As the article notes, leading the nation in a recitation of the Lord's prayer, when we are not a Christian nation - we are a nation with a Christian majority, a far different matter - and many of our citizens are people of faith who aren't Christians, struck me as pure Warren-the-activist. It was his little slap in the face at everyone who criticized his selection. And it's the reason he shouldn't have been there in the first place.
You'll notice that Warren also went out of his way to talk about Jesus, even naming him in different tongues. That was again Warren's way of taking a poke at Jews, Muslims, and probably even non-evangelical Christians, who aren't Christian anyway, according to evangelicals. Rev. Lowery, on the other hand, gave a benediction about God that could have been given by any person of faith, that could be read in a mosque, a synagogue, or a church, and fit right in. That's what a true religious leader does. That's why Lowery is a civil rights hero. And it's why Rick Warren will be remembered as nothing more than a smooth-talking pop preacher who couldn't resist using Obama's big day to take a dig at whoever he was busy judging on that particular day.
One last bit of commentary from Dana Milbank who wrote:
"The Rev. Rick Warren, who spoke much too long in his opening prayer..."After all, yesterday was all about Rick Warren, so who cares if that other guy - what's his name? - got sworn in late.
