The pastor wears no clothes

By Weekly Archive On May 6, 2008

Hell
hath no fury like a pastor scorned, as Barack Obama learned the hard
way.

A
month ago, when video snippets of Jeremiah Wright’s more
controversial sermons first popped up on cable television, Obama
tried to take the high road. He gently distanced himself from Wright
and compared his former black pastor to his white grandmother, while
insisting he could never repudiate either one of them. Then, instead
of responding to each of Wright’s inflammatory remarks, Obama seized
the occasion to call for a new national dialogue on race.

That
may have placated most of Obama supporters, but it didn’t sit well
with Rev. Wright. He obviously felt betrayed by his adopted spiritual
son. After all, he introduced Obama to Christianity, officiated at
his marriage, baptized his daughters, blessed his house, prayed
privately with him the morning Obama launched his campaign for
president, and served as his spiritual advisor for the last 20 years.
How could Obama suddenly treat him like a total stranger? Or, worse
yet, like a beloved but crazy uncle — tolerated at the Thanksgiving
dinner table, but never taken seriously?

In
the Old Testament, the prophet Jeremiah laments: "Woe is me for
my hurt! My wound is grievous." (Jeremiah 10:18). After lying
low for a couple of weeks, just long enough for Obama to believe he’d
put the whole controversy behind him, the preacher Jeremiah popped up
at the National Press Club this week and lamented: "Woe is me
for my hurt reputation! My wound is grievous and I’m determined to
speak out, even if it harms, or maybe destroys, the chances of the
first African-American to be elected president."

Pastor
Wright certainly didn’t do his friend Barack Obama any favors by
speaking out again. He not only dissed Obama as just another
politician, but he also repeated all the outrageous claims that got
both of them in hot water in the first place.

Forget
the notion that Wright’s original statements had simply been taken
out of context. In his Press Club appearance, Wright leveled every
one of his explosive charges yet again. Had we heard wrong? No,
Wright really does believe that because America has practiced so much
terrorism itself, September 11 was merely a case of the "chickens
coming home to roost." Was he misquoted? No, Wright still
asserts that the government deliberately spread the AIDS virus in our
inner cities to kill young blacks. Did Rev. Wright just get carried
away in the emotion of the moment? No, even after careful
consideration, he still praises Louis Farrakhan as a great leader,
who is simply misunderstood by white Americans. And those who don’t
accept his views, insists Wright, just don’t understand what black
churches are all about.

From
his appearance at the Press Club, we know four things about Jeremiah
Wright: He loves the sound of his own voice. He’s enjoying his 15
minutes of fame. He cares more about saving his own reputation than
he does about destroying Barack Obama’s. And he’s dead wrong in
labeling this nation as the moral equivalent of al Qaeda and
suggesting that all black preachers hate America as much he does.

Ironically,
in his prepared remarks, Jeremiah Wright joked about advice once
given by Abraham Lincoln: "It is better to be quiet and be
thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt."
Too bad he didn’t follow that advice. He would have spared himself,
Barack Obama, and the whole country, a lot of grief.

After
that train wreck, what else could Obama do? He had to throw his
pastor under the bus, and he did so forcefully and angrily: "His
comments were not only divisive and destructive, but I believe that
they end up giving comfort to those who prey on hate, and I believe
that they do not portray accurately the perspective of the black
church. They certainly don’t portray accurately my values and
beliefs."

Even
though Obama has clearly distanced himself from his former pastor, of
course, questions remain. In 20 years, how could he not have been
aware of some of Pastor Wright’s more incendiary statements? Why
didn’t he change pastors a long time ago? And why’d he wait so long
to repudiate Wright’s comments, this time around?

Did
he act soon enough and strong enough to convince voters they should
not hold Jeremiah Wright against him? As Barack Obama told reporters:
"We’ll find out." Yes, we’ll find out, on May 6, in Indiana
and North Carolina.

Bill
Press is host of a nationally syndicated radio show and author of a
new book, "How
the Republicans Stole Religion."
You can hear "The Bill Press Show" at billpressshow.com.
His email address is: bill@billpress.com.
His Web site is: www.billpress.com.