Letter to the President-Elect about the Invocation
December 20th, 2008I’m sure many of us wish we could discuss an issue with Barak Obama personally. And we all realize it is highly unlikely that any message we attempt to get to him will be personally read. If we feel passionately about something, the best we can do is send our thoughts and hope for the best. Following is a message I sent to the President-Elect today. God willing, if enough people send their thoughts, the gist of the message will get to him and he will feel how passionately we feel about this issue.
Dear Mr. Obama
This is to express my extreme disappointment at the choice of Rick Warren to give the Invocation at your inaugural. I believe it is a mistake of a greater import than you or your advisors realize. I will explain why I believe this.
My wife and I were among those who expressed to each other hope in what it would mean to our country if you ran for the presidency. This was long before you announced your candidacy. Our hope strengthened as your campaign progressed. We rejoiced that we, among others, helped turn our state, Florida, for you. We rejoiced along with the country and the world at your election. We are pleased at the care and attention you have taken in the naming of your advisors and cabinet, even if we might not totally agree with all the choices. These are just some of the reasons we have, for the first time in decades, felt genuine optimism for the future of our country.
Your choice Rick Warren as the symbolic “pastor†who will pray our nation into this future has yanked that optimism from our hearts. It has opened our eyes to the real probability that your character and intelligence are not even close to what we had hoped. We do not understand how an intelligent person could even countenance the homophobic and anti-choice attitudes and speech of a person like Warren, let alone put him in such a prominent position. You, of course, have the right to think privately in whatever way your upbringing and religious heritage lead, but we had hopes that you would rise above these private irrational prejudices for the sake of the nation. We seem to have been sorely mistaken, and our disappointment is the deeper because you raised our hopes so high.
Yours despairingly,
Enoch Sherman