This would not have really even been a relevant question if so much had not been made of Dr. Jeremiah Wright and his role as Barack Obama’s pastor for the past 20 years. However, now that every sermon and statement of Barack’s pastor is being evaluated and scrutinized, I want to raise a few questions for you and suggest a few possible answers.
Who is John McCain’s pastor? Who is Hillary Clinton’s pastor? And why have we not really even considered these questions in the context of the new national dialogue about Barack’s pastor and church affiliation? I have three key thoughts:
- Generally speaking, African American’s call the pastor of the church they attend or are a member of "My Pastor." While this is not culturally exclusive to Black folk, it has deep roots and has been evaluated some in academic circles. A time existed not long ago when Black folk could not say with pride, for a number of reasons, "My Mayor," "My Governor," "My Congressman," or even "My Therapist" – but Black folk have always taken great pride in declaring a sense of ownership by saying, "My Pastor." If you do a Google Search for "Hillary Clinton’s Pastor" or "John McCain’s Pastor" you won’t find ANY articles declaring an individual they call "My Pastor," but, instead, will find articles about churches they have visited, churches where they have campaigned, endorsements they have received from pastors, churches they attend every now and then, and, more than anything else, when you search for "Hillary Clinton’s Pastor" or "John McCain’s Pastor" you will mainly find articles about Barack Obama’s pastor. Considering this, is it fair to evaluate Barack Obama by investigating his pastor when the other candidates don’t really have one?
- Not trying to make a peeing contest out of this, but it does not really appear that church membership is really that big of a deal for Hillary or McCain whatsoever and I have had a hard time discerning much of anything about the real role faith plays in the life of John McCain whatsoever (which is a major reason why the conservative Christian community has spoken so harshly against him). Church membership has meant a great deal to the Obama family and he speaks a great deal about this in his autobiography, Dreams from My Father.
- As a pastor, I can tell a great deal about a person (as well as their faith) from the fruit that they bear in their personal lives. To a certain extent, one can also make some surface judgments about the role church plays in a person’s life based on what we know about that person personally. What does it say about John McCain’s faith that he is known to drop the "F" bomb in the Senate, has been called by his own Republican colleagues a hothead, erratic, and much worse. Senate Republican Thad Cochran of Mississippi said that they idea of McCain being President sends cold chills down his spine and worries him. If we evaluate the history of illicit affairs and extra-marital relationships with the Clinton’s – what does that say about the real role faith plays in their lives? If questioning the role of faith and church in the life of Obama is fair game, is it not fair juxtapose the public record and known personal histories of the other candidates up against what they say about their faith? I would rather not play this game, but it appears it has already started.
For the record, here is Barack’s current pastor, Rev. Otis Moss, III. If anyone is up for the current challenges we are discussing, it’s a good Morehouse brother…