Black Churches Struggle Over Their Role in Politics- NYT

[wildeyed]

A tug of war is under way inside black churches over who speaks for African-Americans and what role to play in politics, spurred by conservative black clergy members who are looking to align themselves more closely with President Bush.

The struggle, mainly among black Protestants, is taking place in pulpits, church conventions, on op-ed pages and on the airwaves, and the president himself began his second term with a meeting in the White House with black clergy members and civic leaders who supported his re-election.

snip....

At the heart of the debate, church leaders say, is whether to stay focused primarily on issues like job creation, education, affirmative action, prison reform and health care, which have drawn blacks closer to the Democratic Party, or whether to put more emphasis on issues of personal morality, like opposition to abortion and same-sex marriage, which would place them deeper in the Republican camp.

snip...

But the White House has been reaching out to sympathetic black clergy members - through its stand on social issues, its effort to give religious groups more of a role in providing federally financed social services and ideas like Mr. Bush's proposed initiative to counter gang violence, a concern of some black ministers who support him, like the Rev. Eugene F. Rivers of Dorchester, Mass.

Although only 11 percent of black voters cast ballots for Mr. Bush, according to surveys of voters leaving the polls, conservatives point out that it was still an increase from the 8 percent in 2000, and Republicans seek to expand those numbers.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/06/politics/06clergy.html?pagewanted=1

edit: fixed link

[HamdenRice]

1. About the very reverend Eugene Rivers

I guess I am probably the only person in this group to have had the privilege of having the right reverend Eugene Rivers crash on my couch for several days back in the 1970s, when he was a sort of special student in the Boston/Cambridge area. Nevertheless, I really don't know exactly what to make of this guy. He is obviously very smart, but in a con-man kind of way. We always thought he had either read every book, or he had read the introduction and conclusion of every book.

Anyway, what I don't understand is how he went from being a Marxist revolutionary black intellectual who poo-poo'd all forms of bourgeoise mystification, from African nationalism to the black church, to a neo-conservative black minister trying to supplant Jesse Jackson with the strategy of kissing up to boy king george the shrub.

Basic problem: I don't know whether Rivers ever believes what he says or just says what he thinks will work.

[bobbieinok]

2. I heard Rivers speak twice ca 5-6 years ago....

once to a large group (majority white) and later that day to a smaller group (majority black)

in the second meeting he was much blunter

I found him impressive.....my impression is that he's primarily concerned about the lack of future and hope for young blacks growing up in the inner cities (is near flat-out despair about the black genocide occurring) and is willing to take any money from any one to try to turn their lives around