Another reason to question the toads.
TCU's Brite Divinity School still plans to honor Obama's fiery pastor, Jeremiah Wright
07:14 AM CDT on Tuesday, March 18, 2008
By SAM HODGES / The Dallas Morning News
[email protected]
Brite Divinity School in Fort Worth is sticking by a decision to honor Chicago pastor Jeremiah Wright despite controversy over his pulpit rhetoric and relationship to presidential candidate Barack Obama.
The school, at Texas Christian University, decided months ago to salute Dr. Wright at an event later this month for his long career in ministry.
According to a statement posted Monday on its Web site, Brite affirmed its decision "after careful review" and "understanding the sincere concerns many have voiced in response to recent media reports."
The statement continues:
"Contrary to media claims that Wright preaches racial hatred, church leaders who have observed his ministry describe him as a faithful preacher of the gospel who has ministered in a context radically different from that of many middle class Americans."
Dr. Wright recently retired after more than three decades as pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, whose members include Mr. Obama.
Mr. Obama has long cited Dr. Wright as an important influence, but controversy about their relationship has simmered for months and finally boiled over last week when television stations began airing video of the pastor's condemnation of American racism and U.S. foreign policy.
In the video clips, Dr. Wright insisted that the United States brought the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorism attacks upon itself because of a corrupt foreign policy.
In a 2006 speech he said, "Racism is how this country was founded and how this country was run. ... We believe in white supremacy and black inferiority and believe it more than we believe in God."
Dr. Wright has called America the "No. 1 killer in the world" and in a 2003 sermon said, "The government gives them the drugs, builds bigger prisons, passes a three-strike law and then wants us to sing 'God Bless America.' "
Mr. Obama issued a statement Friday repudiating as "inflammatory and appalling" remarks by the pastor that had escalated the controversy.
He repeated Monday that he thinks Dr. Wright's statements are "wrong, and I strongly condemn them." He added, though, "The caricature that has been painted of him is not accurate."
Newell Williams, president of Brite, said the controversy prompted him to spend part of the weekend reviewing texts and audio of Dr. Wright's remarks.
After that review, he and other administrators decided to go forward with honoring the pastor.
"As a historian, I think that the particular setting and moment and audience and issues to which a speech is directed ... are critical for understanding any particular text," Dr. Williams said by phone.
The Web site statement emphasizes Dr. Wright's role in building Trinity from a tiny church to one of several thousand members, with numerous community service programs, as well as missions in Africa. The statement also noted that Brite sponsors Ministers Week at TCU.
Dr. Wright was the Wells Preacher for the 2001 Ministers Week, meaning he held an endowed speakership named for L.N.D. Wells, who was a pastor at East Dallas Christian Church.
"No Wells Preacher in recent years has been better received than Dr. Wright," according to the statement.
Frederick Haynes III, pastor of Friendship-West Baptist Church in Dallas, is among the black pastors who revere Dr. Wright.
He said recent coverage of Dr. Wright amounts to a "media lynching" in which sound bites have substituted for serious analysis of preaching that speaks to and from the black experience in America.
"The experience is rooted in what has taken place in ... [America] for 400 years," he said. "Before you judge the expression, you really need to be aware of the experience."
Dr. Haynes praised Brite for holding to its decision to salute Dr. Wright.
"They see him in context, and the context is 36 phenomenal years of growing a ministry that has had worldwide impact," Dr. Haynes said. "I believe if Martin Luther King Jr. were alive and pastoring, his ministry would look like Jeremiah Wright's."
Brite will host the fourth annual State of the Black Church Summit and Awards Banquet on March 29.
Dr. Wright is to participate in a luncheon panel discussion. He is to be honored that night at a $125-per-person banquet. Previous honorees include longtime Dallas pastor Zan Holmes.
Dr. Williams acknowledged that he's already hearing about the decision to honor Dr. Wright.
"Of course there are people who have expressed in e-mail messages their displeasure," he said. "There also have been people who have written to say we're so pleased with the decision you've made."
Although Brite is on the TCU campus, it's a separate school with its own officers and board. Dr. Williams emphasized that the decision to honor Dr. Wright was Brite's alone.
TCU Chancellor Victor J. Boschini Jr. said Monday that "TCU supports the right of free speech even when the opinions expressed are controversial. That is what a university is about. But giving an award is another matter, and in this specific case in light of Reverend Wright's recently discovered remarks, TCU would not give such an award."
The Philadelphia Inquirer contributed to this report.