When president-elect Barack Obama chose evangelical leader Rick Warren to lead a prayer at his inauguration the cultural Left threw the predictable fits. Said Democratic political consultant Chad Griffith “Rick Warren needs to realize that he is further dividing us at a time when the country needs to come together.”

In light of the Rick Warren controversy, such “€œcoming together”€ rhetoric, so often mouthed by champions of “€œdiversity”€ has one again proven to be a farce. For a true “€œcoming together”€ of any sort on social issues, one might expect political opponents to either agree to disagree, yet still join and work together where they can, or for both sides to at least concede some principles as a compromise. In this case, as in most cases, the champions of diversity simply do not want an evangelical of Warren’s stripe to even be allowed a seat at the table. And while Warren hasn”€™t budged from his stance on gay marriage, neither will the Left anytime soon. It seems that the oft-desired “€œcoming together”€ means not any new, warm embrace, but an unconditional surrender, in which conservatives are expected to wave the white flag.