Hot on HuffPost:

See More Stories

Hey, Glenn Beck: You Should Listen to Rev. Jeremiah Wright

1 year ago
  0 Comments Say Something  »
Text Size
Obama doesn't believe in God?
Of course he does. Here's a simple reason why. After sitting on a pew Sunday after Sunday listening to the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, as Obama once did, no one could doubt the God of the Bible exists and no one could pretend to be a believer to boost an image or political future.
The talk about Obama and God stems from remarks by Glenn Beck, who raised doubts about the president's religious beliefs after the talk show host's D.C. rally last Saturday. As Politics Daily editor Melinda Henneberger wrote, Beck's rally wasn't about politics, so Beck said, but rather about God. And Obama's God is suspect in the view of Beck and others who listen to him. I think -- after hearing Wright preach last Sunday in Little Rock -- that the reverend would jump right in and forcefully disagree.
Sure, Wright is political, but black ministers often are. They have to be given the history of blacks in this country. Slavery, Jim Crow laws, the civil rights movement – all are wrapped up in complex politics that are bound by Negro spirituals and a strong faith in God. To put the Bible in context, black ministers sprinkle politics and calls for social justice throughout their sermons. That just might anger some people.
But Wright is also a masterful storyteller who makes you believe. Granted, I was a believer before I walked in the door and plopped down on a back pew, so it wasn't too hard to convince me. But his stories -- aside from his criticism of former President George W. Bush and the Iraq war -- were haunting about the power of God.
He talked about his great Aunt Hattie, the kind of old soul who could see things before they happened. God spoke through her because she was that in tune with a higher power.
Wright said that one night his young daughter was crying, saying she saw a man in the window. Sure, Wright thought, she wants to sleep in her parents' bed. The child could not be pacified. What did the man look like? Wright asked. She said his grandfather. Sure enough, the phone rang soon after. It was Aunt Hattie, saying she thought the baby was upset and that Wright's great grandfather had passed away.
Great storytelling? Or the truth? Everyone in the church said their "Amens" and shivered just a bit, including the big burly man beside me.
Wright's stories percolate in you and make you think. Did God speak to Aunt Hattie? Could God speak to me that way? Are angels among us?
In Obama's "A More Perfect Union" speech that he delivered after Wright's controversial remarks about an array of topics, from the Sept. 11 attacks to America's treatment of blacks, Obama said, "Did I know him to be an occasionally fierce critic of American domestic and foreign policy? Of course. Did I ever hear him make remarks that could be considered controversial while I sat in church? Yes. Did I strongly disagree with many of his political views? Absolutely -- just as I'm sure many of you have heard remarks from your pastors, priests or rabbis with which you strongly disagreed."
Obama, in the same 2008 speech, said that Wright was divisive and the country needed unity. Isn't Glenn Beck just as divisive? The answer is a resounding yes. Not so unlike Jeremiah Wright. Wright just used his own pulpit to preach and Beck uses federal property and the airwaves.
Is Beck's God any better than Aunt Hattie's God? Must we really argue over such a thing? Maybe Glenn Beck should pay a visit and hear Wright when he guest preaches next time. He might just think twice before he opens his mouth. Aunt Hattie might be watching.

Our New Approach to Comments

In an effort to encourage the same level of civil dialogue among Politics Daily’s readers that we expect of our writers – a “civilogue,” to use the term coined by PD’s Jeffrey Weiss – we are requiring commenters to use their AOL or AIM screen names to submit a comment, and we are reading all comments before publishing them. Personal attacks (on writers, other readers, Nancy Pelosi, George W. Bush, or anyone at all) and comments that are not productive additions to the conversation will not be published, period, to make room for a discussion among those with ideas to kick around. Please read our Help and Feedback section for more info.

Add a Comment

*0 / 3000 Character Maximum Comment Moderation Enabled. Your comment will appear after it is cleared by an editor.

38 Comments

Filter by:
wbischo

I raised my two brothers as if they were my own children, because my mother didn't live with us after my younger brother was born. I felt it in my heart when something "terrible" happened to one brother after I was an adult, even though I was in Europe and he was in the USA at the time. I later learned he had been shot in a hunting accident and lost an eye. When that same brother passed away at age 51, I told my husband that I had just felt an electric-like surge through my body and felt my brother had died. We were over two hundred miles from my brother at that moment, which turned out to be the exact moment he died at a hospital in another state. I KNOW now that we are all somehow connected and there is a higher power which speaks to us, if we listen.

September 04 2010 at 8:29 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
xtrees130

TO: jancf - Sorry to be the bearer of bad news BUT your comment "He(being Rev.Wright) never damned America" is - INCORRECT. Following is part of a quote of Rev.Wright, from 2003 - "God damn America for as long as she acts like she is God and she is supreme". There are a number of other quotes of his, which also damn America. If you don't believe what I have written just do a search using Rev.Wright's name and quotes. Rev.Wright is a race hater the same as Rev.Sharpton.

September 02 2010 at 12:16 AM Report abuse +2 rate up rate down Reply
2 replies to xtrees130's comment
alive1264

And Glenn Beck is not a "race hater", BOZO? Please, be real and honest. Both Beck and Wright make extremely incindiary statements about race.

September 02 2010 at 2:18 PM Report abuse -1 rate up rate down Reply
jenmarpatt

As MLK said (to paraphrase) "there can be no great disappointment without great love." So many equate criticizing America with hating America, and that is just not true. There were (and still are) many disappointing actions and events by the U.S., and to bring them to light, to have a discourse to confront issues to try and make us better, is seen by some as un-American. Those same people want to whitewash history and by extension, marginalize many Americans who want to be a part of, not apart from, our nation's history. As a result, what you hear from Wright is not racism, but the frustration that grows from it.

September 04 2010 at 12:31 AM Report abuse -1 rate up rate down Reply
luvdecat7

Dear Mr. Hereticsoul333: God is not against women. Your Bible facts about women are wrong. Please take a Bible study at a nearby church. God is against conjuring up spirits, which men and women did and still do. Those people men and women were put to death. How Miriam was a prophetess, she was the sister of Moses. Deborah was Israel's judge. Anna was also a prophetess and she was at the temple day and night praying and praising God. The Samaritan woman at the well was the first Christian Evangelist. She went and told all that Jesus told her and that he was the Messiah. She said, Come and see a man who has told me all I have ever done. Mary and Martha had the most precious ministry of all, making food for Jesus. Mary had the highest honor of anyone on earth, that of bringing forth the Word of God, the Messiah. Israel was saved by a gentile harlot named Rahab and she became an ancestor of Jesus. New testament women who prophesy in or out of church are told to have their head covered while they prophesy. Jesus also saved a woman who was being stoned for adultery, figure that, whosoever is free of sin, throw the first stone. Men are commanded to love their wives as Christ loved the church, enough to die for them. So you see, each of us, men and women, are Jesus' reason he gave his life for on the cross. For God so loved "the world"....

September 01 2010 at 11:57 PM Report abuse +2 rate up rate down Reply
xtrees130

Maybe the author of this article should have attended Glenn Beck's HONOR RALLY so she could have accurately portrayed what it was about.

September 01 2010 at 11:12 PM Report abuse -1 rate up rate down Reply
snrar

The Rev might be a good story teller and he maybe a Christian , But the fact that he indulges his followers in his political views mixed with his Black Liberation Theology is he not doing what Glen Beck is doing . Maybe the Rev should take the time to listen to Glen . So you who get all worked up about what Glen Beck says yet negate the things the Rev says are not looking at both sides . Sounds like a stand off as far as I'm concern . So what if Beck used a federal site as apposed to a church , Is it not the message that is important ? Beck has carved out a nice living doing what he does , And I can say for a fact that the Rev is not doing to badly himself living in a million dollar estate .

September 01 2010 at 7:31 PM Report abuse +2 rate up rate down Reply
luvdecat7

Yes, Becks god is different than the Christian God. BECK IS MORMON! They are waiting to become gods in other planets when they die and they will be married to many women. Will you guys please study the different religions before you vote? The next election is all about religion. Don't be duped into believing that all Christians believe alike.

September 01 2010 at 6:44 PM Report abuse -1 rate up rate down Reply
David Mitchell

You can say what you wish, Ms.Parker, but Mr. Beck never called for God to "damn America," blamed America for terrorist attacks as did Rev. Wright ("teh chickens have come home to roost"), nor slandered our nation by calling it the "U.S. of KKK", as did Rev. Wright. All these outrageous statements are on Rev. Wrifght's You Tube videos. The president may have learned about God from Rev. Wright, but he also absorbed his political poison as well. If I were you, first, I'd stop comparing any major commentator with Jeremiah Wright and, second, for the sake of your president, stop reminding everyone of the close relationship he has/had with Reverand Wright.

September 01 2010 at 6:36 PM Report abuse +2 rate up rate down Reply
sysaphus71

Well I guess if the "good preacherman" is gonna tell you who to vote for then his church needs to start paying taxes.

September 01 2010 at 4:50 PM Report abuse +7 rate up rate down Reply
msopherco

I don't care whether or not President Obama or any President believes in God. I do care how he thinks and acts as President. The U.S. Constitution says that there shall be no religious test for office. Prying into Obama's personal religious beliefs (and demanding that he have such beliefs) is un-American. The Tea Partyiers who want to turn the United States into a Christian theocracy and to impose their religious beliefs upon all Americans should be ashamed of themselves.

September 01 2010 at 2:09 PM Report abuse -8 rate up rate down Reply
2 replies to msopherco's comment
xtrees130

msopherco - Please get your FACTS correct. Your comments concerning what the Tea Party Movement wants is COMPLETELY INCORRECT. As a MOVEMENT they are NOT involved with religious beliefs. They may have religious beliefs as INDIVIDUALS, as do most Americans. Please DO NOT confuse the two.

September 01 2010 at 11:19 PM Report abuse +1 rate up rate down Reply
Lou Pic

Amen.......

September 08 2010 at 10:06 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Billy Paterson

Wonderful article and well written. I knew from the very beginning when Reverand Wright spoke ill about the Iraq war that the powers that be would crucify him for being unpatriotic. I also knew that most senators and congressman felt the same and yet as cowards followed suit in voting for the war. Oh how they would like to have that vote back. It took the Bush administration to really polorize this nation and now I understand how brothers fought brothers in the Civil War.

September 01 2010 at 1:46 PM Report abuse -12 rate up rate down Reply

Follow Politics Daily


  • Comics
robert-and-donna-trussell
CHAOS THEORY
Featuring political comics by Robert and Donna TrussellMore>>
  • Woman UP Video
politics daily videos
Weekly Videos
Woman Up, Politics Daily's Online Sunday ShowMore»
politics daily videos
TV Appearances
Showcasing appearances by Politics Daily staff and contributors.More>>