tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37589721331585843.post3229242710463284501..comments2024-03-26T11:33:59.219-06:00Comments on Religion in American History: God Bless America, or God Damn America?Paul Harveyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13881964303772343114noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37589721331585843.post-18579174757659197032008-03-19T06:49:00.000-06:002008-03-19T06:49:00.000-06:00I dissent in at least a subtle way from the post a...I dissent in at least a subtle way from the post and many of the comments. <BR/><BR/>"In the end, I don't see much of a difference between Wright's pronouncements and the following by Frederick Douglass"<BR/><BR/>Maybe there is more of a similarity between King's statement and Wright's, but Douglass's doesn't seem in the same ballpark. And context is important. When Douglass made that comment, a majority of black Americans were in chains and the rest were denied basic citizenship rights. The situation in recent years, while still unjust in many of the ways Obama outlined, is not in the same ballpark. Making these sweeping comparison ignores context and change over time. <BR/><BR/>Furthermore, neither Douglass nor King used the same sort of rhetoric as Wright did (in my opinion). For better or worse, his was much more inflammatory and often unsupportable (such as the government trying to pump drugs into the black community). <BR/><BR/>Also, there is a major difference in tone between the Graham quote Ed cites and what I've read from Wright. Had Wright said, "God will judge America in the near future if our government doesn't address racial inequality and poverty," nobody would be batting an eyelash. But he said much more than that.<BR/><BR/>All of that being said, I agree that the issue pales in comparison to Iraq, etc., and I thought Obama's speech was eloquent, thoughtful, and widely persuasive (though I'm not convinced it will play in Peoria).John G. Turnerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08461094355047650502noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37589721331585843.post-71991721300395361942008-03-18T23:29:00.000-06:002008-03-18T23:29:00.000-06:00Excellent post. I have a similar analysis here and...Excellent post. I have a similar analysis <A HREF="http://dogchurch.blogspot.com/2008/03/words-of-jeremiah.html" REL="nofollow">here</A> and <A HREF="http://dogchurch.blogspot.com/2008/03/is-barak-obama-wright-for-america.html" REL="nofollow">here</A>.Scooperhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17897723268226845919noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37589721331585843.post-52568789452042500052008-03-18T12:31:00.000-06:002008-03-18T12:31:00.000-06:00About the lack of media-savvy in the quotations: w...About the lack of media-savvy in the quotations: what if this was a planted story--a silly story really: why is Obama accountable for the words of his pastor? Sounds like 1928 and the critiques against Al Smith...--but what if this was a plant so that Obama would have to respond as beautifully as he did today? He looked mighty noble tackling "race" head on, no?<BR/><BR/>Get your conspiracy theories revving!Kevin M. Schultzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10983890538804950630noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37589721331585843.post-81449380023678144852008-03-18T11:18:00.000-06:002008-03-18T11:18:00.000-06:00I like this, from reader EM at Talking Points Memo...I like this, from reader EM at Talking Points Memo:<BR/><BR/>"What drives me crazy is how this could have been avoided so easily if Wright was the slightest bit media-savvy. Had he merely controlled his tongue and limited himself to advocating an attack on Iran to encourage massive worldwide Muslim attacks leading to a fulfillment of the biblical prophecy of end-times and bringing about Armageddon and the summary slaughter of every Jew, Muslim, Catholic, and non-believer on the planet while rapturing him and his flock up to heaven, then followed it up by denouncing Catholics as cult members and blaming Hurricane Katrina on gay people, this story wouldn't be metastasizing like this. One five minute milquetoast repudiation by Obama and it would all be behind him.<BR/>But what does Wright do instead? He spews this vile 'God damn America' bile. What a psycho."<BR/><BR/>http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/183597.phpAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37589721331585843.post-4048072921827404852008-03-18T10:51:00.000-06:002008-03-18T10:51:00.000-06:00This comment has been removed by the author.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37589721331585843.post-41292880647174583412008-03-18T10:49:00.000-06:002008-03-18T10:49:00.000-06:00This comment has been removed by the author.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com