२७ जून, २०१५

"Over the course of centuries, black churches served as 'hush harbors' where slaves could worship in safety..."

"... praise houses where their free descendants could gather and shout hallelujah... rest stops for the weary along the Underground Railroad; bunkers for the foot soldiers of the Civil Rights Movement," said President Obama in his eulogy for Clementa Pinckney.
... We do not know whether the killer of Reverend Pinckney and eight others knew all of this history. But he surely sensed the meaning of his violent act. It was an act that drew on a long history of bombs and arson and shots fired at churches, not random, but as a means of control, a way to terrorize and oppress. An act that he imagined would incite fear and recrimination; violence and suspicion. An act that he presumed would deepen divisions that trace back to our nation’s original sin.

Oh, but God works in mysterious ways. God has different ideas.  He didn’t know he was being used by God. Blinded by hatred, the alleged killer could not see the grace....

The alleged killer could not imagine how the city of Charleston, under the good and wise leadership of Mayor Riley... how the state of South Carolina, how the United States of America would respond — not merely with revulsion at his evil act, but with big-hearted generosity and, more importantly, with a thoughtful introspection and self-examination that we so rarely see in public life.

Blinded by hatred, he failed to comprehend what Reverend Pinckney so well understood -- the power of God’s grace.... As a nation, out of this terrible tragedy, God has visited grace upon us, for he has allowed us to see where we’ve been blind. He has given us the chance, where we’ve been lost, to find our best selves. We may not have earned it, this grace, with our rancor and complacency, and short-sightedness and fear of each other — but we got it all the same. He gave it to us anyway. He’s once more given us grace. But it is up to us now to make the most of it, to receive it with gratitude, and to prove ourselves worthy of this gift....
I've highlighted the most religious part, including the brief exploration of the notion that God used Dylann Storm Roof pursuant to his famously "mysterious" ways. I've left out the material that was more specific to the individual man, Clementa Pinckney, and the various policy proposals — take down the Confederate battle flag, improve the schools, deal with possible racial bias in prison systems and in policing and job hiring, restrict guns. You can read all that at the full transcript at the link.

२८ टिप्पण्या:

Henry म्हणाले...

Obama is the Edward Everett of our time. I mean this as a compliment. It is a beautiful speech, and clearly drawn as an extension of Abraham Lincoln's examination of grace in the slaughter of the Civil War.

PB म्हणाले...

Obama is a great actor. He delivers the words others wrote very well.

exhelodrvr1 म्हणाले...

God doesn't cause these types of acts, but He always provides us a path back to Him.

अनामित म्हणाले...
ही टिप्पणी लेखकाना हलविली आहे.
MayBee म्हणाले...

Obama likes to pontificate, part 3,012.

Rev Pinckney must have been a wonderful man to have led such a wonderful congregation. I am sorry he is gone.

अनामित म्हणाले...

Over the course of centuries, black churches served as “hush harbors” where slaves could worship in safety

Obama's speech writers again demonstrate that their expensive liberal educations were wasted. Hush houses were covert, illegal and dangerous assemblies of slaves and when found punished severely.

His history also leaves out that during the civil rights era, numerous black churches survived un-burned because the Deacons organized a night shift of men with shotguns. Obama and the liberals hate the idea of blacks off the leftist plantation with guns doing good within the 2nd Amendment.

Condi Rice on 1963:

The event that seared its way most powerfully into Rice’s memory was the 1963 bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church. She heard the blast. Rice recalls the terror she felt as an eight-year-old. “These terrible events burned into my consciousness,” she remembers.

And, as America shook its head in disbelief at the murder of four girls, Condi was mourning the two she knew personally–including Denise McNair, her kindergarten classmate.


“I remember more than anything the coffins, the small coffins, and the sense that Birmingham was not a very safe place.“Armed with a shotgun, her father joined the other men of the black community in night patrols to keep the KKK out

Fernandinande म्हणाले...

Oh, but God works in mysterious ways.

What a creative idea.

take down the Confederate battle flag, improve the schools, deal with possible racial bias in prison systems and in policing and job hiring, restrict guns.

The standard 'white people are bad', 'black people are helpless victims' and 'Asians are unmentionable' nonsense.

You can read all that at the full transcript at the link.

Or not.

rhhardin म्हणाले...

Obama is a piece of shit at all levels.

traditionalguy म्हणाले...

Obama has great leadership skills. The trouble is where he is leading us...to a carefully crafted disaster in every area.

sunsong म्हणाले...

It is amazing to me, the significant shift in power since the Pope spoke out about taking care of our planet. The governor of South Carolina called for the confederate flag to be taken down from the statehouse, (other states followed), the Emanuel AME taught the country about Christian forgiveness and love, Obamacare was saved by the Supreme Court and marriage equality is now the law of the land! And yeah, Obama is on a roll!

These events change everything, imo. We won't go back. The far right, the theocrats, the racists, the haters, the chauvinists, the homophobes, the my-way-or-the-highway-I'm-always-right types, etc will become more marginalized, relics of a less enlightened time. Trying to go back to some fantasy idea of what the past was will be seen for what it is...delusion. There will be chaos because of the change, and it will take time to be more fully realized, but the change has happened. Though change can be frightening, most people will adjust and welcome a kinder, more inspired, more loving, more inclusive self and society.

JAORE म्हणाले...

The rush to deny history, selectively, continues apace. There is a proposal in Alabama to change the name of the Edmund Pettus Bridge because he was a confederate general and KKK member (Grand Dragon or Wizard or some such).

Seems that link, that very, very few are even aware of, makes some people uncomfortable. (I would call it a triggering, but I am now told that using terms that relate to firearms may also damage certain sensibilities.

Change the name of the bridge so intimately linked to the Selma to Montgomery march!

Fortunately wiser heads, both black and white, in Alabama seem to have prevailed. For now.

Rick म्हणाले...

sunsong said...
most people will adjust and welcome a kinder, more inspired, more loving, more inclusive self and society.


This would be welcome, but it doesn't describe the path we are on. The universal result of the left's ascendancy is an Inquisition against leftist heresy. While the left welcomes this today most of those rejoicing will be the subjects of that Inquisition before long. There is always someone willing to more extreme, more pure (ask Laura Kipnis).

Plus it's amusing to see someone so rude bemoaning "my-way-or-the-highway-I'm-always-right types" as if that didn't include themselves.

अनामित म्हणाले...

JAORE said...
The rush to deny history, selectively, continues apace. There is a proposal in Alabama to change the name of the Edmund Pettus Bridge because he was a confederate general and KKK member (Grand Dragon or Wizard or some such).


Lest we forget in the rush to dig up the bones of all those Southern Generals and Politicians.

They were Democrats, ALL!

Phil 314 म्हणाले...

"the my-way-or-the-highway-I'm-always-right types, etc will become more marginalized"

Sunsong,
Please reassure me that you're not that niave.

Eric the Fruit Bat म्हणाले...

It's far more probable that "God" is wholly indifferent.

But to very few people does that come as comforting or flattering.

Michael म्हणाले...

It was as good a speech as he has given. Less about himself than usual.

Charleston did not need a lecture.

Eric the Fruit Bat म्हणाले...

The idea is to use rhetoric to sooth the part of the brain that's still stuck in the pre-reason developmental stage.

Somewhere around the range between age 3 and 10, by my estimate.

अनामित म्हणाले...

"Let's go downtown and get this guy God. That's the third man he's killed this week." --George Carlin

bgates म्हणाले...

The alleged killer could not imagine how the city of Charleston, under the good and wise leadership of Mayor Riley... how the state of South Carolina, how the United States of America would respond

1) The word "alleged" serves no purpose in that sentence, unless Obama wants to insinuate that there might not have been a killer.

2) There was also "good and wise leadership" by the church - remember the church? there was a church in this story. But their goodness and wisdom doesn't advance any part of the Democrat agenda, so Obama doesn't dwell on it.

William म्हणाले...

Who is more a product of his culture and time: the Charlestown shooter or the Tunisian one. I think the Charlestown shooter was some sick weirdo who has more in common with Adam Lanza than Leonard Skynyrd. I think the Tunisian shooter was probably a far more socially adept person and is legion in that part of the world. We will, nonetheless, use the Charlestown shooter to rehearse all the old grievances and point out all the flaws in southern white men. About the Tunisian shooter, we will be told that he is an aberrant figure and that it would be wrong--immoral even--to say anything hostile about Islam because of this lone nut's criminal activity.........I note that you can not be declined employment because you wear a hijab but that you can be fired for wearing Confderate underwear. The majesty of the law and the supremacy of our Constitutional rights are wondrous things to behold.

Michael K म्हणाले...

" The majesty of the law and the supremacy of our Constitutional rights are wondrous things to behold."

"The law, in its majestic equality, forbids the rich as well as the poor to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets, and to steal bread."

Anatole France


mccullough म्हणाले...

What a beautiful eulogy. The next paycho will really have to ramp it up to test Obama's rhetorical skill.

Smilin' Jack म्हणाले...

God has different ideas.  He didn’t know he was being used by God.

So--he's like, Susan Atkins, and God is, like, Charles Manson? Interesting theology our president has.

David म्हणाले...

Nice theory, but in fact the killer was just going for the easy target. If the accounts are correct, he said so openly. He could not possibly go to the "ghetto." Some scary young black male might fight back (if he could take time off from stealing white women.) The College of Charleston might have security guards. Far too difficult and risky for a man committed to starting a race war. The church was perfect. Gun free zone. Security fee zone. Scary young black male free zone. (Actually there was a young black male, but he was a committed Christian so (1) he tried to talk the killer out of it and (2) took a bullet for his 87 year old grandmother when the killer went after her first.

In the name of rhetoric, Obama unnecessarily elevates this heinous little punk.

David म्हणाले...

I would not change the name of the Pettus bridge.

Let Pettus be remembered in the infamy of the day.

Ann Althouse म्हणाले...

"1) The word "alleged" serves no purpose in that sentence, unless Obama wants to insinuate that there might not have been a killer."

Google: Nixon Manson

You'll have your answer.

Robert Marshall म्हणाले...

Small point, but ... Obama mentions the exemplary leadership of the city and the state, but only mentions the mayor by name, not the governor. Democratic mayor gets kudos and name recognition, but Republican governor, no name mentioned. I guess a Republican minority woman is just too much to comprehend.

How can someone be so deeply, totally partisan, that it pervades even a eulogy?

SukieTawdry म्हणाले...

Sunsong: There's no one more "my-way-or-the-highway-I'm-always-right" than President I Won. In fact, he could be the prototype.