Time To Play Hardball Family!
I was wondering what was taking so long for Clergy to defend this great pastor. He was left out there alone for too long. Farrakhan too but I guess folks will only go so far.
"Bill [Clinton] did to us just like he did to Monica Lewisky, he was riding dirty." - Jeremiah Wright
The Rev. Jeremiah Wright's fiery commentary about America went beyond the usual political discourse but reflected long-held frustrations that African-Americans often release at churches and other social settings, local black pastors say.
It's those stark observations, created by generations of oppression and racism, that Barack Obama attempted to put into context Tuesday for Americans troubled by sound bites of Mr. Wright's sermons that "damned" the United States and blamed the nation's own actions for the terrorist attacks of 9/11.
Many black Dallas pastors view Mr. Wright as a longtime hero and mentor, defending his message and bridling at what they call media misrepresentation of it.
Analysis: Barack Obama takes big risk by addressing race conflict
"I have preached at Trinity [Mr. Wright's church in Chicago] and he has preached here," said the Rev. Tyrone Gordon, pastor at St. Luke Community United Methodist Church in Dallas. "One thing I said to the church on this past Sunday is that a lot of us are taking it personally because it is an attack on the whole black prophetic experience."
But for whites who have never been in a black church, Mr. Wright's words could have seemed extremist and even bizarre.
"Trinity's services are full of raucous laughter and sometimes bawdy humor. They are full of dancing, clapping, screaming and shouting that may seem jarring to the untrained ear," Mr. Obama said Tuesday. "The church contains in full the kindness and cruelty, the fierce intelligence and the shocking ignorance, the struggles and successes, the love and, yes, the bitterness and bias that make up the black experience in America."
Supporters acknowledge that the Wright controversy could be difficult for Mr. Obama to overcome, but they say he made a good first step by introducing Americans to the black church experience.
Former Dallas Mayor Ron Kirk, an Obama supporter, predicted that some voters will abandon Mr. Obama because of the presidential contest's sudden racial tone.
"There's a segment of the voting populace with folks looking for an excuse to be against him," Mr. Kirk said. Many black Dallas pastors say Mr. Wright's comments have been misinterpreted by whites unfamiliar with the black experience in America.
"There is a huge disconnect that is rooted in ignorance," said the Rev. Frederick Haynes III, pastor of Friendship West Baptist Church in Oak Cliff. "Unfortunately, it took the media lynching of Jeremiah Wright for us to once again deal with the unresolved issue of race in this country."
Dr. Gordon, who said he counts the pastor he calls "Daddy J" as a spiritual mentor, rejects any suggestion that Mr. Wright is himself racist.
Traditional black preaching -- particularly from men of Mr. Wright's generation -- carries a style and cadence far different from that found in most white churches. It is frequently delivered in Old Testament prophetic style, in which sins are recounted, punishment promised, repentance called for -- with emotion and entertainment value at a premium.
"Black preaching is provocative and steps on everybody's toes," said the Rev. Sheron Patterson, senior pastor at Highland Hills United Methodist Church in Dallas. "Black preaching is cathartic for the preacher and for the congregation."
Black audiences familiar with the style probably hear a more nuanced theology in some of Mr. Wright's quotes than what comes across from the videos filling the newscasts and Web sites.
Take the sound bite that is getting the most play, the 2003 sermon in which he repeatedly said: "God [condemn] America." It's part of a longer passage that condemns the U.S. government for a number of transgressions against blacks, including "treating our citizens as less than human."
And that, some other black pastors say, is a traditional use of the prophetic voice by a preacher named after the Old Testament prophet who condemned the nation of Israel in the name of God.
"Shall I not bring retribution on a nation such as this?" Jeremiah says, speaking for God. "They shall become as dung on the face of the earth. And death will be preferable to life for all that are left of this wicked folk." But both the contemporary and biblical Jeremiahs are the truest of patriots, Mr. Gordon said.
"They preached it because they did love their country and wanted their country to be a spiritual leader in the world," Mr. Gordon said.
But what about the controversial claims by Mr. Wright that have nothing to do with theology: that the U.S. government distributes illegal drugs to blacks and that the government created the AIDS virus as a means of genocide against people of color?
"I don't have the facts to address that," Dr. Gordon said. "I have heard that, and not only from him."
Mr. Haynes said some in the media are distorting Mr. Wright's overall message.
"They have yet to play the sermon in its entirety," Mr. Haynes said. "Anytime you take a text out of context, it's for your own pretext and you end up conning people."
Mr. Haynes said the country must be honest about its troubled past.
"Dr. Wright has said all the time, you cannot fix what you will not face," he said.