What if I, a Jew, lived in Germany?

Michael Markman sent a pointer to another Wright sermon video, which I watched. The one that ends with God Damn America.

I was born in the United States, I love this country, it gave sanctuary to my parents and grandparents. I am a product of Jewish Europe, transplanted in, welcomed by, the United States of America. I owe my existence to this country, and never forget it.

So God Damn America, to me, is bad. What a thing for a man of religion to say. A man who believes in god, to whom damnation is real.

On the other hand...

The rest of the sermon, the part leading up to that conclusion, is reasonable, and makes the ending understandable, even if I don't support it.

Then I wondered, what if I had been born in Germany instead of the U.S. The country that treated my ancestors the same way Wright's ancestors were treated by the U.S.

How would I have made the adjustment?

What if my country's flag had a swastika on it?

What if my country hadn't fully expressed its shame over burning my ancestors in ovens. Treating them like animals. Implementing a "final solution" on my race that somehow left me living. What if they expected me to love that country the same way the ancestors of the people who destroyed my ancestors do?

In the privacy of a cultural gathering of Jews living in a German city under a Nazi government in the 21st Century, might we say God Damn Germany for what it did to my people?

I don't know. Probably. It's something to think about.

PS: How long before some idiot invokes Godwin's Law.

Comments

[JoDeeVa]

Well-said, Dave. Thought-provoking. I have a feeling we may all find out just how long it takes for some idiot to invoke "Godwin's Law"...Excepting Quirky behavior, notwithstanding.

[jay1975]

"Then I wondered, what if I had been born in Germany instead of the U.S. The country that treated my ancestors the same way Wright's ancestors were treated by the U.S." Yes, slavery is the worst part of US history and is a stain that will remain a part of our history, but do not compare that to the holocaust. You are insulting your own people. Jews were slaves for centuries to others but what the Nazis tried to do was their final solution to the Jewish problem. Do not trivialize the plight of your people in an effort to defend Wright. I do not care what he says either way, but you should take a long look at what you think happened in the 1930'2 and 40's.

[oldpotsmuggler]

Here's a challenge for the patriotic class that puts yellow "support the troops" ribbons on their cars, voted for this monstrosity of an administration, and gets apoplectic at the phrase "god damn America", name a single thing that's really right about this country under BUSHCO.

I'd be willing to bet that the voices of the surviving family members of innocent Iraqi's who we dismiss under the term "collateral damage" utter far worse than this with their every waking breathe.

[Fairfloss]

For the Reverend Jeremiah Wright Jr., the mistreatment of his ancestor's had long since passed and progress was being made on a daily basis. I just have to look in my own church to see that. I see it in my city government, in the local business community and in the schools. Seeing faces of color has become so common place most of us don't even notice. Life had been becoming comfortable, than the words of the Reverend started spreading. Some folks just don't mention it, others seem a little tense.
For better or worse, these little bumps in the road will make for a stronger community a little further down the road, as long as we don't let the radical racist set us to far back. Senator Barack Obama should see to it, but right now he is playing politics and attempting to please all the people all the time.

[MrPants]

From my understanding the specific meaning of the word damn in hebrew is sacred condemnation by God to a wayward nation who has strayed from issues of justice, strayed from issues of peace and strayed from issues of reconciliation. If so then Rev Wright used the word correctly and would explain why he said "it's in the Bible".

[jbminn]

Hey dave,

Many (most?) people won't have any idea who Mike Godwin is... so you're safe from that I think.

I read this piece when you posted it earlier, and it really made me think. You can't know how things would be *if* they were different, because... well, they didn't go that way. But it is a provocative exercise in logical progression just the same. (i.e. if a, then b. if b, then c, etc.).

[Karoli]

ThatsNotFunny --

Rev. Wright's statement is a conditional statement. Here is the exact text:

"The government gives them the drugs, builds bigger prisons, passes a three strike law and then wants us to sing God Bless America. Naw, naw, naw. Not God Bless America. God Damn America! That"s in the Bible. For killing innocent people. God Damn America for treating us citizens as less than human. God Damn America as long as she tries to act like she is God and she is Supreme."

This is the climax of an argument Wright is making for the failure of governments, beginning with the Romans, continuing to the British Empire, the Germans, the Japanese, and finally, the US. His point is not that America should be damned. His point is that governments who assume the role of God will be damned, because governments change and fail, and God doesn't.

White ministers have made the exact same argument for at least 20 years, saying that tolerating abortion and homosexuality wll damn this nation to the same fate as the Roman Empire. When white ministers make it, they're applauded. But if a black minister makes it, the clip is hacked up by Faux News and made into something much, much more than it is.

If people actually spent some time looking at the bigger picture, they might understand the manipulation they are allowing themselves to be subject to. The Wright 'flap' was pure propaganda, worthy of Nazi Germany, so when Dave poses the question about how it might be if he lived in Germany, it's not altogether out of line.

As long as the propagandists keep spinning and their adoring, willing public keeps buying the crap that Hannity, O'Reilly and others continue to spew, the Nazis won't change. They'll just keep brainwashing us into believing that Jeremiah Wright called for the damnation of America, blacks are scary and evil, and it's okay to justify slave ownership and over 300 years of suppression of an entire race in the name of white supremacy.

When do we get over that? When we start admitting it, owning it, and learning to discard obvious attempts to fan the remaining embers.

[ThatsNotFunny]

A true Christian would not have said "God Damn America". Whatever happened to turn the other cheek and love thy enemies?

[maddogbitesback]

I have yet to meet a true Christian. America still treats blacks differently. Nowhere does Jesus say it is okay to consider a man to be three fifths of a man, to string him up because he told a joke to a white woman, to terrify him, to ensure he can't get ahead because even if he gets an education he won't be hired. God was helped by blacks to bless America and then America damned the blacks. Divine justice is what Wright called for.

[bbebop]

Are there "true Christians" in America? Is the possibility that God might damn America something to worry about? Is Wright a bad Christian, a bad American, or are those the same thing?

[LadyXoc]

Are we loving our enemies in Iraq? Was your reaction to 9/11 turning the other cheek?

[Frank02]

Um, are you propogating the administration BS that Iraq is tied to 9/11?

[MrUnlimited]

Well said, Dave. Solid rebuttal of ThatsNotFunny, LadyXoc. We live in a nation where too many people either choose to remain ignorant or lack the ability to empathize. That's why posts like these are necessary.