Was Wright Wrong?

Although the main scuffle appears to be past, the issue of Rev. Jeremiah Wright’s sermons that have been labeled “anti-American” has still been ringing in my ears. At the time when the controversy broke, all I saw were the sound bites that the media kept replaying over and over again… “God damn America,” etc. Even then, before I heard the fuller context of the sermons (which, by the way, helps make good sense of the sound bites), I was struck by how much Wright’s comments sounded like the Hebrew prophets (such as Jeremiah, Isaiah, Ezekiel, Amos, Hosea, John the Baptist, and the rest of the true prophets of Israel including Jesus). Again and again throughout the scriptures, God speaks against peoples and governments that oppress the poor, destroy the earth, and suppress the truth. But the strongest words are always reserved for God’s own people… the people He loves in a unique way. The whole book of Hosea is based on the polemical premise of God calling His own people a whore. God gets so fed up with His people’s flagrant disregard for issues of justice and faithfulness to Him that He sends in the Assyrians and then the Babylonians to utterly destroy Israel. Later, John the Baptist and Jesus both predict a bloody and destructive end to Israel – which happens 40 years later. For God, the prophets, and Jesus criticizing one’s own people is not a traitorous activity… it is quite possibly the most helpful and loving thing to do. But if the same logic that has been applied to Rev. Wright is applied to Israel and the prophets, God and the prophets are anti-Israel and possibly anti-Semitic.

It is ironic that Christians are among the ones who are responding negatively to Rev. Wright’s comments. To me that speaks to the fact that most American Christians have not been reading their Bibles. It would be difficult to miss this enormous biblical theme if you even take a brief glance at any of the prophetic literature in scripture (which makes up a huge portion of scripture, by the way). It saddens me that Barack Obama quasi disowned Rev Wright due to the pressure of media. If he was being theologically honest, he should have defended his pastor. However, political expedience won the day. – Don’t get me started about the way the political game never ceases to disappoint me.

Two things stand out to me with regard to this issue:

1) To point out the evil or brokenness of one’s country, culture or faith community is often the most patriotic, loyal, or noble thing that can be done. This act takes enormous courage and requires integrity. Beyond this, it is additionally noble to work to right the wrongs that one points out. In the case of Rev. Wright, his church has been addressing issues of justice, poverty, marginalization, etc for many years. I applaud him as a man who has pointed to injustice and tried to do something about it. Is he perfect? Of course not. (Were the prophets?) Do I disagree with him on certain issues? Yes. But, do I have respect for him? Yes, because I see him in the prophetic tradition.

2) We must resist definitions of “patriotism” that are merely enthusiastic affirmations of whatever happens to be currently advocated from the powers that be. True patriotism is calling people to seek the greater good for the citizens of the country and, ultimately, the good of the world - even if it means being critical of one’s own country (whether it be its history, leaders, foreign policy, taxation or whatever). As a Jesus follower I am especially wary of “patriotism” because it so often bleeds into a blind favoring of “me and my own kind” (nationalism / tribalism) over the rest of the world. This is unacceptable for the Jesus follower who is part of a larger family that is made up of people from every nation, people, culture, and language. We must seek an identity that transcends nation, ethnicity, culture, tribe, family, and gender.

I recommend these links for more on this topic…

Interview with Bill Moyer:
http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/04252008/watch.html

Time Magazine Article:
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1734809,00.html

FYI: Should you understand me to be saying that I am not blessed to be an American living with the benefits that I have here, you have misunderstood me. Secondly, I am not defending all of the statements that Wright has made. For example, I have to admit that I am quite skeptical about the idea that the HIV virus was created and released onto the Black community. However, as the media continues to mock him I think it is important he actually be given a true "hearing" - not just the sound bites. Again, I recommend the interview with Moyers above.