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THE QUESTION
Obama's Pastor
How should Barack Obama have responded to inflammatory remarks made by his former pastor, Dr. Jeremiah Wright? Are you responsible for what your spiritual leader says from the pulpit?
Posted by
Sally Quinn and Jon Meacham on March 25, 2008 12:25 AM
FROM THE PANEL
A Test Case for Obama's Idealism
In Wright's world view, there is us and them, going back thousands of years. Therefore, he belongs, or so the public perceives, to the divisive camp in racial politics, not the uniting camp
Posted by Deepak Chopra, on May 4, 2008 11:19 AM
An Open Plea for Freedom of Worship
A preacher is not called on to be a mirror in which the congregation can identify themselves. He or she is called on to be a kind of clear window through which congregants are called to see the vision of what they ought to be and do individually and collectively
Posted by Gardner Calvin Taylor, on March 25, 2008 10:54 AM
What Obama Could Not (and Should Not) Say
Obama’s candidacy is genuinely thrilling but also depressing, for it demonstrates that even a person of the greatest candor and eloquence must still claim to believe the unbelievable in order to have a political career in this country.
Posted by Sam Harris, on March 25, 2008 8:41 AM
Obama: And the Truth Will Set You Free
It truly astonished me that Senator Obama was able to speak to my own white, immigrant past in a way that did not shame this past, but honored it for the life and death struggle it was.
Posted by Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite, on March 25, 2008 7:21 AM
Memo to Candidates: Pick A Feel-Good Pastor
A candidate should not be held responsible for the whacko views of a friend or family member, but the relationship between a congregant and the pastor of his church is quite different. The very essence of membership in a particular church is an assumed community of values. Obama can't deny that.
Posted by Susan Jacoby, on March 25, 2008 6:30 AM
Obama's Church of Contradictions
How is that presidential hopeful Barack Obama, a member of that church for two decades, could fail to anticipate how terrifying Wright would look to the rest of the world?
Posted by Lisa Miller, on March 25, 2008 5:22 AM
Prophet and Pastor
(Excerpted with permission from the Chronicle of Higher Education. Go here to read the entire essay.) Through the decades, the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr. has called me teacher, reminding me of the years when he earned a master's degree...
Posted by Martin Marty, on March 25, 2008 12:25 AM
Speak from the Heart, Not for the Polls
I am a 75-year-old, white, male, a proud veteran of the Marine Corps., a retired Episcopal clergyman, and I speak as one who loves this country. Oh how I wish the congregation my wife and I attend had a minister like Dr. Wright.
Posted by James Anderson, on March 21, 2008 9:06 AM
Black Church and Black Liberation Theology: Notes on Listening
We need a deeply respectful, well-articulated, and thoughtful context of the Black Church and Black Liberation theologies that should be highlighted for productive future conversation.
Posted by Gabriel Salguero, on March 21, 2008 8:40 AM
Our Pastor's Keeper
We've all been counseled and supported by people whose views are not our own. We can love them and not their views.
Posted by Sally Quinn, on March 21, 2008 4:59 AM
Obama Must Be Clear Where He Stands
My advice to Senator Obama would be to flee that church and find one where the Gospel is preached, and anti-Semitic and anti-white doctrines are not propagated.
Posted by Charles "Chuck" Colson, on March 20, 2008 10:20 AM
How to Hate Your Parents and Country
Jeremiah Wright and I are retired clergy in America’s most liberal Christian denomination, and “inflammatory” remarks can be clipped from our archives depending on what the clipper wants to burn up.
Posted by Willis E. Elliott, on March 20, 2008 8:50 AM
Religious Leaders Must Avoid Partisan Entanglements
What I did not hear in Senator Obama’s remarks, but still needs significant emphasis is a clear statement that religious leaders should avoid partisan entanglements within houses of worship.
Posted by Welton Gaddy, on March 20, 2008 7:03 AM
Not Standing By His Man
As a public servant Obama should have distanced himself long ago from views of his pastor that he clearly does not share, but likely never anticipated the current uproar.
Posted by Chester Gillis, on March 19, 2008 9:55 AM
The Media's Fixation with Religion and Politics
The focus on religion in the presidential elections and in politics in general has gotten out of hand.
Posted by John Esposito, on March 19, 2008 7:36 AM
Why Wright Versus Wrong Matters
What made the Philadelphia speech so moving is that it wasn't political in tone but moral and reflective. Obama's integrity is genuine on the face of it. As long as that remains true, people will have no trouble telling Wright and wrong.
Posted by Deepak Chopra, on March 18, 2008 12:18 PM
Trust God, not Clergy
As a Catholic, I find it strange that some commentators presume that the people listening to a sermon are supposed to agree with everything the preacher says
Posted by Anthony M. Stevens-Arroyo, on March 18, 2008 11:14 AM
Not Another Religious Test!?
Maybe we ought to ask people running for elective office if they completely agree with all the individuals they are variously close to--their spouses, siblings, friends, physicians, attorneys, bankers... Gee, we've got the makings of a real inquisition here. What fun.
Posted by Gustav Niebuhr, on March 18, 2008 10:20 AM
Spiritual Guidance
I am glad that Barak Obama took a bold stand in support of his pastor and has used the opportunity to raise issues about race relations in our country, issues that are far too often swept under the rug.
Posted by Pamela K. Taylor, on March 18, 2008 8:22 AM
Save & Share:
CAT: As an African American woman, I believe that Obama handled this issue very well. I would have been disappointed had he condemned Rev. Wright...
1Globalian: In this latest speech, Obama handled the current controversy with Rev. Wright exceptionally well, while seizing this opportunity open the di...
TJ: I don't see anything inflammatory about those statements. They seem strike me as being factual.
Does the truth really hurt so bad that we ...
