Jeremiah Wright on PBS

Art Remillard

To compliment to Professor Murphy's post and other Wright-related discussions on this blog, I would encourage those interested in the subject to watch Bill Moyers' interview with Jeremiah Wright. If nothing else, it offers insight into the person, his life and ministry.

While watching the interview, I was surprised to learn how significant a role Martin Marty has played in the intellectual formation of Wright. Marty wrote about this, and the controversy in general, in the Chronicle of Higher Education. Below are his concluding thoughts...

It would be unfair to Wright to gloss over his abrasive — to say the least — edges, so, in the "Nobody's Perfect" column, I'll register some criticisms. To me, Trinity's honoring of Minister Louis Farrakhan was abhorrent and indefensible, and Wright's fantasies about the U.S. government's role in spreading AIDS distracting and harmful. He, himself, is also aware of the now-standard charge by some African-American clergy who say he is a victim of cultural lag, overinfluenced by the terrible racial situation when he was formed.

Having said that, and reserving the right to offer more criticisms, I've been too impressed by the way Wright preaches the Christian Gospel to break with him. Those who were part of his ministry for years — school superintendents, nurses, legislators, teachers, laborers, the unemployed, the previously shunned and shamed, the anxious — are not going to turn their backs on their pastor and prophet.