Obama is president!!!
After eight years of Bush in the White House, it's official: OBAMA IS PRESIDENT!!!
A few less euphoric law-related comments on the inauguration itself:
My love of Obama and his speech aside, I was troubled by Obama's decision to have Rick Warren deliver the inaugural invocation. For those of you who don't know, Rick Warren has (among other things)
equated homosexuality to incest, pedophilia, and bigamy.
But because I'll chalk Obama's decision up to political savviness, despite the hypocrisy of the message, I'll put that aside to consider another issue.
The Supreme Court has repeatedly ruled that the invocations, benedictions, and swearing in on the Bible are constitutional. Yet in my opinion no other result could have been reached without sparking national outrage; that doesn't make the Court's constitutional analysis correct.
The repeated prayers, the hullabaloo about which Bible Obama/others might choose, all of it endorses a Christian message. The President should be allowed to take the oath in what form best suits his beliefs, but I wonder how peoples of other religions, other non-religions, and other cultures viewed the symbolism: Our country - and Obama in particular - talks about inclusion, all the while using only one religious belief in our highest oaths and and proceedings of office. As a non-believing citizen, should I take the Supreme Court seriously when it claims to require government neutrality not only between religions, but between religion and non-religion?
And let us remember the following: (via Slate)
According to official records kept by the Architect of the Capitol, Teddy Roosevelt is the only president who wasn't sworn in using a Bible; he took a rushed oath of office in 1901 following the assassination of William McKinley. However, it's rumored that LBJ was sworn in using a Catholic missal aboard Air Force One after Kennedy's assassination. John Quincy Adams, according to his own letters, placed his hand on a constitutional law volume rather than a Bible to indicate where his fealty lay. Franklin Pierce "affirmed" rather than swore his oath on the Bible, reportedly because of a crisis of faith following his son's death. There are no known inauguration Bibles for presidents John Adams through John Tyler; in fact, there's no concrete evidence that those early presidents used a Bible at all for the oath.
It's a great day for America, but I'm feeling much like my French friend Sophie (who found all the praryers at a state event rather shocking): Pleased with the outcome, but a bit confused by the message.
- tel out
A few less euphoric law-related comments on the inauguration itself:
My love of Obama and his speech aside, I was troubled by Obama's decision to have Rick Warren deliver the inaugural invocation. For those of you who don't know, Rick Warren has (among other things)
equated homosexuality to incest, pedophilia, and bigamy.
But because I'll chalk Obama's decision up to political savviness, despite the hypocrisy of the message, I'll put that aside to consider another issue.
The Supreme Court has repeatedly ruled that the invocations, benedictions, and swearing in on the Bible are constitutional. Yet in my opinion no other result could have been reached without sparking national outrage; that doesn't make the Court's constitutional analysis correct.
The repeated prayers, the hullabaloo about which Bible Obama/others might choose, all of it endorses a Christian message. The President should be allowed to take the oath in what form best suits his beliefs, but I wonder how peoples of other religions, other non-religions, and other cultures viewed the symbolism: Our country - and Obama in particular - talks about inclusion, all the while using only one religious belief in our highest oaths and and proceedings of office. As a non-believing citizen, should I take the Supreme Court seriously when it claims to require government neutrality not only between religions, but between religion and non-religion?
And let us remember the following: (via Slate)
According to official records kept by the Architect of the Capitol, Teddy Roosevelt is the only president who wasn't sworn in using a Bible; he took a rushed oath of office in 1901 following the assassination of William McKinley. However, it's rumored that LBJ was sworn in using a Catholic missal aboard Air Force One after Kennedy's assassination. John Quincy Adams, according to his own letters, placed his hand on a constitutional law volume rather than a Bible to indicate where his fealty lay. Franklin Pierce "affirmed" rather than swore his oath on the Bible, reportedly because of a crisis of faith following his son's death. There are no known inauguration Bibles for presidents John Adams through John Tyler; in fact, there's no concrete evidence that those early presidents used a Bible at all for the oath.
It's a great day for America, but I'm feeling much like my French friend Sophie (who found all the praryers at a state event rather shocking): Pleased with the outcome, but a bit confused by the message.
- tel out