; I wonder why our leadership didn't realize some of these basic facts before they started pounding on Warren.

As Jim Ross writes at the Sentinel in his post, "Obama Creates New Cabinet-Level Post for Rick Warren":

OK, not really. But one would have thought so, judging by the reaction to Obama's recent announcement concerning Warren. The outrage from the left and the coverage from the media has gone off the charts, at a level that would have been appropriate if Obama had named him, say, Secretary of Religion and Faith and then endowed him with the powers to shape the administration's social and moral agenda. But that's not at all what Obama did. He simply asked Warren to deliver the invocation at the inauguration. Here's what will happen:

Warren will stand up and pray something nice and religious and patriotic sounding that is carefully crafted to offend as few people as possible, and then he will sit down. The next day, he will leave Washington and go back to being a pastor and an author. That's all. It will be that innocuous.

1. Rick Warren Is Not the Biggest Threat to the LGBT Community

Warren is a popular preacher and author. He's a religious right leader. He is a pompous windbag, a liar, and a homophobe. Big f--king deal. Anti-gay, lying, pompous preachers are a dime a dozen. Warren's soapbox is larger than most, but 98% of these mega-ministers end up crashing to earth surrounded by prostitutes, drugs and dollars with the careers in ruin.

LGBT folk are losing their jobs in several states just because they're queer. The violence against trans folk in Memphis, TN and across the nation calls out for more attention and aggressive watchdogs. Our adoption and parenting rights are under attack. HIV infections are surging. We are dying.

Don't Ask Don't Tell should be a priority. A fully inclusive ENDA should be plotted and planned and put in place. Figuring out a realistic response to today's HIV/AIDS environment is needed. Lord knows, there's a whole helluva lot of work to do on trans issues. Resolving the racism, sexism, ableism and other undesirable traits in our own community should be a priority.

But Rick Warren's short prayer? That's tiny in the grand scheme of things.

2. Doesn't This Signal That Homophobia Is Acceptable To Obama?

No. Not at all. It signals that Obama is a shrewd politician.

One of the biggest presents Obama can get during the first few months of his presidency is the goodwill of the Right. Picking Warren, who took flack during the election for his willingness to engage Obama, shows the evangelical leadership that Obama is willing to repay his favors.

Saying a prayer at the inauguration is small potatoes. Stop someone on the street and ask them who gave the invocation the last time. Or the time before that. How many times has Billy Graham spoken the opening prayer? Do you know? It's not as if Inauguration preachers are big memory making opportunities.

Can you name the other gay-friendly minister speaking at Obama's inauguration? I couldn't. I scanned five Bilerico posts about the topic and didn't see him mentioned. I found the answer at the New York Times blog.

Rev. Dr. Joseph E. Lowery.

Hell, we don't even care about him. Neither does Joe Six Pack.

The other thing most Americans don't care about is LGBT rights. Face it, most straight people just don't give a s--t about our issues. They are asleep to our struggle, obviously, our Prop 8 would not have passed. Or Amendment 2. Or Prop 102. Or...

While this would have signaled to evangelical leaders that Obama is willing to treat them generously and they could, understandably, take that to mean the constant stream of homophobic comments were a-ok, I doubt that the average American would have noticed. If our community had kept their mouth shut on this choice to lead a prayer, Warren wouldn't get the free publicity, the goodwill from evangelicals, or the constant media repetition of the "Obama is dissing the gays" mantra.

We've told more Americans about Obama's signal than would ever have noticed on their own. We've made ourselves the victim before an uncaring audience that thinks this is a big whooptie-doo. After all, several of them attend a church where their minister probably says the same or more on a regular basis.

3. We Look Like Novices

As the LGBT community is trying to flex our muscles, this is not the time to look like a 75 pound weakling. By mewling and kavetching about Rick Warren's minutes spent praying to an invisible man in the sky, we didn't flex our biggest muscle - our brains.

Everyone knew that Warren would not be replaced. His selection had already been announced publicly, and replacing him would have been too big a scandal. The new president does not make mistakes. Remember?

So what did we hope to gain? The only person I saw asking this obvious question, was Stonewall Democrats Executive Director Jon Hoadley on the Huffington Post.

Our community -- at least from what my inbox has seen -- has been quick to share our anger at this choice. But while advocates --especially the LGBT netroots -- are rightfully telling the incoming administration that this isn't right, our community has been slow to share a solution.

Unfortunately, this is a pattern in modern LGBT advocacy. We saw the same anger over rumors earlier this year that former Democratic Senator Sam Nunn of Georgia (the architect of opposition in 1993 to service by openly-gay military personnel) was being considered for the position of Vice President. Our community loudly said "No to Nunn!"- just as we said "No to Nunn!" to similar rumors in 2004 and 2000. Yet, in saying"no" our community failed to share what we could say "yes" to.

If we want to enact pro-equality policy and change, we need to take a page out of Harvey Milk's playbook: we have to give them hope. We need to say what we want, not just what we don't want.

The only thing I've heard that we wanted was a cabinet-level pick of an openly gay person. Big deal. (I'd rather Obama pick his team based on their qualifications than any tokenism. If he picked all black, disabled lesbians as advisors, that's fine; as long as they are the best people for the job. I'd rather not be a token for his administration.) Now, all the cabinet spots are filled so we didn't get that either!

So that leaves us with what demand? That the transition team do the impossible? They won't dump Warren. We're not asking for anything else. We're just complaining to hear ourselves whine.

If You Can't Stand the Heat, Get Outta the Kitchen

Politics is a rough and tumble sport. We've been handed our asses politically lately. We helped get Obama elected only to get marriage amendments shoved down our throats.

We're angry. We're prickly.

We're sensitive.

Many of us led with our hearts and not our brains on this one. We got upset and started sending out press releases and writing blog posts and going on TV and we poured out the well documented ills of Rick Warren and his loathsome beliefs.

What we should have done is head straight to Obama and pointedly "put him on notice." We should strategize ways to get Don't Ask Don't Tell repealed quickly, how to get the votes for a fully-inclusive ENDA, how to get an inclusive hate crimes bill to Obama's desk ASAP. We hold his feet to the fire to really show his support of our community by passing these important life-saving bills. Quickly.

But this temper tantrum that we're throwing publicly? It's not worth it. There's no winning either the political or the pr battle.

We need to shut the hell up and go to work on the issues that matter. A "nice and religious and patriotic sounding that is carefully crafted to offend as few people as possible" prayer? That's not it.

Follow Bil Browning on Twitter: www.twitter.com/bilerico

Comments

[Klondie]

you are not looking at what Rick warren has done in the past...

he is a keen marketer and has used every kudos and honor that gave him some kind of platform as a moral voice...to leverage legislation.

I don't care about gay marraige...but if you do not think this little prayer...at the what will probably be the most watched event in the history of the world does give Rick Warren the biggest tool in his leveraging legislation tool box ...then you are just being numb.

Obama is handing this man such gravitas...that his words combined with some of these backwards beliefs about women, gays and Jews... will carry even more weight to leverage legislation that will actually hurt the people that fought the battles against the bigotry that Obama faced.

[DustyJoe]

So I certainly agree, calling for the uninviting of Warren was foolish, however, making a fuss about it was not a mistake.

If this were a minister that made disparaging comments about African Americans or Jews, he would certainly not have the honor of delivering this prayer. Well I can no sooner change my sexual orientation any faster than one of those groups can change their ethnicities. This isn't about gay marriage. This is about people being respectful of our people.

I think the gay community thought they had a savior in Mr. Obama. What they are outraged about is that he doesn't get it. He views this as people having different views on "social issues". This isn't about social issues. This is about civil rights and protection.

The man that was beaten to death in New York because he was presumed to be gay is a perfect example... his attackers are being charged with a hate crime because they happened to make a racial slur during the attack... had they not, it would have been just another murder. So yes, we need a comprehensive hate crimes bill, and yes we need an ENDA, and the abolition of DADT, and civil marriage, but we also need to start at the base and say that it is not ok for people with support from the government to compare us to pedophiles, or diminish the suffering of Jews by likening abortion to the holocaust.

[cminca]

The stonewall riots were 40 years ago. Were they started with a civilized dialog between the oppressors and the oppressed? A careful calculation about how much straight society would "allow" us to get away with?

Hell no. They started because, as one drag queen stated "It was hot as hell , Judy Garland had just died, and we were NOT in the mood."

Enough is enough. It is time to get angry.

I suggest everyone go to www.dogpoet.com and enjoy "Drag Queens and a Few Bricks". He says it alot better than I can.

[slavicdiva]

I beg to differ with Bil on one point: I am a straight, married woman, and it matters very much to me whether gay people enjoy the same rights guaranteed by our Constitution as do all other Americans. If my gay friends work and pay taxes just as I do, they should have the right to marry the person of their choice, just as I did.

As for all the fear surrounding gay marriage - let me tell you: people get married in this country every day. The effect of those marriages on mine? Nada, nil, zip, zilch, zero. Some stranger's marriage has nothing to do with mine - and if it did, I would have to question the soundness of my own marriage first. For that matter, gay marriages have happened, and voila! The world did not come to an end, and neither did my marriage.

I am disappointed in Obama over this invocation business. I would have preferred no pastor at all, frankly - just the swearing-in. If Obama felt the need for something spiritual, let him go to church early that morning, or have his pastor attend him in private. Better yet, how about he went to church and sat an all-night vigil contemplating his ascension to office? Again, in private. But I don't need or want some pompous homophobic jerk preening himself in front of the cameras yet another time - not at something as solemn as this inauguration.

[martymartymarty]

I have been trying to tell people, it's just too early for anyone to say Obama has turned his back on anybody and more so that he needs to be given a chance to show what he is doing. The lack of kudos he has received for the other minister closing the ceremonies who is *not* anti-gay troubles me -- I do not see any of the hysterics being retracted now that that choice is also becoming common knowledge. I can understand the alarm about Obama perhaps proving to be yet another straight person asleep about our issues, but the blogosphere and the talking heads making the rounds forget that we are a minority and what *we* need could possibly sometimes be out of synch with what is needed for the greater good. I still believe Obama knows what he is doing and just hope that all of the deaf ears turning to us because of this round of "outrage" will tune back in after it all calms down because there is indeed so much real work left to be done.

[Halminbar]

A man who campaign slogan was, "Yes we can" has invited a minister whose theolgoy can be summarized as, "No, you can't."

Rev. Warren has publicly compared gays to pedophiles. This is not merely a difference of opinion on gay marriage. It's a vile slur against the gay community. If you believe that homosexuality is the equivalent of pedophilia, then the next logical step is to criminalize gay activity.

Rev. Warren is not the worst enemy of the gay community. But his participation enhances the minister's credentials and will encourage those agree with him to speak out.

It is absurd to describe those who are shocked and pained by the invitation to Rev. Warren as "novices." If hate speech can go unchallenged today, hate crimes will proliferate tomorrow.

Mr. Browning suggests. "If you can't stand the heat, stay out of the kitchen." It's more appropriate for him to be quoting that passage tto President-Elect Obama, not to those who are protesting his decision. Would you have told the abolitionists, suffragettes, union organizers, civil rights workers, peace marchers, and gay activists to "stay out of the kitchen"? WE chose the chef and have a right to demand a proper menu.

Mr. Warren believes the response to Warren's participation is an overreaction. The invocation would be brief. Would he have told Rosa Parks to change her seat since her bus ride lasts only 10 minutes?

[Trevoro]

The problem is that we didn't complain loudly or actively enough. We listened to the namby-pamby voices of would-be 'leaders' who wanted us to play nice with the mean old Christians so as not to offend them.

And now we're slowly caving - just as the Obama team had imagined we would. They got want they wanted and we have no leverage left because we've passively accepted our seats under the bus.

[alittleskeptic]

Rick Warren may not be a problem, but our president elect may be. Although we have been hearing mostly about Warren's views on gay rights, there are many other groups that he has insulted over the years. The man is nasty in the way he attacks those who are pro-choice and has even insulted the Jewish community. In fact, he is opposed to everything that Obama told us he supported. Obama won overwhelmingly, so he does not need to lick the shoes of the likes of Warren--it was not folks like Warren who put him in office. Again and again, I once questioned whether Obama was for real, or just a political opportunist who said whatever he thought the group he was addressing wanted to hear. I decided to give him the benefit of the doubt since at the time he needed to do his political thing. But that is over and he is about to be our president. If he is genuine, this is the time for him to show his committment to what he told us he stood for--or is the truth, in fact, that our next president is committed only to his own ambitions, always a "shrewd politician," without convictions of any kind and unable to show us a leader of any real substance.

[Irishfly]

Very well said Bil.

As an ardent supporter of LGBT equality and an attorney, I wholeheartedly agree that our focus MUST be on passing a fully inclusive ENDA, repealing Don't Ask, Don't Tell, and passing other bills that solve problems within the LGBT community. We need to raise awareness of the increase in HIV infections, domestic abuse in the LGBT community, and the pervasive bullying that hurts LGBT youth.
We need to make changes in our laws to protect LGBT rights, and work on getting marriage and adoption legislation passed in places where it is supported. We also need to throw our full support (and our money) into states like MA and CT which already have supported LGBT marriage, adoption, and equality.
What we don't need to do is whine and moan about how Obama is sharing a stage for 30 seconds with some guy who doesn't support those things. In the grand scheme of things, is this really important? Who will remember this? This is a completely unproductive use of our time, and, frankly, makes us look like wimps and whiners. It only gives the right more ammunition to use against us. Further, the more we whine and moan about stupid little things, the less people will see us as, well, just like them and deserving of the same rights.

[Coinyer101]

who cares? if you dont like rick warren, then dont watch and dont participate.

[Klondie]

so would it be okay to pick Rev Wright?

would it have been okay to pick a Preacher who calls inter racial relations, as they did in the 50's and 60's on par with "unnatural" "bestiality" and "pedophili­a"...would that have been "no big deal"?

Where you are wrong is that this honor gives a preacher who uses those arguments to change laws (and I could care less about gay marriage) ...it gives that preacher notoriety, creedence, respect on a level that may be the highest respect this nation and President can give to a religious person...and an acknowledgment of their moral authority...

after the ceremony.

If any of the Kennedy's JFK Bobby... gave such an acknowledgment to a minister who actively pushed the idea that interracial relationships were "unnatural" ..."against the natural order and God's will"

not just believed it but was actively trying to change laws on that religious belief...over equality of millions of good Americans who actually fought bigotry that those similar politicians may have faced themselves...

and that is a fight that made those politicians actually have that platform...

themselves... would Obama be receivng this honor himself today.

It is not about gay marriage...

it is not that he owes gays or women or jew or republicans or anyone anything...
nothing but honesty and character.

What they don't deserve however is hypocrisy

It is not just a "prayer" it is an honor bestowed and will be used against the people who got Obama elected.

[CitizenE]

I believe Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote an eloquent letter to fellow clergy from the Birmingham Jail about being complicity with legally sanctioned bigotry. And then there's the matter of the anticonstitutional blurring of state and church involved. I like Obama, but he should be roasted over and over again about this, so he understands we are not zombies simply lined up behind him, and he needs to include those who got him to the dance if he wants us to support him.

[ericGr]

The only thing I like about the Warren invitation is that it will drag him and his views more fully into the light of day - if his recent interviews are any indication, this will make the absurdity of his positions more evident ("I'd like to have sex with every beautiful woman I see, but I don't because I have self-control." Really ?) and the subsequent ridicule might also lead him to ameliorate those positions somewhat. We've already seen the general public move into a more understanding and even "who cares" posture. I believe that its all heading that way and that it's important meanwhile to retain dignity. MLK's example is the effective one.

[hhman]

I found Browning's piece to be a breath of fresh air in a stale storm of hard left bloviating. Obama has responded to the Warren choice by saying "...there are going to be a wide range of viewpoints that are presented. And that's how it should be, because that's what America's about. That's part of the magic of this country ... we are diverse and noisy and opinionated."

I like that. It's exactly what I voted for. It's smart politics and it's smart humanity.

Aren't you sick of all this hate yet? Cause you can't end it until you end your part in it all. There'll be time to fight our fights. Hopefully handled smartly and successfully. Our progress as Gay people has been undeniable in the past years. Some heartbreaks along the way, yes. But progress it has been and will continue to be. For now, I choose to believe Obama's pledges to us. If he breaks them, he will see us rise together.

But for now...and especially on January 20, let's just be still and watch the American Experience in all it's many colors. It will be a magical day for all of us -- Gay, Straight, Republican, Democrat, Black, White and everyone above, below and in between.

Come on...it's one day. Enjoy yourself. You may find you like feeling forgiveness.

[Jaidit]

I agree that it was useless (maybe even damaging) to call for Warren's replacement. Don't expend your energy asking for something you're never going to get.

I knew from the first moment that unless Warren were jailed for criminal acts, critically ill, or found to have made racist and disparaging remarks about the President-Elect, he was going to be speaking at the inauguration. I wasn't holding my breath for any of these three extremely unlikely scenarios.

We should be working with the Obama administration as soon as possible to ensure that we won't be put on permanent wait for ENDA and getting rid of DADT and DOMA.