Rick Warren, The Inauguration and appropriate response.

I am in a minority. Yeah, I am white, male, and middle class, but that is not the minority I am talking about at this moment. Come to think of it though, the minority I think I am in might not actually be a minority. It could actually be a majority but an unrecognized one or perhaps just silent. The minority I am thinking about is the community of the spiritual but non-religious.

It has been a long haul to where I am spiritually. Most of my life lacked faith in anything but that the world was full of pain and injustice, and that I was powerless to do anything about it. I am better now.

First, I found gratitude. Gratitude for my life. It was a small beginning but upon it I was able to build an appreciation for the wonders of the world that surround me. From there I was able to recognize that while there is still pain and injustice in the world, there are powers that are far more powerful, Love, Respect, Charity, Hope , Unity, and more. That when these powers are rolled together they are the foundations of Faith and a belief in something greater. The Faith becomes a recognition that we are all parts of an infinite whole and that the whole is greater than the sum of us. My faith I have come to refer to as Creator.

This subject came up for me a couple weeks ago and I was outraged to say the least as I listened to the controversy about Rick Warren and the role Obama was giving him in the inauguration. At first that it was the anti-gay stance that he represented. As I heard more I came to realize that it is really the intolerance of the evangelical movement in general that I abhor.

The bottom line is that in this country anyone's faith is a personal matter. Rick Warren should not be given a forum in this inauguration which will raise his public presence. Obama wants to be inclusive; fine, find someone who is open to all faiths and let him/her do the invocation.

So I object to Rick Warren on the grounds that we can not tolerate purveyors of intolerance in our public spectacles. Since Obama is unlikely to reverse this decision on my account or anyone else that has objected. I am left with only one recourse; to find a way to express my displeasure. I won't be in Washingon but I do intend to spend the day watching the inauguration on television.

It occurred to me that both I and the public should have a way to display our displeasure with this intolerant man. This display should be simple non-violent and blatantly obvious. As I imagined various possibilities, it came to me that if every person who finds Rick Warrens intolerance intolerable were to turn in silence his/her back to Mr. Warren while he speaks, it would deliver a most effective protest.

So, when the time comes and Rick Warren steps to the podium to deliver his invocation. I will be standing at home with my back turned to Mr. Warren's image on my TV, listening, but demonstrating my disdain for the intolerance that he exhibits.