The Reverend Lowery opened up a can of worms it appears by the way he ended his prayer at the Obama swearing in. Let me say I was not shocked at all and I had a feeling the controversy and all eyes toward Rick Warren was looking in the wrong direction. Lowery of course gave a Speech bashing the President , while he was on the stage, at Mrs Kings funeral a couple of years back. Even those that were not big fans of Bush generally were a tad taken back.
Before we get to some Catholic reaction to the prayer please let me give a few thoughts on the whole day.
I think we see in a way two Obamas at war with each other. In one sense President Obama is all Lincoln and talking reconciliation. On the other hand what is saying is not helpful. I thought the swipes at Bush were very uncalled for and were in direct contradiction to his unity theme. The Anchoress has much more reaction on that here at Inaugural Speech Reactions (continuous update).
What bordered on slander among other things is It’s time to quit putting off the unpleasant decisions and time to lead again outside narrow interest.
I suppose President Obama was not talking about the Congress here and his own actions. As Jay Nordlinger put it ". Obama said something like, “It’s time to quit putting off the unpleasant decisions.” Geez: Making unpleasant decisions, in both the domestic and foreign spheres, was Bush’s specialty. In fact, he sacrificed a good deal of political popularity because of it.
So true
Bush Led on-
The issue of Social Security Reform (Something that Senator Obama appeared to be AWOL on)
Immigration Reform TWICE (Something that Senator Obama helped kill with a poison pill and never got called on)
The War on Terror
Aids and Poverty in Africa ( A huge success)
and numerous other things some which were not too popular with some his base.
My advice to President Obama is it is a tad premature to be slamming Bush until he has to buck his own party at some point (like Bush did) for the good of the nation.
One final thought on Bush. The Bush Family are nothing short of class acts. ABC had a old clip of Bush I when he was just a Congressman going out to see LBJ off when Nixon came in. LBJ was not exactly popular. But Bush 1 thought he needed to do it to show respect. When Bush got defeated by Clinton he went out of his way not to step on Clinton's big day. There was no 21 Gun Salute at the airport no huge public rally at the airport. Clinton repaid this kindness 8 years later by having a huge public televised rally where he announced "he wasn't going anywhere".
George W Bush followed in fathers tradition at Andrews yesterday. One really wonders at times if nice guys do finish last.
ON TO THE PRAYERS
I thought Rick Warren's prayer was excellent though I wished the people on the Mall would have more picked up on the cues to all say the Our Father. Imagine what that might have sounded like. In fact I suspect that never in hum,an history would have so many people have been saying the Our Father together in one place. Well maybe next time.
Rev Lowery's ending to his prayer I view as unfortunate. To recap:
"Lord, in the memory of all the saints who from their labors rest, and in the joy of a new beginning, we ask you to help us work for that day when black will not be asked to get in back, when brown can stick around. . .when the red man can get ahead, man; and when white will embrace what is right. That all those who do justice and love mercy say Amen. Say Amen. . ."
I am not blaming this on Obama by the way. I don't think even President Elects can tell preachers what they can and can't say. One of the themes I liked about Obama's speech was talking about "Our Founding Fathers" which includes where many folks that did not have the most advanced views on race. For some black Americans I feel there is some resistance to adopting parts of America's history or the founding. Obama's speech seemed to indicate a new direction for people to explore. I thought Lowery's prayer (that I swear I think was part of a old song) sort of deflated that a tad.
There has been some Catholic reaction. A poster at VOX NOVA wonders what the big deal is and seems aghast that we are talking about it. Big hint -Lowery is not some senile love able old Civil Rights leaders that has a tendency to say things controversial without knowing. He wants it to provoke controversy and be talked about. He knows darn well what he is doing.
American Catholic is not pleased. See Racism at the Inauguration?.
The most explicit rebuke is from a Mississippi Delta raised Catholic Cleric studying in Rome Domine, da mihi hanc aquam! . See Once White gets it right. . . I really agree with most of what he is saying (except that Obama should apologize for the reasons I stated above) and that it goes against another theme that President Obama is doing.
Quid Mihi Et Tibi Est? has Lowery Mocks God With Racist 'Prayer' at Inauguration and points out the obvious problems. I am not calling the prayer "racist" really but I think it was wrong and totally tasteless.
Again in my view tasteless and counterproductive. But hey people are talking about Rev Lowery which I think was the point.
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