Who Would Jesus Vote For?

At long last I bring you part 2 of my three part series on the Reverend Wright “controversy” and the hypocrisy that surrounds it. This controversy has been totally fabricated by the radical conservatives and propagated by our spineless and sensationalist media. Instead of honest conversations on the points brought up in Wright’s sermons we have instead been treated to biased and misleading racist propaganda and fear tactics punctuated by intentionally misleading video clips taken out of context.

In part 1 of this series I provided two videos of Reverend Wright that put his words in context. I strongly believe that while some may not agree with his points, his sermons are no more racist or anti-American than anyone else’s. To illustrate that I also provided four clips of conservative religious leaders making statements that are far more hateful and intolerant than any to be found by Reverend Wright.

The fact that the statements made by Reverend Wright have generated many times the amount of negative media coverage as those by his conservative counterparts is unquestionable. The only question then is why there is such a disparity between how the two are not only handled by the media, but viewed by the average American. In part two of this series I will explore how this hypocrisy is a direct result of conservative Christian culture. I apologize in advance for how long this is.

Media Bias Against Progressive Religion

The right wing propaganda machine is exceptionally good at misinforming its base, who are in turn exceptionally good at being misinformed. One of the biggest and most successful propaganda campaigns has been painting of our mainstream media as having a heavy liberal bias. While many objective studies have debunked this claim the right wing continues its propaganda, knowing full well that their followers will only accept the truth that they already believe (see below) regardless of any amount of information to the contrary. In this manner the right wing not only control the media through the corporations that own them, but also condition their followers to dismiss any harmful information as liberal lies.

As a result of the media’s perception of being to the left of center everything they cover is viewed through a distorted lens (like in a circus fun house) that shifts everything to the ideological left. In this manner the mainstream media is able to present radical fundamentalist Christians as if they represented mainstream American ideals even though they are in actuality far to the right of most Christians. The disparity in the amount of coverage conservative religious leaders receive over their progressive counterparts and the illusion of everything shifting to the left has serious consequences for the religious and moral discussion in America. This fun house mirror effect causes progressive ideals to appear far more radical than they really are which explains how even when viewed in context many conservatives will still think that Reverend Wright is racist and intolerant. Even worse though it has led directly to my next point.

Fundamentalism Has Hijacked Religion and Morality

Anyone who is not a conservative Christian and has spent more than a few minutes speaking with one will understand this point. Fundamentalists all share the belief that they own a monopoly on morality and that it is in fact impossible to be a good person if you are not a part of their belief system. The belief structure of conservative Christianity is that the only possible truth is that which comes from within their established belief structure forming a self referencing and self validating world view. Essentially it boils the burden of proof on anything down to whether or not their leaders say its true.

Conservative fundamentalists view themselves as a group of flawed individuals following a perfect belief. As flawed individuals they believe that the organizations and groups that they belong to carry the same moral perfection that they attribute to their religious beliefs. Naturally these groups include their clubs, partisan political attack groups, and churches but oddly they also extend to the country as an entity. This is due to the delirious belief that America is a Christian nation and that our laws, policies, and foreign military excursions are directly guided by the hand of God. As God is running the show so to speak, at least when there is a Republican in the White House, our nations actions are due the same scrutiny as their holy Bible, none.

How It All Ties Together

This is where Reverend Wright got himself into trouble. As the sole authority on what is right and wrong fundamentalist Christians do no take it kindly when others call on them to be responsible for actions that they do not feel are wrong. Yet Reverend Wright did just that. He attributed the attack on 9/11 to our foreign policy mistakes and imperialism. He called on America to accept responsibility for its past racist actions against not only the Black community but also Native Americans and other minorities. He called on America to accept the results of its history and to make the changes necessary to right those wrongs.

When fundamentalists are confronted with something that they do not agree with they only have one possible reaction, attack it. Alternatives like open mindedness, acceptance, tolerance, forgiveness, or any of the other traits they like to portray themselves as having don’t actually appear to exist for those outside the group. While this makes them horrible dinner guests, it makes them excellent attack dogs. So thats what they did with Reverend Wright. If your still wondering why these attacks are all based on misinformation, racism, and fear tactics your not paying attention. They have no relationship with truth or facts to draw upon even if they wanted to.

Anyhow, this is a short summery of how the fundamentalist Christian culture has contributed to the ridiculous Reverend Wright “controversy”. I really could go on and on with examples and references but I don’t think its necessary. Those who would be swayed but such things are most likely already convinced, and for the rest it would be wasted effort. I am not supposed to work on the weekends as my wife says I work too much but I will try to get the final part out anyhow. I promise it will be shorter.

Comments are welcome but as before no race-baiting comments or allegations against Reverend Wright or anyone else. If you would like to refute my point please do so, just remember that in a debate both sides carry an equal burden of proof.

Read the Rest of the Series

Preachers Say the Darndest Things Part 1

By this time I am sure you are at least somewhat aware of the media created “controversy” surrounding Barack Obama’s pastor Reverend Wright. There have been those on the right who have been perpetrating the myth that Barack Obama, on virtue of being a member of Trinity United Church of Christ, is a black racist.

This charge is mostly based upon short out of context sound clips and the fact that Trinity Church serves a black congregation and deals with issues facing the black community. Being totally unfounded and thoroughly debunked I have been expecting the liberal media to shoot this story down. However as always I am disappointed by our liberal media, (why do they always attack the liberals?) so here I am writing about a non-issue instead of something that matters.

Before I get further into this post I want to present the two most commonly seen sound bytes in their original context. Please try to keep an open mind and watch these in full. I believe you will find that while potentially inflammatory the statements made are not at all racist, and only mildly anti-American. By anti-American of course I mean that in the Bush Administration, no accountability, no personal responsibility, for us or against us kind of way.

[youtube width="225" height="177"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvMbeVQj6Lw[/youtube]
[youtube width="225" height="177"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOdlnzkeoyQ[/youtube]

My primary problem with these stories is the inherent hypocrisy of our media, and by reflection on us as a nation. Religious leaders have a long history of making statements that are offensive and divisive and the statements made by Reverend Wright are nothing out of the ordinary. In fact I would argue that in they pale in comparison to statements made by highly regarded leaders of the religious right. Here are a few quick examples before we move on.

[youtube width="225" height="177"]http://youtube.com/watch?v=H-CAcdta_8I[/youtube]
[youtube width="225" height="177"]http://youtube.com/watch?v=tViqufbk7I8[/youtube]
[youtube width="225" height="177"]http://youtube.com/watch?v=4qNi7tPanUA[/youtube]
[youtube width="225" height="177"]http://youtube.com/watch?v=4SOQesc3q_U[/youtube]

These videos clearly show the depth of conservative religious intolerance and hatred. This filth is significantly worse than the impassioned speech of Reverend Wright, yet the conservatives embrace their leaders while attacking Reverend Wright. In fact these conservatives value the opinion of their hateful religious leaders so much that in order to be a viable Republican candidate you must win their approval. A task that McCain is working desperately to do.

So having accepted that there is an undeniable bias for the conservative religious leaders you must then ask the question of why. Why is Barack Obama being attacked so often that even Chris Wallace is crying foul for attending the Trinity United Church of Christ while John McCain is getting a free pass for pursuing the endorsement of anti-catholic pro-apocalypse Hagee? There are a few theories on this and I will be presenting them tomorrow.

For today I would like to hear your thoughts on the apparent hypocrisy of the media in how they cover conservative religious leaders verses how they are covering Reverend Wright. Please keep comments focused on the difference between how the media and the candidates are treating these two groups. I have no patience for comments about “black racism” and this is absolutely the wrong forum for that conversation. Thanks!

Read the Rest of this Series Here

Preachers Say the Darndest Things Part 2