President Obama angered many advocates for gay equality when he selected Rick Warren to deliver the invocation at his inauguration, despite Warren's views on gay rights. Obama said he made the choice to represent a "range of viewpoints" – but does his argument hold up?
Framework
President Barack Obama angered many voters when he selected Rev. Rick Warren, pastor of Saddleback Church and author of the popular book The Purpose Driven Life, to lead a prayer at his inauguration. Gay rights supporters felt betrayed [1] by the selection of a minister who has compared gay marriage to incest and pedophilia [2] and supported California's Proposition 8, which stripped gay Californians of their marriage rights.
Obama defended his selection of Warren by saying his inauguration would be marked by "a wide range of viewpoints … and that's how it should be, because that's what America is about." Obama later commented, "That's part of the magic of this country is that we are diverse and noisy and opinionated."
In this activity, students will examine whether the inclusion of Rick Warren at the inauguration actually encourages a "range of viewpoints," or simply reinforces those already present.
Objectives:
Students will:
• Read a piece of commentary about Obama's "diversity defense" in support of Rick Warren's selection to deliver the invocation at the inauguration.
• In small groups, assess the strength of the commentary.
• Discuss their findings as a whole class.
• Write short essays in response to the commentary.
Materials:
• Copies of The Fallacy of Obama's Diversity Defense [3] by Darren Hutchinson for each student, provided as a homework assignment the night before
• Copies of Commentary Rubric [4] for each small group
Suggested Procedures
1. Introduce students to the lesson using the framework above. Provide each student with a copy of Hutchinson's blog entry — or the URL — and ask students to read it as a homework assignment.
2. The next day, break students into small groups and provide each group with an Commentary Rubric [4] handout. Explain that the groups should discuss Hutchinson's essay and then assess it on four measures: clarity of position, degree of support for assertions, organization and tone.
3. After groups have had enough time to discuss and collectively assess the essay, ask the groups to share their rankings and briefly explain why. As a whole class, discuss:
• So, which of Hutchinson's points were most compelling to us? Why?
• Which were the least compelling? Why?
• What could Hutchinson have done to make his position more clear or more powerful?
4. As a culminating activity, ask each student to write a short essay, drawing on Hutchinson's essay and other resources if they are so inclined, indicating whether they support or oppose the idea that Rick Warren's inclusion in Obama's inauguration advances a "range of views" or reinforces the status quo.
5. Give students the option to post their short argumentative essays as comments on Hutchinson's blog post [3].
Standards
This lesson supports content standards for grades 8-12 in reading [5], writing [6], civics [7] and life skills [8].
Links:
[1] http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/12/18/obama.warren/
[2] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0spPzgma6Q
[3] http://dissentingjustice.blogspot.com/2008/12/fallacy-of-obamas-diversity-defense.html
[4] http://www.tolerance.org/sites/default/files/general/viva_commentary_handout_web.pdf
[5] http://www.mcrel.org/compendium/standardDetails.asp?subjectID=7&standardID=7
[6] http://www.mcrel.org/compendium/standardDetails.asp?subjectID=7&standardID=2
[7] http://www.mcrel.org/compendium/topicsDetail.asp?topicsID=444&subjectID=14
[8] http://www.mcrel.org/compendium/SubjectTopics.asp?SubjectID=22