The Reverend Jeremiah A. Wright is wrong, although God knows not in any way that The Obnoxious American alleges in his recent Blogcritics article. Wright is wrong—perhaps misguided is better—to intercede in the Democratic political battle (all those speeches and press conferences) at a time when his comments are hurting one of the candidates, his (one presumes) now former parishioner.
In that regard, the Reverend Wright should cease and desist—at least for the time being, only because his comments may very well upend Senator Obama's Presidential quest. But not because, as The Obnoxious American (hereafter, TOA) seems to argue that he's an apologist for Louis Farrakhan; or that he blames 9/11 on US foreign policy; or that, bizarrely, former President Carter's "recent trip to the Middle East to meet with various terrorist leaders confirms for many a long history of anti-Jewish sentiment." (Huh?); or that Wright doesn't even like being black.
TOA quotes, accurately, Wright as saying that 'Louis Farrakhan is not my enemy, he did not put me in chains, he did not put me in slavery and he didn't make me this color'. And in the next sentence says: "I guess that means that Wright doesn't like the color of his skin? I'm not going to touch that one, but the audience seemed to love it." If TOA is being sarcastic, then I am wrong.
But for what Jeremiah Wright is saying or trying to say, he needs to speak even louder. Because, while several of his propositions may be slightly overheated (he is a preacher, after all), he's telling the truth. That's right: he's telling the truth, speaking the gospel, as it were.
It's easy to take issue with what Rev. Wright said in the Q and A session after his appearance, but that overlooks his opening remarks, which were centered on theological issues, not directly political ones. To understand the totality of what Wright said on April 28 at the National Press Club, you also need to look at his comments leading to the question and answer session.
What Wright discussed initially was the historical marginalization of the black church in this country. His historical references were essentially accurate. The post-Civil War Black Codes were an effort still to control African Americans in this country, including how they worshipped. But these codes didn't work. African Americans, says Wright, have insisted on their right to worship in this country; they've always done so. But they've done so, essentially, separately.
And that's partly because we see God in the image that suits us—which is to say, ours. If you're white and a Christian (and one who spends any time at all thinking about these things—perhaps not a large number, actually) you think about Jesus, imagine him, as the Jesus we've all seen in pictures since we were kids in Sunday school: kindly looking, sad, bearded, handsome even. But not black. If you're African American in this country you likely see Jesus as black, or at least not white.
Article comments
1 - Ruvy
I read this article in its entirety, Stephen.
First of all, if you view G-d as merely a man, however superior His powers might be, you've bought into the Greek worship of idols. The title of your article and your assumptions within it detail clearly one reason why Christianity is abhorrent to most Jews.
G-d is not a mere man to be assigned a skin color. The Creator of the universe is beyond the imagination of all men, and for a mere man to look directly into the face of G-d is to invite death. The appropriate term in English is ineffable. If you don't know what it means, find an unabridged dictionary (preferably a ten kilo tome you have to work to lift) and look it up.
Second of all, while most of your article deals with the experience of black Americans, something I can comment on only minimally, the last page deals with Zionism and Judaism. As a Jew living in liberated Samaria, I know quite a bit about both.
I suggest that fools like Louis Farrakhan and Jeremiah Wright know nothing about either Judaism or Zionism.
Judaism is a nationality and a religion, based on three Covenants with G-d.
1. The descendants of Abraham through his son Isaac and grandson Jacob are granted the right to live in the Land of Israel in perpetuity, to worship there and carry out the commandments of G-d there.
2. The Children of Israel are granted a Torah, a guide to holiness, that they are to follow and guard scrupulously; this Torah is our guide to being holy in a holy Land, and we are charged with being as holy as the Land we are granted.
3. The Children of Israel, chosen to guard this guide have the task of teaching mankind (when it is ready to be taught) the Seven Laws of Noah, universal laws of civilization.
In ancient days, our people were governed by a Sanhedrin, a court of 71 judges, an institution that was established in the days of wandering the desert before the conquest of the Land under yehoshu'a (Joshua) ben nun.
A little under two thousand years ago, the last sovereign Jewish entity in this country (until the present State) was destroyed by the Roman savages after a rebellion against pagan rule. The city of Jerusalem was burned to the ground, along with the Temple of hordos (Herod), thousands died, thousands more were taken as slaves and a six hundred year genocide was started against the Jewish people in this Land.
The remnant of the Sanhedrin snuck out to the city of Yavne to try and figure out what to do to save our people.
The only weapons they had were words.
So they constructed a liturgy of prayer to remind every Jew of what had been lost to the Roman savages in tens of generations of exile that were to come.
Central to this liturgy is the 'amidá, a standing prayer recited silently three times daily.
From its text:
There is more, of course, a great deal more, all recited standing at attention, but the point is to remind every Jew, every Child of Israel who recites the 'amidá who he or she really is and where his or her ultimate loyalty must lie.
The difference between a believing Jew and a non-believing Jew is how seriously he takes what he says to G-d three times daily; and what he does to make those prayers a reality.
It is from this 'amidá that Zionism gets its concepts. But Zionism is a mere movement of secular Jews to establish a state. Having established that State, Zionism accomplished its purpose, and as events have shown over the last twenty years, has lost its way. Zionism, as a movement, is basically over.
The next step in the evolution of the Jewish nation is to turn this country into a truly G-d centered country, instead of the pathetic imitation of the pagan west it is now.
Neither Louis Farrakhan nor Jeremiah Wright have any understanding of this: most American Jews like the "Obnoxious American" (who is not obnoxious at all) don't understand this either.
But pay attention to what I write. Your elections are pretty much your affair, but at least you now have a real concept of who and what the Children of Israel are.