Quote:
Originally Posted by Ferd
I have to ask. Chris is this a moral equivalence arguemnt? does that excuse Obama from associating with a self exposed racisit?
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But in regards to McCain. No. It's not moral equivalence.
- First, I don't see Jeremiah as a racist. Focused on issues of race yes, racist no.
- Second, Obama's life was touched by this church and its overall ministry. I believe it’s fairly safe to assume that Obama, being a younger black man, doesn’t hold the same views as his pastor Jeremiah. Think about black churches overall here. Most likely older black pastors in most black churches are going to have views and opinions that reflect the era and discrimination they grew up with, but most likely younger generations attending aren’t going to be as radical on those views because they’ve benefited from the advancements made under the leadership of these older black leaders. Pastor Jeremiah’s statements reveal a lot about what he feels in his heart…but that is his heart…not Obama’s.
In my opinion it’s a lot like a hardened soldier who doesn’t behave like the war is over and doesn’t trust the enemy entirely yet, who hasn’t let go of the past, and is still hurting from perceived or perhaps real injustices.
My first pastor who died in his 80’s had some racist feelings. He was dead set against mixed marriages and refused to daughter work a black church. I didn’t abandon him. I just disagreed with him where I felt he was wrong. Saying that Obama is racist because his pastor is racist would be like calling me a racist because my pastor was racist. I think that’s flawed logic. We’re dealing with men who are products of their era. The war is over…but they still sleep with their weapon within reach and they haven’t forgotten the battlefield. For many of them, like Jeremiah Wright, the battle’s still raging in their minds. All that they see is colored by the memory of the war. And what they say reflects that. While we may think their words are out of date…they are forever relevant because we must never forget that war and tolerate the spirit that prevailed in our country during that era.
-Thirdly, McCain’s racial remarks are made by the candidate himself therefore it does reveal his heart. I assure you that we don’t want a showdown over which candidate is the most racist. And honestly when the General Election gets here…that’s exactly what this issue with Jeremiah Wright is going to do. That will be very bad for McCain and bad for Obama. But even more importantly…it will be bad for our country. Both McCain and Wright are warriors. Each fought in a different war and holds views reflecting their experiences. The one thing we can know for sure is that we don’t want to relive the 60’s and 70’s.
We do well to admit that to our generation’s ears Jeremiah’s statements are difficult to understand…but we must remember that he’s a man of his era…just like McCain.
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