Views From The Pews Poem by gershon hepner

The views of people in the pews
ain’t necessarily what those
in pulpits teach when they accuse
the adversaries whom they oppose
of being demons. Pulpit preachers
stoke fires with their words of hate
to stay in business; fans in bleachers
with whom these men communicate
may have more nuanced views than they,
not motivated by an urge
to use hyperbole to prey
on those they scurrilously scourge.

Campbell Robertson writes in the NYT, May 2,2008, about the effect the relationship between Barack Obama and his former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, is having on black people in North Carolina (“A Pulpit-and-Pews Gulf on Obama’s Ex-Pastor”) :
But not everyone is so quick to leap to Mr. Wright’s defense. Some are offended by the notion, put forth by Mr. Wright, that an attack on him was an attack on the black church itself. “He don’t speak for all black people, at least not for me, ” said Loreen Morman,47, of Evergreen, a supporter of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, Mr. Obama’s Democratic rival. More common, at least judging from call-in shows on black radio stations and interviews in and around Lumberton, is the opinion that Mr. Wright made a serious error this week when he spoke at the National Press Club in Washington, days before Mr. Obama was to face a tight primary next Tuesday against Mrs. Clinton here and in Indiana. “There’s some truth to the things Reverend Wright spoke about, ” said Rodney Singletary,40, an associate pastor of Walking by Faith ministries in Chadbourn. “And the Bible says the truth shall set you free. But the Bible also says there is a time to speak and a time to be silent.” Many black voters, including some of Mr. Wright’s detractors, fault the news media for pushing the story. But whether the coverage is viewed more as sensationalism or racism may depend on the generation of the voter. Frances M. Cummings,67, a former state legislator who was the first black teacher at Lumberton High School, said younger people did not understand the social forces that were working against them. “They don’t know anything about not being served at a restaurant or not going to college where you wanted to go, ” Ms. Cummings said. While she called Mr. Wright’s timing poor, Ms. Cummings said the news media “put him in the opposing corner, and he had to come out swinging.” At Clawson’s barbershop, a small blue building on Martin Luther King Jr. Drive with Obama signs taped to the windows, the older clientele recalled having to sit outside doctor’s offices and take Constitution tests to vote. But, to nods of agreement, Sandell F. Clawson Jr.,71, the owner, said Mr. Wright’s comments risked bringing old, contentious issues to a campaign that was trying to move past them. “Where he’s coming from is good, ” Mr. Clawson said. “He’s just late coming.”


5/2/08