The Rev. Charlie Hinkle left a comment on my blog today that I'd like to highlight:
The Wall Street Journal published portions of my letter to the editor on April 15, in which I defended Rev. Wright's earlier comments, and compared them to statements by Isaiah and Jeremiah (and by Hosea and Exekiel, in the portion of my letter that the WSJ did not publish). But Rev. Wright's conduct over the last few days has shown him to be a vainglorious publicity seeker. The media did not insist that he appear before the National Press Club; he chose to do so. Regardless of the truth or validity of his "prophetic" vision, he has intentionally interjected himself into the presidential race and has done incalculable harm to the chances that we might elect our first African American president. He surely knows that; he surely knows the effect that his comments would have in the political campaign. As a UCC minister myself, I am disgusted at his conduct, and disheartened at the damage that he has done to the candidate whom I support. Thanks a lot, Rev. Wright. I hope you are enjoying your 15 minutes of fame.
After reading over Rev. Wright's Q & A session at the press club - in which he acted far differently than he did in his PBS interview, I have to say that I agree with Rev. Hinkel's comments and those made today by Senator Obama.
My natural instinct is to want to support Rev. Wright, with whom I share a denomination. He has built a great church in Chicago that continues to do good work. But this week Rev. Wright made the issue not the gospel or the church but himself and we don't have room in this election for that. There is a war to end, a broken health care system to fix, a climate change crisis to address, and a world to reconcile.
