Yet it is a mystery how Obama’s "deep and abiding love for this country" is reconciled with his 20-plus years as a member of a Black Nationalist church saturated with anti-white and anti-American ideologies. Wright, Obama’s spiritual mentor, is a "black liberation theologian," which teaches that the liberation of oppressed non-white people will only be achieved once "white supremacy" is destroyed. Consequently, love for America -- which promotes freedom of speech and expression -- is simply not an emotion black liberationists can be expected to feel. This is the ideology to which Obama has been exposed for more than half his life.Without singling Jack out (because his errors are remarkably common errors), this paragraph demands a rebuttal.
First, Trinity United Church of Christ is not, strictly speaking, a black nationalist church. Black nationalism preaches that African Americans should either establish a separate black nation (the rationale behind the establishment of Liberia), or conquer the United States and expel non-blacks by force (which even Louis Farrakhan doesn't advocate). Nobody at Trinity United Church of Christ has spoken in support of either doctrine, so it would be inaccurate to describe TUCC as a "black nationalist" church. If TUCC were in fact a black nationalist church, it would be one of the most remarkably uncommitted black nationalist churches in history--welcoming white members, inviting white speakers, and belonging, as it does, to a predominantly white denomination.
Second, white supremacy should be destroyed. White supremacy refers to the disproportionate power that institutional racism gives whites over people identified with other racial groups. People who think white supremacy is a good thing are called white supremacists. People who don't think white supremacy is a good thing are obligated to destroy it. There is no intellectually honest middle ground on this point.
Third, black liberation theology can be accurately defined as a theology that is centered on the liberation of black people. That's all there is to it. Any predominantly black inner-city church that does not preach, welcome, or accommodate any form of black liberation theology is, more likely than not, inadequately serving its parishioners.
I don't know where Jack Kerwick got the idea that black liberation theology is in any way incompatible with a belief in free speech or freedom of expression, but I'm reasonably sure it wasn't by reading black liberation theologians.
The issue of whether the Rev. Wright, a retired Marine and Vietnam War veteran, is "anti-American" because he sometimes gets angry at the country to which he has dedicated his life is of course another issue. For my part, my only disagreement with Barack Obama over Trinity United Church of Christ is that I think he was too eager to distance himself from it. As far as I'm concerned, America could use more patriots like the Rev. Jeremiah Wright.
Related: Barack Obama's Speech on Patriotism
