DAMNED IF YOU DO DAMNED IF YOU DON'T

I recently read an article from the University of Southern Mississippi student press that related to the revival at a local church near campus. the Invited preacher was the pastor and spiritual leader of our present President. I want to share that article and give you the chance to form your own opinion. it begins like this: "We have in our midst tonight the pastor who led the ministry that produced the first African-American President," announced Rev. Reginald Woullard, Pastor of Shady Grove Baptist Church in Eastabuchie, Miss. From my pew last Monday night, I could see Rev. Jeremiah Wright, President Obama's ex-pastor – the man who became infamous for shouting "God damn America!" from the pulpit. Woullard, who had invited Wright to preach a revival at Shady Grove, hailed him as "the Prince of Prophets." Two others – fellow USM students Robby Terrell and Tyrone Adams­ – joined me. Robby and I were the only white males in the room. Wright began by welcoming the visitors – which included members of the Nation of Islam. Then, he gave us all a warning: "This message is not addressed to everyone," he said. "This message is addressed to believers." Not everyone who comes to church is a believer, he said. Some are curious – others are critics. With that, Wright was already planting in the minds of the congregation that any objection to his preaching should be met with hostility. Wright then set up his sermon by juxtaposing Jesus with Pontius Pilate, the Roman leader to whom Jesus was brought before being crucified. These men were from "two different worlds," Wright said. "There are people in power who have opinions about you based on their privilege of skin color," he told the mostly black crowd. "I'm in the text – Pilate was European, Jesus was not European." He then launched into a hateful tirade against whites, attacking everything European. "They are ignorant and arrogant," he said. "And these graduates of Harvard and Yale are setting policies for you based on the stupidity of David Hume, Immanuel Kant, Voltaire, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, Thomas Jefferson – a pedophile, Theodore Roosevelt, and the racist Supreme Court and the Encyclopedia Britannica." But that wasn't all. "The ignorance and arrogance of white supremacy have the shapers and movers of world policy living in a different world from the world you live in altogether, and the sooner you realize that, the better off you're gonna be." What upset me most was not Wright's hate speech – it was the fact that everyone else in the church was shouting, clapping and pumping their fists in the air. Wright noticed that Tyrone, Robby and I were still and silent, and quickly informed us that we looked like the three stooges. "Curious," he sneered. He went on to make more hateful comments, attacking Israel, America and Bush. Though he did not call him by name, I'm pretty sure he made several thinly veiled attacks on Obama as well. But finally, the service ended. To my relief, we had all kept cool – until some poor, unfortunate soul asked Tyrone how he liked the service. When Tyrone responded by saying he didn't like the service at all and that Wright was a "bigot, anti-Semite, and a racist," churchgoers nearby began yelling at us angrily. We tried to explain our feelings, but to no avail; a security guard told us it was time to go. When a deacon tried to speak to us, church members attempted to dissuade him. "Let them leave," one said. "Don't entertain the devil." It was quite clear that we would not be welcomed back at Shady Grove Baptist Church. But the next night, two friends of mine – both white – did go. After arriving, USM students Eric Fry and John Negri were interrogated a total of four times throughout the service. The church and its security team wanted to know what their "real business was there." Several times, they were asked if they were reporters. At one point, Eric and Jon were pulled out of the sanctuary by security guards who took them into the lobby for questioning. At the same time, an older man – who happened to be the only other white male in attendance – was also pulled out. "We were only asked a few questions and released fairly quickly," Eric said. "But as we were leaving the lobby, we saw a cop move the older white man to the wall. It appeared that he was about to be frisked." Eric believes that what happened to him and Jon amounted to racial profiling. I agree. It was no more acceptable than would be an incident in which a white church selectively pulled out black visitors for "questioning." That would also be absurd. The entire experience was remarkable. To realize that a church so nearby would allow such a hateful man to preach division and bigotry was mind-blowing. To know that such a large congregation would be so receptive to that hate was disheartening. I may have walked into the church "curious" about the man who was once the spiritual leader of our current president, but I walked out a decided "critic." I guess his message really wasn't for me. The author is By Ashton Pittman I find myself in an occupation for more than 37 years for all the right reasons but wearing bruises from attacks for one simple reason, I am white. No one has ever looked at where I grew up, what my parents were like, where I went to school or who my friends were. Even today in a conference I was the point of attack by a parent not because of something I had done but because of the color of my skin. So let me say for eternal reasons, I'm sorry to all those people of color that have been mistreated at one time or another by a white person. I'm truly sorry that you were put in or put yourself in a situation where some one did or said "something" wrong to you. BUT! enough with the black white thing! HERE IS A WALDEN WORLD DECLARATION...THAT'S RIGHT IN LIST FORM. 1: Don't talk down to my JESUS! He WILL get you for that! 2: Getting in a circle and shouting "yea us" at the expense of others is for fools and their friends. 3: You will be known by the people you hang with. 4: Your words will destroy you.