Obama inaugural quotes scripture: America must begin "setting aside childish things."

One of the lines that struck me the most in President Obama's inaugural address yesterday was his insistence that, "We remain a young nation, but in the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things."

Growing up in the evangelical world my tribe's approach to politics left an indelible mark on me. Its strict loyalty to narrow partisanship. Its often blind following of the worst forms of American nationalism. Its common pettiness in the face of difference.

I'll never forget the environment at Bethel University in the early days of 'Operation Iraqi Freedom'.

A small group of students were given permission to quietly protest the war outside the doors of the Benson Great Hall during chapel. Mostly conservative in background, you can imagine how the student body responded. The conventional wisdom was that good Christians voted Republican, and supported their President in times of war.

While bombs landed in Baghdad, a regime collapsed, a generation's-worth of critical infrastructure was destroyed, and people disappeared beneath the rubble, Bethel's chapel ended every day and my fellow classmates engaged in warfare of a different kind. One side held signs. The other lobbed epithets.

"Fuck you, hippies." rang out from one student, from the same lips that had uttered prayers and sung worship songs minutes earlier. The small group of protesters simply held their signs higher, nostrils flared and eyes red with frustration. The cycle continued for weeks. Small politics. Petty politics. Childish politics.

Flash forward to a few weeks ago. Progressive activists across America sneered with protest when President-elect Obama tapped evangelical pastor Rick Warren to offer the opening prayer at his inauguration.

"Surely this decision is a slap in the face of those of us who voted for Obama based on his promise to set a broader, more-inclusive, table for America." I overheard one of my liberal friends say, referencing Warren's public endorsement of Proposition 8 in California, and broad-based evangelical support for the worst of President Bush's policies.

"Evangelical bigotry must not be rewarded," he reasoned. And so the culture wars continue: liberal vs. conservative, secular vs. religious, republican vs. democrat. Small politics. Petty politics. Childish politics.

These divisions are not the unique disease of individual political tribes, ethnic groups, economic classes, religious backgrounds, or sexual orientations. Poisonous divisions cut across cultures, and they are slowing wearing away at America's social fabric, threatening to tear us apart.

In my years working alongside Jim Wallis at Sojourners, one thing that stuck with me was his passionate belief in the urgent need for Americans to come together to solve the common challenges we face. A few years ago he said:

"We need a new politics inspired by our deepest held values. Americans are much less concerned about what is liberal or conservative, what is Democrat or Republican. Rather, we care about what is right and what works.

The path of partisan division is well worn, but the road of compassionate priorities and social justice will lead us to a new America. Building that new America will require greater moral leadership from both Democrats and Republicans, and also from each and every one of us."

One of the reasons I've supported Obama for so long, and am so hopeful about the advent of his Presidency, is that I believe he holds these truths as well, and intends to govern with them in mind.

"On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our politics." he said at his inaugural address yesterday, echoing the truth expressed in his 2004 convention speech that, "there’s not a liberal America and a conservative America — there’s the United States of America."

Indeed, the time has come to set aside childish things.