Merry Christmas from President-elect Obama

Obama’s choice of Rick Warren to give the invocation at his inauguration is a very good sign. It infuriated the Gay left and showed that our President-to-be knows how to say no. Even more significantly, it suggests that moral conservatives, for whom man/woman marriage is absolutely sacrosanct, are not to be disenfranchised in the new regime.

Warren, like most people of traditional faith, sees homosexual activity as dysfunctional and immoral. Obama does not agree. But he acknowledges that Warren’s viewpoint is not disreputable and intolerable. He is saying that the values and disvalues of homosexual actions are things about which we can disagree within the bonds of civility and national unity. This is huge! The militant left, by contrast, cannot tolerate this difference. For them, any critique of same-sex acts is a form of hatred directed at a persecuted group.

In my religion classes, my constant chant is what I learned from my mother: “Hate the sin; love the sinner.” “Judge the action; not the heart of the actor.” “Distinguish the manifest objective act from the subjective intention, which is known clearly only to God.” This simple, clear distinction is quite obvious. I might attack cigarette smoking, because I care about the smoker. The same logic applies to anorexia, cutting, drug or alcohol abuse and the varieties of sexual misconduct. Your average seven-year-old can grasp the distinction. However, the homosexual movement is resistant to this logic and flies into indignant rage at the criticism of their actions. People who smoke, drink, hunt, or serve in the army tolerate moral censure from critics with no loss of self-esteem or psychic trauma. It is only the homosexuals who demand that their behaviors be condoned by everyone in society. They advocate a totalitarianism that suppresses any opinion, no matter how ancient or how scientifically verified, that disapproves of the actions and lifestyle which they have chosen as their identity. (This allergy to disapproval is itself a symptom of psychological insecurity.) Their logic is: “I have sexual desires for my own gender; I must act on theses; these desires and actions define me; disapproval of these actions is a rejection of my identity.” This argument is flawed at every point except for the first: that they suffer sexual attraction. The symbolic choice of Warren says that tolerance is to be extended to those who choose these actions as well as to those who disapprove of the same.

There are indications that the new administration is moving strongly to the center. The decision to keep Secretary of Defense Gates is basically a continuation of the Bush policy of the last two years. This is a radical departure from the quasi-pacifism of the candidate who captured the Democratic nomination by his repetitive, indignant anti-war rhetoric. Likewise, the choice of Hilary for State Department implies a more realistic and moderate positioning regarding world affairs.

Let us hope that the Warren choice is the first move towards the middle on the Culture War issues as well. Obama’s voting record is so extreme that I dismissed all his talk of unity as rhetoric and hype. But the Warren decision has me questioning my cynicism. The real test will be with FOCA and other abortion issues. There were reports this week that his transition team plans a billion dollar bailout for the abortion industry including exportation of Planned Parenthood services overseas. Should he move to use our tax dollars for these purposes and to dismantle the few restrictions on abortion (partial birth, parental notification, etc.), he will ignite a furious Culture War. Let us hope that the invocation choice is not a bone thrown to the right before he implements the draconian regime associated with FOCA. Should he sideline these initiatives and more or less continue the status quo, he has a chance to unite our country in facing the economic crisis as well as health care, immigration and international problems. Now that is a change we can believe in!

Merry Christmas to you also, President Elect!