End of an Era? -- Good Riddance

Two things happened yesterday that bode well for America.

First, Paul Weyrich died. Paul Weyrich was a founder of the Heritage Foundation (which offers employment to wacko white people). He was also a principal engineer of the disgusting state to which American politics has descended in the past 30 years or so -- the era of the Culture War. He is the man credited with the expression, Moral Majority; he did not mean it ironically, either. The Culture War distracted enough people to allow Republicans to rape the landscape, squander the next generation's heritage, and help themselves to the spoils.

Second, in another blow to the Culture War, a move that has been very controversial on the left and right: Barack Obama invited Rick Warren to give the invocation at his inauguration.

Some samples of the uproar this has caused:

From Americablog:

I keep thinking about all those attacks during the campaign on Obama's "associations." We defended him every single time. But, now, Obama has decided to pal around with a leading homophobe. Reaching out to gay haters is how Obama is showing us he's different and willing to reach out. You know, I wouldn't pal around with a racist or an anti-semite or any kind of hater. Those kinds of people offend my morals and I don't want toxic haters around me.

From Politico:

Politically, this is a bad decision by Obama and one that will be hard for some of his supporters to forgive or forget. Warren has made many statements that are deeply offensive to women and homosexuals.

It is one thing to try foster bipartisanship, but another to select a person, for a symbolic role, who symbolizes so many positions that have been hostile to large portions of the population. In the wake of recent decisions in California over gay marriage, this announcement was painful for many people who worked hard for Obama’s campaign. Obama’s campaign was about the promise to move beyond some of the social barriers that have separated Americans for too long. Letting Warren have this role is seen, by many Democrats, as a betrayal of this promise.

Then there's the other side of the coin. Here's a couple from the "Christian" Broadcasting Network:

I just lost a lot of respect for Rick Warren. How can someone who professes to be a Christian, put himself into a situation where other Christians would question him? Rick has done some good work however he just lost my respect.

and

I have had about all I can stand of Rick Warren's double standards. WHOSE side is he really on anyway? I'm beginning to think all he cares about are his questionable political connections. When I saw your article announcing his participation in "that one's" so called inauguration ceremony it absolutely sickened me. It isn't enough Obama is so full of himself that he "thinks" he's God. - Apparently now Rick Warren believes he is too. This is a complete mockery of all things sacred.

There's a third way of looking at this, though. It can be looked at as Barack Obama doing precisely what he said he was going to do. On election night, we heard him say,

Let us resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship and pettiness and immaturity that has poisoned our politics for so long. Let us remember that it was a man from this state who first carried the banner of the Republican Party to the White House - a party founded on the values of self-reliance, individual liberty, and national unity. Those are values we all share, and while the Democratic Party has won a great victory tonight, we do so with a measure of humility and determination to heal the divides that have held back our progress. As Lincoln said to a nation far more divided than ours, "We are not enemies, but friends... though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection." And to those Americans whose support I have yet to earn - I may not have won your vote, but I hear your voices, I need your help, and I will be your President too.

This guy is taking that seriously.

Update: Frank Schaeffer says it much better than I did.