Obama's Inaugural Choice

Today, an article in CNN touted the fury of liberal democrats at President-Elect Obama's choice of an inaugural speaker: namely, Rick Warren, conservative pastor of the Saddleback Church (and author of "A Purpose-Driven Life").

Yesterday I commented on a post by Jason at The Wild Hunt. It was in reference to teaching spirituality in schools, and how mainstream religions are always happy to be taught in schools but get all persnickety when it comes to giving fair treatment to other spiritual paths - such as, oh, say, Paganism.

I bring this up because I think people sometimes forget that equal representation and free speech mean that everyone gets a voice. Just because you don't agree with someone, or because you find their beliefs offensive, doesn't mean they can't speak their minds. When we are oppressed (meaning we as general people), we are quick to express our outrage - but when someone we don't agree with is silence, well, it's just not quite as awful, now is it?

Wrong. Democracy means that we are all on equal footing - we all get to hold the mike, no matter how repugnant or distasteful our ideas may be to others. Without this freedom, and without respecting it for everyone, we wouldn't be a truly free society (which some would argue we already aren't).

Rick Warran is opposed to gay marriage. He opposes abortion rights. But he's entitled to those views. And just because he holds them doesn't mean he, as a gifted speaker, should be refused an invitation to an important event. He is a spiritual leader to a large portion of American Christians - and he's also a good guy (as near as I can tell), and just because I disagree with him on several important issues doesn't mean I think he should be excluded from the national stage. And I certainly don't think he's going to take the opportunity to stir up contraversy - he's probaly just as excited to have Obama as a president as we all are.

Part of being an equal society means giving everyone equal voice. Without this fundamental right, how can we ever hope to achieve equality for anyone else?

UPDATE:
An excellent rebuttal from the president elect...