Steve Waldman: October 2008 Archives

I'm attending the American Academy of Religion, the conference of religion professors, for a few days. Just heard a talk from Dwight Hopkins, who is both a professor at the University of Chicago Divinity School and a member of the United Church of Christ formerly pastored by Jeremiah Wright. He also studied under James Cone, the originator of Black Liberation Theology.

Since so many commenters on my blog have said that Obama is a Black Liberation Theology practictioner, I asked Hopkins whether he thought Obama was. He said Obama;s emphasis on "the least of these" and being your brother's keeper fits Black Liberation Theology (as well as many others).

But there are key differences, he said. "Wright starts with the particularity of the African American experience. Obama starts with the idea that we are Americans, we move together."

I'd add one other difference. The emphasis of Black Liberation Theology seems to be on collective salvation. Obama seems to accept that but also speaks in terms of personal salvation as well. In his interview a while back with Christianity Today, you can see both strands:

" I believe in the redemptive death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I believe that that faith gives me a path to be cleansed of sin and have eternal life. But most importantly, I believe in the example that Jesus set by feeding the hungry and healing the sick and always prioritizing the least of these over the powerful."

The National Republican Trust PAC is spending $2.5 million to run this anti-Obama ad in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Florida.

John McCain had made a point of saying he wouldn't raise Wright, specifically chastising the North Carolina Republican Party for running a similar ad.

So, McCain can no longer claim the high road on this. He stopped an earlier campaign on Wright, and hasn't stopped this one.

But I have a contrarian view on this: seems to me that Jeremiah Wright is a far more legitimate attack against Obama than Bill Ayers, teaching sex to kindergartners, Obama's "socialism," or many other issues they've used. I've never understood why Wright was off limits but the others were legit. I think summarizing the entirety of Wright's message as "hate" isn't fair but, let's be honest, compared to what they've got on Bill Ayers, the anti-Wright material is rock solid.

Having said that, to run these ads now may not be politically wise. The last month seems to have taught us that voters view ads like these as a sign that a candidate doesn't care sufficiently about the economy.

Those of you who are men, or married, or women, or thinking of getting married, might find something interesting in today's New York Times article about trends in infidelity:

• The lifetime rate of infidelity for men over 60 increased to 28 percent in 2006, up from 20 percent in 1991.
• The lifetime rate for women over 60 has tripled: to 15 percent, up from 5 percent in 1991.
• About 20 percent of men and 15 percent of women under 35 say they have ever been unfaithful, up from about 15 and 12 percent respectively.

Why is this? The theories offered are fascinating:

Viagra -- "Among older people, a host of newer drugs and treatments are making it easier to be sexual, and in some cases unfaithful -- Viagra and other remedies for erectile dysfunction, estrogen and testosterone supplements to maintain women's sex drive and vaginal health, even advances like better hip replacements."

In other words, they cheat because they can? Stated another way, the adultery rate had been artificially suppressed by men and women who would have happily cheated if they could have.

Internet porn -- "In younger couples, the increasing availability of pornography on the Internet, which has been shown to affect sexual attitudes and perceptions of "normal" behavior, may be playing a role in rising infidelity."

If true, this strikes me as significant. We all have a general sense that the rapid spread of pornography must have some social costs but it's never been clear exactly what.

Instant Messaging -- "Even for women who stay home, cellphones, e-mail and instant messaging appear to be allowing them to form more intimate relationships, marriage therapists say. Dr. Frank Pittman, an Atlanta psychiatrist who specializes in family crisis and couples therapy, says he has noticed more women talking about affairs centered on "electronic" contact."

This strikes me as plausible and obviously not just for women. IM and email make it much easier to open up to strangers or people with whom you don't or cant spend much time.

The article didn't address this riddle: How could infidelity be going up while divorce rates are going down?

What are your theories?

You don't have to be a hyper-sensitive liberal to think the latest McCain ad is deisgned to stimulate racial resenment. Conservative Rod Dreher explains.

Man, they're letting it all hang out, aren't they? Telling white working-class people that Obama's going to take their money and give it to the nigras. There's good ol' Joe the Plumber at the start of the ad, and the background country music, and the misspelled word "everbody" for "everybody" -- it so happens that many uneducated blacks pronounce the word "everbody."

Conservative religious leaders are often claiming they get a bum rap on racial issues. I wonder if any of them will comment on this ad.

In the infomercial Wednesday, Michelle Obama told how Barack read all of the Harry Potter books to his daughter. I wonder if they realized that they'd meandered into a culture war mine field.

The Harry Potter books were extemely controversial in evangelical circles when they came out. Many attacked them for glamorizing or encouraging witchcraft. There's still a few days left for McCain to cut a new ad about Obama being Soft on Witches. Since Sarah Palin was blessed by an anti-witchcraft pastor, the McCain-Palin ticket can justifiably lay claim to being more anti-Witch than Obama. ("Barack Obama is willing to sit down with Voldemort without preconditions...")

But I wasn't sure if the anti-Potter sentiment was still strong so I asked our Christianity editor, Patton Dodd, whose brilliant new blog "Text Messages" represents well the thinking of the new generation of evangelical leaders. His verdict: evangelicals over 40 will hate that Obama digs Harry, and those under 40 will like/love it. On balance, he generalized, "I'd say moderate evangelicals are Potter fans."