All About Noah
Why The Black Church Ignores Barack Obama
This is Hillary Clinton’s private hell: that Barack Obama has
positioned himself to dictate the terms of her campaign and,
potentially, her administration. Barack Obama may be the
smartest candidate to run for president in generations. His run
is brilliant. Nothing less than historic. I have not heard the
name “Barack Obama” mentioned from a black pulpit in this city.
These
past weeks presented a thundering
significance to the work of Dr. Martin Luther King: a black man ran for
president. A black man not only ran for president but was taken
seriously by the American people and, even moiré notably, the
American press. A black man ran for president and, even more
shocking, his blackness was not so significant as his youth.
That black America is actually torn between voting for this
black man or voting for the memory of a president who is beloved
by them speaks volumes about the hope and dream of Reverend
King: that race shouldn’t matter. That our loyalty is divided
between two fine candidates leaves us wondering if we should
vote for one simply because he is black, wondering if his being
black is reason enough to elect him president. That we’re even
*asking* that question, that we are no longer so oppressed and
so desperate that we’d support anyone simply because of the
color of their skin, tells me we have made grand strides towards
true equality. Equality meaning that this man can run for
president, be taken seriously, and be scrutinized by the
American people—black and white—for who he is and not for the
color of his skin.
Of course, my cynicism will indeed kick in somewhere here: I
don’t for a minute doubt many whites and perhaps many blacks as
will hesitate when they’re inside that voting booth. That our
good intentions and speeches, our chests swelled with pride at
no longer being bigoted, might not stand against the old devils
of prejudice and hatred once the curtain is closed behind us. I
have absolutely no doubt many people went to the polls to
nominate Obama and instead selected Clinton—that the polls in
this year’s presidential race will thusly be suspect: as we all
talk a good game, but nevertheless vote our fears.
This knee-jerk voting is the Republicans’ best hope in 2008.
almost nobody wants a Republican president after President
Bush’s disastrous, near-infamous, administration. But many of
us, in the quiet of our homes, must realize: (1) those poor
choices were about President Bush, not about all Republicans
(though we can surely fault all Republicans for backing the
president’s reckless policies) and, (2) millions of people, that
curtain closed behind them in November, will second-guess
themselves before voting for either a woman or an African
American.
Democrats tend to be the party of hope. Republicans the party of
fear. People vote for Democrats because they hope for something.
People vote for Republicans because they’re afraid of something.
I have absolutely no doubt the Bush Administration will
orchestrate something for us all to be very afraid of come
November, just in time for the elections. But the bigger fear is
that Dr. King’s dream, 40 years later, is still not fully
realized.
There is no mention at all of politics at my church—at any black
church here that I am aware of. Sunday morning is all about
Gospel entertainment and flowery, toothless homilies which
demand nothing more of us than an hour of our attention. We
learn nothing, we feed on nothing. We do not grow. The world
beyond our church doors is a vague abstraction, cryptic
references to “The World” and so forth, while not prepping God’s
people to journey through it. I don’t have much stomach for
black churches here, because they are, in large measure,
woefully out of touch with the world to which they purport to
minister. Churches should be light houses, shining beacons of
hope across barren wilderness. Most church pastors I know
couldn’t tell me the name of even one family that lives on the
same block as their church. These are just people we drive past
coming and going, we have no idea. And whatever is going on down
at City Hall is obviously not our problem.
It’s interesting to me that, when the Nation of Islam gathers
together and walks down to City Hall, everybody gets nervous.
When we do it, nobody even notices. The black church here is of
absolutely no threat to anyone. There’s not one articulate voice
among us who has much of anything to say about, well, anything
going on, here. Instead, we’re all preaching Noah and the Ark.
Mind you, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with preaching Noah
and the Ark as Noah and the Ark can bring sinners to repentance,
but Noah and the Ark requires little of us. And we, as God’s
people, should have grown well beyond Noah and the Ark years
ago. Meanwhile, our country precipitates an unjust war, Noah and
the Ark. Our economy is in shambles, Noah and the Ark. Our
teenage girls are getting pregnant in record numbers, Noah and
the Ark. There are more black men in penitentiaries than in
college, Noah and the Ark. Our children and their children
continue to drift away from God, Noah and the Ark. So many of
our churches exist in a bubble, in a time warp, where,
apparently, nothing is going on beyond the church doors that
need concern us. Places where the pastor can actually be
comfortable being this uninformed, being this much of an idiot,
that he has absolutely no opinion about anything going on in the
world. His is the ministry of ostriches, his head stuck in the
sand, his rear end teed up to be run over by whatever may come
his way. And this is the overall quality of leadership in far
too many of our churches.
Once upon a time we were soldiers. Warriors. Fearless. Now we’re
domesticated. Frightened. Lazy. Ignorant of most anything going
on around us. When we stroll down to City Hall it’s mainly to
reach the ribs joint on the other side. Nobody is concerned
about us because nobody respects us. Nobody respects us because
nobody fears us. Nobody fears us because we’ve abandoned the
privilege of divine thunder, no longer children of the King of
Kings but now frightened, timid, domesticated get-along folk of
absolutely no consequence to the powers and rules of this world.
Sunday is all about Noah.
Sermons are an art form. Sermons should make our blood boil.
Should instill us with hope. Should move us to action. Should
educate and correct us. Should *inspire* us.
While I do not believe the church, as an institution, should be
a political entity or be politicized in any way, I do believe
the church, as an institution, has a duty to inform and to
educate the followers of Jesus Christ about what’s going on in
the world around them. There’s a fine line in there between
telling God’s people to vote and telling God’s people *who* to
vote for. But, just because the church should not, must not,
endorse any particular candidate, it doesn’t mean the church
should not educate people about the political process, about
current events, about what’s going on.
Studies have shown the majority of American people actually get
their news from non-news sources. The average age of nightly
news broadcast viewers is somewhere around 60. It is a very
small percentage of the American people, most of whom get their
news in brief one-liners streaming off of Yahoo or AOL, in tight
news clips on Good Morning America or in comedy monologues on
the Tonight Show. It’s not even a black-white thing: most of us
are simply poorly informed about, well, everything. Sunday
morning, the pastor has a captive audience who trust him to
teach and preach. We could be preaching sermons in context with
what’s going on in the world, keeping our people informed and
placing events into biblical context. Instead, Sunday is all
about Noah; the church existing in some odd nether-realm,
utterly disconnected from reality as we know it. And, since the
church refuses to talk about current events, all of our news and
information comes from secular sources, polluted by secular
views and secular values. The black church has abandoned its
people to the likes of FoxNews and MSNBC, who are never going to
parallel political views to Holy Scripture.
I have no idea why this is done. I assume it’s about protecting
our non-profit status. But that status is endangered only if we
endorse a *specific* candidate. There’s absolutely nothing wrong
with the church discussing the political process, discussing why
it’s important to vote and what’s at stake.
Subsequently, all most church folk know about Illinois Senator
and Democratic hopeful Barack Obama is that he’s black. And,
here at least, there seems to be a collective yawn among church
folk that Obama is neck and neck with New York Senator Hillary
Rodham Clinton for the Democratic nomination. I find that yawn
disgraceful, the product of ignorance and of the chronic myopia
gripping the black church. Obama’s run is nothing less than
historic. That an African American—man or woman—could not only
run, but be taken seriously, and not only be taken seriously but
*win*—should be an enormous shock to the bigoted American
system. This is Black history in the making. But, here at least,
all we do is yawn.
I have not heard the name “Barack Obama” spoken from a pulpit in
this city. Not even in the context of the senator’s historic
significance. And, I know these guys, these pastors: it’s not
about fear of losing their 501c(3)’s—they don’t mention him
because they’re not thinking about him. Because, to most of
these guys, Obama kind of flies beneath their radar, their main
concerns being the offering plate, their egos, and their
paychecks. Most black pastors here are simply not well-informed,
do not stay up on current events, have no intellectual curiosity
whatsoever, and no demonstrable passion for education or public
service. For these men, it’s all about Noah. As a pastor, I
would never tell anyone in my church who to vote for. But I
would applaud the Senator’s run, and I would pray for the
Senator’s family, and I would teach our children about the
significance of this moment in history. I’d pull my head out of
my behind and open my eyes to the world we actually live in, the
world beyond the Ark.
What do most of us know about Senator Barack Obama’s positions
on the issues? For many if not most church folk: little or
nothing. Barack Obama is a Liberal Democrat—a label Republicans
have successfully besmirched over the years, making it like unto
a cuss word. Abraham Lincoln was a Liberal Republican—and we
thank God for that. “Liberal” only means progressive,
open-minded, intellectually available. Conservatives tend to
cluster together, preferring uniforms and hats, talking points
emailed from downtown. Conservatives are much better organized
than liberals because liberals are *liberals*—free thinkers who
do not necessarily gel together into blocks as easily as
conservatives who, more than not, simply accept things at face
value and do what their leaders tell them to.
Obama is pro-choice, pro-stem cell research, pro-equal rights
for gays while not necessarily for *special* rights for gays and
dodging the gay marriage issue, preferring to leave the matter
to the states (where, constitutionally speaking, it actually
belongs). He is pro-gun control, favors reform of mandatory
minimums in drug sentencing guidelines. These are the key issues
that trouble the religious right. If they trouble you as well,
then maybe Obama is not your candidate.
Obama opposed the war, opposed the surge, and is, I believe, the
only candidate to have opposed the Iraq war from the start. In
foreign policy, he believes Bush’s ideology has overridden facts
and reality. In terms of free trade, Obama believes, “People
don't want cheaper T-shirts if it costs their job.” He believes,
“Being poor in this country is hazardous to your health.”
He’s a good guy. Should you vote for him? You need to make that
decision for yourself. But, whether you do or not, we should
all—as African Americans—pause to give God thanks for where he
has brought us, brought this nation, from.
Okay, here’s the math: Hillary Clinton is likely to win the
Democratic nomination for President of the United States.
Nationally, she holds a double-digit lead over her next biggest
contender, Illinois Senator Barack Obama. The problem is,
Hillary needs Obama, while Obama doesn’t need Hillary. Obama is
freer to ding Hillary along the campaign trail, while, as we’ve
seen, Hillary must chose her words regarding Senator Obama very
carefully. This is Hillary Clinton’s private hell: that Barack
Obama has positioned himself to dictate the terms of her
campaign and, potentially, her administration. While,
conversely, Barack can all but ignore Hillary. And, when Hillary
wins the nomination, she absolutely must chose Obama as her
running mate. If she doesn’t, she loses the black vote. If she
loses the black vote, she loses the election. Obama, on the
other hand, can select anybody he wants for his vice
presidential nominee—ideally a strong southerner like John
Edwards who, from all appearances, seems to be running for vice
president anyway.
Barack Obama may be the smartest candidate to run for president
in generations. Whether he wins or loses, he still wins.
Hillary’s run made Barack’s run possible. Had she not run, I
doubt Obama would have, either. She’s his firewall and now his
guarantor of a seat at the table and an inevitable shot at the
presidency. Obama’s candidacy is pure genius, a gangsta move.
Hillary might get where she’s going, but her road to the White
House passes right through the Barack Obama Toll Plaza. Should
Obama win the nomination, it’s all over for Hillary. Should
Obama win the general election, Hillary is a memory—unless she
plans to challenge a sitting president for the nomination in
’12. By 20016, Hillary will be pushing 70 and not a viable
candidate. A potential Vice President Obama, however, will only
be 55 and the presumptive Democratic nominee. This is Hillary’s
time, and the DNC war machine knows it. They are likely to
sabotage Obama the way they tanked John Dean eight years
ago—turning on their own in an effort to move a more electable
candidate forward.
The truth of the matter is, I don’t believe either Clinton or
Obama are electable. I believe this country remains in the grip
of racism, and hate sells better than hope. I think America will
talk a great game about the historic contest between a woman and
a black man, but once those curtains close in the election
booth, America will elect a guy who looks like the president,
who talks like the president, who fits well behind a podium with
the seal of the president on it. Neither Obama nor Clinton meet
that criteria. It is, to my thinking, extremely unlikely that
people—no matter how liberal—will be able to fully slough off
the old demons of racism and sexism and elect a black or woman
president. Either candidate would be a shoo-in for vice,
whereupon we can all pat ourselves on the back for being so
broad-minded.
John Edwards’ strategy seems obvious: let Clinton and Obama
punch themselves out. America will eventually become
disheartened by all the sniping and turn to Edwards, whose stock
and trade is his boyish Bobby Kennedy-by-way-of-Bill Clinton
looks. Edwards is a very smart, very strong candidate who is,
regrettably, eclipsed by the novelty of the Hillary-Barack
thing. His only hope—a dim and distant one at that—is that the
two of them bump each other off or some terrible scandal breaks
out, and the DNC turns to him. This strategy, however, is fueled
by cash—lots of it. It only works if Edwards can raise enough
money to hang in there.
The more viable Obama is, the more cash he can raise, The more
cash he can raise, the longer he can hang in there. The longer
he hangs in there, the more he can shape Hillary Clinton’s
future. I don’t believe Obama will be the nominee—I don’t think
the D-Triple-C will allow it. I think his own party will
ultimately conspire to bring him down, while at the same time
forcing Hillary to make him her running mate. I believe that’s
the script. An Obama presidential nomination would most
certainly cost the Democrats the election, especially if John
McCain’s comeback sustains itself.
McCain, a Republican senator from Arizona, says he’s a
conservative, but he’s actually more of centrist. So far as
Republicans go, black folk really don’t hate McCain the way many
of us hate President Bush (or, more accurately, the president’s
policies). That should be his campaign slogan: McCain: Blacks
Don’t Hate ‘Im. McCain is, more or less, The Tolerable
Republican. Of the bizarre field of ’08 candidates, only McCain
looks or sounds like a president. All the rest of them sound
like guys who should be holding McCain’s coat.
As much as it is Hillary’s turn on the Democratic side, for the
GOP, this is most certainly John McCain’s turn. McCain has been
a good soldier, pretending to agree with a president I believe
he loathes, and taking major hits for the team. America is as
unlikely to elect the Mormon Mitt Romney as they are to elect a
black man or a woman. I think Romney’s continuing viability
scares the pants off the Republicans, who likely despise Rudy
Giuliani for being so much like a Democrat, and are afraid Mike
Huckabee—whom I like very much—may be the GOP’s Jimmy Carter.
I believe the back-room cigars are already being lit, with the
GOP moving to form around their guy—McCain. Mainly because Obama
doesn’t beat McCain. Hillary doesn’t either, but Obama gets
pasted while Hillary will give McCain a good run for his money.
But, stand the three of them up, and only McCain looks or sounds
like a president. Only McCain has military experience, foreign
policy experience, and major, major credentials and chops to be
president. He’s not a perfect GOP front man, but the magic of
McCain is that he ticks *everybody* off, but doesn’t tick off
anybody *enough* to not like him. I don’t agree with McCain on
everything, but, then, do I really need to?
A Romney nomination throws the election open to anyone. Besides
the Mormon thing, Romney has scary eyes. I mean it: look at his
eyes. He smiles, and his eyes dance a little, reminiscent of
Richard Nixon. I like Huckabee a great deal, but he doesn’t
inspire me. I want a leader who inspires me, one in whose
strength and wisdom I trust. I think Rudy loses and loses huge
if he is nominated, as does Fred Thompson, who began with such
promise but regularly looks annoyed, like he’s been waiting too
long for his dinner.
But I don’t think Clinton or Obama beats McCain. I don’t think
anybody does. If McCain can hang in, raise some cash, win the
nod, the Democrats will likely come full throttle at Obama,
undermining his campaign and Swiftboating him out of the game,
for fear of a catastrophic loss to McCain.
A great deal of this business will be decided this and next
weekend, in South Carolina where it is raining and snowing and
most certainly depressing turnout. For Huckabee and Obama, South
Carolina is symbolically important: they both need to prove
their wins in Iowa weren’t flukes. A Carolina loss shouldn’t
cripple Obama’s campaign, but it will restore, to a great
extent, the sense of inevitability to Hillary’s run—something
Obama has worked tirelessly to dispel.
The “Super Tuesday” primaries of February 5 will, likely, be the
make-or-break point for these campaigns. It is simply
inconceivable that Hillary Clinton would ever drop out of the
race. John Edwards will deal his delegates for a veep slot if he
can get one. If Barack Obama is still a presidential candidate
on February 6th, expect things to get precipitously nastier as
his own party turns on him, now terrified the man may actually
win the nomination.
Just don’t expect to hear about any of this from the pulpit..
Christopher J. Priest
20 January 2008
editor@praisenet.org
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