(Okay, second attempt. Hopefully this isn't a double post.)

I
think some important information is missing in this whole Obama/Wright
story that I think is important. For one, nobody is really talking all
that much about what a progressive church the United Church of Christ
is. (Full disclosure: I was confirmed to a UCC church in the Twin
Cities area when I was a teen and never went back sadly.) I am not one
to talk about church, God, or religion because I am no expert. I
believe in God and the God I believe in is a loving and accepting one.
My UCC church taught me that.

The UCC has been at the forefront
on social issues even when it wasn't popular to do so. In the 1700's,
they were part of a tradition (Congregationalists) that was vocally
anti-slavery. By 1875, Congregationalist ordained the first black
minister. In 1853, the first woman was ordained. And in 1972, the UCC
was the first church to ordain an openly gay minister.

During
the early stages of the Civil Rights movement, the UCC was extremely
supportive of Dr. King providing him places to stay when needed and
even intervened in 1959 to file a lawsuit against the FCC making our
airwaves public.

Admittedly, I didn't know all these exact dates
from memory, I went to their website for them. But they jibe with what
my parents and my pastor taught me about the church. It was always a
source of pride that I had belonged to a church that was ahead of the
curve on social issues and was actively trying to help those less
fortunate.

Many people have probably forgotten that the UCC
tried to air ads on network TV in 2004. The networks rejected them for
various reasons, but the message of those ads were that everyone is
welcome. (Youtube link in case the embedded video doesn't work.)



I
am not sure what part of the "God is Still Speaking" message was of so
much concern to NBC and CBS. Maybe it was that they accepted gay people
to worship. Anyway, the message of acceptance in these advertisements
do not square with the image being displayed on cable news.

If
all you knew about the UCC is what you saw on TV, you'd think that we
are some church filled with a lot of anger or hate. But, I remember a
church that only showed love and compassion to everybody. I guess their
message of inclusion of social justice is not something that makes for
good TV.

The other part of the story that seems to be completely
missed is that there are a lot of people in those clips of Reverend
Wright enthusiastically agreeing with what he was saying. To me, these
clips document that the problem is not Wright and what he said, but
that there is a big audience of people who think that everything really
isn't as equal as it should be and a lot of them aren't happy about it.
I really struggle to come up with words about how they feel because I
don't have their experience to know. (You guessed it, I'm white) But, I
think it is safe to say that a lot of them feel that for all the
progress that has been made in this country, the job isn't done and
they feel there is a long way to go. Isn't that what is important here?
Do we really want to live in a country where all people do not feel
equal? To me, it highlights that there is still a great divide in this
country when it comes to race.

Of course, the media finds it
better to paint the picture of a scary black man and that you all
should be afraid that Obama might be a scary black man, too. It's a
shame. Because if you really look at the controversies of Wright and
Ferraro, they both should set off alarm bells and make one ask this
question:

Who do you think is best to answer this call?

One
thing good did come of this whole Wright thing for me, though. I was
reminded of what a great church I used to go to and that maybe it's
time to start going again. I'd really like my kids to have the same
benefit of the UCC and hear the same message that I heard. I hear
Easter is coming up. That seems like a good time to come back.

Okay,
I'm done. I am not very good expressing these things, but I made an
honest attempt (twice) to express some things that have been rolling
around in my head. Hopefully the message comes out sounding okay. It's
late (for me anyway).

Good night. God Bless.