Yes...but!

May 5 2008

Home > Columns >Yes...But! Year 8-26

Obama made the wrong choice.

For 20 years Obama went to the church of Liberation Theology Preacher Reverend Jeremiah Wright. Here’s what this pastor told Bill Moyers recently: “Unfortunately, most churches now are "status quo." To the extent that they're not trying to feed the poor, they're not trying to hook up jobs and people, they're not concerned about the lowest, the least, the left out.”

In other words, Wright’s church caters to the underdogs, people with no money. Obama has heard him repeatedly say that “God is the giver of life. That means we have no right to take a life whether as a gang banger living the thug life, or as a President lying about leading a nation into war.”

Rev. Wright went on to say that in most churches you step from the real world into a fantasy world, a world without an Iraq, where, now more than 4,000 US soldiers have died and well in excess of 200,000 Iraqis. He also said that “In most churches you don’t hear of Afghanistan, or rapes in the Congo, that's the world you leave. Instead their church bulletins say that there is a ladie's tea on second Sunday where the children's choir will sing.”

"How come,” said Rev. Wright, “how come that the faith preached in most churches has no connection with the world to which our church members return after the benediction?”

Liberation Theology caters to only a small segment of society: the poor blacks. Obama knows that. He also knows that there is the other church. The fastest growing congregations in America are those who proclaim “the Prosperity Gospel”. Their Mega Churches are basically a suburban phenomenon, and, with the blacks doing increasingly well, it’s now making inroads into those communities.

The Mega Church Brand emphasizes the believer's divine right to physical well-being and financial riches: whatever followers give to their preacher, God will return several times over. Forget the bank: if you need a thousand dollars, give the church a hundred, and wait for your supernatural return on investment. Forget the doctor: if you're sick or injured, a little extra on the collection plate will restore your health. It is diametrically different from Liberation Theology – Blessed are the poor. Prosperity preachers bless the rich. They say that if you don't make enough money, it's your own fault for not believing enough, for not speaking the word, for not claiming what is divinely yours. Their credo is that the best thing government can do to help the poor is get out of the way, reduce taxes, remove industrial and environmental restraints, eliminate wage controls, and abolish subsidies, all stuff Reagan and Bush have implemented to the letter: it’s the ultimate laissez-faire capitalism, regulated only by the invisible hand of God.

So Obama made a choice. He wants to win. Sticking with the Social Gospel church and Jesus’ disdain for greed and the preaching of Rev. Wright would have cost him votes. He made a choice. He left Reverend Wright. He went where the money is and, sure enough, young, yuppie super delegates right away went over to him.

I believe that those who pick the Prosperity path are on the wrong track.

There is a Third Way, a road less traveled, more like a lonely rural lane. In Matthew 22:37 Jesus gives us “the Greatest Commandment”, to “Love the Lord with all your heart, soul, mind. That is the first and greatest commandment. The second is “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

The question “How do we love God?” should have priority in the church. Fact is that the church is embarrassed by this text, gives it a pious spin – “read your Bible, Pray every day” - and basically ignores this all important issue.

The real world has no problems with loving great masters. We love Bach (1685-1750) because he left us with scores of musical masterpieces. We love Rembrandt (1606-69) who would never have been remembered if his signature had not appeared on his great paintings. Well, God is the greatest Master of all. His signature appears on creation, making him the greatest artist ever, because he made the world and all that dwells therein, declaring it holy. That’s why the Lord’s Prayer starts with “Holy be Thy Name, Thy signature on creation”, which we somehow read as “Oily be thy name, our signature on creation.”

We love the great artists for the works they left us. The only way we can really love God is to love his creation and live so that our children have a future. Loving Creation, consciously caring for it, is the greatest commandment. No wonder churches are becoming increasingly irrelevant.

Obama made a choice. By leaving Wright he made the wrong choice. He will not do well if he becomes president.