Letters to the Editor
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Free Pulpit and Free Pew Tradition Misunderstood
On 24 March 2008, zeuser wrote:
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"To me this is not about Rev. Wright, but about the judgement of someone who had to on some level agree with the reverend's comments. If Obama disagreed we would expect that he would use his judgement and decide to pray in another Church."
This comments reflects a lack of knowledge about the free church tradition that arose within Protestant Christianity.
This free church tradition is found in the United Church of Christ and in Unitarian Universalism -- both denominations have their roots in historic 17th century New England Congregationalism.
In the free church tradition, the speaker has the freedom to speak the truth as he or she sees it. The person sitting in the pew has the responsibility to test the words of the speaker against his or her own experience and knowledge.
Senator Obama isn't required to agree with the words that Rev. Wright spoke.
Rev. Wright isn't required to preach a message that everyone will agree with either.
For folks who attend church ... if you find yourself agreeing with everything the minister says, either there's one serious case of "group-think" or the minister is playing it safe and not challeging you to think and reflect on the world we live in and what ethical responsibilities we have to fix the problems we find.