More About Rick Warren’s Inaugural Prayer
Surfing the blogosphere in this week following Obama’s inauguration, I’ve been intrigued by the passionately emotional responses to the inaugural prayer offered by the Rev. Rick Warren. It’s amazing how different people can hear the same prayer and have such drastically different responses to it.
I’ve never been a fan of Rick Warren. I haven’t read his books, I’ve never heard him preach, and I strongly disliked his recent comments against gay marriage. But I found myself deeply moved by his prayer as I watched it on TV on Tuesday. I thought it was very beautiful and very inspiring. It moved me to the point of tears, and those tears kept flowing through Aretha Franklin’s song and into the swearing-in itself.
My friend Candace Chellew-Hodge (whose new book Bulletproof Faith I highly recommend) found Rick Warren’s prayer too “aggressively Christian.” I respectfully disagree. To me, being “aggressively Christian” means imposing one’s beliefs on others. Praying a Christian prayer at the invitation of a Christian president-elect is not, in my mind, an aggressive act. If Rick Warren had prayed in the name of Jesus “our only Savior” or “the only name whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12), then yes, that would have been exclusionary and offensive to some non-Christians. But he didn’t. Rick Warren prayed in the name of Jesus, but only after emphasizing that Jesus is, in his words, “the one who changed my life” – making it personal, not imposing his belief in Jesus on others.
And when Rick Warren prayed the name of Jesus in four different languages, Hebrew, Arabic, Spanish, and English, I saw that as being inclusive – emphasizing that many others have also had life-changing experiences with Jesus, in differing languages and cultures. The Wall Street Journal wrote that Rick Warren “gave his words a multi-faith hue by invoking the Christian figure as he is referred to in other faiths.” Doing so shows that Warren “is appreciative of, or at least courteous to, people who don’t share his particular faith,” said William Martin, senior fellow at the Baker Institute at Rice University. “He is trying to be as inclusive as he can be.”
I’ve read more than a few comments on the internet this week from Jews, Buddhists, Neo-Pagans, and other non-Christians who have written positive reactions to Rick Warren’s prayer. The majority of comments I’ve seen against Warren’s prayer have been from Christians: liberal Christians who thought the prayer was offensive to non-Christians, and evangelical Christians upset that Warren used the Arabic name of Jesus, Isa. This week I’ve seen a lot of evangelical bloggers identify Isa as “the false god of Islam.” When conservatives talk about “false gods” it makes me wonder how many gods they think exist. Who knew evangelical Christianity could be so polytheistic?
And when liberal Christians get upset when a Christian minister prays a Christian prayer, it makes me wonder if they’re truly comfortable with their faith. Within the gay community there is a phenomenon called “internalized homophobia” – when a GLBT person has not fully reached a point of self-acceptance and continues to internalize our culture’s homophobia. Maybe there’s a similar phenomenon among liberal Christians who feel some sense of embarrassment or discomfort about their faith: “internalized Christophobia,” perhaps? I do NOT think this is the case with my friend Candace, but I’ve read others in the blogosphere this week that make me wonder.
As my friend Jon Zuck so wonderfully put it, “It’s time for ‘liberals’ to actually be liberal in the fullness of that word, open-handed, open-minded, tolerant, generous, forgiving.” To that, and to Rick Warren’s beautiful and inspiring inaugural prayer, I say Amen.
.
I’ve never been a fan of Rick Warren. I haven’t read his books, I’ve never heard him preach, and I strongly disliked his recent comments against gay marriage. But I found myself deeply moved by his prayer as I watched it on TV on Tuesday. I thought it was very beautiful and very inspiring. It moved me to the point of tears, and those tears kept flowing through Aretha Franklin’s song and into the swearing-in itself.
My friend Candace Chellew-Hodge (whose new book Bulletproof Faith I highly recommend) found Rick Warren’s prayer too “aggressively Christian.” I respectfully disagree. To me, being “aggressively Christian” means imposing one’s beliefs on others. Praying a Christian prayer at the invitation of a Christian president-elect is not, in my mind, an aggressive act. If Rick Warren had prayed in the name of Jesus “our only Savior” or “the only name whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12), then yes, that would have been exclusionary and offensive to some non-Christians. But he didn’t. Rick Warren prayed in the name of Jesus, but only after emphasizing that Jesus is, in his words, “the one who changed my life” – making it personal, not imposing his belief in Jesus on others.
And when Rick Warren prayed the name of Jesus in four different languages, Hebrew, Arabic, Spanish, and English, I saw that as being inclusive – emphasizing that many others have also had life-changing experiences with Jesus, in differing languages and cultures. The Wall Street Journal wrote that Rick Warren “gave his words a multi-faith hue by invoking the Christian figure as he is referred to in other faiths.” Doing so shows that Warren “is appreciative of, or at least courteous to, people who don’t share his particular faith,” said William Martin, senior fellow at the Baker Institute at Rice University. “He is trying to be as inclusive as he can be.”
I’ve read more than a few comments on the internet this week from Jews, Buddhists, Neo-Pagans, and other non-Christians who have written positive reactions to Rick Warren’s prayer. The majority of comments I’ve seen against Warren’s prayer have been from Christians: liberal Christians who thought the prayer was offensive to non-Christians, and evangelical Christians upset that Warren used the Arabic name of Jesus, Isa. This week I’ve seen a lot of evangelical bloggers identify Isa as “the false god of Islam.” When conservatives talk about “false gods” it makes me wonder how many gods they think exist. Who knew evangelical Christianity could be so polytheistic?
And when liberal Christians get upset when a Christian minister prays a Christian prayer, it makes me wonder if they’re truly comfortable with their faith. Within the gay community there is a phenomenon called “internalized homophobia” – when a GLBT person has not fully reached a point of self-acceptance and continues to internalize our culture’s homophobia. Maybe there’s a similar phenomenon among liberal Christians who feel some sense of embarrassment or discomfort about their faith: “internalized Christophobia,” perhaps? I do NOT think this is the case with my friend Candace, but I’ve read others in the blogosphere this week that make me wonder.
As my friend Jon Zuck so wonderfully put it, “It’s time for ‘liberals’ to actually be liberal in the fullness of that word, open-handed, open-minded, tolerant, generous, forgiving.” To that, and to Rick Warren’s beautiful and inspiring inaugural prayer, I say Amen.
.
Labels: Politics, Spirituality
posted by Darrell Grizzle | 8:12 AM
6 Comments:
Fantastic insight, man. I hadn't given much thought to any of this. I appreciate your views and thoughts!
(And I agree... but that's beside the point!)
I told a friend (who was brought up Unitarian-Universalist and a little uncomfortable with Warren's prayer) that I thought Warren did a great job in both praying personally from his heart, and balancing that with the need of the moment, to address God on behalf of a most complex and pluralistic nation.
He began his prayer to God, in rather "safe" generic language, but refused to castrate his convictions... rather, he introduced Jesus as the One whom he understood faith through (not saying or suggesting that anyone else should), and followed by repeating the Lord's prayer, which at least all Christians should be comfortable with.
On the contrary, I found Bishop Robinson's prayer kind of odd... particularly in the parts of the prayer asking to be disturbed, to be angry, about certain wrongs. Why not instead, simply ask God to motivate us to change them?
It's long struck me that the Lord's prayer is a prayer for happiness as well as holiness, a petition for living as a child with a wonderful Father, for deliverance from evil, for having the necessities, for freedom from holding grudges, for being forgiven, for freedom from being tested, for having awe at the mention of his Name. It's simple, and we learned it as children; but it still carries the power of one of Jesus' most important messages: come as a child.
Amen!
I also appreciated Rick Warren's prayer, and prayed with him for the country and for President Obama.
Your post is very insightful :)
Peace and Many Blessings!
And when Rick Warren prayed the name of Jesus in four different languages, Hebrew, Arabic, Spanish, and English, I saw that as being inclusive
It may have been in four different languages, but it was still the same deity being addressed in all four. That doesn't speak of inclusivity to me.
I'm realistic; I don't expect him to say a prayer to Allah, Buddha, Kali, Artemis, and Ahura Mazda. He'd never be that inclusive. But simply saying the same name in four different languages isn't being inclusive by any definition I'm familiar with.
There is a post today at my blog about the inauguration. There are selections from a panorama shot of the whole enterprise. Through a glitch, Rick Warren is reduced to an empty black hat.
I know this is an old post, but I just wanted to voice my solidarity: nice piece. I really agree with your assessment of Warren's prayer (and I hold your same reservations about his homophobic theological stances) but I also really relate to the last few paragraphs about Christophobia. As a long-time fundamentalist, now liberal (or liberalizing) Christian, I confess I am sometimes overly embarrassed when spirituality is identified and celebrated as distinctly Christian. But my spirituality IS distinctly Christian. And while I cannot and will not impose my faith in Christ on others, I am sometimes scared to celebrate my faith in ways I once did. The reasons are understandable (shame over past militance) but the fruit isn't good. I want to share my joy, not as evangelism but as participation in the glory of creation and of relationship with our Creator.
Thanks,
Peter
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