I don't know if it will make a difference, but Moyers' interview with Jeremiah Wright on his show Friday provided a refreshing alternative to the kind of treatment this decent and deeply Christian man has been getting and will continue to get at the hands of political hatchet men. I hope it will be watched at least by most of the Democratic superdelegates. This is not a man to be feared; if we had a sane political culture, he would be embraced. And to me it's not surprising that someone as sane a Obama would be drawn into the faith by such a man as Jeremiah Wright. This is one of those honest men who has made a significant difference.
I don't think watching the interview changed my opinion of Wright; it confirmed what I suspected was true of him. I didn't take offense at his remarks. His "goddamn America" was a condemnation of the government, not of the American people, and as the interview points out, Wright was pointing out that the behavior of the American government, like unjust governments throughout history, requires such condemnation. Anybody who questions that such condemnation is beyond the authority of the pulpit simply does not understand the three-thousand-year-old prophetic tradition. And if there ever was an American government worthy of such condemnation, it is this one.
That kind of prophetic style is something, quite frankly, we need more of from the nation's pulpits because Americans aren't going to find out about the truth from the mainstream media, which has its own vested interest in keeping Americans in state of denial and forgetfulness about its government's crimes. But nothing from the pulpit will be taken seriously by anyone unless it rings true, unless it has real moral authority. And that moral authority comes from those who have been willing to pay a price by the kinds of lives they have lived.
It comes from experience and a level of thoughtfulness about that experience. It doesn't come from inhabiting an ecclesiastical role or mouthing ecclesiastical talking points. It comes out of deep conviction intelligently expressed. Wright has lived that kind of thoughtful life, and he has earned the right to be heard and to be taken seriously. It's to Obama's credit that he has done so.