i hate white people too!

In the past week I have been contacted by many people asking me my opinion on Obama’s Pastor, and I have to admit I am not at all surprised by the reaction of the news media. One thing that I am disappointed in though is how sheepishly some people allow fox news and AM radio (who seek profit over truth) to shape their thoughts and opinions about the candidates. It seems that all of my conservative friends want to point this out as an “I told you so” moment, and for what its worth, sure…great, you can revel in this one if you like (thumbs up!).

When it comes down to it, Obama’s Pastor is heavily influenced by a form of theology called liberation theology. Liberation theology is a belief system that focuses its attention not only on Christ being the redeemer but also the liberator of the poor, oppressed and marginalized. Some Lib. Theologians would go so far as to say that ONLY the poor, oppressed, and marginalized can understand the kingdom of God, and not the wealthy. And in America the wealthy are white, and the poor, oppressed and marginalized are minorities. They get the foundation for this from the story of the rich young ruler, where Jesus says, “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God” (NIV, Mark 10:25). So with this framework in mind please view this now infamous clip of Obama’s pastor.

Now that you have some context I would like to make two arguments that I believe reveal this latest news as just another smear campaign that distracts us from what’s really important, the future direction of our country.

First, Mormons! Mormons are an interesting sect in our culture, they believe some pretty crazy things. Some might even go so far as to say they are a cult. People have reservations about what the Mormon church teaches, heck they didn’t even let black people into their church until the tail end of the civil rights movement. Mitt Romney is a Mormon, and he became the poster boy for ultra right wing conservatism (the same ultra right wing conservatism that is leading the front against Obama and his pastor). When people would question the ultra right wing conservatives on Mitt Romney’s religious credentials, they would answer “we are not electing a Pastor and Chief…” Therefore I challenge anyone who would place a label on Obama because of this smear campaign against him and his pastor, to swallow their own argument, “We are not electing a Pastor and Chief, we are electing a Commander and chief.”

Second, two people who I think have even more screwed up theologies than Obama’s pastor, (hint: one was an obvious glutton, and the other a squirrelly rich man who loves the sound of his own “prophesies”). Yep, you guessed it the late Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson. These two characters are known more for what they hate, than for how much God loves. They have said some pretty ridiculous things (9/11 was because of homos, Katrina was God’s wrath on New Orleans, and Pat prophesied that there was supposed to be a nuclear terrorist attack in 2007…), ultra right wing conservatives eat this stuff up. Every Republican candidate can’t wait to get an endorsement from these two. And what do you know, G. W. Bush had scheduled weekly calls with them. When these guys say crazy ass things, do the media ask the president to denounce his affiliation with them? No, they don’t. So what’s the difference from these two crazies and Obama’s pastor, three things, wealth, power, and sadly…color. All this to say every political candidate has some crazy pastor in their back pockets, and I am just sad to see that the only fault of Obama is that he chose a black one and not a fat wealthy white one.

In conclusion, I believe this whole incident has just been an attempt for the ultra right wing media to keep us preoccupied with business as usual Washington politics, but I understand they have to make money, and smear campaigns do that. If anything good has come from all this it is Barack Obama’s ability to rise above all of this and give one of the greatest speeches of our generation. Thanks for your time.