Jeremiah Wright's Interview

Last week, I saw Bill Moyer’s interview of Reverend Jeremiah Wright, Barack Obama’s former pastor at Trinity United Church in Chicago. The interview did much to reverse Wright’s image as an anti-American firebrand. One of the things I noticed was that, in normal conversation, he is very soft-spoken and nuanced in his choice of words. And the short clips of him ranting from the podium like a madman? I’ve seen this style of sermonizing before (John Hagee is one its biggest practitioners). Wright’s “fury” isn’t present through his whole sermon: it only comes out at the culmination of a long chain of building arguments. Only at the end does he add the “flavor” of emotion and rage. This style never has sat well with me, and judging by the nationwide negative reaction to him, it doesn’t come across very well with people in general.

One theme that Wright stressed in his interview was the notion that oppressed peoples would necessarily read the Bible through a more similar perspective to its writers, the Jews (they themselves having been repeatedly persecuted), than those in society who have had it easier in life. Wright believes that it's not enough to just dwell upon the spiritual and heaven: God is very concerned with social justice, as His Word reveals (according to the Reverend).

Reverend Wright explained his critical comments about America by pointing out that the great Old Testament prophets, such as Jeremiah, also had very critical things to say to and about their homeland. The words spoken then were a rebuke and a warning, not condemnation. And Wright believes that at least those governing the U.S. employ a double standard when it comes to valuing human life and dignity, depending on whether the concerned humans reside within our borders or on another nation’s territory.

Wright is also a strong believer in the ongoing narrative of class oppression. He sees himself as someone who understands all of the terrible oppression that blacks and other groups have to endure. The only problem I see with this is that, although I’m sure that there is still racism and discrimination going on around us, most of the problems people experience in their day-to-day living are rooted in their own bad habits and attitudes. And one of these self-defeating attitudes is to carry around within oneself a narrative that everything bad that happens to them is because they belong to an oppressed group. Wright shouldn’t play up to that mindset as he has. To his credit, however, his church has been very active in its community helping the needy and ministering to those in prison.

I appreciate Bill Moyers for having given Reverend Jeremiah Wright the opportunity to react to the publicity he’s received for the past few weeks and to explain his philosophy. I believe that those short clippings of his were taken out of context by Barack Obama’s political opponents in order to defame Obama by association. And Wright is a thoughtful, caring man whom I would feel honored to have as a friend. But having said that, I still believe, as I have written in an earlier blog entry, that the Reverend has allowed himself to be part of a feedback loop that accepts affirming information and rejects contradictory information. The result is, in my opinion, a rather skewed and overcritical perspective on the United States, its history, and its role in the world. But then again, it’s perfectly human to seek out and value more those agreeing with one’s idiosyncratic views and conversely, to block out and reject dissenting opinions. After all, it’s conservatives who to tend to tune in to Rush Limbaugh and liberals who tend to tune in to Keith Olbermann.