Wright Is Wrong

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

Ironically, just yesterday, I was going to write a post titled "Wright is Right".  IMO, Reverend Jeremiah Wright has been right on target with a number of things, including the sermons that were so controversial.   When I heard Reverend Wright was going to be on Bill Moyers' show on Friday night, I waited with bated breath.  Would we see the Jeremiah Wright who is so well respected as a community activist and prophet?  Or would we see the insolent angry man that I saw on a conservative talk show interview a while back?  I was pleased with the interview.  I thought Reverend Wright and Billy Moyers did a wonderful job.  My defense of him was well-earned, I thought.  Then, Reverend Wright opened his mouth again...

I began watching the video of the talk at the NAACP yesterday. I didn't have the time to get through it all.  I find it rather boring and thought I had spent enough time listening to Reverend Wright anyway.  I saw just a few brief moments of the Q&A after the National Press Club speech.  Reverend Wright seemed playful and jovial.  I thought, "OK, guess he didn't do too much damage".  Then, today, I saw Barack Obama's response. "What the hell did Reverend Wright say?"  I wondered. I also wondered if Barack was just overreacting because Reverend Wright hadn't been apologetic for his sermons and the soundbites taken from them.  Maybe Barack was just trying to distance himself a little more.  Then, I read the transcript of the National Press Club speech and the Q&A.  It looks like Reverend Wright skipped his meds yesterday.

The speech itself I found to be mostly irrelevant. What I was amazed by was how there are so many more important things he could have talked about, and all he wanted to talk about is the "black church" and "black liberation theology".  I've tried to be tolerant of his obsession with both and tried to explain to white folks why they simply don't understand our experience, why we need the black church, the role of the prophet.  But, the good Reverend has gone, too far, IMO.   He seems to identify himself as only a black man.  While it's undeniable that that is a part of who the Reverend is, what is becoming apparent is that he clings much too strongly to that. His views on black liberation theology and the black church are pretty well known right now.  He didn't need to put them in the national spotlight again.  At a time when he could have really made a huge stride forward for understanding and peace, he chose to spout off even more divisive stuff than the sound bites that put him in this position.  Then, in the Q&A he was flippant and insulting. Even worse than the salt he poured on the already open wound of race in America, he threw Barack Obama under the bus by questioning the sincerity of the denunciation of the Reverend's remarks.  Barack tried to stand by this man- at great personal peril.  He refused to denounce him. And the Reverend repaid him with a character assassination.  He could have been humble.  He could have said "Of course Barack doesn't agree with everything I say.  And, I understand why he had to distance himself from some of my more outrageous remarks.  As a pastor, I say outrageous things...".  The calm, reasonable man who appeared on Bill Moyers was explained away as Reverend Wright himself complained about the things edited out of the interview.  Is it possible Bill Moyers' editors were trying to give the man a break?  Then, when he's unedited, he goes out and makes an ass of himself.  What's up with that?

He says this is not about an attack on Jeremiah Wright but an attack on the "black church" as if the black church is some monolithic institution and he speaks for the entire black church.  Reverend Wright is starting to remind me of Reverend Sharpton.  Does Reverend Wright forget he's a part of Trinity United Church of Christ?  Far from a black denomination. The UCC also went out of their way to defend him when he was attacked.  Why did he have to make this about the black church?

You know I am a Barack Obama supporter.  And, until now, I have bent over backwards to give Reverend Wright the benefit of the doubt.  I think Barack did too, to his detriment.  My guess is the real reason Barack Obama joined Trinity was not the theology or even the politics of the place.  It was its role in building up the community.  As a young community organizer, Barack Obama sought out the person who knew the most about the community and it was Reverend Jeremiah Wright.  Barack stuck with him and the church in spite of some of his outrageous views.  Probably because of the excellent work Trinity does. And, Jeremiah Wright is a brilliant man and a great speaker.  We tend to dismiss a lot when people are doing good work and when they are brilliant orators, as Jeremiah Wright is.

The bottom line is my interest in this issue is mainly with Barack Obama and what I think he can do for America.   Jeremiah Wright is a separate and peripheral issue, IMO.  He had the spotlight and could have done great things for race relations.  Instead, he chose to live up to people's lowest expectations and worst fears.  I am saddened by that.  I am glad that Barack chose to stand up today and "publicly divorce" (as Tim Russert put it) Jeremiah Wright.  It was the only thing left for him to do.  Many will say he's a hypocrite and he surely must have known what kind of man Jeremiah Wright is.  But, I believe that Barack Obama is the type of person who sees the best in people, the best in our country and the best in the world.  He looked past Jeremiah Wright's flaws and valued the many, many good thing the man has done.  But, enough is enough.  Jeremiah Wright returned Barack's loyalty with a betrayal of epic proportions.  And for that, Reverend Wright is wrong.

Emails Across the Divide Part IV (Finale)

This is part IV of a series.  Annie and I are very good friends... Recently we had a great conversation about race and our perspective on the whole Reverend Wright thing. Barack Obama encouraged a national conversation on race. I've been blessed with the opportunity to have a few of these across the divide recently. This last part is pretty long. I'm not sure if anyone's reading these. So, I just decided to put the rest up here, in case you are following along.

Annie has given me permission to share our conversation with you. I've broken it up into four parts each title "Emails Across the Divide". Annie is a young white woman in her early 50s. She's not your "typical" white woman in that she lives in a pretty diverse family and has spent a lot of time in the inner city. Annie and I have known each other for a few years now. She's the best friend I have that I've never met (with the exception of my brother Brian from Ireland).

Brian: I am grateful for the opportunity to have this dialog with you. I only wish more people could have the experience we are having.

I want to address your concerns. But apparently, the things that bothered you were from a sermon or sermons I don't have access to. I listened (in its entirety) to the one I did have access to. I can talk about my impressions of that sermon. I can't really talk about the others, specifically.

1.) 9/11- MANY preachers think America is a cesspool, of guilty and corruption, not just Reverend Wright. Read the prophets in the OT talking about how Israel deserved to be taken into captivity and how that was a message from G-d. This is nothing new, Annie. I don't agree with it. I don't think G-d works that way. But, it's not unpatriotic to say so. No one ever accused the Prophets of being against Israel. To the contrary, they wanted Israel to repent and turn from her "wicked" ways. Any preacher who is NOT pointing out the faults of America is not doing his job, IMO.

2.) I'm surprised that a man as educated as Reverend Wright would say something so stupid as AIDS was invented to kill Black people. Surely he knows it entered America through well-off White men. I can't back this statement up at all, Annie. Maybe he's hung out with Farrakhan too much.

3.) Don't know. Other than America really is run by rich White people. I'd really like to see that comment in context.

4.) Depends on how you look at it. I think a lot of organized crime is headed up by White people. Don't have the statistics on that. And, prisons are overflowing with Black men, largely on drug charges. And, crack cocaine does carry a much stiffer penalty than powder cocaine. For whatever reason, and we can argue about the reasons till the cows come home, prisons are disproportionately populated by Black men.

Keep in mind as you judge Jeremiah Wright what you're basing that judgment on. Since neither you nor I have a great deal of personal experience with his words, perhaps we should consider the judgment of those who have heard them in context. Are there people leaving Trinity UCC saying it's racist? How do the White members feel they are being treated? Are there any issues with violence stemming from Trinity? Why would the UCC continually talk about what a great congregation it is if they are separatist or racist. Keep in mind the UCC is a pretty White denomination, Annie.

Debra: and i'm watching from the sidelines trying to understand also. and i watched the whole sermon and like brian, see that they did a cut/force paste to get that inflammatory piece. sort of like christians cut and paste to get the eternal torment/revelation is a road map to the end times garbage. sigh. LOL

Brian: Debra, I'm glad you got to see the whole video. I'm going to see if it's possible to get the other whole videos. I imagine Trinity is inundated right now. There are other videos available on the 'web. But, I don't know which sermons the clips actually came from. But, one that that is VERY apparent from watching the video is how much it was lifted out of context. The sermon was not about Hillary, or Barack or White people, it was about Christmas and G-d sending Jesus in a manger and G-d reaching out to the poor.

Annie: thanks for trying to help me understand b2. i don't think i'll ever view rev wright quite the same way you do - we seem to see different sides of his face from our varying vantage points (on my side, he has a huge zit on his nose LOL). i truly hope that one day he speaks in st louis or someplace nearby. i'd like to hear him in person to gain a better understanding hopefully.

btw, the sermon i was referring to was the clip by abc news... if you're interested in seeing it, it was the first link that jim posted yesterday. but i do note that pat robertson said something similarly stupid about america bringing 9/11 on herself and was roundly criticized for it. i realize that the clips were culled out of his sermon by the media, picking the particularly incendiary remarks. yet, they are his own words from his own mouth - that's what i've based my opinion on, his own words. it may not be the full sermon, but they weren't edited and pieced together to distort what he said. i forgive his words but cannot find justification for them. stirring up emotion and anger in people makes it more difficult for them to reason. it produces REaction rather than well chosen, self-controlled action. if rev wright truly wants to facilitate change, it would be better to target specific wrong practices and suggest constructive solutions, rather than to blast away at an entire race of people without distinction, prejudging and condemning based on skin color alone. and that is why i say he has become what he has hated. offered for consideration...

Brian: Please understand this... I don't know Reverend Wright. I know only what I've heard about him and a few clips. I was talking to my pastor this morning and he said the same thing I had said. He would hate to have his words taken and clipped together in such a fashion. Preaching is an art form and he told me about a technique preachers use where they build up the "problem" to a crescendo, often exaggerating it to make their point. Then, they "resolve" the problem with the gospel or grace. He also told me he had visited Trinity, felt quite welcome (and Gregg is about as White as you can get) and he likes Jeremiah Wright.

You may continue to judge Reverend Wright based on the clip. I'm sure I heard the same clip. I went to YouTube and listened to all I could find. There were even some new ones today. I still won't judge Reverend Wright's 30 year career based on a few sentences here and there. That's just me. Right now, if I weigh the admiration of the United Church of Christ (an organization I do know and respect) and the admiration of his congregation, the entire sermon I viewed and the accolades coming from the White people I've heard from who have seen him in person against these clips; the amount of evidence in favor of Reverend Wright exceeds the evidence against him. You may choose to see it differently.

I must take exception to you continuing to say that he has offered no constructive solutions. I don't know whether he has or has not. You really don't know what he might have said even in the remainder of those specific sermons. I know for a fact that the sermon I watched, on balance was a fine sermon. I think Debra agrees with me. I know she watched the whole thing.

I'm willing to put into time to watch anything anyone wants to show me, in full context and judge Reverend Wright based on that. I think his ideas concerning AIDS are a little loony. But, it's not like our government hasn't ever experimented on people with deadly diseases and lied about it, Annie. They have. It's documented. The government has even apologized for it. http://www.infoplease.com/spot/bhmtuskegee1.html

Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get you, Annie. If White people are going to condemn Black preachers for pointing out our government's wrongs, they better be ready to face the evidence that has led to the attitudes that many Blacks have. I personally would rather not go there. But, Reverend Wright didn't just make this stuff up with absolutely no basis. Our government does do wrong. Our government does lie. Our government has shown a preference for White life over Black and other colored people both here and abroad. Our government has experimented on its own people. Our country is run by rich White people. Blacks are jailed disproportionately and drug laws are harsher for crack than for powdered cocaine. Reverend Wright preaches about the things that impact his community. Neither you or I know whether he's offered "solutions" to these issues. But, frankly, I wish more preachers would address them. I was hoping my preacher would talk about this this morning. But, instead, he opted to preach about Jesus riding into Jerusalem on a donkey. Frankly, I was disappointed.

Annie, Black people need someone to speak up for them about injustices both past and present. Man, the more I think about this, the more I want to put on a daishiki and join Trinity.

Yeah, race is amazingly complex and sensitive issue in this country. Stupid, isn't it? It can even set the best of friends at odds when you really get into it.

Sorry that the conversation makes you uncomfortable. If it's any consolation, I hate it, too. I wish we didn't have to talk about these things. But, IMO, clearly we do. We keep stuffing things and pretending they don't exist then they explode like this thing with Reverend Wright. A lot of people are "shocked" he would say such things and just don't understand the motivation. While I don't agree with what he said or the way he said some things, I do understand the man's motivations.

Annie: if your perception is that i'm judging rev wright's 30 yr career, you're mistaken. my concerns are confined specifically to the statements he made that i witnessed in the clip. his words were divisive and judgmental of an entire people group based only on the color of our skin. while i appreciate your pastor's sentiment, it's not accurate to say that rev wright's words were clipped together. they were not in the context of his entire sermon, true. yet they were his own words and not a cut and paste job designed to distort them. btw, no offense to your pastor, but i resent preachers who attempt to manipulate rather than simply teach, exaggerating just to make a point. also, please note that i didn't state that rev wright had never offered any constructive solutions. like you, i have no way of knowing that. i did suggest that i thought that would be a better course than to demonize whites. it seems to me that you bring in several elements that either we agree on (yes, our gov't has done wrong things) or are not at issue for me (the remarks about hillary).

i hope i've been able to clarify my true thoughts and feelings so that there's no misunderstanding. i fail to understand why rev wright demonizing whites is okay. period. would another individual demonizing jews, blacks, muslims or any group based solely on race, ethnicity, or religion be given the same latitude? would we say, "O, that's just his style..."? i don't take issue with rev wright making judgments regarding specific actions of specific persons - something he did not do, but rather made gross generalizations based SOLELY ON SKIN COLOR. i am NOT my skin. it is NOT my identity. am i the only one who sees the hypocrisy in this? i'm not asking rev wright to be PC. i would ask, however, that he be fair-minded and use his pulpit responsibly, to promote harmony rather than stir up strife. like he would give a crap what i think anyway... LOL. but i do wish rev wright would choose to exhibit the same spirit as MLK, a leader truly to be admired. even long after his death his words live on as instruments of peace and reconciliation - the true audacity of hope.

btw, i have a couple of caftans. i'll wear one and you wear your daishiki :) and i do so miss "street church ministries" in hollywood, florida. if trinity were anything like that, i think i'd want to be there too.

i do have one question regarding your last statement (and i'm NOT trying to be a smart aleck!!! :) i'm totally on board that blacks (along with many other marginalized or oppressed groups) need someone (preferably us all) to speak up about injustices of the present. but, how does rehearsing the injustices of the PAST repeatedly help anyone? isn't that completely opposite of the buddhist thought you have shared with me that i've been so drawn to? isn't this "clinging" in it's most destructive form? we must learn from the past, but isn't there a danger in living there? it's important historically, just as is the holocaust. yet, how is there ever to be reconciliation when some like rev wright (from my perspective) continue to cling to bitterness over a past that no one can do anything to change? i think we can do more good black and white TOGETHER. our church fellowship is only about 40 people, but we are pretty well integrated - not a "white church" with the token black family. i'm getting involved at aaron's school in a pilot program for math tutoring (99% of those students are black). our family is integrated. aaron drove all night just to be in jena and stand in solidarity with the "jena 6". and after jena, i went looking for a local org to promote racial harmony and found one. right now they're not doing much more than sponsoring a few events - a march in august. i'll be there. none of these things are going to move mountains, but if each of us would do our little part in our little corner of the world... well, i can dream...

Brian: I think we're going to have to just agree to disagree. I think it's unfair for you to judge even those clips lifted out of context. I do not criticize Reverend Wright's style of preaching because it is most effective and is not, IMO, manipulative. The way Gregg described it suggests that it might be manipulative. But, I think it’s just a speaking style. I think it's an effective and fair form of communication that has been analyzed and systematized. I really doubt Reverend Wright outlines his sermons with that structure in mind. But, hey, I don't know.

I'll have to watch the clip again that has you all stirred up. But, even if you're right, that he did demonize ALL White people. Everybody misspeaks at times. I don't know that that is a pattern. One of the many ironies of this situation is Trinity UCC is part of a White denomination. They could not be Black separatists. If Reverend Wright were the racist people are painting him to be, wouldn't they be part of a Black denomination? Like the AME? Why would the UCC continually call him a bridge builder if the man did nothing but condemn White people. I'm sorry, Annie. I really believe you've been taken in. As more and more people come to Reverend Wright's defense (as I believe they will), I'm pretty sure you'll change your mind.

Yes, it's destructive to hold on to anger and to resentment. Yes, it's destructive to cling to the past. And I've said repeatedly, I don't share Reverend Wright's views (as expressed in these clips) entirely. But, I'm still not going to condemn his career based on a few words. If you want to take exception to those THINGS he said. Fine. I wish I had the time and resource to put together my own videos of pastors. I attended a church for 10 years that believed in ET and that homosexuals were sinners. Rhonda used to ask me how I could go there. If I had the time, I could put together a video that made it sound like they did nothing but preach Eternal Hell and homophobia. You'd be shocked and ask "How could Brian attend that church for 10 years and not know what was being said there?" The reality is that was a very, very small part of what they taught. It was not what they were about.

Annie, the injustices against Blacks are not all in the past. And, to sweep the past under the rug and pretend it's not there is just as counterproductive as clinging to it. We have to face what happened. Especially as Black people, the past is very important in understanding why we are where we are today. For most of my life I've criticized Black people who wear African clothing and who celebrate Kwanzaa and who seem to want to talk so much about the past. But, the older I get, the more I understand it. Our language, culture, history, genealogy, etc. were all stolen from us. What happened to Black people was more than a Diaspora, as in being driven out the land. At least when people are driven out of their land, they have the opportunity to cling together and try to preserve their culture. We were separated, family members, tribes, everything. We were sold like cattle. OK. You've got me started now. Sorry. I'll stop.

Oh, do you know of Francis Schaeffer? Check out this article written by his son:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/frank-schaeffer/obamas-minister-committe_b_91774.html

Brian: I woke up in a foul mood this morning over all this race talk. Nobody's fault. But, just putting that out there. So, I hope I haven't and don't offend anybody.

I doubt that you would feel comfortable in the Reverend's church. For a couple of reasons. You would not relate to his style of preaching. I grew up Pentecostal. I grew up hearing preachers yell and scream and sweat and stomp their feet. Frankly, it made me feel uncomfortable, too. I've learned to appreciate the style, to a certain degree. But, it's not my favorite. Secondly, my experience has been that most White people feel uncomfortable when surrounded by Black people. Particularly if the Black people aren't "acting White". From what I've seen at Trinity, Black people feel free to be themselves. Most of us Black people have learned to operate in two cultures (the Reverend makes reference to being bi-cultural in his Christmas sermon). Most White people have not. Many, if not most of us, act differently when we're around our own kind than we do when we're around White people. Our language is different, our dress can be different. We have different cultural references.

As for the bitterness thing, I could not agree with you more that bitterness must be cut off. But, before we can do that we must face facts. It's important (in Buddhism) to face our feelings to accept our feelings before we just stuff them. Yes, we have to forgive and heal. And, as I pointed out on Friday, it's not all over. Racism still exists in this country. The statistics overwhelmingly show it. Personally, I try to ignore for the most part and I try to move on. But, frankly, it's insulting to have White people tell Black people how they should handle the systematic mistreatment of us that has gone on and continues to go on, particularly concerning dialog in our own churches.

I'm very sorry if I've offended you. I know you (and others here) are a little sensitive. This has touched a nerve for me. As you know, I am far from a Black militant or a separatist. I live in what I affectionately call White Chester- my community is less than 4% Black. I attend a church where mine is the only Black family. All my friends are White. Sometimes I get tired of trying to be a Black ambassador to the White world and want to go to a place like Trinity. It reminds of the the theme song from Cheers "You want to go where everybody knows your name"

Where everybody knows your name,
and they're always glad you came.
You wanna be where you can see,
our troubles are all the same
You wanna be where everybody knows
Your name.

You wanna go where people know,
people are all the same,
You wanna go where everybody knows
your name.

Annie: and through your explanations, i'm beginning to understand his motivations just a bit i think. plus, i was meditating about this while i was running on the treadmill. there's something about engaging in right and left brain activity together that helps bring me clarity (as to my own thoughts and emotions anyway). i'd like to incorporate some of what tolle addresses in this issue. like i said, i'm beginning to "get" rev wright just a bit. but, here's the drawback for us all i think. rev wright speaks from the egoic self, identifying as a black man. that doesn't push my buttons at all. but then, he attacks whites. while intellectually i know that i am NOT my skin color, yet there must be a reaction of the egoic self IDENTIFYING as a white person in order for me to feel the hurt of his rejection. as long as we (all of us) continue to IDENTIFY with black, white, fundie, universalist, american, mexican, whatever, we will continue to have divisions. we can EMBRACE our culture, our wonderful colorful diversities. but, it's in the IDENTIFYING ourselves with these externals that we miss the truth of our unity, the I AM within. but, i'm pretty sure rev wright would see this view as "new age"... as would pat robertson or john hagee... LOL

Brian: Yes, Annie. You're absolutely right on with this post.

But, not only does Rev Wright identify as a Black man, he identifies White corporate America and the White controlled government as causing a lot of his ills. On one level (speaking like our old Master here) he is absolutely right. For the most part, the government is White controlled and so is corporate America. And, those institutions have done harm to Black people, in general. During those times when I identify as a Black man, I can understand perfectly what he's saying. But, again, in defense of the good Reverend, it's kind of hard not to identify as a Black man in a society that constantly reminds you that's what you are. It's really hard for a White person to understand because rarely are you specifically identified as "White" by others. You just are "normal". I have tried my whole life to transcend race. But, it's very difficult and sometimes impossible.

Several months ago a woman complained to me that it was racist for me to have a website that served African Americans' hair care needs. She just could not grasp that every other website, grocery store, drug store and salon in the world was "White" by default. They just didn't need to put up a label pronouncing their products were for White people, it's just understood.

Annie: you make a very good point that, in his fervor, perhaps rev wright simply misspoke. i would give absolutely anything just to hear him say that - that he was only referring to SOME "rich white men" who, in truth. HAVE historically oppressed blacks and some continue to. but, i'd like to know for certain that he doesn't paint all white people with the same broad brush. and perhaps he doesn't. it would be good to have more knowledge of his views than simply what was presented in the media. yet, if rev wright is not held to account for his words at all, isn't that a double standard? it might seem odd until you think about it, but holding people to a high standard is actually respect, saying, "i know you can rise above these particular words or actions". selah. :)

and i very much understand what you say about culture as today our family celebrates st patrick's day. so, i'm off to take my daughter and friend to the "real" parade down in "dogtown" with the ancient order of hibernians. the "real" irish look with contempt upon the city sponsored parade held downtown on saturday LOL. i'm not going myself - the weather's too irish for me today - 50's, windy and rainy. so, i'll come back home and cook corned beef and cabbage. but, i'm dropping her and some friends off as there's never any place to park. hope i don't get stuck in a big traffic jam down there... thanks for the link and i WILL read it later today. i LOVE francis shaeffer, but i'm unfamiliar with anything written by his son. –annie

Brian: Enjoy your Saint Patrick's Day. I forgot it was "your" day. I might even invite some friends out for a beer myself.

I don't know the Reverend's heart. But, again, I'll point out the church he was the head of for over 30 years is part of the UCC, a White dominated denomination. If he had the hatred for White people he's being accused of having, I don't know why he'd be in the UCC. Trinity is big enough to have gone on their own or joined a Black denomination.

Annie: i think being offended is a choice. so, at least speaking for myself, i'm not offended at all.

i can't speak for debra, not knowing her experience. but, for myself, i've also grown up in pentecostal churches and while, like you, i don't like to hear preachers yell and carry on, it doesn't deter me from trying to listen to the message behind the theatrics. and, in the black church we were in in florida, i was never once uncomfortable as a white person "surrounded by black people" - and i guarantee you - they didn't "act white". they were just who they were and i adored them :). there were many things for me to learn - the timing in the singing, some terms were unfamiliar to me, so many of their customs within the church service i'd never heard of, seen before, and holy cow, but their services are 3 HOURS LONG - i learned to take snacks in my purse LOL. but, i felt like i was with family. but, i find that i've only been uncomfortable in ONE church in my life. it was a little country pentecostal church (all white) and they were getting ready to cast out demons when i headed for the back door LOL.

i do understand that feeling of wanting to go where we're comfortable, "where everybody knows your name". yet, there's also a glorious wonder in the unfamiliar if we explore our God-designed diversity. can we make that just as safe as our comfort zone? i hope so. i think we must - or we will simply stagnate and progress no further. it seems to me that over the last 40 years, we've pretty much stagnated. MLK made a good start, but we've dropped the ball to a large extent. –annie

Brian: I'm out there on the frontier of uncomfortable every day. I can only speak for myself when you make that call to get out of our comfortable zone. Frankly, I'm so far out there I know longer feel completely comfortable in either environment. I'm not Black enough for Black people. And, I'm sometimes tired of being around White people and not being able to really be me. I might learn to grow comfortable at Trinity. But, I certainly wouldn't agree with everything there.

You, are an exception to the rule of White fear and discomfort with Black people. I know that and I respect that. You have made the effort to overcome the culture barrier. Most have not. Many have not had the opportunity. I guess the reason your judgment of Reverend Wright has got me so tied up in knots is I know that if you are reacting this way, many, many others must be too. I can deal with the "rednecks" (hope that doesn't offend anyone) jumping on Reverend Wright. But, I would hope cooler heads would at least give him the benefit of the doubt.

Annie: that makes sense brian. to tell you the truth, on a personal level, rev wright's words hurt my feelings. i felt unfairly condemned based only on the color of my skin. (see, i told you i'm searching my OWN heart :)). as i begin to step away from my feelings, examine my thoughts, it's easier to see clearly. but, even as i have to step outside of my egoic self, i think unless folks like rev wright learn to do the same, the division will be perpetuated with little hope of racial reconciliation. as long as we tie our IDENTITY to black or white there will remain an attitude of "us and them", unfortunately usually "us vs them" :(

faith and begorra! i'm so happy. my daughter just called and it's raining, so she's driving herself to the parade and i don't have to get out. yay! i'll just stay home in my snug little house (the downstairs of which is quite reminiscent of an irish pub LOL) and cook. and btw - my irish daughter hates corned beef, but my black son-in-law loves it... and he hates watermelon LOL. one reason i hate stereotypes, for i KNOW them to be untrue - especially in our family :) -annie

Brian: I appreciate the opportunity to explore this with you. Let me just say it might turn out that Reverent Wright is a hateful, racist guy. But, I really doubt it.

Remember how you felt when you heard the Reverend's words. A lot of people hear words like that about their race all the time. There is a natural, human gut-level reaction to them. It does take some skill to transcend that. (skill that you have, BTW).

Annie: i know what you mean... i had a very emotional reaction when i felt that you were taking rev wright's side AGAINST ME!!! my egoic self said, "THIS should NOT be happening!!!" LOL it's good for us to face those things that tie us up in knots (or as my gran used to say, "puts a knot in your tail" LOL). i really hope that you'll get the tolle book, "a new earth". i wish i were further into it, because i honestly believe it would have helped me to not take rev wright's statements as an attack on such a PERSONAL level. and i cannot know rev wright's heart, so i truly am making every effort to only judge his WORDS. so, if i give in that he might be, on any other day, a great guy, filled with love for all.... can i still maintain that on that particular day his words were inflammatory, divisive and not particularly helpful? come, let us reason (negotiate?) together... :) brian, if you and i can't wade through the muck and yet emerge arm-in-arm, i don't know how much hope there is for the world "out there".... one thing i really like about obama... YES WE CAN! :) and i think it would be good for us to remember that obama is black AND white. he probably feels stuck in the middle a lot too - but what has been perhaps uncomfortable at times for him may be the very thing that God uses to bring racial harmony. whether or not he becomes president, he could be he next MLK if he chooses i think. –annie

Brian: As I said, I'm not here to defend Jeremiah Wright's every word. And, in case I didn't say it before, I think some of his STATEMENTS were over the top. And, I would agree some may not have place in ANY church setting. What I object to is the demonization of the man (not saying you were doing that) and to the judging of a 30 year career on a few statements (I think you were doing that).

As Obama and Al Sharpton both pointed out, Reverend Wright is from a different time. I am not going to condemn the man who has done so many great things for his community based on a couple of clips. I'm perfectly willing to admit that some of the things he said may be unacceptable in any setting and in any context. I didn't listen to the clips with that frame of mind. And, that's not why they were strung together. The intent was to be a character assassination of man, and by association, of an candidate. That is what I have been rejecting.

I was just commenting to my wife about how all this must be completely frustrating to Obama who is a multi-cultural, multi-racial man. First he's attacked for not being Black enough (by Black people), then he's attacked for being Muslim, then he's attacked for being too Black and for his choice of Christian church. The man must be doing something right!

Annie: yeah, i already heard a news bit last night that some blacks are pissed off at him for repudiating rev wright's statements... sigh... the very thing that made me more comfortable that he was a man of reason and not emotion has upset others who see him as a sell-out. i still disagree with him on many of his political positions, but, as a man, i've been most impressed with his character and the constructive manner in which he has dealt with all of this. i hope in the long run, the thing that was designed to hurt him will instead help him. but i'd rather see him answering for some of his liberal (imho) policies rather than having to waste so much time sidetracked with this issue. for me, he answered to my satisfaction, now let's move on. but, the media continues to belabor the issue ad nauseum.... like i said, he may not be the next president, but either way, he could still be the next MLK - carpe diem barack! -annie

Brian: He did throw Jeremiah Wright under the bus. But, it was for the greater good. I completely understand why he has to distance himself as quickly and completely as possible. Compromises have to be made in politics. But, since Barack can't speak out for for Reverend Wright, I think it's important that others do, as had the United Church of Christ. I love their integrity. They have a long, long history of racial reconciliation and in lifting up Blacks and women.

Emails Across the Divide Part III

This is part III of a series.   Part I is here.  Annie and I are very good friends...  Recently we had a great conversation about race and our perspective on the whole Reverend Wright thing.  Barack Obama encouraged a national conversation on race.  I've been blessed with the opportunity to have a few of these across the divide recently.

Annie has given me permission to share our conversation with  you. I'll do it in a series of posts.  I'll probably break it up into five or six.  Annie is a young white woman in her early 50s.  She's not your "typical" white woman in that she lives in a pretty diverse family and has spent a lot of time in the inner city.  Annie and I have known each other for a few years now.  She's the best friend I have that I've never met (with the exception of my brother Brian from Ireland).

Brian:  I understand your perception.  But, just think about the facts.  You're watching video intentionally put together to show the worst speech they could find over years of tapes.  You didn't hear hate being preached.  You heard judgment being preached.  It's done in pulpits, Black and White every Sunday.

The fact that the judgment was targeted at your group makes you uncomfortable, I'm sure.  But, Annie, rich white powerful people do control this country.  And, rich white powerful people have taken advantage of Blacks, women, gays, Jews, etc., etc. etc. It's the role of the prophet to point these things out.

From Brian- twin brother of different mothers in Ireland:  I have mixed reactions to the whole affair (if it is an affair), Brian. If I'd come across Wright's speeches in a context that had nothing to do with Obama, I doubt that I'd have found it worth commenting on. He preaches in the way I can imagine a Hebrew prophet like Isaiah or Jeremiah or Amos doing. The OT prophets were no patriots who said "my country, right or wrong". They denounced Israel for its injustices and arrogance and predicted that it would meet judgment at the hands of its enemies (the chickens would indeed come home to roost)...I can imagine them saying "God damn Israel!", in fact that's a reasonable paraphrase of what they did say. Given the history of black people in the US, and the racism that still exists in a more covert form, the kind of language he uses needs to be put in context.

Having said that, I'm not comfortable with this kind of rhetoric and it sounds over the top - though that may be because, as you pointed out, these videos are collages carefully selected from a 40 year ministry. I'd like to hear or read some of his sermons all the way through before rushing to judgment on whether he's a black racist.

In any case, I think it's enough that Obama has made his own position clear. It's interesting, though, that nothing like the same fuss has been made about John McCain's endorsement by an out-and-out bigot and nutcase, Pastor John Hagee, who said that hurricane Katrina was God's judgment on New Orleans for having a gay pride parade and wants the US to launch a war on Iran to hasten the Rapture and Armageddon. Yet McCain said he was "very honoured" to have Hagee's support. Rudy Giuliani's presidential bid was endorsed by Pat Robertson, who told us that the 9/11 attack was divine retribution for tolerating gays, feminists, abortion and the ACLU.

Annie:  b2,  i don't deny that rich white powerful people oppress...  but they oppress whites too.  that particular phenomena is more about greed than race.  and blacks hurt other blacks.  i see bill cosby addressing this and he gets slammed.  i still contend that rev wright is encouraging blacks to blame whites for all their ills in the same fashion hitler wanted his countrymen to blame the jews.  and btw, rev wright didn't target "my" group, as i've never been associated with rich people of either race.  but, i'm not certain that some in his congregation wouldn't confuse me with them...  prejudice and racism is prejudice and racism.  it doesn't matter whether it's white against black or black against white.  it's all wrong.  i get called "white bitch" by the panhandlers outside sav-a-lot every time they ask for spare change and i refuse.  globe drugs is just around the corner and i'm not going to finance them so they can get their drink on.  but, they always make it a race thing...  if they're pissed off, why wouldn't just "bitch" be sufficient.  with all due respect b2, you have no idea about race issues in the city.  in kirkwood (used to be a "suburb", but now a part of the city) racial tensions are always ready to boil over.  there's a black neighborhood called meacham park that feels disenfranchised by the rest of the city.  i actually DO believe there's a lot of racism there.  most of the cops are white and i think they assume that every time a crime is committed, it's done by a black.  but last year, a black kid killed a white cop and we were close to riots there.  now, this year, cookie thornton,a black man who was into it with the city over parking tickets lost his mind and went into a city council meeting where he killed 2 councilmen, the public works director and 2 cops, shot the mayor in the head and a reporter in the hand before being gunned down by other police that showed up.  he had from all reports been the nicest man.  a former HS athlete, he used his skills to help kids find direction and stay off drugs.  but, he became obsessed with the fight with the city (he owned a construction company and kept parking his trucks and equipment in residential areas, in violation of city policy and they would ticket him).  the day of the shooting, he had lost a court battle that had been raging for 2 years and he snapped.  how does rev wright know that there aren't more cookie thorntons listening to his messages?  would his words be enough to push someone who was already unstable over the edge?  if you think i'm uncomfortable, you're mistaken.  situations like this make me AFRAID.  –annie

Brian:  Wow, Annie. There's a lot in there. 

You're right. I'm not as familiar with the inner city as I am with suburbs. But, while I didn't grow up in the inner city, I have spent time there.  I have attended Black churches.  I have attended Black schools.  And, I've been Black all my life.  I've experienced prejudice because of the color of my skin.    I have to disagree with you though that a preacher preaching to his congregation about social injustice is necessarily inciting them to violence.  You might fear it. But, that doesn't mean preachers should not address the concerns of the communities they live in.  And, I think it's unfair to expect them to address it in terms that would be suitable to people from outside the community.  Lastly, again, I don't know that you have listened to an entire sermon by Reverend Wright.  I just did.  I listened to the Christmas 2007 sermon from which was taken the remarks about Hillary and her lack of knowledge of what it's like to be a poor oppressed person.  The sermon was actually a good one, IMO.  I'll write more about it on my blog.

Annie:  i applaud rev wright preaching a message of social justice.  the message you cite isn't the one that troubled me, although i know the media jumped on it because he mentioned hillary.  i thought your blog was good.  but, as i said, it wasn't this sermon wasn't the one i was referring to. 

rev wright is not my enemy.  i only hope he will use his bully pulpit with wisdom - to bring reconciliation rather than to further division.  i know he has since retired, but i'm sure he will continue to be a much sought-after speaker.  may God bless him and lead him to preach a message of love.  i'm not trying to be stubborn... i just honestly believe that if he wanted to he could lift up blacks, lift up ALL people, without denigrating whites as the root of all evil. 

one thing i think you fail to understand is that i have also experienced prejudice because of the color of my skin.  i've worked with the poor, both black and white since 1986 - with a gov't funded community action corp, in 3 different church-based homeless ministries and for the last 5 years, even though it was technically a ministry of joshua house, for the most part, it was our family.  i've been told to my face by some blacks that they hate whites - even as i handed them a blanket or a plate of food that i had purchased with my own funds and cooked in my own kitchen.  i know the pain of being rejected only for the color of your skin.  but i never stopped cooking every week until the city shut us down.  there's all sorts of prejudice and i just feel that rev wright expresses his own brand...  and it is against me even though all i want to do is help where i can and bring a spirit of reconciliation where i can.  it is hurtful at least and could be dangerous at worst if the wrong person is listening to him on the wrong day.

but you know something cool?  today there was a unity march in kirkwood, the site of the recent shooting - black and white together reaching out to one another.  i'm watching the news report on it right now.  it's encouraging.  the march was organized by a black pastor.  i would pray that rev wright would show the same type of leadership.  it's not going to solve the long-standing racial divide over night, but it's a start.  –annie

Brian:  You know I love you and I'm not saying this to divide us.  But, being mistreated by Blacks who lack the majority in both numbers, power and money is not quite the same thing as being Black and being systematically discriminated against in a multitude of ways every day.  We are discriminated in ways both subtle and overt. What you have experienced is not the same as having your ancestors treated as non-persons.  It's not the same as not knowing your own heritage- language, culture, etc. because your people were ripped up from their roots.  I know Blacks have treated you badly.  And, I've seen reverse racism. But, believe me, it's not quite the same.

Frankly, being a woman in America makes you more qualified to know the suffering that comes from being Black more than the few incidents of racism you've come across.  Women just recently got the right to vote.  Women are still underpaid. Women are still denied equal access to certain jobs.

I still think you judge Reverend Wright too harshly.  My opinion of him is based on more than a few video clips- as I think yours still is.  When I first visited the Trinity site almost a year ago, I was turned off.  When I first saw the video clips, I was shocked. But, then I did some research. He has an outstanding reputation in the United Church of Christ, an organization I admire very much.  If he were such a divider, I don't think they would continue to hold him up as a model pastor, which they have done for years.  If you'll check my post that mentions his entire sermon, you'll see a speech given by one of the UCC leaders about Reverend Wright's status in the UCC community.

At this point, if I lived in Chicago and Reverend Wright were still preaching, I'd visit that church and check it out myself.

Annie:btw, i have listened to the speech on your blog by the UCC leader.  i thought it was good.  you know what's funny?  i visited the trinity site several months ago when i first became aware of his connection to obama.  i wanted to see what all the fuss was about.  i wasn't turned off at all.  i loved the social outreach, the embracing of cultural heritage, the concern for africa.  one of the beefs my friends who minister on the reservation have (and i share) is that so many missionaries try to erase the indian culture in the name of chrisitianity.  on that point in particular, i thought the UCC guy was spot on.  but, again, he just didn't address MY concerns and frankly, neither have you.  specifically these:  rev wright's assertions that 1) WE are responsible for 9/11,  2)  whites invented aids to kill blacks (so why do so many whites have it?), 3) america is the KKK of A, 4) whites sell drugs to try to addict blacks so they can put them in prison. and hearing anyone damn anyone from a pulpit is troubling to me.

b2, i have a dream...  that God will raise up someone like MLK in our generation.  i had hoped it might be barack obama.  and it still might be.  but, i can tell you one thing for sure...   it ain't jeremiah wright.  MLK was a man of peace.  and i hope you won't grow frustrated with me.  i really want to understand and i want to continue the dialogue until i have at least a measure of that.  i'm trying to understand what you have said about the tradition of fiery rhetoric in black churches.  i've seen that myself.  but the fiery rhetoric was always against sin, not against white folks.  so, that's where i'm having trouble accepting wright's words as merely cultural.  still struggling to understand...  –annie

Is Islam A Religion of Peace?

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Yesterday at church we had a speaker from the Islamic Center of Cincinnati visit us to talk to us about Islam and the relationship between the Christian church and the Muslim community. Dr. Durrani did a fantastic job of explaining the origins of Islam and the similarities and differences between Islam and Christianity. As a person who was raised in a Catholic school, he knows both Islam and Christianity better than most Christians know Christianity (and I'm guessing he knows Islam better than most Muslims know Islam). I will give you a brief overview of some of the topics he talked about. But, I want to encourage you to ask your church to reach out to the Islamic center near you and see if you can put together one of these dialogs. Update: Gregg (our pastor) recorded Dr. Durrani. Here's a link to the talk. Dr. Durrani's Talk

We have some Muslim friends/business associates that we have visited. So, not everything that Dr. Durrani said about Islam was a major surprise to us. But, even though I thought I knew quite a bit about Islam, I did learn some things that did surprise me. Just a quick overview of Islam/Muslims. Islam is the name for the religion/faith, like Christianity is the name for our religion/faith. Islam means, roughly translated, submission. A Muslim is one who submits himself to the will of his Lord. Islam is one of the three Abrahamic faiths- the other two being Christianity and Judaism. Muslims have their own holy book, the Koran. But, they consider the Bible and Torah (the Old Testament) to be divinely inspired writings. The Koran makes many references to both. Rather than including New Testament and Torah in the Koran, it refers to them, expecting its adherents to go to the source rather than repeating everything in the Koran. But, they consider Adam, Moses, David, Jesus, Muhammad, etc. to be prophets. And, we were told one of the tenets of Islam is that a Muslim must not differentiate between prophets. A Muslim cannot dishonor Jesus' teachings or Moses' teachings. Muslims believe Jesus is to be honored, as much as Muhammad. Muslims believe in the virgin birth, in the miracles and that Jesus was a true messenger of G-d. The Koran calls Jews, Christians and Muslims people of the book and gives them all equal and special status with G-d. The Koran allows a Muslim to marry a Christian or a Jew and not have that person convert from their faith to Islam. Anyone who believes in the monotheistic G-d of Abraham is considered a believer in Islam. Dr. Durrani hit this point several times to emphasize that the Koran cannot possibly teach the killing of all Christians and Jews or even their conversion to Islam while it also teaches that it acceptable to marry a Christian or Jew and raise children with them. Dr. Durrani said our being in church that morning and the things we sang about (submitting to the will of G-d) were, his eyes, a practice of Islam- submission to our G-d. He also pointed out that when Muslims ruled Pakistan for generations, Spain for a long time and other counties that they did not force conversions of anyone in those places.

So, with all the similarities between Islam and Christianity, what are the differences? Dr. Durrani said the major difference is we believe in three manifestations of G-d. While, Jews and Muslims believe G-d cannot and would not ever manifest as a man. He talked about the holy spirit that we all have and the image of G-d within each man. He said when he looks at us, he sees an image of G-d and that is what the Koran teaches. He (because of the Catholic school background?) understands that Christians are not polytheists. But, this is a common misconception in the Muslim (and Jewish) world. I can tell you this from personal experience. Many Jews and Muslims consider Christians to be polytheists, which in their minds makes us little better than idol worshipers. Dr. Durrani didn't say this. But, I've seen that myself. I think to convince Muslims we are not so different than they are, we have to be able to explain to them that we are monotheists and that our G-d is the same as their Allah. They are merely different names for the same God. Trying to explain the Trinity to them though will be difficult (if not impossible). Dr. Durrani pointed out many Muslims don't understand the Trinity. I wanted to interject that many Christians don't either. I think the Trinity is a big stumbling for a number of people, for a number of reasons.

I asked Dr. Durrani about the violent passages we've heard about in the Koran, passages that say to kill the infidel, etc. Dr. Durrani pointed out a a couple of things. 1.) Christians and Jews are not considered to be infidels according to the Koran. 2. ) Muslims believe that G-d gave the law to the Jews through Moses and that Jesus continued that teaching. The Koran is another law that G-d gave through the prophet Muhammad. The Koran tells a Muslim what he can and cannot do. The Koran was written over a period of 23 years of Muhammad's life. From the time he was about 40 until he died at 63. Muhammad was illiterate, so his followers actually wrote the Koran. For the first 10 years of inspiration, he was forbidden from all violence, even in self-defense. For the last 13 years, it was revealed to him how to go to war. But, violence was never to be used proactively and there are severe limits such as:

• When invading a foreign country, never harm women or children
• When invading a foreign country, do not enter their homes unless provoked
• When invading a foreign country, do not destroy their crops
• When invading a foreign country, do not destroy their places of worship or enter their places of worship
• When offered peace, even if the intent is deceit, take the offer.

We asked Dr. Durrani about the apparent disconnect between his version of Islam and the Islam of the "radical fundamentalists". We also asked him if there were any dialogs going on concerning why the true Islam was being misunderstood by the people we see who want to kill us in the name of Allah. He had some wonderful insights into this.

First, an observation by me. We (Christians) have our own whacko fundamentalists who use the Bible to justify all kinds of stuff. Fred Phelps leaps to mind. There are passages in Psalms that talk about dashing infants against rocks. So, I'm sick of people lifting verses out of the Koran to "prove" that Islam promotes indiscriminate violence. I don't believe that's any more true than violence is the message of the Bible. Christianity has had it's dark period. Anyone remember the crusades, the Salem Witch trials, the inquisitions? For years, my Jewish friend tried to convince me Christianity was violent due to these periods in our history. Painting Islam as violent because of what some Muslims are doing would be doing the same thing. However, there are violence prone Muslims that twist the Koran to suit their purposes. Dr. Durrani pointed out that one of the problems in Islam is that the education of the youth has been left to the uneducated (in many Islamic countries). The high paying jobs are the ones like his (pediatric orthopedic surgeon) and people aspiring to "success" don't go into the clergy. As a result, the least educated people, at least in terms of a general education, have been left to teach Islam. Dr. Durrani said not only is there a dialog going on between moderate, educated Muslims like himself and the extremist. But, action. As an example he pointed to the recent election in Pakistan where the secular parties swept the elections.

Ty and I were very moved by the talk. Dr. Durrani pointed out that, while we may not completely bridge the gap between our cultures in our generation, that our 8 year old daughter could live in a completely different world as a result of the types of dialog we had yesterday. We plan to find a time where visitors can go to the Islamic Center and visit there as soon as possible.

Peace,
Brian

Emails Across the Divide Part II

Image by Bearman2007 via FlickrThis is part II of a series.   Part I is here.  Annie and I are very good friends...  Recently we had a great
conversation about race and our perspective on the whole Reverend Wright thing.  Barack Obama encouraged a national conversation on race.  I've been blessed with the opportunity to have a few of these across the divide recently.

Annie has given me permission to share our conversation with  you. I'll do it in a series of posts.  I'll probably break it up into five or six.  Annie is a young white woman in her early 50s.  She's not your
"typical" white woman in that she lives in a pretty diverse family and has spent a lot of time in the inner city.  Annie and I have known each other for a few years now.  She's the best friend I have that I've never met (with the exception of my brother Brian.

Annie:  thanks for this b2.  we went to an all black (well except for us LOL) church in hollywood, FL.  i never felt anything except loved and accepted.  to this day, george and alice benneby (the pastors) are two of the most godly folks i know.  in fact, i never asked him back then whether or not he was a universalist, but i think he was.  he taught us how to begin our homeless ministry in jupiter.  and he would always say of the folks - the homeless, the winos, the crackheads, the prostitutes - that came to his services in the park...  "they're all saved.  they just don't know it yet".  he was a traditional black pentecostal preacher.  used to holler and sweat something fierce and danced back and forth across the front of the church (there was no platform).  always had white towel fuzz stuck in his beard from wiping off the sweat.  LOL.  once when he prayed for me, i thought he was gonna break my neck trying to knock me down.  LOL. he looked like george jefferson and wore a white doctor's coat when he preached, 'cause he said, "we're gonna do some serious surgery."  God, i loved that man!  haven't seen him in 15 years.  i think i'll look him up....  but, i have to tell you brian.  pastor benneby made me feel safe.  i could never feel safe where the pastor was saying the kinds of things rev wright was saying on those clips.  even if it was taken out of context, it was still horrible to hear and he still said it.  however you slice it, it sounded like hate to me.  -annie

Brian: yeah, I don't like it either, Annie.  Too much politics in a church for me.  And you know how I am about conspiracy theories (the AIDS thing).  As I said, I'm not going to try to defend his words.  I'd never attend his church. But, let's remember we're deciding on Barack Obama, not Jeremiah Wright. And let's see what Barack says now that he'll have to address this.

Annie: (in response to my post about Jesus being a Black man) i can see this b2.  yet, we have to remember that, using this analogy, Jesus was a black man killed by both black and white people - jews and gentiles alike.  but, i do believe that one reason there's such a strong faith among some black families is the oppression they have experienced, the knowledge that the only justice they were going to find would be in Jesus.  they knew on a deeper level the "fellowship of his sufferings".  not only could they relate to him, but knew he could relate to them in their trials.  Jesus was one who "comforted the afflicted and afflicted the comfortable" to which the afflicted could cry "amen!"  -annie

Brian:  Yeah, no analogy is perfect. And, as I said, I don't subscribe to Liberation theology.  I'm just trying to explain it to people who know even less about it than I do. ;-)

I can see their point though.  Jesus very much knew about the suffering of the oppressed.  In America, in the experience of Black people, Jesus would have been a Black man. He was killed by the establishment, which was an occupying force and the government.  He was also killed, not by the common Jew, but by the religious establishment.  So, in my mind, Jesus was crushed by a corrupt government, a racially motivated group (the Romans) AND the religious elite.  For years I heard people saying Jesus was Black and thought it was nonsense.  But, frankly, when I heard that clip of Reverend Wright's sermon, it made sense to me.

Annie, a lot of White people just want Black people to "get over" the 400 plus years of oppression we have suffered. And, they would like to think it all just suddenly ended about 40 years ago.  Unfortunately, it's not completely over and if it were the damage still takes a long time to repair.  If I had grown up in the inner city, I can't say I wouldn't have attended a church like Trinity.  And, I can see why some people (even not from the inner city do). 

One thing that is painfully obvious to me is that the clips being played on YouTube are just that.  Clips.  They were obviously the most inflammatory parts anyone could find.  And I saw no call to violence.  I saw no call to hatred.  I saw nothing that said to stop being an American or to not vote.  In fact, Jeremiah Wright encouraged Barack Obama to become part of the very institution that he was railing against.

It's not anti-American to criticize our government.  In fact, it's very American to do so and then to go out and do something about it.

Annie:  but my hope is that God will somehow use it for good.  i hate it too.  it's really uncomfortable.  but i think it's a discussion long overdue.  i think whites have wanted to pretend that racism is dead, that we've "moved on beyond all that".  well, the emperor has no clothes and we're not nearly as sociologically advanced as we'd like to think.  i pray that we have the courage to face this thing.  i don't want to sweep it under the rug any more, even if i am embarrassed by my own fears, unsure of what i could possibly do to help fix it.  i'm glad for this place where we can discuss without fear of our admissions being used as weapons against us.  i'm thankful for your perspective which i could never know from my experience.  i'm not sure i can really understand thoroughly just from your explanations, but i will do my best.  there's just no possible way to walk a mile in each other's moccasins.  but if there's to be any hope, it will have to come from folks like us who really WANT to walk arm in arm, each one of us judged by the content of our character and not the color of our skin.

like you, i fear this is going to be a real problem for obama.  if even i feel fear at rev wright's words, what of the stereotypical white blue collar worker from the pennsylvania steel mills?  will they all run to hillary?  and was that they way it was designed?  many have said that the clintons will do ANYTHING to win.  is this their doing even though it's not apparent?  the furor is mostly among radical right-wingers it seems, but is hillary's camp fueling it behind the scenes?  i just wonder...  –annie

Brian:  Again, I'm no conspiracy theory type of guy.  But, Barack's been a member of this church for over 20 years.  He's never ducked it. I looked up the church on the Internet almost a year ago when I found out he was a brother in the UCC.  When the rumors about him being a Muslim were swirling, you saw very little about his church.  Now that it appears people might have figured out he's really Christian, the videos of Jeremiah Wright start popping up.  Those are just the facts.

Let me repeat again, I am no fan of Liberation Theology.  Maybe it's very misunderstood.  My friend Julie (a White woman) has read James Cone and LOVES him.  I can't understand why. But, she's into the stuff.

This will hurt Obama.  It's one blow. Who knows how big it will be?  It'll take people like you to take the time to weed through it and make an informed decision.  There will be a lot of knee-jerk responses of people running to Hillary, I'm sure.

From someone in Georgia listening in:  (I didn’t get permission to use her name): With all due respect, I cannot agree with your assessment of Wright's message - and with your assessment of my response.  I don't think his speech was anti-American.  I feel that it was more in keeping with what Brian mentions below. 

I attended a black Christian fellowship for years, and although they did not do this type of preaching, they exposed me to some black preaching that was not unlike Wrights.  I think that I heard something quite different in Wright's message that you did, although we did listened to the very same words. And it is possible that his congregation hears his message differently, too.

Annie:  b2, i can agree with with all that you've said except...   wright didn't just criticize our government.  he said, "God bless america?  not God bless america... God damn america!"   he spoke of 9/11 as america getting what it deserved.   he called america the KKK.  he not only reviled whites, but black republicans as well, naming them sell-outs.  are conservative blacks less black because HE says so?  he is NOT attempting to bring any reconciliation but rather to incite further division.  he was getting people stirred up emotionally as much as any nazi rally.  maybe he didn't recommend violence, but when you stir folks up emotionally and then send them out the door with no constructive outlet for that anger, it has a real potential for violence.  and from my perspective, the hatred was evident, even if he didn't specifically say, "i call on you all to hate the white man".  it was there.  it was a tangible thing.  and i'm telling you, he freaks me out just as much as fred phelps does.   MLK organized peace marches.  i think wright's words could incite race riots.   –annie

From that same person in Georgia: Brian, It's all in the language or the code.  And no wonder so many read the Bible so differently!

His sermon is very similar to a Jeremiad, a mode of writing (and preaching) that has a long history in the US.  It was a very passionate speech.

But I certainly can understand why Obama's response.  There is much room for misunderstanding.

Brian:  I can understand why you (and other White people) would find this confusing and scary. I had this fear (the fear of White people misunderstanding) when I first saw Trinity's site.  At the time I had never heard Jeremiah Wright speak.

I'm glad Obama addressed this and I hope he'll continue to address it.  It's too big to sweep under the rug.  But, in my mind, it in no way makes me think he's a racist or a separatist. And what is is important is what he thinks, says and does.

First, I want to say I just saw Barack Obama on Countdown and I've read his blog.  He, in no way, supports anything in those clips said by Reverend Wright. He has unequivocally and categorically condemned all the statements in the YouTube clips.  I agree with his taking that stand because I'm sure they are things he would never say.  Just like they are things I'd personally never say.  But, I'd like to give you my response to the Reverend's statements.

Concerning 9/11

You might want to look up what Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson said around the same time (9/11).   Preachers condemn the government.  It's happened for centuries, going back to before the time of Jesus when the Prophets condemned the Kings.  A lot of preachers consider themselves modern day prophets.

Concerning Blacks condemning the US for killing innocents

Jeremiah Wright was giving a fiery speech condemning the killing of innocents.  I don't know the complete context since I also saw a 30 second clip.  But, it's common for churches to "speak truth to power".  Our pastor (a White guy) often tells us the church has a responsibility to remain separate from the Government so it can speak to its conscience.  With all of the Black men in prison and the Black men on death row and with the innocent men who have been killed by the government due to the death penalty, I'm guessing this is what Rev. Wright was talking about. Again, I have to guess because I only saw a clip.

Annie:  b2, you've not offended at all and i will readily admit that he pushed my fear button.  so, perhaps my feelings overwhelm my reason.  i can't just dismiss them.  i know you know i'm not racist.  but i am white and he was attacking whites every bit as much as david duke might blame blacks or jews for the world's ills.  i don't know if he stirred anyone to violence or not, but i think the potential is too great for him to run that risk.  yes, the first amendment guarantees his right to free speech.  i would only hope that he would use it responsibly.  that he didn't use the word "hate" or say whites are going to hell is a technicality.  and i have felt the same fear of other groups that are so angry - wacko environmentalists for example.  the only place race factors in for me is not that he is black but that MY race was the target of his venom and that's what makes me afraid.  imagine yourself listening to a david duke speech against your race.  some people feel anger at words like that.  i'm of a different temperament and i feel fear.  and true, his entire career cannot be judged by a few clips, but neither is phelps judged by anything except the bits of his funeral protests that we see in the media.   whatever good either of these men have done does not negate or excuse the other.  can't have sweet and bitter water out of the same fountain.  so, that he spews hateful rhetoric in one breath and says "love your enemies" in the next doesn't make me feel better.  out of the heart the mouth speaks and these words of wright's do not reflect the Christ in the UCC he claims to represent.  there are a lot of black leaders who try to lift up their own race without blaming or denigrating whites.  i'm sorry if i offend you in any way b2, but he scares me.  not because he's black, but because he hates whites (my perception).  –annie

Emails Across The Divide- Part I

Image by Bearman2007 via Flickr

Annie and I are very good friends... Recently we had a great conversation about race and our perspective on the whole Reverend Wright thing. Barack Obama encouraged a national conversation on race. I've been blessed with the opportunity to have a few of these across the divide recently.

Annie has given me permission to share our conversation with you. I'll do it in a series of posts. I'll probably break it up into five or six. Annie is a young white woman in her early 50s. She's not your "typical" white woman in that she lives in a pretty diverse family and has spent a lot of time in the inner city. Annie and I have known each other for a few years now. She's the best friend I have that I've never met (with the exception of my brother Brian in Ireland).

Annie is my good friend. We met on the Internet 3 or 4 years ago. Annie is an Irish-American woman who lives in Saint Louis. She’s just a few years older than I am. Annie is not unfamiliar with Black culture, having lived in inner city environments and having extensive dealings with black people. Annie has a black son-in-law. She is my best friend that I’ve never met with the exception of my “big brother” Brian.

The following is a series of emails Annie and I exchanged on a message board during the days following the breaking of the Jeremiah Wright story. The conversation was frank but respectful and while we disagreed on several things, we felt comfortable discussing them with each other.

Brian: I just listened to some clips of Jeremiah Wright. And, I'll be writing more in depth on this, probably over the weekend. Let me make some quick points.

1.) These are clips taken from 40 years of sermons and strung together to make it seem like the man preaches nothing but hate.

2.) The first clip I watched on YouTube supposedly was of Jeremiah Wright speaking of hate because he was saying how Hillary had never been called a nigger. The POINT was that Hillary couldn't relate to the struggles of being an oppressed minority like Barack could or like Jesus could. And the clip ended with Jeremiah talking about LOVING your enemies.

3.) When you're a half-White man raised by a single White mother, half of your family is White, your stepfather is Indonesian, your half sister is Indonesian and you've lived half way around the world, it's kind of hard to be a separatist.

4.) Obama's church is not my cup of tea. I was aware of their theology a year or so ago right after I joined the UCC. I'm not a proponent of Liberation Theology. I'm more of a “I just wish everything would be OK” kind of guy. But, there are many, many Black churches with pastors saying similar things every Sunday. Black people in this country have been abused and misused and it continues.

5.) You can't pin Wright's comments on Obama. My best friends is a nut-case Jew (and he knows I would say that). I would hate to have the crap he's posted on blogs over the years brought back up and presented as my POV.

Jimmy, you say clips of sermons, not sermons in their entirety. And based on the comments I saw on YouTube, I could tell many people who were watching the clips were completely missing the point of the sermons. Having been raised in the Black Pentecostal church I could understand Reverend Wright's message to his audience in a way that I'm guessing the White man on the street cannot.

OK. That's all I have time for now. I'll be saying more on one of my blogs soon. I probably won't do it on the Beautiful Heresy because I don't want to turn it too political. But, I think this is important and more needs to be said.

Annie: it's disappointing that "rev" wright uses God in his hate speech. there's no doubt about it - there's been a lot of wrong done against blacks in this country. other groups have also been oppressed: the japanese (interred during WWII), the chinese (uses as slave labor to build the RR system), the irish, the italians, the american indians, the latinos, the homosexuals... even christians. we, as a nation should indeed repent. but, i think rev wright should reread (assuming he's actually read them) peter's words regarding Jesus, "when he was reviled, he did not revile again. when he was hurt, he did not threaten". and peter said that we are called to walk "in his steps". when we experience unfair treatment, we can allow it to make us bitter or better. the best "revenge" is not to tear down the one who hurt us, but to lift up others who are experiencing the same hurts that we have. it's sad that rev wright has chosen words of violence (whether or not they actually incite acts of violence). O that he would launch the same type of protest that MLK did!!! rev wright does not seek the best for others, preaching the true gospel of Jesus Christ, which is love, but rather seeks to preach a message that promotes himself, producing not followers of the Christ the church name claims, but adoring groupies of rev wright. one of the "faithful" called rev wright "insightful". i would change that to incite-ful. obama needs to repudiate this audacity of hate if he expects us to believe his message of hope. i don't blame him for this man's rhetoric. but i AM waiting to hear obama's response to it. he should distance himself from it immediately, just as john mccain decried the remarks made at the rally in ohio against obama by that moronic radio talk show host (cunningham?). –annie

Annie: thanks b2. i think the best thing obama could do right now is have a sit-down interview on something like 20/20 before this fire rages any hotter. it's wrong for folks to prejudge him based on what wright says. but it's not wrong for folks to ask for him to address this in depth. i NEED to hear his thoughts from his own mouth. i want reassurance. "rev" wright stirs up the same fear in me that i feel when i'm walking alone in the park and there's a group of a half dozen young black men and one of them says, "hey, baby.." i've never been accosted. i usually answer, "hey, how's it goin'?" but, for a few seconds, my heart feels like it's going to thump right out of my chest. i'm not proud of that. for crying out loud, my own son-in-law is black. but, it's people like wright that make white folks get double locks on their doors and move out of the city into the burbs for fear of being attacked. wright is wrong. and obama MUST repudiate not only his words, but his person. he must do it strongly in order to overcome the instinctive fear that will sweep over whites whether we want it to or not. let's put it this way... what if you were a homosexual and obama went to fred phelps' church? extreme example i know. but fear is fear. the words that "rev" wright speaks make me afraid...

and i do so much hope that you'll write more about this. perhaps even though rev wright's words are not good, God can bring good out of them if it helps us to confront our fears and reach out even while afraid. i want racial harmony in our land. i dream it will some day be so. we do what we can in our own little corner of the world. but i want to do more and just don't know how to do it.

Brian: This just came to my attention and it's the first time I've heard Rev Wright (probably not 2 hours ago). This has nothing to do with Fred Phelps though. Even though I know it will raise the instinctive fear Whites have of Blacks. I grew up in a Black church. We did have a few White members. In that way, it was similar to Obama's church.

I'm not going to defend Wright's words. But, I can understand why Black (and White) people would go to his church.

Check out this video, BTW. Here's a White lady who feels very comfortable at Trinity. My pastor (about as White as you can get) has been there and loves Jeremiah Wright. Also two other White people in my small group have been there and said they love the church.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ioaChVw_pUw

Jim: Annie your words are so true... That was my and still is my prayer for Mr.Wright I did you see the video of the people in his church being interviewed... It is also My prayer for them as well. Did you see his message about how Jesus was black

In a world of white people and of course it was the white people that killed Him!!!

LORD HAVE MERCY

JIM

Brian: I don't know if Rev. Wright was speaking literally or not. But, figuratively and metaphorically what he said was exactly correct.

Jesus was part of an oppressed, enslaved society. The Romans had made the Jews basically non-people. The phrase "go the second mile" refers to the fact that a Roman soldier could command a Jew to carry his pack a mile. In the days of Jesus, the Jews were the Slaves (Blacks) and the Romans were the establishment/government/Masters. So, in a sense, Jesus was a Black man killed by White people. In the sense that He was part of an oppressed people killed by a corrupt, ruling government. Black people can relate to Jesus because, in a very real sense, He is one of us. Reverend Wright was making that point in his sermon.

I know this all brings up bad feelings and things people don't like to talk about in mixed company anymore. But, if you're going to listen in on a Black church, you'll hear this in a lot more pulpits than coming from Reverend Wright's. The Black church has, for a very long time, been the engine of social change and the beginning of that is to point out uncomfortable facts about our society to people.

Pagan Christianity- A Dangerous Book

I did read it before I reviewed it.  But, this video was so good, I had to share it.

Wide Open Spaces

Do you believe in serendipidity/coincidence?  I'm not really sure what I believe about it.  While I don't believe the universe operates entirely randomly, neither do I believe that G-d is there tweaking every little quark and directing what color socks I choose to wear in the morning.  What I do know is that, at times, it just seems like things are just working out just the way I need them to.  I used to go to the book store and just scan the shelves and a book would call out to me to be read.  Lately, I discovered Jim Palmer's writings.   I recently reviewed  Divine Nobodies, Jim's first book.  After reading Divine Nobodies, I couldn't wait to see what Jim had to say in "Wide Open Spaces". I was not disappointed.  Jim's books just seem to have come along at the right time in my life.

The subtitle to Wide Open Spaces is "Beyond Paint by Number Christianity".  If you've been reading my blog, you realize I'm way beyond, or way regressed from, paint by number Christianity.  Been there, done that.  Not going back. When I read about Jim's background (former pastor) I was concerned with how well Jim's writings would resonate with me.  Christianese just isn't my thing anymore.  One of the chapters in the book "For the Least of These" is about the concept of "namaste".  That is the idea that when we look at a fellow human being, the image of G-d within us recognizes the image of G-d within that person.  I mentioned this concept in my review of Jim's first book.   I was a little afraid of what he might think of me using that word.  But, then I found a whole chapter on it in this book.

What I really like about Jim's writings is he has taken the lid off of the box and let G-d out.  He says things that are scary to a lot of Christians and I can only imagine he's getting a lot of flack.  But, he has found a freedom that you can tell he can't wait to share with the world.  Isn't that what the "good news" is supposed to be?  Something so good we just can't wait to spread it around?  Saying that G-d's love is unconditional and that there are not vast differences between religions and saying Truth is eternal, predating the Bible and continuing on after the Bible was written will scare a lot of people.  Jim talks about meditation (although I don't think he uses that word) and about an immanent G-d that can be seen through His creation and inside of His children.  He talks of G-d being more passionate about the world than about religious doctrine.  I loved his chapter on the "Freedom Filter" which is a filter Jim measures all new claims of Truth by.  If a claim of Truth draws Jim into fear, negativity, captivity or guilt, Jim rejects it.  This is not based on Jim's own feelings, but based on scripture.  Galatians 5:1 gives the very advice Jim is now following.  Don't let people bind you up with religion.

I enjoyed both of Jim's books very much.  They are humorous, honest and he takes a lot of risks.  Our paths, while very different in some ways, are also very similar in other ways.  If the things you  read on my blog don't freak you out too much, I highly recommend both of Jim's books.  Divine Nobodies will help open your eyes to the wonders of the people you meet every day in your life.  And, Wide Open Spaces just might help you expand your view of Who and What G-d is just a little more.