black…MYstory

So, as we go into what seems to be the umpteenth week of talking about Rev. Jeremiah Wright, I want to know why white preachers associated with other politicians aren’t receiving this same level of scrutiny.

For example, John McCain sought out and got the endorsement of John Hagee. Hagee runs a church with over 17,000 members and is a televangelist. However, Hagee also has some views that many would consider extreme. But — surprise — there is no call for McCain to reject and denounce Hagee.

I have added a couple of clips at the end. The first is where Hagee refers to the Catholic church as “the great whore”, a “false cult system” and quotes Hitler as a way of likening the actions of the Catholic church to some of Hitler’s atrocities.

The second clip shows Hagee hawking a book (”In Defense of Israel”) in which Hagee says that Jesus never saw himself as a Messiah. In other words, he is saying that Jesus never saw himself as the Christ, which I would say is pretty interesting for a Christian minister.

Rest assured, there’s much more on this guy out there and I intend to share it with you. As I understand it, he has made some very interesting statements about why Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans and a “slave sale” fundraiser he held in 1996.

At any rate, here are the clips so you can see for yourselves.

Also, here’s a sort of rebuttal of Hagee’s book by a member of the same Christian United for Israel group as John Hagee:

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It occurred to me that a lot of folks didn’t really hear the words of Rev.  Jeremiah Wright before going off on him.  Well, I take that back…they did hear about 10 seconds of his sermon but, didn’t bother to hear more because it was easier to be spoonfed their opinions by pundits than it was to find out the real deal for themselves.  For those who have not heard the sermon in context, I offer a broader excerpt of it.  You can see and hear that the sound bite the media took doesn’t quite sound the same when listened to along with the statement preceding and following it.

Edit: In case those haven’t seen the context of the “God damn America” statement, you should check this out in its proper context, as well.

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I read something today that made me take pause. The reason that it so caught my attention was that it came out of Cincinnati and it was not some right-wing rant about Rev. Wright but, instead, a thoughtful support of his right to express his views.

Adam Clark, an assistant professor in the Department of Theology at Xavier University, delivers his message in both eloquent and plain tones to explain why America should quit trying to view what Wright said through a political lens and, instead, look at his statements through lens of both Christian theology and the Black Church tradition.

Wright, however, is a preacher; his oath is not to the Constitution but to the Gospel. The statements of Wright may be out of step with the presidential politics of the Obama campaign, but they are not out of step with biblical faith. The forceful denunciations of America’s invasion of Iraq, her support for the unjust practices of foreign governments as well as the invocation of God’s wrath for the inhumane treatment of blacks and people of color are not the crazed anti-American ranting of an old uncle, but statements about the meaning of faith in a God who upsets the powers through identifying with the poor and marginalized.

The presidential candidacy of Obama can be assessed on its own terms. But the uproar over the rhetoric of Wright is largely a result of America’s unfamiliarity with the history and language of the black church. The political character of black sermons such as Wright’s are not rooted in the give and take of electoral politics, they derive from biblical faith. The black church has historically identified with the minority Jewish population of the first century. They regard the Jewish population’s relationship to the Roman Empire as similar to their own relationship to the American Empire. This identification has caused black Christians to make a distinction between the biblical Jesus and the American Christ. The American Christ is a product of the American middle class, a deity who endorses empire and converts his followers into being pro-war, pro-death penalty and anti-abortion. The biblical Jesus reveals a God who is provocative, a God who upsets the powers and is eventually rejected and crucified by them.

The language of the black church that conveys this oppositionality does not translate well into the arena of presidential politics. It was never intended to. The black church’s language is the language and worldview of a people who have been at the margins of social power - a symbolic language, not a literal language. Words seldom have a one-to-one correspondence with events. Black religious language is inherently evocative, hyperbolic and impassioned - aimed more toward devotion than debate. It is intended to convey divine ecstasy and anger to parishioners, not dialogue among pundits.

Mr. Clark, thank you for your excellent analysis.

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It’s funny how the Republican party seemingly has very little to offer the American people. So, because they lack substance, they, instead, offer fear.

So, it was little surprise to see, last week, Rep. Steve King of Iowa go there. According to King, the facts that Obama wants to pull troops out of Iraq, he is of Kenyan parentage and, of course, his middle name is “Hussein” should cause us to take pause when considering him for President.

Actually, King descended even further into stupidity with the following comment:

“The radical Islamists, the al-Qaida … would be dancing in the streets in greater numbers than they did on Sept. 11 because they would declare victory in this war on terror.”

So, I wonder how Rep. King reconciles this with the fact that there are a lot of folks with “Muslim-sounding” names, who have served in some very high positions in our government and military. Juan Cole, in his blog “Informed Comment” brings much of this to light. Here are some examples:

• General Omar Bradley, WWII hero: The name “Omar” is an alternate spelling of the name “Umar”. Umar ibn al-Khattab was the second caliph of Sunni Islam.
• Gen. John Abizaid, former CENTCOM commander: His name is a combination of two Arabic names. According to Cole, “Abi means Abu or ‘father of,’ and Zaid is a common Arab first name.”
• Darrell Issa, Republican congressman - The son of a Lebanese father, the name “Isa” mean “Jesus” in Arabic.
• Donna Shalala, former Health and Human Services Secretary - The child of Lebanese parents, Shalala was the longest-serving HHS secretary.

The point in all this is that, if Muslim extremists needed something to cheer about, particularly because of a name, they would have been able to do so long before a Barack Obama came on the political scene.

Even more important is the fact that Obama has made his Christian beliefs very evident. So, all this garbage about him being a “secret” Muslim is, in short, stupid.

But, when you have nothing to offer, I guess fearmongering is all you have left.

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You might not know how I feel about prosperity pimpin’ preaching but, let’s just say I’m not a fan. More importantly, I am concerned about how certain people prey on the faith of followers to create extravagant lifestyles for themselves. Like I’ve stated before, the Bible tells of how Jesus threw the money-changers out of the church but, they came back with a vengeance.

Now, many decades and, easily, billions of dollars later, the Senate is starting to look into what these megachurch ministers are doing with the money contributed to their ministries. This is, primarily, the work of Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee. His goal is to determine whether or not these pastors are complying with IRS rules in regards to the money they are personally receiving in their roles as ministers. As you know, despite their opulence, these churches are tax-exempt.

Six months ago, Grassley sent out questionnaires to 6 ministries. To date, only one, Joyce Meyer Ministries, has responded to Grassley’s request, along with supporting documentation. Those that have not responded include Bishop Eddie Long of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church and Bishop Eddie Long Ministries of Lithonia, Ga.; Randy and Paula White of Without Walls International Church and Paula White Ministries of Tampa, Fla.; and Kenneth and Gloria Copeland of Kenneth Copeland Ministries of Newark, Texas.

However, there are two ministries that are basically telling Grassley to go to hell (sorry, I couldn’t resist). They are Benny Hinn of World Healing Center Church Inc. and Benny Hinn Ministries of Grapevine, Texas (who said he would not respond until 2008) and Creflo Dollar of World Changers Church International. Dollar had his lawyers tell Grassley that “the investigation should be referred to the IRS or the Senate panel should get a subpoena for the documents.”

According to many of these preachers who did not comply, the IRS already knows about their finances but, according to Grassley, he is uncovering things the IRS never knew.

Who knows? Subpoenas might be coming soon. If so, I’ll have my popcorn ready and my TV tuned to C-Span.

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