Why Obama Stands With His Church

Buchanan would have African Americans fall to their knees and thank white people for their grace.

"No people anywhere has done more to lift up blacks than white Americans," he wrote.

Buchanan & Co. mock Obama's notion of a racial divide in America and a need to heal the country. In their world, there are no black grievances worth noting.

Truth is, the right-wing commentariat is content to have black churches with timid members worshipping under the banner: "I'm but a stranger here; heaven is my home."

It's those black congregations with pastors who make their churches a voice of liberating gospel, with a loud emphasis on sticking up for the persecuted and afflicting the comfortable, that right-wingers consider a threat to the republic.

Which gets me to the Rev. Jeremiah Wright.

I've never met him or been to his church. I've seen those TV snippets of his sermons. I've also heard what Barack Obama has said about his former pastor, their relationship and his views on Wright's rants.

His explanations won't satisfy some, especially those who never planned to support him, anyway. As for me, 'tis enough, 'twill serve.

I also know, as Clark has pointed out, that church plays a religious and cathartic role unlike that of any other institution in the black community. It's a haven, a place for emotional release and personal affirmation. The pastor is given much leeway, so long as the church is held together as a family.

Those thoughts may be beyond the understanding of people who wonder why Obama will not leave Trinity.

I know why he stays. So, I bet, would Absalom Jones and Richard Allen.

kingc@washpost.com