Weekly Words

Preachers or Puppets?

One of the things that saddened me the most about this past election season was the positions or lack thereof of some of our clergy. Though I don’t believe that it should be an ethical imperative that clergy, or particularly Black clergy be pro-Obama, I do believe that there were preachers across the landscape of America that showed they were simple-minded and/or spineless.

First, there were those who have tried to make Obama’s platform the antithesis of Christianity because of his stances on abortion and gay marriage. The problem with this line of provincial thinking is that it attempts to make Christianity exclusively about these two issues. I have a problem with clergy who are ready to send people to hell about the “right to life” and won’t speak against innocent people dying in an unjust war in Iraq. Yes unborn children have a right to live, but so do Iraqi women and children who have been born. Not only are many of these right wing reverends inconsistent about life, but they are also extremely selective on when it is time to listen to Jesus and when it is not. Where would a Jesus who believed in the last being first and giving good news to the poor stand on universal healthcare? Would God care about our toxic violence to the earth that God created and asked us to be good stewards? What about economic policies that cater to the haves and is not authentically concerned with the have nots? The point here is that making Christianity a two issue religion is extremely small minded and does not take the life and ministry of Jesus seriously. When Christians become intellectual puppets and minimize the profundity of Christianity for the sake of a politician or a party all of us should be offended.

To understand another form of puppetry with our preachers we have to go all the way back to 2000. George Bush was initially elected in part by his ability to garner the support of black preachers all across America. By using some of the rhetoric that I have just talked about and by offering the now famous “Faith-Based Initiatives”, many “Dr.’s”, Bishops, and Apostles encouraged their congregations to vote for Bush. At the sound of money and the hopes of feeling like they had more political clout, our Pastor’s clamored after Bush and suggested we should too. This was all done in the name of the Lord and the promotion of Christian issues. Yet when the same Bush did not deliver on the goods, and the “Faith-Based Initiatives” that were promised went overwhelmingly under funded and ignored by the Bush administration, the same preachers would not and did not publically criticize Bush. Then, some of the same preachers, who loudly supported Bush, quietly supported Obama. Spineless! Moreover, some of them sat quietly as Obama pushed for many things that at least seem Christian to me. Universal Health Care, pushing businesses to provide healthcare, being more just with taxes, being more critical about war, and being more protective of our environment all sound like things Christians should have investments in. However, they don’t put money in preacher’s pockets.

We need complex thinking and authentic conviction from our preachers. This does not mean they will be democrats or would have voted for Obama. My college roommate thinks deeply and acts out of serious conviction, and he probably voted for McCain. I respect that. However, the last thing we need from preachers is them giving us a simplified gospel or living by an “if it doesn’t make dollars it doesn’t make sense” creed. These people are puppets and we need preachers.

Humbly in Christ’s Love,
Pastor B.A. Jackson