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Notes From a Black Pastor

March 14th, 2008
By DENNIS SANDERS

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Well, considering that I am an African American pastor, I should say something about the whole affair concerning the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, the pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ, Barack Obama’s church.

I have to state, in the interest of full disclosure, that I am an ordained pastor in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and also have standing in the United Church of Christ, the denomination that Rev. Wright and Trinity belong to.

Now, that I’ve got that out of the way, when some of the early rumors were swirling about the church, I tended to think this was nothing more than falsehoods. I thought that a church that was trying to “uplift the race” was probably a good thing and even though I don’t agree with Sen. Obama’s views, I did affirm his spiritual roots at a church that was focused on social justice and helping the least of these.

Now that I have seen and read the sermons Rev. Wright has preached, my views have changed a bit.

Most African American preachers will inject social concerns into their sermons. Because of our experience with slavery and later segregation, we tend to see Christianity in a more prophetic role, where God is on the side of the downtrodden. While I mostly preach in predominately white churches (and I tend to have a more subdued style than most black preachers) I do tend to talk about care for the poor and about the fact that God loves and accepts all regardless of color or sexual orientation. I believe that as Christians we are called to strive for justice and I do try to make that point in my sermons.

That said, the sermons by Rev. Wright go waaaay over the top. He paints an America that I don’t recognize and throws in falsehoods and a tinge of anti-Semitism that I believe shames all African American preachers.

There is no way you can explain away Wright’s belief that 9/11 was basically “just desserts” on America, especially a few days after the event. Then there is his giving into dark conspiracy theories such as the one where the government gives black people the drugs. Or, his talk of Zionism as white racism.

There is just something wrong about what Rev. Wright is doing. It’s not that he isn’t patriotic enough as some on the right are yelping: it’s that this man seems an inverse of the late Jerry Falwell: a mean-spirited preacher that uses the Bible to further his agenda.

How will this affect Sen. Obama? I don’t know. This will probably blow over like so many other stories about slip-ups by surrogates. But then again this might have legs. As some have argued, this is not like John Hagee mouthing off his anti-Arab rants after having endorsed John McCain. McCain doesn’t go to his church. (McCain should have denounced those remarks nevertheless.) Obama and his family have been part of Trinity for 20 years. As Shay over at Booker Rising notes: “If you’ve been going to a pastor’s church for 20 years and he married you and baptized your children, you agree with most of what that pastor says.”

I don’t know if Obama agrees with what his pastor says, but it is going to look that way because of his long ties with Rev. Wright.

As Ross Douthat explains, Obama is going to have to do more than say this is just his “crazy uncle.” He notes:

So far, Obama has attempted to laugh off Wright’s penchant for inflammatory rhetoric, comparing him to “an old uncle who says things I don’t always agree with,” and suggesting that this is “what happens when you just cherry-pick statements from a guy who had a 40-year career as a pastor.” But as Wright’s America-bashing gets more airtime — and as his Obama-boosting sermons put his church’s tax exemption at risk — Obama may have to go further down the road to explicitly disavowing his pastor. His connection to Wright isn’t the equivalent of John McCain’s going to Liberty University to make nice with Jerry Falwell. It’s the equivalent of John McCain taking his wife and children, most Sundays, to Jerry Falwell’s church. And the disconnect between Obama’s studied moderation and his congregation’s radicalism requires more of an explanation than he’s offered so far.

Obama’s rhetoric has been one of unity and hope. I take him at his word. But he will have to come to terms with his pastor’s extreme views because, if he doesn’t, we can expect the GOP to use Rev. Wright’s sermon in commercials this fall.

Update: The United Church of Christ, Rev. Wright’s and Sen. Obama’s denomination has responded to the story, supporting the congregation. In the past, I would have agreed this was a smear, but no longer.

Update, Part Deux: Sen. Obama released a statement on Rev. Wright’s comments. Hopefully, his handling of this situation along with Rev. Wright leaving the campaign, will allow this to blow over. Good for the Senator.



This entry was posted on Friday, March 14th, 2008 at 3:28 pm and is filed under Newsweek Blogitics, Barack Obama. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Viewing 14 Comments

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    Dennis,
    Obama forcefully denounced Wright this afternoon. What are your thoughts on it? The denunciation, in full is here:

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/barack-obama/on-m...

    He's going on TV to talk about tonight - including on Sean Hannity's show.
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    What type of church is this?

    Barak Obama supported this church and its teachings for years and years by his continued presence and work for this church and its congregation.

    That should say it all.
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    Obama has been attending this church, and has known this pastor, for over twenty years...and only NOW is he aware of Wright's history of anti-Semitic, anti-American rhetoric?

    Much like Obama had been Tony Rezko's friend for years, and took his money, even bought real estate with him...without ever picking up a newspaper to read of Rezko's shady dealings (that the Chicago press have covered for years)...and only NOW is he aware of these troublesome stories.

    Poor Senator Obama...how many more times in the campaign will he be profess to be "Shocked, Shocked" by what was going on all around him for years?
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    Dennis, thank you for the link to Booker Rising. I thought the comment in response to Shay was interesting:

    "My problem with the "God damn America" mentality is not just that it is anti-American; it is profoundly un-Christian. Even if Senator Obama chose to ignore the politics of Rev. Wright's sermons (or if, as the Senator seems be claiming, he did not see them as particularly political to begin with), the spiritual poison from Trinity United's leader should have been self-evident (as it was to your Grandma), and reason enough to find another church at which to worship."
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    Of course this will be all over the Republican TV commercials.

    Republicans can't run on how well they've managed the war.

    Republicans can't run on how well they've managed the economy.

    Republicans can't run on how well they've managed health care.

    So they'll attack what his Christian minister said. Even as they're running a whispering campaign that he's a secret Muslim.

    And there will always be apologists for this.
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    I'm a retired caucasian Canadian. I truly seems to me that the USA can't let a new and inspiring younger leader play the game unless he survives a multimedia whipping.
    Barack Obama has already improved the reputation of the USA abroad. We're all watching to see if America has matured into the nation the founding fathers dreamed about (minus the brutal slavery of course).
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    Whocares adked:
    "What kind of achurch is this?"

    The obsession with churches and religions really has to stop someitme. We're still recovering from the uproar about Mormonism. In the end, what did it have to do with Romney, the presidential candidate? Inspite of the extreme secrecy of the Mormons about their ceremonies and practices, we cama to accept Romney at this word, and no one was damaged as a result.

    In Obama's case, his church is more open, so we know about Rev. Wright and we know what Obama's contrasting beliefs are, so there is much less guesswork involved. We're actually ahead of the game, when compared to other leaders.

    This has got to stop, or we'll end up obsessing about every public figure's religion. .
    What about the revered Rev. Billy Graham's influential relationship with many of our Presidents? He was a self-acknowledged anti-semite for most of his life.
    How does that change the legacy of Pres. Bush?

    Do we really need to re-examine the vaious religious beliefs of the Founding Fathers? They were far from inified in the area of religion but still managed to produce the Constitution. together.


    This just has to stop if we are to retain a modicum of logic in the process of choosing Preidential candidates and, eventually, Presidents.
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    Macan cited to these word:s "My problem with the "God damn America" mentality is not just that it is anti-American; it is profoundly un-Christian."

    Please, let's not resort to using those old political clubs again.. They are being worn out to the point of being useless, if not always as laughabel as many find them.

    As Obama has stated, and I agree with him, Rev. Wright has been extreme in his statements. Like Dennis said, he has gone way over the top.

    What being anti-American or anti-Christian precisely means, however, is not clear in the least. the number of definitions are myriad.
    Too many use these kind of characterizations about anyone who disagrees with them either about politics or theology. This practice dimishes both the inherent value of patriotism and Christianity. When used as political tools, It cheapens both condepts.
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    Everyone who's denouncing Rev. Wright based on this compilation of clips assumes that this is all that he's been saying for the past 20 years - some are quick to leap to assumption because this confirms in some way what they want to believe, others because they live in a climate of constant fear and don't know any better. Whatever. But to build an argument based on assumptions you haven't actually done anything to verify shows me that I don't really have to pay as much attention to what you say as I would to someone who was actually demonstrating thoughtfulness.
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