More on Race

The National Catholic Reporter carried an article by Fr. Bryan Massingale, an African American Catholic priest who teaches a Racial Justice course in the Theology department at Marquette University. Well worth the read, the article speaks mostly of the gut feelings that come up for us when we hear or talk about race in America: "fear, anger, confusion, resentment, guilt, helplessness, shame, outrage, despair, resignation." But he also speaks, with candor, about the reality of what we hear preached from our churches and temples:

For what religious person hasn’t heard a priest, minister or rabbi utter from the pulpit boneheaded, ill-advised, insensitive, embarrassing or even stupid statements that offended common sense and even one’s religious convictions? And yet decided that because the church’s merits outweighed the minister’s shortcomings, one could remain a member of the congregation? Who among us would want to be held responsible for every pronouncement made by our faith’s leaders?

This statement is made, of course, in light of Rev. Wright's controversial statements. I think the importance of this comment, coming from a diocesan priest, is that it reminds us that clergy and ordained religious are not perfect, nor do they always preach the Good News in the ways we're most comfortable, or those most appropriate. But if we have these gut reactions to race and racism (or any other -ism), and those feelings shape our dialogue, then the same is true for our religious leaders. It is important to recognize that as people with stories, we each bring that story into the "public sphere," either as elected officials, community leaders, or religious leaders. And those stories continue to shape us and our leadership.