I get it now. Having actually heard the entirety of Rev. Wright’s post September 11th sermon I realize now that people all over the country have miss-spun and misconstrued a sound bite to horendous and comic proportions. This is basic liberation theology that you’ll hear in at least half the black churches in America every Sunday. No, not every Black preacher takes this ministerial approach but many do. I was a member of and married at a church where this was standard fare. Where the truth was dealt with in no uncertain terms at all times. This is just a no-big-deal mole hill turned into a mountain.
Man people need to get serious. But I do get it though. Those White Americans who are flipping their lids over much ado about nothing can’t comprehend it because they’ve never had to be liberated from anything in societal terms. But smart people with a clue to history, especially American church history, do understand and they aren’t losing any sleep over this. Least of all those White and Black pastors and preachers who know Rev. Wright well.
Well let your heads rest easy friends. Liberation theology is generations old and universal. It’s not just a Black thing either. It is even European and South American in nature and tradition. Where ever there is oppression or its lingering legacy there is liberation theology. In America it was spawned by racism within the Christian church. The only reason African American denominations even exist is because white preachers and parishoners were no different than the rest of society. From earliest colonial days in two story churches Black members had to sit on the balcony, not the floor (You thought that was just in movie theaters years later, didn’t you?). In one floor churches Blacks had to sit in the back not in the front (You thought it was just on busses and trains in the Jim Crow era, didn’t you?). This is how Christians were treating their fellow believers, as inferiors in God’s house.
No, I’m sorry my White friends. You guys are really going to have to get a grip on your false emotions and get over yourselves because Black people aren’t impressed. Look at your history in the mirror, read up on the parts that some of you have obviously missed and still consciously choose not to acknowledge and deal with. Until then, quit your whining White people. To my White fellow Christians, when are you folks going to show some courage and speak up to counter the ignorance your friends and families are encouraging? Crimes of omission are as bad as crimes of commission so get off your haunches and fight the lies from the spin machine.
You can’t clarify the situation any better than Pastor Wright has in the last few days both at the Detroit chapter of the NAACP and at the
National Press Club. But you know what? Somebody who wants to find a problem with something where it doesn’t exist will find it. And if they can’t find it they will create it. I say continue telling the truth Rev. and let the spin miesters have their way. The public will remain as ignorant as they choose to be so tell it anyway.
For those of you who choose knowledge over stupidity take a listen to the PBS interview with Bill Moyers and get the proper perspective on this NON-ISSUE.
