Obama's Pastor takes on Sean Hannity

First they tried to smear Barack Obama by accusing him to be some kind of covert Islamic terrorist, now they call him a reverse racist pushing black supremacy -- or something like it. So, Jeremiah Wright, pastor of Chicago's Trinity United Church of Christ, a predominantly African American congregation, came on Hannity and Colmes. Dr. Wright tried to explain to Mr. Hannity the foundations of Trinity's statements on black community life and church life, but Hannity refused to let him speak. So, while Wright tried to talk about Black Liberation theology, and ask Hannity if he'd read James Cone, Hannity continued to rudely talk over Wright and refuse to answer his questions. Colmes tried to help, but he's so docile it doesn't work. But I think Jeremiah Wright got the upper hand! So, watch the encounter and thanks to Faithful Progressive for the heads up:


Comments

Anonymous said…
Oof. I saw the original bit and was quite frustrated. But Dr Wright makes a serious mistake in naming academic theologians and bringing up theological jargon. He's on Fox News -- of course Sean Hannity hasn't read Cone or Hopkins. (Rather cool to hear Hopkins mentioned over and over on TV, though. :-)

Alan Colmes kept trying to make it sound innocuous, which liberation theology most certainly isn't -- it's challenging to the status quo Sean Hannity wants to perpetuate, which suggests they're hearing the Gospel pretty well. :-) But I think Dr Wright could have been more direct. He was on the right track when he was pointing out that "white" is an unspoken default in Western Christianity and should have run with that a bit further rather than asking Hannity if he'd read James Cone over and over.
Robert Cornwall said…
Chris,

I think you're right and I'm sure that the Fox audience has no clue about James Cone, Dwight Hopkins, or any form of liberationist theology. But are they willing to hear that the gospel is a counterpoint to the status quo. No, I doubt they do.

Of course, Sean wasn't going to let him speak anyway.

Thanks for the post!
Anonymous said…
True, it wasn't a receptive audience. But "Have you read any James Cone?" is essentially contentless if the person hasn't, in fact, read James Cone (or doesn't at least know who he is and the basics of his thought).

These media types can be handled to a certain extent -- I've seen people get their point across despite the host -- but it really seems to be a hard-won skill. The whole thing makes me sad about the level of religious discourse in the US, though.

(I've added you to my aggregator, BTW. I'm a friend of Dwight's from Religious Liberal Blog, I was his predecessor as director of the UCC/DoC campus ministry at SIU.)
Robert Cornwall said…
Chris,

I agree that Jeremiah Wright could have handled Hannity better. The problem today is as you point out the level of theological discourse today is quite low. Part of the problem is that the most visible preachers -- Joel Osteen, etc. -- aren't theologically trained. Liberation theologies aren't well known and we've fallen back into a kind of melting pot Christianity where everyone looks the same -- white evangelical.

What Obama does is force us to reconsider our theological foundations. Perhaps next time that Jeremiah Wright comes on he'll explain Cone's theology without referring to him. Not that Sean would understand that since to him Jesus would appear to be a blue-eyed blond.
Anonymous said…
The comments that have been posted to this blog are quite interesting. If you read blogs by African Americans, virtually every comment states that the Rev. Dr. Jeremiah Wright did get his point across and that Sean Hannity came across as appearing inept and ignorant.

It's interesting how two groups of people seeing the exact same interview view it through a totally different lens.
Anonymous said…
Anonymous -- Sean Hannity definitely came across as inept and ignorant to me, too, not to mention arrogant and racist. But while I understood what Dr Wright was getting at, I don't know that he did a great job of selling those who are not already familiar with liberation theology on the idea that he is not a separatist. Getting one's message out clearly through all the haze created by these media types (and Fox News is worse than most) is a difficult task.
Robert Cornwall said…
If you watch the video you see that Hannity didn't want to let Jeremiah Wright get his point across. That Pastor Wright took this opportunity to go into hostile territory is commendable. I appreciate hearing that from the African American community, the word is positive, that he got the point across.

I think there is that bigger issue in American life. We want to see ourselves as a place of welcome, but there is an assimilationist idea that one must act white to be truly American. To try to say, hey, to be American means to be different, isn't always received well.

It is one of the issues that Obama faces -- there are expectations and stereotypes that color the conversation!

So, let's hear some more liberation theology!
Anonymous said…
ANONYMOUS - Earlier this week, Hannity commented that he will investigate Pastor Wright if no one else will. This is has become an act of vicious racism. Any suggestions re: how we can counteract this humiliating degredation of our Pastor? Will writing letters have an effect on how Hannity will respect Pastor Wright in the future? This really hurts my heart...
Anonymous said…
Obama's pastor is a racist. Obama's pastor is not a biblical Christian. His study of liberation theology has warped his theology. Jesus Christ did not preach, and would not endorse, black liberation theology. Liberation theology is a different religion. It preaches a different gospel, and such should be condemned. Anyone who trusts in liberation theology is also condemned.
Anonymous said…
Was that three 6's on Wrights forehead? - based upon Wrights teachings - is it very possible he is the antiChrist? He was obviously not "docile" in his anti - white sermons!

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