Fair Play for False Prophets

It's entirely true that Wright's foolishness is a bigger deal because of his long-standing relationship with Obama. That's the view of John Danforth, a former Republican senator from Missouri and an Episcopal priest who was here for a conference on religion and politics.

But in an interview, Danforth said that for a long time the role of the religious right in Republican politics "did not get enough attention," partly because so much of its activity occurred out of public view. "The way that it works is to get the people listening to you very angry," he said, "and you kind of whisper in their ears."

The Rev. William Danaher, a professor at the General Theological Seminary here, argued that left-wing preachers who are black draw more fire because their critique of American society tends to be more fundamental.

"The left black preacher is challenging the social structures that everyone lives in," Danaher said. "The white preachers on the right don't challenge these structures. Instead, they talk about issues of personal morality and individual behavior."

None of this absolves Wright. Allen Dwight Callahan, one of the nation's leading African American scripture scholars, argued on the Web site of PBS's "Religion and Ethics Newsweekly" that "prophets of old didn't announce their prophetic prerogatives at press conferences and press clubs" and that Wright "is wrong to wrap his recent media attention in the mantle of the prophetic tradition."

Exactly right. Now the question is whether we will be just as tough on false prophets who happen to be white and right-wing.

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