On Choosing Rick Warren...

There are enough religious leaders who embrace broad inclusivity that Mr. Obama could have engaged for his invocation. As a Presbyterian minister, ordained as an openly gay man, I don't need someone who is just like me - or just like anyone else for that matter - to be chosen by the president-elect. However, after this election, this historic election that has done more to take down ancient and violent boundaries between us - why ask someone who raises God in one hand and puts down sisters and brothers with the other? It seems unlike Mr. Obama to intensify a division and invite more marginalization with such a choice. It seems inclusivity, even for our next president, includes some and not others. If the heads of the auto industry flying into Washington in their private jets were a symbol of being out-of-touch, so, too, is a new administration seeking a blessing from such a polarizing individual. Perhaps it just takes leaders a while longer to get the nuances of their actions, outside of their inner circles. I pray for a time when those circles and the injustices their insulation fuels become real and open places of welcoming and justice for all.