Let's talk about Rick Warren

Everyone seems pretty clear on the fact that Rick Warren is no advocate for same-sex marriage. He's also strongly against abortion. [Warning: this interview contains a fairly offensive comparison of pro-choice people with Holocaust deniers: link.] So, as feminists, just how angry should we be about his invitation to give a prayer at the inauguration of President-elect Obama?

I'm going to suggest the answer is "not very," for two reasons.

First, Obama and his campaign have been clear that Pastor Warren's invitation is not a tacit wholesale endorsement of his politics.

The second reason is even more important, though: Pastor Warren, for all of his socially conservative and (to me) offensive beliefs, also has an agenda I can get behind. He wants to end poverty, for example. He's an advocate for health care and for education. These are the kind of things that I, as a feminist, care about. He's definitely not on my page about everything, probably including how to carry out these very agendas, but he's not a scion of evil either.

I'm starting worry that those of us sitting over here on the progressive bench have forgotten about an important quality of coalition building: you don't have to feel like everyone working with you on issues of hunger and poverty is your soul-sister. You don't have to agree with her about religion, abortion, or whether to stay home with kids, as long as you can both agree to show some tolerance. Tolerance is a liberal value, remember?

It's true that there are some things on which members of a coalition probably need to basically agree: it's important not to discriminate based on identity, which includes race, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, class, and religion. And it's important not to impose our choices -- or ideas about what makes someone acceptably progressive in terms of politics, dress, or anything else -- on others. (Check out this brilliant article on how middle-class progressives alienate their working-class allies with tofu for some great examples and even greater suggestions.)

In the end, what it comes down to is this: if we insist that we can't talk to Rick Warren -- that the only people we can work with are people who are just like us -- we're going to prevent ourselves from making the kind of alliances that will get things done, choosing instead to stay on our high horses. And there's nothing progressive about that.