Obama's speech and lying to get a paycheck

Because there’s not enough discussion of Obama’s recent speech and Jeremiah Wright, I thought I’d jump in. I’ve read the entire text three times, and it is, without question, one of the best speeches I’ve heard a politician give in my lifetime, and far and away the best political speech I’ve ever heard about race in America. It wasn’t that the speech was profoundly brilliant – he just told the truth and didn’t pander. Sadly, that is so incredibly rare, that the speech stands out.

For many people, especially those of the paler variety, discussing race in America – no matter how you do it or what you say – is so emotional and fraught with land mines, that this speech might lose him the election. (That pro-Obama media bias Clinton was so worried about has sure turned around in a hurry, no?) But you know what? I want him to win, but I would almost rather he make this speech and lose, then win by doing what the spin doctors dictate.

I won’t analyze the speech, but I will say this about Jeremiah Wright: Here’s a selection of Christy quotes from the past six weeks:

“I like the guy [Jesus] better when he’s dead.”

“I hate the bastard (Jesus), because what kind of savior has a plan that involves poverty and violence and suffering for most of the world, most of whom aren’t eligible for special favors because of how they do or do not pray? That’s not love. It’s psychological warfare.”

“I will humbly ask forgiveness from the ones that I have hurt, but I will not ask for it from You. I tried, and if you are any sort of God with any sort of mercy, that will be enough. If it’s not, then fuck you for saying that your “love” means anything at all.” Some people feel the need to ask Jesus for forgiveness. If I am very honest, I think every Jesus I have known should be asking forgiveness of me.”

“I think I need to kill Jesus all over again and see if anything resurrects, but the truth is that once I get rid of all the Jesus demons, I don’t know if there is anything left.”

“Still, if I am truly honest with myself, what I really believe way down deep at the core of my soul in a way that feels rock hard and immovable, is that the religious powers-that-be – big and small and in-between – will use me for their purposes and sell me out to benefit themselves every single time. (And this God the Father fellow was the one with the original idea, making his Son quite suspect.)”

Put THAT on an endless loop on YouTube and see how it plays with the pundits. If any of you ever intend to run for President, I suggest you disavow me now. I’m a lot more than a few controversial quotes that offend the hell out of lots of people, and so is he. I know what it’s like to fight so long you don’t know how to stop. I’m not exactly the love and forgiveness poster child, so I don’t feel I have the moral standing to make definitive statements abut Dr. Wright (except for the sermon right after 9/11. NOT okay a few days after several thousand people just died.) Glass houses, stones, specks, logs, etc., etc.

As for why Obama has stayed at Trinity UCC for 20 years, if I were to criticize Obama for going to a church where the pastor said things that at least occasionally made him cringe, I would be a hypocrite of staggering proportions. Hell, I called myself a feminist while attending a Southern Baptist church. Glass houses, stones, specks, logs, etc., etc.

When I interviewed for my previous job, I was asked the following question: “If a student were staying with a Muslim family, would you be comfortable telling that student that family was going to hell?”

That is a verbatim quote, and the correct answer to this question, both now and then, is “Hell, no!” In more than a decade of countless children’s clubs, youth groups, Bible studies, and Sunday school lessons, I never once mentioned hell. I was sometimes in the room when someone else did, and it always made me cringe. I needed a paycheck and health insurance, and the individual program seemed cool and was way off-campus, so I artfully evaded the question to give the impression that I did think they were going to hell, but I was going to be nice about it.

This brought us to the “What do you think about homosexuality?” Artful evasion, round two. You can put whatever construction you want on that, but the hard truth is that I lied because I needed the job. I was never on board with many of the basic assumptions of the place, and there were several decisions by the powers-that-be while I was there that made me nauseous. At the exact same time, there were (and are) some good people there doing really good things. The program I worked for WAS cool and innovative, and I loved the students. Most of the people who made the nausea-inducing decisions thought it was the right thing to do or were trapped by the system or a combination of the two.

Life is complicated, and we are complicated, and God knows most churches are a fucking mess. I’ve felt out of step with every single one I’ve ever attended, and I didn’t always fully know why I was there. I have enough trouble figuring out my own motivations, without expending significant effort on Obama’s, but I’m guessing it’s a combination of a number of factors – some of which reflect well on him, and some of which don’t.

I’m entirely fine with him being human.

Comments

[Phyllis Mathis]

Christy,
I totally agree with you about Obama. A conversation with any of my friends about race would have resulted in some of the same conclusions he spoke about in the speech. It's just good sense and reasonable discourse. The fact that we think it's amazing is just a commentary on our times. As for your, ahem, lapses in, well, integrity... There are times when a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do. If I ever run for president and I end up renouncing you, I'm glad you know already that sometimes a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do...
:-)

[Christy]

Phyllis -

Okay, I won't campaign for you so as not to impair your electability.....And I don't really feel bad about my integrity lapses - things felt a lot fuzzier at the time, and I had a lot of unresolved stuff, and did I mention that I needed the paycheck? Mostly I just feel glad that I'm more integrated now, and feel like the various parts of my life line up better than they used to. But who knows? Maybe in a few years I'll look back and feel the same way about where I am now.

[ryan]

Lying to get a check. Job requirement for all good grant writers.

[ryan]

Guilding the lilly to get a check, maybe.

[Christy]

Ryan -
I prefer to think of it as presenting the best possible version of the truth:-) (And I really do try to be accurate in the numbers I give.)

I do have some standards though - If I didn't think an organization was doing good work, I wouldn't work for them, and I wouldn't take a contract from an organization that discriminated against women,was actively homophobic, or if I was fundamentally at odds with what they were trying to do. I'm not in the same place theologically as some of my clients, but if they don't care, I don't think I do either.