catapult magazine

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Obama's pastor

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anton
Apr 03 2008
11:15 pm

No, you’re right, Dan. God does have a special place in his heart for the poor and the oppressed. The world, when it broke, left them especially vulnerable. Sitting in suburbia I feel distant from the poor and oppressed, but God is terribly angry when the strong devour the weak. James tells the rich to weep and howl for the miseries that will be repaid them for withholding the wages of their laborers.

I guess part of the problem is that in my neighborhood there are about an equal number of black and white people. If there’s any tension I don’t see it. There’s an elderly black couple across the street I’m looking forward to getting to know better. We exchange tips on yard care and invite each other over for tea (okay, they invited me for tea; I’d rather drink beer). Jeremiah Wright’s hostility doesn’t make sense in my neighborhood. It seems like there’s hostility wherever people make too much of the color of the skin, where people cirlce the wagons, and require loyalty to their particular people. They say God is on their side, not because by sheer grace, but because of some incidental, distinguishing matter. Wright seems to be perpetuating the problem. It’s hard for me to imagine the great evil of the rich white man today against the black community, but then again, I don’t live in Chicago. That story doesn’t make sense.