[Marxism] Juan Cole: a liberal patriot on a day with Warren's evolution toward liberalism

["Fred Feldman" <ffeldman@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

In its way, this report by Juan Cole, a liberal and a would-be bourgeois
secretary of state (in my opinion), shows the headway that the gay movement
has made through the effectiveness of the protests against Warren. These
should not stop, in my opinion.
Fred Feldman


http://www.juancole.com/
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Rick Warren: "I love Muslims . . . I happen to love Gays and Straights" 

I was in Long Beach,Ca. on Saturday for the annual conference of the Muslim
Public Affairs Council, where Pastor Rick Warren and I were both headliners.


Also appearing on the stage Saturday evening were Melissa Etheridge and
Salman Ahmad, singing Ring the Bells.

Before I go further, I just want to praise MPAC as the most wonderful
people. This is the American Muslim community at its best-- socially and
spiritually active, deeply interested in civil rights, and insisting on
reclaiming their religion from extremists. Many of them are religious and
social liberals who dislike fundamentalism. Anyone looking for a worthy
charity to donate to in this season of giving should seriously consider
MPAC. It is an American organization and only accepts money from Americans,
and Homeland Security presented there, so it has all the bona fides.

Back to the conference. There are two stories here of wider interest. One is
Rick Warren addressing a Muslim audience. The other is his being at the same
event with Etheridge, who is gay.

Warren will read the invocation at President-Elect Barack Obama's
inauguration, a choice that angered the gay community. Warren supported
Proposition 8, which banned gay marriage (and forcibly divorced or
'de-married' 18,000 gay couples already married in California). Warren also
has compared legalizing gay marriage to legalizing incest, pedophilia and
polygamy.

I was told that Warren's friends among the MPAC Muslim community had urged
him to call Melissa Etheridge Friday night in the run-up to their being
(serially) on the same stage Saturday night, and that he did so and they
talked for half an hour. During his address, Warren mentioned also seeing
Etheridge backstage on Saturday.

Local television in Los Angeles showed a short clip of Etheridge after the
event asking gay leaders to reach out to Warren, just as they wanted him to
reach out to them.

This stance was big of her, since she and her partner had planned to marry
but were prevented from doing so by the same Proposition 8 that Warren
worked for, and she was so upset she suggested she would refuse to pay
California taxes since she is obviously not considered a full citizen by her
fellow Californians.

Warren took the stage, friendly and ebullient, and implicitly complained
about the bad press he has gotten since Obama announced he would read the
invocation. He said that the media likes conflict, and where there is
harmony there is nothing for them to report. When there is no conflict, he
said, the media will create one.

Warren said, "Let me just get this over very quickly. I love Muslims. And
for the media's purpose, I happen to love gays and straights."

He explicitly mentioned meeting Etheridge, and explained that he has been a
long time fan of hers, beginning with her self-titled first album of 1988.
"I'm enough of a groupie," he said, "that I got her autograph on the
Christmas album." 

Warren also talked about the increasing rudeness and rancor of public life
in the United States, and urged greater civility and willingness to work
with people across the spectrum of opinion. He said, "We can disagree
without being disagreeable." He also made a point of saying that al-Qaeda is
no more representative of Islam than the KKK is of Christianity. Contrast
that to the sorts of things Mike Huckabee or Rudi Giuliani said during the
presidential campaign.

But just a gentle reminder to Warren that saying for Melissa Etheridge to be
married to Tammy Lynn Michaels is equivalent to pedophilia or incest is not
actually very civil or nice or humane.

Since I knew both of us would be at MPAC, I bought Warren's book, "The
Purpose-Driven Life," and read it on the plane. I was a religion major, so
I've read a lot of theology in various religions. It is mostly just standard
evangelical talking points. 

Warren's book does have some strengths. I was struck that Warren's section
early in the book on the notion of "surrender" to God is the best
explication I have seen in English of what Muslims mean by Islam. Since he
was talking about Christianity, these passages are an unwitting argument for
the unity of religions.

So imagine my surprise when I heard Warren talk at MPAC and found that he is
a genuine, likeable man. And more than likeable, he seems admirable. A lot
of pastors would tell the story of building their congregations and saving
souls as the pinnacle of their lives. For Warren, that was only the
beginning. He and his wife had an epiphany six years ago when she read an
article about there being 12 million children in Africa who had been
orphaned by AIDS. They started going to southern Africa, and Warren became
devoted to helping those orphans. 

But then he began thinking bigger. He has identified 5 major problems he
wants to address:
Spiritual emptiness, corrupt leadership, disease pandemics, dire poverty,
and illiteracy. He wants to do job creation and job training. He wants to
wipe out malaria in the areas where it is still active. He is convinced that
religious congregations are the only set of organizations on earth that can
successfully combat these ills. And he is entirely willing actively and
directly to cooperate with mosques to get the job done. 

Warren, in short, is a representative of the turn of some evangelicals to a
social gospel. Since evangelicalism is a global movement and very interested
in mission, his social gospel not surprisingly becomes a global social
gospel. He is active in South Africa, Rwanda and more recently Uganda.

In opinion polls, evangelicals are by far the most bigoted Americans versus
Muslims. But that sentiment derives from theological competition (and
competition for souls). Once a pastor turns, as Warren did, to a social
gospel, then he has social goals to accomplish, and he needs all the help he
can get. A social gospel creates a field of practical ecumenism.

Warren's sincere friendship with MPAC founding father, Maher Hathout, was
obvious from their body language.

So you begin to see why Obama is reaching out to this man. (In fact, Warren
reached out to Obama 3 years ago and had him to his Saddleback Church
despite it being a Republican bastion, and says he took heat from his
congregants for that step). If Warren is the future of the American
evangelical movement, then many more evangelicals might end up Democrats,
since it is Democrats who care about poor people, illiteracy, and AIDS
victims. And if any significant proportion of evangelicals can be turned
into consistent Democrats, the party would more regularly win elections in
some parts of the country and even nationally.

Moreover, Warren's work to improve the lives of Africans probably means
something to Obama. 

I came away liking and looking up to Warren. In fact, I wonder whether with
some work he could not be gotten to back off some of the hurtful things he
has said about gays and rethink his support for Proposition 8. 

Maybe Melissa Etheridge, who is otherwise very angry about Prop 8, saw the
same thing in him.

So, then on to Melissa Etheridge. Here is the song that Melissa and Salman
sang.

They were introduced by a video of Deepak Chopra talking about their Bells
for Peace campaign:


' Join Melissa Etheridge, Salman Ahmad, Deepak Chopra in an experience that
will reach the world through critical mass. On Decemeber 21 at noon, where
ever you are: at work, home, or school. Get outside, meditate, intention,
pray or wish silently for one minute, and then ring a bell for peace for one
minute.'


Etheridge said in her remarks before they sang that she started hanging out
with Salman about a year ago, and that he had introduced her to Sufism,
which accorded with her own spiritual path. They met at the Nobel Peace
Prize dinner in December of 2007, and she then invited him to come stay with
her in Los Angeles.

I've also been a fan of Melissa Etheridge since 1988, and her encounter with
Sufi rock is a twist that fascinates me.

So that was my day in Long Beach. It was an eclectic day. It struck me that
it was a very American day, and a good day for America. 

posted by Juan Cole @ 12/21/2008 12:38:00 AM 0 comments |


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