The Radical Wright
Obama could no sooner disown the Rev. Jeremiah Wright than he could disown the black community. Well, at least up until the past few days. He still hasn’t disowned him per se, but he certainly has tried to distance himself from his 20-year pastor.
But the discussion has been that what one heard from Wright’s pulpit was part and parcel of church in that selfsame black community. But the LA Times has been asking black clergymen in LA and finds that, no, Wright’s rants aren’t necessarily mainstream.
In a series of nationally televised appearances over the last few days, the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr. has defended his controversial remarks as "prophetic theology," and said criticism of him amounted to an attack on the black church.
But most black church leaders and members reached Tuesday disagreed."This didn’t have anything to do with the black church — it was basically an attack on the individual message he proclaimed, which hurt some individuals," said the Rev. K.W. Tulloss of Weller Street Missionary Baptist Church in Boyle Heights. "My own members were offended by Rev. Wright’s words. His views have cast a wedge between people, and that’s the exact opposite of the unity Jesus represented."
[…]
Bishop John Bryant of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, who has known Wright for 30 years, said he would have used less provocative language.
"How one speaks is as important as the right to do so," Bryant said. "If it is done in an inflammatory way, the substance of the message gets lost in the rhetorical style."
Kerman Maddox, a member of First AME church in Los Angeles, said that he had listened to hundreds of sermons in black churches nationwide as part of his political and community work, and that Wright’s messages did "not represent mainstream black thought on Sunday morning."
He said he had never heard pastors curse America or proclaim, as Wright had, that the U.S. government caused AIDS among blacks. He said the common pulpit themes had long been unity, personal responsibility, loving your neighbor and improving your neighborhoods.
But the biggest concern Tuesday among local black religious leaders — and across a wide swath of black Los Angeles — was not about Wright’s words per se but about their impact on Obama’s historic campaign.
It’s been a while since all this came out; why didn’t anyone in the media think to ask these questions earlier?
But the main question to me is this; what does this say about Obama himself? He’s not running on experience — he’ll lose to McCain if he is — so one of main things to consider is his judgement. If he’s shocked to find out that his own pastor is so far out of the mainstream after spending 20 years with him, that does not reflect well on that judgement.
Filed under: Democrats • Doug • Government • Politics • Race Issues • Religion
Like this post? Subscribe to my RSS feed and get loads more!
It says that his former pastor is more extreme than Obama is in a few of his views and that means really nothing as far as Obama is concerned because HE is the one running, not Wright.
This is non-news that continues to be raised by Obama’s detractors because they have so little to attack him on otherwise. His positions are embraced by a good number of people and attacking his positions is not going to stop Obama, so they are attacking these non-issues.
The American public is not so stupid as to fall for this distraction, or at least I hope.
Have we seen endless stories about McCain’s more extreme contacts (Rev. Hagee, for instance)? Are we going to research and attack each candidate for their friends’ positions or will this tactic only be reserved for Obama?
If only for Obama, one must wonder: Why aren’t we talking about the issues instead of these other folk who aren’t running for office?
As to experience, many of us LIKE the experience that Obama has. We WANT an outsider. We DON’T like McCain’s or Clinton’s experience.
If one has a huge amount of experience and most of it is bad, that does not make one qualified for office, just because you have the most experience.
Yes, Obama is the one running. But his associations, including, as you agreed once, his pastor, are part of the mix. For him to appear shocked at Wright’s words after all this time really appears disingenuous. Wright was on Obama’s website as a spiritual adviser (until the controversy, the he was airbrushed off). Who a candidate’s advisers are is not “non-news”.
The issues between Clinton and Obama have been hashed and rehashed. We already know there’s very little difference between them, other than Hillary is sounding a bit hawkish these days.
I fully expect the Hagee issue to come to the fore once the press rediscovers McCain. It’s just that he’s not the story right now. When it comes out that Hagee has been McCain’s spiritual mentor for 2 decades, then… oh, wait. Never mind.
I’m not saying that experience is the only indicator of someone’s qualifications, and I’d agree with your assessment of why it might be good to have an outsider. What I’m saying is that, lacking that measurement, judgment becomes a larger factor.
And really, in wartime, I kinda want someone who doesn’t have to learn the ropes. One who doesn’t think we really are, or should be, in wartime might have a different opinion.
Fair enough. On the experience, what I’m saying is he ISN’T lacking experience, for some of us. His experience is extremely good.
We’re tired of millionaire oilboys and corporate lawyers being elected president and a urban organizer, helpful lawyer, state senator, US senator for a short time is EXACTLY the sort of experience that folk like me are looking for.
And I think there are a lot of folk like me out there.
Actually McCain denounced Hagee’s endorsement, something I’ve seen Obama fans conveniently overlook in the hopes of shifting attention from their man.
And I think his association with Wright does matter. Obama’s comments in San Francisco and Michelle’s line about never being proud of America are the exact influences that Wright has had on the Obama family. That’s not the kind of people I want occupying the White House.
But all-in-all, as much as I am disgusted by the so-called Reverend Wright, Obama’s association with William Ayers is far more troubling to me. As far as I know, anyway, Wright has never bombed anybody.