Even before Barack Obama took the stage Tuesday morning to be sworn in as our forty fourth president, it was called the largest gathering of people in the history of Washington. I'd been anticipating the moment when our man would stand up and take the helm of our sinking ship. Watching the images of the mammoth crowds broadcast on CNN filled me with the unmistakable feeling that I was about to witness history. What happened next was nothing short of terrifying. A pudgy, god-fearing Christian waddled up to the microphone and began to spew vomit into the ears of the millions listening. It began something like this...
"Let us pray. Almighty God, our father, everything we see and everything we can't see exists because of you alone. It all comes from you, it all belongs to you. It all exists for your glory. History is your story. The Scripture tells us, "Hear, oh Israel, the Lord is our God; the Lord is one." And you are the compassionate and merciful one. And you are loving to everyone you have made."
I'll stop there as I'm sure you get the picture. Of course the fat fuck about whom I am speaking was Rev. Rick Warren, founder of Orange County's Saddleback Church. Warren was invited to give the "opening prayer" at this year's inauguration. I watched the entire tragedy unfold with a twisted sense of curiosity, like a child watching his first horror movie, testing the limits of my own nerves. I'll get to my point. Imagine if a few elements of setting were changed. Cover the crowd in hijabs and turbans, give Warren a long black beard, translate into Arabic, and broadcast that on CNN. I give it five minutes before every gun store in bum-fuck America has empty shelves. So once again I'll ask the question that seems to have no answer. What happened to separation of Church and State? We're taught everyday by the media to fear religious fundamentalist governments, and to make them our enemies. We are our greatest threat. Where is Thomas Jefferson when you need him? That's right, dead. Along with another one of the ideals upon which our nation was founded.
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4 comments:
Hey I hear you on separation of church and state, but this was only a prayer read at a major historic event in respect for a higher being. I would argue your taking a slight leap to compare that to fundamentalist governments whose leaders rule with divine right.
Furthermore as invocations go that was about as inclusive and open as they come. Why do you hate Rick Warren? "Spewing vomit"? Really? It's one thing to say prayers should not be included in a Presidential Inauguration its another to argue that this particular prayer was so particularly obscene that it was worthy of being deemed vomit.
Lastly, if your making the case that prayers should not be included in the Presidential Inaugurations because the bigots in the majority wouldn't tolerate an Islamic/Jewish/Hindu/etc prayer seems like we should set the bar a little higher with regard to religious tolerance.
I'm all for separation of church and state, as someone who believes in personal liberties and small government I'm with you 100%, however I don't understand a total lack of tolerance for a prayer read at the Inauguration. The prayer was read simply to take a second to humble all those in attendance to a higher calling. It wasn't forced on anyone, and it was done at the request of the President-elect.
To me the question comes down to this: for a majority of the country some religious observance would be desired at the event. Obviously everyone can't be pleased with the chosen religion. Therefore we have two options allow the PresElect to select a pastor to read a prayer or have no observance at all during the event. Of those two options which one is more tolerant?
I, for one, would be happy to have an Islamic/Jewish/etc prayer as long as it was prudent and if that's what the PresElect chose. Now, I'm not stupid, I know that the country would have a hard time with it. But that doesn't mean the country is right. Afterall, at one point the country would have had a hard time with an black president.
This was put together pretty quickly, forgive me if there's some holes here.
Interesting to note:
According to one source, Jefferson closed his Inaugural Address, "And may that Infinite Power which rules the destinies of the universe lead our councils to what is best, and give them a favorable issue for your peace and prosperity."
With regard to church/state that's pretty vanilla, but it is still a religious reference.
http://www.bartleby.com/124/pres16.html
You're right. I was very harsh on Warren. I was trying to bring up the issue of SofC&S with regards to the inauguration. It was supposed to be a simple point but was clouded because I let my personal opinion of religion bleed through. Most of what Christians hold as their sacred beliefs I find to be, as you’re probably aware, completely nuts. I'm not just condemning Christianity either. I think most of the worlds religions are, in the end, just plain harmful. I'm not asking for a multi-religious prayer. I want them to be completely banned from official state business. Also, Jefferson was an undisputed secularist, despite his religious preferences. He never once passed a piece of religious legislation. He is given credit for coining the term "S of C & S" (you got me, that last one was from Wiki) I haven’t got much time to answer back at the moment. Rest assured, this isn't over, Bradley.
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