There’s a bit of a kerfuffle currently taking place over Rick Warren, author of The Purpose Driven Life (never have read it) inviting Barack Obama, U.S. senator from Illinois and darling of the left (“oooh — he’s articulate!  He’s handsome!  He’s… um, well, you know…”) to do a little preachin’ next month at his modest little Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California.  I speak in jest about the modest part — the church boasts some twenty-two thousand members and is the template for megachurches everywhere.  Anyway, the occasion for Sen. Obama’s visit is World AIDS Day, about and around which the church has coordinated a host of events and ministerial workshops.  One of the guests is Franklin Graham, son of Billy Graham and heir to his ministry.

The problem with Sen. Obama’s appearance at the church stems from his strong support of abortion.  Before getting into that, bit of background here.  The debate over abortion comes down to a fundamental belief, all emotional arguments set aside.  If you believe life begins at birth, or whenever the fetus is capable of sustaining life either on its own or with reasonable assistance, you are probably pro-abortion.  If you believe life begins at conception, you are probably anti-abortion.  Simple, really.  I believe life begins at conception, therefore I am anti-abortion, and if I ever had the opportunity to speak to Sen. Obama about it I would say so without compromise.  Again, simple.  Speaking truth to power and all that.

Now, does Sen. Obama being invited to speak at Saddleback as part of the church’s awareness-raising and funds-raising campaign — which is a lot of funds, by the way — to combat AIDS imply agreement with his position on abortion?  That is the argument against his being asked to speak.  To a degree it’s a fair question; one Rick Warren can answer with a basic “I disagree with the Senator on this issue” statement.  BUT…

There’s a saying I like to use at my workplace: “it doesn’t matter who struck the match while the fire is still burning.”  Playing the blame game, or issuing forth cries of ‘unclean’ is easy.  However, when you have a situation such as that which currently faces the world — a full-blown AIDS pandemic in Africa — one might best be behooved to STFU and get working.

The oft-expressed attitude of “why are these people focusing on foreign countries when we have so many in need right here” needs to be bagged and sold; it makes great lawn fertilizer.  All who are in need are important.  If people in need in this country are that important to you, get off your happy self and go help them.  Blabbing on a radio show or on Townhall isn’t helping.  For that matter, neither is wrinkling your nose and going “eeeww, church people — they’re all hypocrites and I don’t want anything to do with them.”  It’s reinforcing the image of how political correctness, on either side of the aisle, would rather see people die than surrender once iota of its ideological purity.  It also reinforces the impression you’re a useless idiot.

Does Sen. Obama need to be slapped upside the head and set straight on abortion?  Oh, you betcha.  But when he’s actively working for saving people’s lives… you know, we need to join alongside him with that.  The former does not negate the latter.  Remember what David did so he could have Bathsheba?  And he paid for it big time.  Now, remember what David was called by God?

A man after His own heart.