Warren pick should be no surprise

The announcement that Reverend Rick Warren will be delivering the invocation at Barack Obama’s inauguration has already drawn some harsh criticism.

High on the list of complaints is that Warren, pastor of the Saddleback mega-church in Orange County, California, is anti-gay-marriage and recently threw his support behind California’s much-debated Proposition 8. The Human Rights Campaign has sent Obama a letter asking him to “reconsider.”

Liberal bloggers also denounced Obama’s selection. Ezra Klein at The American Prospect said:

There’s a difference between reaching out to the evangelical community with respect and surrendering to it. Obama could have called on an Episcopalian or a Methodist or any number of more complicated and nuanced religious figures. Giving Warren this sort of political-religious opportunity effectively codifies his position as America’s most politically important, and accepted, religious leader. That seems unwise, and unnecessary.”

As Klein himself points out, Warren “is the author of the best-selling book of all time” and concedes an argument (albeit an unlikely one in his opinion), can be made that “Obama’s demonstrated respect for the preacher might build some level of rapport, or at least openness, with that community.”

But how surprised are we really by this invitation? Obama has reached out to America’s most powerful evangelical before, sharing the stage with him for an event on AIDS prevention, (that time it was Warren who drew criticism from his followers) and participating in a campaign forum at Saddleback.

We’ve had our eye on Warren’s rise in U.S. politics. In our World’s Top Religious Power Brokers List from October, I wrote, “Whichever candidate wins in November, he’ll likely be making a regular pilgrimage to Orange County for counsel and support.” It appears the back-scratching has begun.

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