On Second Thought...

My previous post comparing Obama's selection of Rick Warren to give the invocation at his inauguration to Reagan's announcement in Philadelphia, MS was a mistake. That was my anger and disappointment speaking.

Upon further consideration, I cannot justify that comparison because the intent of each man is different. Reagan was sending a message that he was not a friend of blacks and/or the Civil Rights Movement. Obama, on the other hand, is fulfilling his campaign pledge to be inclusive rather than exclusive. Obama's vice president and cabinet selections are also evidence of his intent to be inclusive. His choices remind me of the Edwin Markham (1852-1940) poem, "Outwitted."

He drew a circle that shut me out-
Heretic, rebel, a thing to flout.
But love and I had the wit to win:
We drew a circle and took him in!

I was reading The Untethered Soul by Michael A. Singer yesterday and these words leaped out at me.

"Extremes create their opposites; the wise avoid them."

We've had several decades of hostility between extreme positions of left and right in this country. It has led us to this point where we are losing young lives in two wars, both initiated by the U.S.; an economy that is disastrous and getting worse; and a consumption of the world's natural resources that threatens our very existence.

We are fortunate to have been sensible enough to elect someone as wise as Barack Obama to be our next president. But, like most Americans, I adopted the default position of ostracizing those whose opinions/beliefs differ from my own. While continuing to express my own opinion, I will refrain from judging those who do not agree with me.