Different Standards for Black and White Preachers

Rudy Giuliani's priest has been accused in grand jury proceedings of molesting several children and covering up the molestation of others. Giuliani would not disavow him on the campaign trail and still works with him.

Mitt Romney was part of a church that did not view black Americans as equals and actively discriminated against them. He stayed with that church all the way into his early thirties, until they were finally forced to change their policies to come into compliance with civil rights legislation. Romney never disavowed his church back then or now. He said he was proud of the faith of his fathers.

Jerry Falwell said America had 9/11 coming because we tolerated gays, feminists and liberals. It was our fault. Our chickens had come home to roost, if you will. John McCain proudly received his support and even spoke at his university's commencement.

Reverend John Hagee has called the Catholic Church the "Great Whore." He has said that the Anti-Christ will rise out of the European Union (of course, the Anti-Christ will also be Jewish). He has said all Muslims are trained to kill and will be part of the devil's army when Armageddon comes (which he hopes is soon). John McCain continues to say he is proud of Reverend Hagee's endorsement.

Reverend Rod Parsley believes America was founded to destroy Islam. Since this is such an outlandish claim, I have to add for the record, that he is not kidding. Reverend Parsley says Islam is an "anti-Christ religion" brought down from a "demon spirit." Of course, we are in a war against all Muslims, including presumably Muslim-Americans. Buts since Parsley believes this is a Christian nation and that it should be run as a theocracy, he is not very concerned what Muslim-Americans think.

John McCain says Reverend Rod Parsley is his "spiritual guide."

What separates all of these outrageous preachers from Barack Obama's? You guessed it. They're white and Reverend Jeremiah Wright is not. If it's not racism that's causing the disparity in media treatment of these preachers, then what is it?

I'm willing to listen to other possible explanations. And I am inclined to believe that the people these preachers go after are more important than the race of the preacher. It's one thing to go after gays, liberals and Muslims -- that seems to be perfectly acceptable in America -- it's another to accuse white folks of not living up to their ideals.

I think there is another factor at play as well. The media is deathly afraid of calling out preachers of any stripe for insane propaganda from the pulpits for fear that they will be labeled as anti-Christian. But criticism of Rev. Wright falls into their comfort zone. It's easy to blame him for being anti-American because he criticizes American foreign and domestic policy.

If Rev. Wright had preached about discriminating against gay Americans or Muslims, there probably would not have been any outcry at all. That falls into the category of "respect their hateful opinions because they cloak themselves in the church."

But one thing is indisputable -- the enormous disparity in how the media has covered these white preachers as opposed to Rev. Wright. Have you ever even heard of Rod Parsley? As you can see from what I listed above, all of these white preachers have said and done the most outlandish and offensive things you can imagine -- and hardly a peep.

If the disparity in coverage isn't racist, then what is it?

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Comments

[olivia7433]

Wright spoke TRUTHS about a dominant white country having oppressed people of color for hundreds of years - Are we really shocked that he, or any other Black or Brown person just might feel the need to sing "God Damn America"?

Wright was QUOTING Ambassador Peck - explaining that even a white man on Fox News was expresssing what Malcolm X had once said....that America's chickens were coming home to roost.

Wright was listing FACTS about places and countries we've attacked without batting an eye.
I can't imagine anyone would think it odd to be sitting around a dinner table discussing all the violence and war that we've been a part of, and expressing the desire for it to STOP!
Why was it so wrong for Reverend Wright to passionately express such beliefs?

As far as the AIDS comments....all I can say is that as a 35 year old white woman, I had never heard of the syphillis experiments in Tuskegee. If I HAD, and if I had lived my life as a black person who loved my country but couldn't understand why my country never loved me back, I just might be a firm believer in some of these AIDS conspiracy theories!

These white preachers, from what I saw quoted above, preach intolerance for groups they seek to keep oppressed. Hate speech toward the minority - and nope, nobody flinches!

Racism.

"Our Time for Change Has Come."

[WangDong]

Hmmm.... well since my last post was deleted ( i guess you either have to be a total socialist, or an ignorant neocon to get on this board) I guess I will sanitize all of the actual facts and content for the shills who approve the posts. The difference here is that the white preachers generally (except for faldwell) spew pro-American hate and lies, while this black guy spewed some anti-american hate and got slammed for it. The thing is that the white preachers just tout insane diatribes with no actual basis, this guy was calling out america for it's foreign relations mistakes and the destruction of the world by the CIA, that is why he had to be dealt with, because he was talking about objective, factual things that happened, and you just can't have people telling anything resembling the truth. He also framed and spoke his opinions in a laughably hateful way that was just as hilarious as anything a white preacher ever said. "God damn America"? Send 300 million people to hell? Pretty interesting stuff haha. How can anyone take anything a preacher says seriously at all? All christians believe that they will have to fight in a war, after they die, against everyone who ever lived who isn't a christian, for the fate of the world..... yet people ace suprised when a preacher says something "crazy", as opposed to the hyperlogical crap they spew forth to their congregations daily. Beyond that, anyone who thinks that Obama is going to bring change is just as naive. He is owned by the same people who own all politicians and thusly will never really change anything. He may swing our government more towards socialism rather than the fascism of the bush regime, but the rich will still get richer, and the middle class when still get screwed. Choice? Hope? Hahaha what a joke. As long as the first requirement for being president is being owned by special interest groups and juiced in by the status quo theer will never be real choice in our government.

[ceseeley]

To me, Barack Obama is a black and white Abraham Lincoln, ready to lead America out of its racist, discriminatory, bias, hate-mongering, divisive, partisan, gender bias ways, etc. … to get America out of its box of bigotry!

I like the way Keith Boykin thinks!

I want to apologize for the way African Americans have been treated over the centuries; it has been horrific!

One problem, I am very "Pro-Life" from before conception to the grave and I want innocent people freed from "Death Row!"

Psalms 139:13 For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother's womb.

Psalms 139:14 I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.

Psalms 139:15 My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.

Psalms 139:16 Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them. (KJV)

Have a wonderful day in the Lord!

ceseeley

[WangDong]

Ceseeley... firstly, Abraham Lincoln was a white supremacist. He publicly stated that one race would have to have a dominant position over the other, and that since that was the case, that he would want his own race to have said position. Second, not only did the emancipation proclamation only outlaw slavery in the south, leaving it defacto legal in the north for the better part of the century, but he actually wanted all black people in America to be deported back to Africa, and created the nation of Liberia with which to do so. Third, the constitution gave the states the RIGHT to succeed if their rights were ever trampled by the federal government, which they were, and fourth only the richest 6% of Americans could afford slaves anyway, meaning that slavery laws held very little motivation for the other 94% of Americans who had no vested interest in them. Also, there were thousands of black people who fought for the confederacy, and I seriously doubt that they fought to keep themselves enslaved, so please spare us the whole liberal apologist yankee supremacist speel.

[WangDong]

Note : This post is a continuation of my other reply directly below this one.

[changeishere08]

Poster who keep spewing spoonfed talking points from both MSM and Fixed News would do well to READ THE FULL CONTEXT OF REV WRIGHTS SPEECH! HE WAS QUOTING U.N. AMBASSADOR EDWARD PECK

I am fascinated with the rightwingnuts and syblillary supporters who regurgitate the media biased news stories with USING THE TIME TO READ THE REAL STORY FOR THEMSELVES.

I will never follow blindly the media again after this. No wonder Americans stay lazy, ignorant, stagnant. This faux righteousness is nauseating.

[DGregory]

i dont understand why the other organization slam mccain for not denouncing rejecting that his alligence to those pastors, but now you got people trying to dig into the roots of obama church..

i listened to hannity one day who spouts the same mindless dribble to his fans about wright went with Farrakhan to Libya. Yet leaves out the important fact that he was also accompanied by jesse jackson as a peace mission to save a UNITED STATES PILOT.

yet..... *sigh* people hate wright

[KYJurisDoctor]

If the news accounts would be compared to bing, then someone needs to shout B-I-N-G-O here. Thanks for the piece.

http://OsiSpeaks.com

[DarwinAtWork]

As I watched all the media reports on Rev. Wright, I found reporters and commentators to be RACIST and OFFENSIVE.

[indianthoughts]

Great article. Reverend Wright is not an american hater. One has to leave this country and ask honest god fearing outsiders what they think of us... our track record of promoting democracy is a joke if you look at the conflicts we caused from Chile, Iran(shah era), Afghanistan(taliban creation), Yougoslavia, Korea, Vietnam,.... the list goes on.
After 911.. all that has happend is greedy corporations have taken over our military infrastructure and we have destroyed iraq and now want to go after iran. anyone criticizing it is called unpatriotic...

If God were to look at us as a country and speak to us.. I am not sure what better praise he would give us than then one we heard from Reverend Wright. After all God is not patriotic or american.

[SpaceCommand]

503c Churches are the problem. http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=503c+Churches&btnG=Google+Search
We all complain about Red China, when they put their own "Dali Lama," into Buddhist tradition, but when you have to complain about War on moral grounds, you have a "Tax Free," license that is in jeopardy. Consequently preachers go overboard, teaching some government line. These are big problems, the putative invasion of government into religion. The only free religion nowadays is reading in your own home the books of your choosing. Even that can be attacked when you peaceably assemble, through misplaced zoning laws. When our country does not even make an attempt to return to free speaking conscience, it dooms itself to apathy to not only spiritual reality, but material reality itself.
You see free speaking is about change without having to have a Presidential candidate or a preacher to lean upon, when silence due to fear makes narrow and parochial the due course of nations. At least FDR despite his short comings had a clear vision of his four freedoms, something almost everyone in government seems to forget or treat with disdain.

[SpaceCommand]

503c Churches are the problem. http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=503c+Churches&btnG=Google+Search

We all complain about Red China, when they put their own "Dali Lama," into Buddhist tradition, but when you have to complain about War on moral grounds, you have a "Tax Free," license that is in jeopardy. Consequently preachers go overboard, teaching some government line. These are big problems, the putative invasion of government into religion. The only free religion nowadays is reading in your own home the books of your choosing. Even that can be attacked when you peaceably assemble, through misplace zoning laws. When our country does not even make an attempt to return to free speaking conscience, it dooms itself to apathy to not only spiritual reality, but material reality itself.

You see free speaking is about change without having to have a Presidential candidate or a preacher to lean upon, when silence due to fear makes narrow and parochial the due course of nations. At least FDR despite his short comings had a clear vision of his four freedoms, something almost everyone in government seems to forget or treat with disdain.

[indianthoughts]

Great article. Being an indian(if you like an outside viewpoint external to whites and blacks), I looked at what happened during Katrina and have always felt the Black people have been so discriminated against through the ages and it is natural for them to look towards a preacher who can talk about these things. He was not preaching hatred of america.. just that the ways of the country are not in step with true christianity.
A million iraqs are dead due to Bush's war and millions displaced. Our president listens to God. Pat Robertson openly called for Chavez's assasination.
I am not a Barack Obama supporter- I have not seen much details on his 'Change' to really believe him. But this thing about the media going after his preacher and calling him an America Hater is incorrect. Go back and watch the Katrina footage and watch his preaching and you will see that there is plenty wrong in America.

[G24]

Thank you so much for this article, Cenk. This has been the big point that I don't think enough people have been pointing out. This is a racist country, as subconscious as our racism may be sometimes, we are still deeply racist.

[kjg25171]

How is it that no one is commenting on the fact that McCain is visiting so many Muslim countries and conferring with their leaders while his pastor is spewing anti Islamic rhetoric advocating eradicating Islam.

[laborgrunt]

There are no such as Muslim leaders as far as the heads of states in the middle east are concerned. They are just a bunch of fat (and i mean this litrally) power hungry heartless dictators. They really dont care what McCain's pastor says, they only care that McCain will protect them from their own people if he gets elected.

[Tankan]

Even in people with a good education one can still find low intelligence, and, where you find that you will find racism and bigotry. This is true across all variations of the species, the pigmentation of the skin does not make anyone immune to being possessed of a rasist or bigoted mentality!

Certain members of the human race have evolved far enough to be considered civilized, not being driven by hatred or malice for their fellow humankind, the opposite being true!
Racism and bigotry is like being mentally ill, many such people don't even realise they are racist or bigoted, and when told they are, they kick their heels up, being offended and in denial!
Racism and bigotry is almost instutionalised all over the world, and like all forms of hatred, it destroys!
It is destroying America, dividing and fragmenting the people, a house divided against itself, cannot stand!

[WangDong]

Racism is a genetic extension of our time in the jungle as animals. As animals we identified other animals that were threats to our existence, and we found ways to avoid/ protect ourselves from those animals the same way we found ways to seek out animals that were weaker than us so that we could exploit them. Racism is not always born of ignorance as everyone likes to pretend, it is born of experience. I would not blame a jew for hating germans, the way I wouldn't blame a palestinian for hating jews , or a kurd for hating arabs. Learning from ones life experience is a tool that helps us survive in this jungle of a world we live in. If a black guy sees 5 skin-headed white guys coming toward him I wouldn't hold it against him if he ran away, the same way I wouldn't hold it against a white person for avoiding thuggish looking black people. Bigotry has nothing to do with being civilized, as it can be a benign ideal just as easily as a violent one. I will take a non-violent black-supremacist over a murderous crackhead any day. The south, despite being full of "bigots" still has a lower crime rate than the rest of the country. THOUGHT IS NOT THE PROBLEM, ACTION IS. No matter how much PC garbage socialists try to spew leftism will never owrk, mostly because it is based on fantastical bs ideals that can never work.

[jessica23667]

I find the hypocrisy sickening. Only a couple of black commentators on CNN have brought this up. Mostly it is the same talking heads going on about how white America finds angry black preachers frightening. I'm still waiting for a MSM anchor to discuss this, anyone???