Black columnists argue Wright is hurting Obama.

[BUMPED = 'Cause Tasha said: "I am disgusted at Obama pretending to be appalled by Wright's speech. I think it is dishonest and unbelievable. I think he's hurting his own credibility by not standing by his real beliefs and communicating them in the way he feels most comfortable. But to act like he is appalled is just stupid and I lost some respect for him honestly. I listened to Wright's entire speech from Monday and aside from some un-needed sarcasm, I found him intelligent and on point. If the truth offends some people, well then we need to dialog about it and get somewhere, not pretend that we are appalled by it. Obama is looking just like the cops who shot Bell -- just another player in the power structure who happens to have black skin."]

I don't agree at all with the New York Times' token black op-ed columnist, Bob Herbert, and his argument that Rev. Wright is intentionally trying to harm the Obama campaign.

I do, however, sort of agree with the perspective of the Washington Post's token black op-ed columnist, Eugene Robinson. [*no offense meant to the columnists, rather, tokenism is a reflection on these institutions' lack of a diverse staff of columnists] I agree with Wrights theological and political view that the merging of worldly struggle and responsibility with matters of spirit, salvation and faith is the true calling of the gospel of Jesus and the true meaning of being a "Christian". I do, however unfortunate, think that Robinson is right here when he points out that not all black churches share that view to the degree of Wright and that Wright's insistence on representing Black Liberation Theology as the black church at large is hurting Obama. But like Wright, I could care less. In my opinion Wright's message is more important for the black community to hear than Obama's. Here's is an excerpt from Robinson's column on Wright:

Where he overreaches is in claiming, as he did at the Press Club, that the criticism he has suffered "is not an attack on Jeremiah Wright; it is an attack on the black church" -- and in claiming that this episode "just might mean that the reality of the African American church will no longer be invisible."

The reality of the African American church, of course, is as diverse as the African American community. I grew up in the Methodist church with pastors -- often active on the front lines of the civil rights movement -- whose sermons were rarely exciting enough to elicit more than a muttered "Amen." They were excitement itself, however, compared with the dry lectures delivered by the priest at the Catholic church around the corner. And what I heard every Sunday was nothing at all like the Bible-thumping, hellfire-and-damnation perorations that filled my Baptist friends with the Holy Ghost -- and even less like the spellbinding, singsong, jump-and-shout sermonizing that raised the roofs of Pentecostal sanctuaries across town.

Wright claims to represent all these traditions and more, but he does not. He also claims universality for the political aspect of his ministry. It is true that the black church, writ large, has been an instrument of social and political change. But most black churches are far less political than Wright's -- and many concern themselves exclusively with salvation.