Race, Politics, and the Church

Recently the relationship between church, politics, race, and justice have gotten quite ugly in the national news. It's true that Jeremiah Wright, the retired pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ where Barack Obama attends, is a controversial figure. In the media we've been treated to a short clip of one of Wright's sermon's played over and over again, saying something that many people would consider hateful. Certainly this footage caught him at an angry moment. It's disturbing, however, that the commentators and articles reporting on this issue tend to put words in Wright's mouth, or make statements about his beliefs without citations. They aren't merely reporting what he has said, but interpreting what he has said and then reporting their interpretation as fact. In the middle of Holy Week, the accounts of Jesus' trial and crucifixion are still fresh. Notice that Jesus' ministry was treated the same way as he was brought before Pilate (Luke 23:1-5).

It's helpful to put this national hubbub into context. I'm not talking about the context of the entire sermon that Wright preached, or the whole body of his message in the time that he's been the pastor of Trinity, though this would give us a much better impression of Wright and Trinity UCC. I'm talking about the biblical context of what the prophetic voice is all about. Though out the history of the Hebrew people presented in the scriptures there's a constant wrestling with political leadership and justice. Each king and administration of the Hebrew people had to be reminded of what was right in the eyes of God by the prophets. This made prophets unpopular people. They talked about God's righteousness and anger and were often killed for it. Even king David, who was described as a man after God's own heart (Acts 13:22) needed Nathan's prophetic voice to convince him that his actions toward Bathsheba and Uriah the Hittite were wrong (2 Samuel 12:1-15).

The separation of church and state does two things. First, it keeps our nation free from being taken over by one particular religious group or denomination. Second, it keeps citizens free to practice spirituality and religion as they see fit. It allows the church to have a prophetic voice in society, separate from the values of the majority. It allows us to raise our voice against injustice in society, against the hypocrisy of our elected leaders, and abuse from corporate entities. The pastor is not the same as an elected public official. The pastor will not always say things that people will want to hear. In fact, a pastor doing his or her job will often say things that challenge, convict, and even deeply offend.

Even mentioning race seems to have become a taboo subject, as exemplified in this election. There many people who are afraid to talk about race at all, but this is just boiling under the surface for a huge number of the population. On one end we have a number of people who think we're pretty much over racism, but make sweeping comments about the entire black community, particularly whenever inner city crime and welfare come up in conversation. On the other hand we have many African Americans who feel racism, misunderstanding, and lack of trust from people, but who can't talk about it without being accused of "playing the race card". I wonder if the commentators discussing this issue on the news have ever talked to a black man about what it's like to try and catch a cab, or the nervousness that they feel in talking to a police officer, or how even thinking about dating a white woman causes a stir amongst that woman's self declared liberal parents. When we look into our hearts, into our interactions with friends and families we know that this is how things are in this country. Where is God's heart in this mess? Why can't we talk about it?