Render unto Caesar

" 'God Damn America,' the people of Sadr City must rage, as the bombs shake their homes and tear the flesh from their friends and family. 'God Damn, America,'I mutter, echoing the good Reverend Wright, as I witness the indifference of the American people to the war crimes committed by our nation's leaders."  --Phillip Rockstroh

"The Almighty has His own purposes. 'Woe unto the world because of offenses; for it must needs be that offenses come, but woe to that man by whom the offense cometh.' If we shall suppose that American slavery is one of those offenses which, in the providence of God, must needs come, ... and that He gives to both North and South this terrible war as the woe due to those by whom the offense came... . Fondly do we hope, fervently do we pray, that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continue until all the wealth piled by the bondsman's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, ... so still it must be said 'the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether."   

--Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address

And I say:  woe to those who claim that the Reverend Jeremiah Wright is obligated, through self-imposed silence, to further the political career of Barack Obama.   Those making that demand confuse the call of the religious life with the call of politics.   They conflate the transcendent with the temporal, God with Caesar. 

Even the estimable Thom Hartmann, a self-proclaimed Christian, argues that  Jeremiah Wright should have postponed his media blitz until after the November elections.  That's his firm belief, despite his acknowledgment of the truth of much of what Wright has said in the past three days.

And further woe to all the talking heads, millionaires and celebrities all, far removed from the slums and ghettos,  who are quick to characterize Wright's comments about Obama speaking "politically" as a slander and an ill-timed blow to his electoral chances.   I say Wright merely revealed the obvious.  Politicians temper their speech and their positions for political purposes.  Their goal is to get elected.   Obama is no exception.  He has been politic in his pronouncements on guns, gays, and most revealingly, God.  He has pandered to the Israel lobby.  He has hinted at the use of military force in Iran.  He has voted for continued funding of the Iraq War to "support the troops." 

If I were a churchgoing man --like most Oregonians, I'm not-- I'd like a man like Jeremiah Wright as the pastor of my church, a man who speaks truth to power and seeks justice for the oppressed while preaching compassion and forgiveness for the oppressors. 

Religion without compassion can hardly be called religion at all.  In the words of the scholar Karen Armstrong:

"The one and only test of a valid religious idea, doctrinal statement, spiritual experience, or devotional practice was that it must lead directly to practical compassion."

 

Comments

[Craig]

Forget for a moment the content of Wright's remarks and focus on his preening performance at the National Press Club Monday -- and the way he disrespected the woman who was reading the questions (the woman was the Vice President of the National Press Club.) The man is not only delusional, but, worse, he is pompously, vaingloriously and egomaniacally so.

Unlike Bill Moyer's questions on Friday, the woman's questions were posed briefly and neutrally -- without editorializing. She also asked Wright the question Moyers did not -- about whether Wright still believed that the U.S. government invented the AIDS virus to wipe out blacks. Incredibly (or perhaps, coming from Wright, not so incredibly), he responded that he thought it was possible.

The larger point remains, however, that what anyone thinks about Jeremiah Wright's theology or opinions on public issues should be entirely irrelevant to the presidential campaign. The pastor of the church you and I attended advised us in a 1960 sermon not to vote for John Kennedy because he was Catholic. Does that make you and me anti-Catholic bigots?

I want to know what the presidential candidates' think about public issues, not what Jeremiah Wright or John Hagee think.

[Anne]

Great discussion Terry. I thought it was interesting when Obama, in his effort to totally distance himself from Wright, said that no Americans agreed with Wright. What about the audience at the press club meeting? They were agreeing heartily. I too agree that the US's racism, warmongering, planet destruction and just plain idiotic consumerism is damnable. I did not find Wright's words shocking. And when he said something like "Obama is a politician and he is doing what he has to do, and I am a preacher and I will do what I have to do.", I thought it was an opportunity for Obama to separate from him easily. Instead Obama took offense at being called a politician.
Still, in the back of my mind, prompted by discussions with Obama supporters, I do wonder what Wright's agenda is.
Is it ego? Is it wise for him to do this when so much is at stake in this election?

[Steve Buel]

My problem with Rev. Wright is his AID's comments. They are so far out in left field that it makes him seem rediculous.