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"If you want to criticize [Warren], of course you can," Driscoll wrote. "But remember, if you lived your life under the scrutiny that he does, you would likely be even easier to criticize. Also, remember that much of the criticism against him is often by those who, rather than praying for his ministry, criticize it out of jealousy. And, just so you know, not everything you read on the Internet is true. … [P]eople will quibble over parts such as creation or the mention of Martin Luther King Jr., but such quibbling reveals more about the critics than it does the prayer."

That we're talking about inaugural prayers at all is "is a perfect example of why the separation of church and state is an elite fiction that bears little resemblance to how democracy really works," Charles Colson said in his daily column yesterday.

Religious activities like public prayers have been excluded from public school graduations and football games. And yet, prayer and the Bible are integral components of our most important democratic ritual: the peaceful transfer of power. Every four years our rulers engage in the very rituals that they deny to the rest of us. …

Our leaders, whether they share our beliefs or not, still benefit from these quasi-religious rituals. The government of the United States seeks a kind of moral legitimacy, even as it upholds the so-called separation of church and state. Invoking God's blessing and placing itself under His judgment, if only for a day, furthers that purpose.

But isn't that part of the problem? asks Joe Carter (formerly of the Evangelical Outpost and now blogging at Culture11.com). "This ceremony is more akin to the coronation of Caesar than to the entrance into this world of Christ." Carter says it's not just Obama's inauguration he finds troubling. He doesn't like any of them.

Perhaps it is because I have a deep disdain for both monarchy and civil religion that I feel such revulsion, for Inauguration ceremonies employ the symbolism and trappings of both. … The transition of presidential power from one man to another does not mark a significant transition in the culture of America. Our worries, fears, and concerns do not abate because there is a different man in the White House. Our dreams, hopes, and happiness do not increase because of who occupies the Oval Office. This change in government does not portend a change in human nature or the hearts of our fellow citizens. America — all that is good and bad about us — remains the same.

That perspective may be missing during every inaugural season, but it seems particularly lost during this presidential transition, writes Nashville-area pastor Trevin Wax. "The thrill of seeing an era of sinful racism put behind us has faded quickly, for me at least. I hate to be the one to pop the balloon of our collective national pride in this historic moment, but I sense that we as Americans are facing the rise of a new national sin. …

"[T]he truly troubling aspect of the new era we have just inaugurated is the underlying assumption among so many in our country that now, finally, we have truly arrived. A new age has dawned! We are now above racism in our land. We have put behind us the terrible sins of our past and we are moving forward into a new world of hope and peace. We have recaptured the moral high ground in our world. We are unstoppable, unbeatable, unassailable!"

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January (Web-only) 2009, Vol. 53