When He’s Wright, He’s Wright
The good rev lambastes the media for trying to use him as a “weapon of mass destruction” against Obama. Hartford Courant:
How do political controversies begin and why do certain quotes — taken out of their original context — prove so incendiary that they can almost stall a presidential campaign?
That was the question addressed Thursday night by President-elect Obama’s former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, in his first public appearance since he and Obama parted ways last spring.
Wright, pastor emeritus of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, delivered a scholarly but humorous address on “The Bible, Race and American History” during a panel discussion at Kingdom Life Christian Church sponsored by the Theological Education Institute of Hartford.
During questions after his talk, Wright lamented the controversy last spring during which short segments of his sermons were endlessly replayed on cable news shows, eventually leading to Obama repudiating his pastor and announcing that he was leaving Trinity Church. In those statements Wright said that America should be called “US of KKKA” and encouraged African Americans to say not “God Bless America,” but instead “God Damn America.”
“The world doesn’t know about my 41 years of ministry, or my writing of books, because it was all taken down to a 10-second sound bite that the media chose to show about a sermon that was delivered seven years ago,” Wright said. “The media didn’t care about the whole sermon and what it was about. They just used those 10 seconds and used it as a weapon of mass destruction against [Obama's] campaign.”
Wright’s talk, replete with detailed references to theology books and quotes from Scripture, was rife with the kind of quotes that, quoted alone, could generate controversy. But understood in the larger context of Wright’s talk, the statements did not seem controversial and frequently elicited laughter from Wright’s mostly white audience of several hundred.
I dunno. That WMD quote is a little controversial. It would appear to suggest the Obama press corps didn’t do everything it possibly could to ignore Wright and his remarks, and then fall over itself to declare Obama the new MLK Jr when he punted that wretched speech.
Wright began his talk by pointing out that prejudice and racial stereotypes are inevitable in a country and a religion that views God as both white and male.
“How a country sees God determines how they see humans,” Wright said.
Interesting point. What does that mean when people depict black Jesuses?
Wright went on to describe arguments made in 19th-century America, or 20th-century South Africa, where chattel slavery and apartheid were justified by passages in the Bible. This legacy is still felt in modern religion, but Wright also pointed out that “it is not just the Bible that has racism written into it, but the Quran, the Vedas and other religious texts.”
I’m pretty sure that’s slavism, not racism. So what’s his point, God damn the Bible?
Wright avoided direct references to Obama in his prepared talk but brought him up in response to several questions from the audience.
“My biggest fear is that we will take what’s just happened in this country and think a whole lot has changed,” Wright said.
“If you take a Tiger Woods, a Michael Jordan or a Barack Obama, their success should not lull us into thinking society has changed.” Obama joined Wright’s church 21 years ago while a young community organizer in Chicago’s South Side. In his memoirs, Obama said Wright gave him a religious grounding and welcomed him to the Chicago community.
Good point. You’d have to take a Clarence Thomas, Colin Powell, Condoleezza Rice, Deval Patrick. Any number of black cops, professors, lawyers, small business owners, not to mention clerks, mechanics, store managers, regular people working regular jobs. Turns out if people have the basic ability and drive, the opportunities are there. In fact, sometimes they are enhanced. At least, I’m pretty sure that’s what the recruitment exec at a leading American newspaper meant a number of years back when she asked me over the phone, “Are you black?” Or when another newspaper exec told me once, many years ago, “Sorry. We needed a woman.” I didn’t complain then. I’m not complaining now. Discrimination cuts a lot of different ways and I don’t think any of us need to be lectured by some bigot as far out from his last honest job as Wright is. It clearly would have worked to his advantage if Obama had not been elected by AmeriKKKa, so you can’t begrudge him some sour grapes. It’s been pretty clearly established at this point that his brand of racist rage is more of a hindrance than a help to racial advancement. Though I’m not sure exactly what Wright’s trying to say. Can’t be Obama’s supremely talented, though charisma counts for something. Obama’s a token? Obama’s the affirmative action president? Case could be made, given the kid gloves campaign media treatment. But it’s pretty clear a big majority of Americans, the vast majority of those white, liked him and if nothing else, that’s bad news for the Jeremiah Wrights of this world.
Topics: everything
Posted by Jules Crittenden at 1:55 pm on Saturday, November 8, 2008
3 Responses to “When He’s Wright, He’s Wright”
Leave a Reply
Trackback URLYou must be logged in to post a comment.
November 9th, 2008 at 12:51 am
C.S. Lewis was a scholar. I do not think that Jeremiah Wright has the necessary knowledge, gravitas, acumen, skills, nor education to be so described.
Cheers
November 9th, 2008 at 12:53 pm
Jeremiah Wright is a black bigot, and it appears he’s (paradoxically) anti-Christian as well. There’s no other “context” to be had.
November 9th, 2008 at 3:09 pm
So what’s his point, God damn the Bible?
Following from what Rebecca said, I would suggest that Wright’s point is “God dam God.”