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By Lloyd Mackey
GALA balls and church: Those are two certitudes
surrounding the inauguration of any American president.
Analysis of the balls quickly boils down to what the
First Lady was wearing, and which celebrities turned up.
The church side, conversely, provides much to consider
with respect to the concept of diversity – which was prominently
displayed at the inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th president of the
U.S. The country’s celebration of its first African-American chief of
state was the overriding element, of course. But equally interesting was
the diversity of ways in which faith was expressed publicly January 20.
As has been noted often, the linkages between faith
and politics are considerably muted in Canada, compared to the
pervasiveness present in American transitions of power.
Frequently in this country, the anti-faith crowd,
whether intentionally or otherwise, manages to intimidate both politicians
and advocates of faith into keeping their lights under bushel baskets.
David Wilkins, currently wrapping up after close to
four years as the United States ambassador to Canada, put it most
interestingly.
He suggested in a recent interview that he learned
something when he first arrived in this country, about the Canadian
media’s sometime cynicism about the American faith/political
interface.
That was when he awoke one morning to a newspaper
headline that quoted him as believing God had called him to Canada.
In the Southern Baptist Bible belt of South Carolina,
where he was a veteran state politician, confidence in the Divine might be
culturally acceptable.
But not in Canada, where hearing the voice of God
– whether figuratively or literally – might result in a
politician being declared near-delusional.
Contrast this with the faith-based manifestations
surrounding the Obama inauguration.
For some weeks prior, there was coverage in some of
the American Christian media about Obama's regrets over not having a church
home, since he broke with his long-time pastor, Jeremiah Wright of the
Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago.
On the Sunday before his inauguration, the
president-elect and his family attended Nineteenth Street Baptist Church, a
key black congregation in Washington, D.C.
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Then, on inauguration day, the Obamas did what many of
their First Family predecessors had done: they slipped across the street
from the White House to St. John's Protestant Episcopal
Church.
The pastor there is a Latino, as is a fair segment of
the worshipping congregation. But the guest speaker was T.D. Jakes, the
powerhouse Pentecostal megachurch black preacher from Texas.
In the American black community, Jakes is often
considered the equivalent in influence to California’s Saddleback
Church pastor Rick Warren, who was Obama's controversial choice to utter
the inaugural invocation.
But, as it turned out, diversity of prayer leaders for
the inaugural events was the order of the day.
One of the vocal critics of the Warren choice was
openly-gay Episcopal Bishop Gene Robinson. But when Robinson was invited to
pray at another inaugural event, Warren returned the criticism with grace,
commending the then-president-elect for encouraging diversity.
In his invocational prayer on inauguration day, as
anticipated, Warren invoked the name of Jesus – with a twist. He used
several versions of the name, including the Jewish ‘Yeshua’
and the Islamic ‘Isa.’
In the inaugural address, Obama anchored some of his
points with a biblical reference. In so doing, he followed in a tradition
that most new presidents have observed. Most significantly, the new
president referred to God several times.
For more details, I recommend christianitytoday.com,
which covered every possible ‘Christian’ aspect of the
inaugural ceremony and its surrounding events.
Lloyd Mackey writes OttawaWatch on
canadianchristianity.com.
February 2009
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