Today, I took an hour to listen to the two sermons by the distinguished Reverend Jeremiah Wright of the Trinity United Church of Christ, from which severely edited snippets were extracted with the sole intent of maligning the good pastor from Chicago, and then to smear Barack Obama, with the negative knee-jerk responses echoed with fervor and frequency by right-winged radio talk show hosts, Fox News and members of the Clinton campaign. I wish that everyone in America could listen to both sermons, in their entirety, and understand the messages of peace, reason and human compassion that are so very present in the meanings put forth by the good Reverend Wright. This Friday evening, at 8pm, Bill Moyers will be airing an interview with Reverend Jeremiah Wright, the first since this disgraceful and shameful media frenzy over uncontexted sound bytes from his sermons sent him out of the public arena.
A major gossipy flap around the Obama campaign has inundated the news with these short biting snippets over the past couple of months. The flurry of emotion and reactive slurs have been mostly delivered by people who never heard a single sermon by the good Reverend Wright. Most certainly none of them listened to the two sermons—one in the wake of the horrific 9/11 attacks and a second on the confounding and confusing enmeshment of religion and politics, or “confusing God with government” as the good Reverend Wright aptly states it. From the latter sermon, the line “…God Damn America…” was extracted from the sentence and context of Reverend Wright’s speech, making it appear as if he was publicly and personally condemning the American people, which was most certainly NOT the case. After listing a litany of government-condoned terror upon people of color since the inception of the US Constitution, and before—including the decimation of Native American populations, the brutal enslavement the African people, the internment of Japanese Americans, the many wars upon wars inflicted upon nations of black, brown and Asian peoples for the exploitation of their natural resources and fossil fuels, Wright then said, “…and they want us to sing ‘God Bless America.’ No, no no! God damn America!” The reference to modern day imperial exploitations was made in the wake of a reading of scripure concerning the imperial actions of the Roman government, followed by references to the Egyptian imperialists before them who conquered peoples and of other races and their nations (Imperialist history is not a white-only enterprise, as Wright would say).
Obama, in light of the heavily negative knee-jerk responses from the ignorant masses, recklessly inundated with the snippets, spun with frequency and slime by exploitive, profiteering corporate news agencies, distanced himself from the severely edited bits of sentences from Wright’s speeches, canceled a public event with the Reverend Wright, but valiantly tried to support his relationship with his long-time pastor and friend, with a speech that invited the nation to openly speak about race relations and to reach out to gain a better understanding of racial perspectives.
Obama rightly appealed to the better judgments of the American people in his speech, knowing that we can be much better than the lowest common denominators of gossipy slime that comprise much of our so-called “news” shows. My guess is that he may have been given the opportunity to hear both of Wright’s sermons-in-question in their entirety, but probably too late to retract his distancing words about his minister. If he had, I’m sure he would have been reassured that his distinguished pastor and friend has the best of America and humanity in mind, through his abiding reverence and love for his God. I revere humanity and the cosmos with love, awe and an insatiable curiosity, but I have no reason to believe that any one or spirit put it here. Having said this, I was moved by the human truths inherent in both of these sermons by Reverend Wright. I know, for it is quite obvious to me, that most of the people seeking to smear both Reverend Wright and Barack Obama, have not heard either sermon.
At this moment, I am reminded of Susan Jacoby’s recent book, The Age of American Unreason. Jacoby points out the fact that nearly two-thirds of Christian Americans purporting to believe in the Bible do not even know the names of the four gospels (for instant enlightenment, they are the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John; the first three are also referred to as the “Synoptic Gospels”), nor that Genesis is the first book of the Old Testament. So, how is it that people can profess to “know” something, or “believe in” something, without even knowing the title of the main books from which the object of their faith is derived? Most people don’t read, and many more don’t even sustain a long enough focus of attention to even try to understand what they are listening to, viewing or reading. I suppose this is why media “bytes” are so effective. They suit the American attention deficit disorder so well. Ask Rupert Murdoch who has made a massive fortune from this process.
Rather than rant on about the obvious need for reason, compassion, patience and understanding in America, let me recommend the following links to a better understanding of one Reverend Jeremiah Wright, his life and his words:
- First, a link to the Wikipedia biography and notes on the Reverend Jeremiah Wright.
- Second a link to his post 9/11 sermon
- http://odeo.com/audio/17890793/view
- Lastly, a link to Bill Moyers Journal, where his interview with Wright will be aired on Friday evening on PBS; available thereafter at this web site for viewing.
