I Was Trying Really...

To avoid these hot topics for a while. I am writing this spontaneously, so I hope that I am able to articulate my point sufficiently yet succinctly.

The minstrel show that Jeremiah Wright put on yesterday at the National Press Club is something I cannot help but address here because this man represented his views as that of most, if not all of Black religious people. But the Rev. Wright does not speak for me! Not every Black Christian believes that this country is evil and most, if honest will admit that we live in a day of unprecedented opportunity and freedom. Can we move on already! Here's just a snippet of what the "Rev." had to say:



One of the things that burns me most about his remarks is not only the ignorance, but the contradictions. He talked about his religious traditions being attacked. And then he compared his style of preaching to the words of Christ, who pulled no punches, calling the Jewish religious leaders of his day a "brood of vipers." If I am misinterpreting scripture, feel free to correct me, but wasn't Jesus directly confronting people who were holding on so tightly to their religious traditions that they were unable to serve God in spirit and truth?

Further more, Black folk in America aren't the only people in the history of the world to be enslaved and oppressed. However, I am not familiar with any other nation that has gone to the lengths that the US has to right its wrongs, even, in my opinion, going to lengths that have damaged not only those they intended to "free" but the country at large.

Most importantly, as a Christian, it saddens and offends me to hear a man who represents himself as a minister of the gospel spouting views and beliefs that are so obviously at odds with the teaching of the word. That he has been given a national platform to announce that all Black folk feel the way he does, is reprehensible and I want to state, for the record, that it is simply untrue.

Frankly, I'm tired of these people. The Rev's. Wright, Sharpton, Jackson, and their ilk are an insult to the many pastors of all races who labor tirelessly day after day to bring the true gospel to the hurt, lost, and dying of all ethnic backgrounds. I am not naive and I know that there are many churches in the Black community that embrace much of what Rev. Wright is preaching, and I think that's part of the reason the problems plaguing Black community persist: there is a deficit of truth from the pulpits. However, that's not true of all the churches because I know for a fact that it is certainly not true of my own.

One thing is certain, if true racial reconciliation is to ever be realized in America, Christians must unite behind the truth of the cross and embrace those principles that we have in common. Sometimes I wonder if my Bible is the only one with Galatians 3:26-29 in it. I've said enough. And frankly, I'm afraid if I go any further I'll lose my position on the high ground because that's just how much these people disgust me.