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My sick daughter/frozen pipes/burst pipes trifecta-of-chaos this weekend prevented me from fully enjoying the pre-inaugural festivities here in Washington. But I watched a bit of the celebrity concert that got things going (I can’t get enough of Mary J.) and was sorry to see that HBO did not broadcast the opening prayer by Bishop Gene Robinson.
Allow me to jump in here quick with a shameless plug for an essay by a friend of mine, producer Alice Rhee of MSNBC, who has posted a lengthy guide to “evangelical” — whatever that word means today — reactions to the reality that is the nation’s new Liberal Oldline Protestant In Chief.
It’s hard to write about a minister without talking about what the man believes, in terms of the Christian faith. At the same time, I imagine that it’s hard for folks at the edgy Style section of the Washington Post to write about faith issues, period, especially when dealing with a Civil Rights Movement giant who is now in the orbit of President-elect Barack Obama.
The fate of embryos and treatments to screen them for disease made news in England last week — but few apparent ripples over here.
I live in the same neighborhood as the U.S. Capitol where we will inaugurate Barack Obama as our next president. You would not believe the chaos — some real, some manufactured — as we head into this Tuesday. There are massive parking restrictions, road closures and bridge closures not to mention restrictions on what even pedestrians can carry within the security perimeter.
We’re going to be seeing lots and lots of commentary about the death of Father Richard John Neuhaus and the end of an era, especially if you combine his passing with that of another important Catholic activist on the right, Deacon Paul Weyrich.
Yesterday morning, I asked my 16-month-old daughter to pick out one of her books and bring it to me. Instead of “That’s Not My Bunny . . .” or some similar book, she picked up my latest copy of First Things and went through it page by page. It made me laugh but also made me immediately wonder how the journal’s founder Richard John Neuhaus was doing. I knew he’d been in poor health and had received last rites.
Michelle Boorstein of The Washington Post wrote an exceptional front-page story on Tuesday about the uncertain future of the Church of the Saviour, which the Rev. Gordon and Mary Cosby founded 60 years ago. Cosby preached his final sermon — at age 91 — on December 28.
Oh the constant joy it must bring to be a religious person associated with President-elect Barack Obama. With Baptist minister Rick Warren being sued by atheists over the use of the Lord’s name in an inauguration prayer, Obama’s old home church appears to be breathing a sigh of relief now that the election is over and Obama has officially moved to Washington, D.C.
