Two years ago I had several talks with the leader of a ministry I was part of.  I informed him that some of the statements he was making about other ministries were blatantly false, and constituted slander.  He threw a tantrum and refused to listen or visit these other churches to see for himself.  It was thoroughly demoralizing to participate in group prayers that were laced with lies and immoral agendas.  For that reason and several others, I am no longer a part of his ministry.

In the short range this split was very inconvenient, in the long run it has proved a blessing.  I no longer have to explain to my kids why such a badly behaved person is in a position of Christian leadership.  Further, what comes from the pulpit on Sunday is entirely wholesome and instructive. 

Talking to a ministry leader about his bad doctrine, slanderous remarks or other inappropriate behavior seems hard in the short run.  It's a lot less costly then nodding along like a bobble-head doll on the back deck of a pimp's caddie for a decade or two.  After all, Christians aren't called to be bobble-head dolls. 

The vast majority of pastors do a great job.  The vast majority of churches are wholesome and sane.  If yours isn't, please fix it or relocate.  Reading the defensive, (and hopelessly delusional) remarks from Wright's church, relocating seems like the best option.

If yours is one of the  wonderful majority of Churches, lay a big bear hug on your pastor after church next Sunday!  Thank God for good pastors.  Most of them are wonderful beyond words, and we need to let them know how grateful we are.  I pray one of these wonderful pastors will make the headlines this week.

I know that perception is “nine-tenths of the law.” Even so, truth still has to have some merit. I spent some time watching the videos of Dr. Wright. I must admit, there are some things he definitely shouldn’t have said. There are also some things he said that dealt with real issues (such as race issues in America and the continuing plight of all people of color). But I would have changed the “delivery”. Honestly, I saw no need for him to bring up Hillary and Bill Clinton in his message. In my opinion, there was some crossing the line and I can see why Obama has distanced himself (which, by the way began way before this issue came to the forefront of media attention.)

I also watched some of the news commentators and interviews. An anchorman made a good comment about Dr. Wright being singled out. Out of all the messages he’s preached over the years, why does the media just focus on these? To present an unbiased report and allow the American people to make up their mind, the news media needs to show a wider breath of Dr. Wright’s teaching and look at his community work. It would seem that the news media is not presenting an unbiased view, but have a very real agenda that is being pushed ahead by someone.

Even the issues with the “friends” Clinton and McCain associate with are being forgotten in this flurry to make Obama “guilty by association.”

(Once again, I am not saying that I agree with everything Dr. Wright says.) In reality, how many of us agree with anyone else 100% of the time?

Phil mentioned Marxist Liberation Theology in this post. I’m not an expert on Marxism, but as I researched it, I did notice that comes in many different forms – some negative and some with positive intentions. (Not that I consider myself a Marxist.)

I have read some of the works of Dr. James Cone and other Liberation Theologians (while in Seminary). Liberation Theology does attempt to deal with social justice issues and try to put “feet” on the gospel so that living Christianity is about more than words, but about actually being living epistles on a daily basis. Liberation Theology seeks to keep us from compartmentalizing our faith so that we don’t worship God on Sunday and oppress our sisters and brothers on Monday in matters that we consider “business” – seperate and uniformed by our faith.

I really don’t know what else to say. As a Christian who is African-American, I realize that this situation is complicated, with no “easy” answers.

People have a tendancy to jump the gun on things and jump to conclusions about issues, but Jesus says “Don’t judge anything before the time.” We should acquire as much information and understanding about this issue as possible (and any other for that matter) so that we can make informed comments.

I will say this, for Obama to sit under Dr. Wright’s preaching for 20 years and come up with a compelling message that has the potential to unite American citizens in a new way – the full breath of Dr. Wright’s teaching has had some kind of positive impact on Obama.

In reading up on this issue, I did find an article about Dr. Wright from a website that you can read.

http://www.theroot.com/id/45301

I agree that perception definitely matters – especially in this day and age… And personally I am excited that both a woman and an African-American man have a real chance at the presidency. I wish that they would unite as representatives of their political party. They could do more together than they can do apart.

Allen Paul Weaver III
author, Transition: Breaking Through the Barriers
http://www.allenpaulweaveriii.com
http://www.transitionunleashed.com

http://my.barackobama.com/hisownwords

Allen Paul Weaver III
author, Transition: Breaking Through the Barriers
http://www.allenpaulweaveriii.com
http://www.transitionunleashed.com

And  now we have to feel sorry for Barak Obama.  Splitting with a pastor/spiritual mentor and looking for a new church is agony.  Let's pray the two men still have a friendship.  Neither deserve to lose that.

I had no indication from that speech that he was leaving the Church.  Quite the opposite.

The issues here are more than just points of view however.

The accusation was made from the pulpit that America deliberately released the AIDS virus to attack African America.  Is that a lie?  Is that an appropriate message even with the context of African American Churches which certainly do have a different culture than White American Churches.

Frankly, I think Obama did a masterful job with his speech and his explanation as to why he would reject those comments but not repudiate the man.  As a White American who has sat for some time in African American Churches and even preached in a few believe it or not, I understand a little some of the issues and cultural differences that exist.  That doesn't excuse the extreme level that some of those comments rose to however and frankly I don't hear the African American community trying with a very loud voice to justify all that was said.  The focus appears to be more addressing the unfairness of lifting the comments out of 20 years of ministry and not recognizing the big picture.

Fair enough.  But the comments are still there and Obama legitimately can be questioned as to how he stands with regard to the comments and the man who made them who is closely associated with him.  Obama did as good a job as I think anyone could do in that situation, but the fact remains, the association has cost him in public perception, at least in the short run.

I find myself respecting the man personally even though politically I could not support him based upon his positions upon some key issues.

Racism is an ugly thing.  Unfortunately it is an equal opportunity form of ugliness and is no more attractive dressed in black than it is in white.