Regarding Dr. Jeremiah Wright and Senator Barack Obama

Over the last several weeks, there has been in the national media and across the country outrage and anger aimed at The Rev. Dr. Jeremiah Wright, Trinity United Church of Christ and criticism of Sen. Barack Obama, because of his relationship with Dr. Wright and his failure to leave Trinity Church. Snippets of Dr. Wright’s sermons have been seen, played and written over and over on television, radio and newspapers.

I have known Dr. Jeremiah Wright for over twenty years and know him to be a committed Christian, premier preacher and extraordinary pastor who led Trinity Church from a small congregation to over 8,000 Disciples of Christ. He is not the racist, hateful, anti-American that he has been presented to be by the national media. He is deeply rooted in Liberation Theology and is Afro-centric. While I do not agree with everything he says--who agrees with everything anybody says—I believe there has been an unfair and biased distortion of his ministry. More than thirty years of ministry has been judged by specifically selected portions of sermons. If we did this for all preachers, all of us, including me, would be viewed with disdain. During the presidency of Richard Nixon, Dr. Billy Graham is recorded as expressing concerns that the Jews “are taking over the country.” Dr. Graham was not called anti-Semitic or hateful. Following 911, The Rev. Pat Robertson said 911 occurred because of U.S. policy toward Israel, and following Hurricane Katrina, the late Dr. Jerry Falwell said God brought it on New Orleans because of the city’s sexual immorality. As I remember people did not accuse Robertson or Falwell of being hateful or unchristian.

The black preacher has always been an outspoken advocate of social justice, freedom and economic empowerment. In fact, they have been the conscience of the nation. And as much as everybody embraces and quotes Martin Luther King today, when he lived, his sermons and speeches were labeled by many as un-American, communistic and divisive. He only became accepted after he was killed. Dr. Jeremiah Wright has always been prophetic in his preaching, speaking truth to power. And the truth is that when the United States dropped nuclear bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki during WW II it killed millions of innocent people and brought devastation that lasted years, while it saved thousands of American soldier’s lives. While I personally agree with President Truman’s decision, the consequences of that decision remain true. And while we may not like it, the United States is the most hated country in the world today because of our foreign policy, particularly our invasion of Iraq, a sovereign nation. If any other nation did what we did, it would be called aggression. If people do not like what Dr. Wright said, they need to stop reading the Old Testament prophets who said that Israel was “a backsliding heifer” or a “whore” and “prostitute.” And Dr. Wright and others who seek to be faithful to our prophetic calling must expect to receive the same harsh criticism and rejection that they suffered. It is my prayer that black preachers will not be intimidated or fail to be faithful to prophetic preaching and ministry because of criticism and rejection, because God is not interested in whether people like or agree with His Word. He wants us to be faithful. And we must say loud and clear that Christianity and patriotism are not synonymous.

Trinity United Church of Christ and Senator Barack Obama have been criticized and unfairly attacked because of the preaching of Dr. Wright. Trinity Church is among the most caring and outreaching churches in this country, through a wide network of ministries touching the lives of countless people. God is greatly glorified through its work in His name. And people have criticized Senator Obama, questioning why he didn’t leave that church if he disagreed with what Dr. Wright was preaching. This is perhaps the most cynical question and criticism of them all. And I wish Senator Obama would have answered them the way I did to a reporter who asked me why I thought he didn’t leave. I told the reporter, “For the same reason you and your parents didn’t leave your churches when your pastors were preaching that blacks were inferior, condoning segregation and racism and maintaining the status quo. I give you the benefit of the doubt and say you disagreed with your pastor, but you loved your church.”

Senator Obama gave one of the most important and compelling addresses on race a few weeks ago since Dr. King’s address in 1963. I believe it is a blessing to the nation and challenges us to address candidly and honestly the issue of race in this country. Hopefully the politically hyped furor over Dr. Jeremiah Wright is behind us and as a nation we can move forward to face more pressing and challenging issues. However, I believe this will be hyped again in the fall if Sen. Obama is the Democratic nominee, and black preachers will find themselves thrust again into controversy. I pray that through it all we will remain faithful and not be intimidated by those who seek to exploit this matter for political gain.

Rev. Jackson is pastor of St. Matthew A.M.E Church, Orange, NJ and Executive Director of the Black Ministers Council of New Jersey.