For the Blacks their race takes precedence over the Bible!
HAMPTON, Va. -- The Rev. Jeffrey Bryan has posted campaign signs for "Obama in '08" and displayed snapshots of the presumed Democratic presidential nominee visiting his Newark, N.J., church. At times he wears a T-shirt emblazoned with Barack Obama's face.
That's as far as Bryan will go _ there will be no sermons peppered with "Vote Obama!"
"It's a historical time for black people. We cannot ignore what's going on," Bryan said. Yet, he added, "you can't tell people who to vote for."
The pulpit plays a powerful role in shaping political views in the black community. During the civil rights era, for example, pastors were activists as well as spiritual leaders. Now, with a black candidate one election away from the White House, black churches are trying to balance their support for Obama with their legal obligations as nonprofit institutions. And there's concern that controversial pastors _ already a problem for Obama _ could hurt his campaign.
This week, about 7,500 pastors gathered for the annual Hampton Ministers' Conference to discuss issues of faith and relate them to daily life. As Obama claimed the delegates necessary to secure the Democratic presidential nomination before a crowd of cheering thousands in St. Paul, Minn., on Tuesday, the energy rippled through the conference. Just a year earlier, the Illinois senator had used the conference to challenge the Bush administration for failing to diffuse a "quiet riot" of discontent brewing in black America.
By midweek, pastors were openly supporting Obama's historic candidacy _ but choosing their words carefully. Many said they personally endorsed him, but stopped short of saying more.
The Rev. William B. Moore, a Philadelphia pastor, said he's helped organize voter drives in his congregation, given money to the campaign and posted an Obama '08 sign. But he didn't plan much else.
"The black church has, over the years, made that distinction between church and state and God and state. I think the media has made it more than it really is," Moore said. "We know how to walk that line."
Robert Franklin, head of Atlanta's Morehouse College, urged pastors to seize the spirit of the day _ one of interracial cooperation _ in a speech Tuesday.
"That's part of the attraction of Senator Obama," he said afterward. "He gets that."
Later in the week, Franklin warned churches against endorsing a candidate. Federal tax rules bar nonprofits from engaging in partisan activity.
His comments reflect a changing landscape in which churches, long an unchallenged force in politics, have come under increased scrutiny.
This election year has seen an effort by the IRS and church-state separation watchdog groups to significantly step up their monitoring of churches and other nonprofits. Obama's own denomination, the United Church of Christ, was investigated and quickly cleared by the IRS for hosting the candidate at the religious group's national meeting last year.
Meanwhile, pastors' sermons are being posted on YouTube and analyzed for any clue to the values of the candidate.
Obama distanced himself from his former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, after video snippets of Wright's sermons were broadcast and the clergyman made contentious public appearances. Obama recently left the Chicago congregation where he had been a member for some 20 years.
John McCain, the presumed Republican presidential nominee, has had his own pastor troubles. He accepted, and then spurned, prominent Texas preacher John Hagee's endorsement and later rejected Ohio Pentecostal pastor Rod Parsley's endorsement because of their controversial remarks.
Some pastors at the Hampton conference wouldn't talk publicly about politics, fearful of hurting their church.
Some criticized media coverage they say focused on black ministers doing something white ministers have done for years.
Michael Battle, president of the Interdenominational Theological Center in Atlanta, pointed to ministers like Moral Majority founder Jerry Falwell and Christian Coalition founder Pat Robertson.
"For a long time those preachers have been very, very engaged in this effort to get people to register and to vote for the candidate of their choice _ so it is not new to the black church, nor is it new to the white church, to encourage participation in the democracy," Battle said.
© 2008 Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Topic: Black "Pastors" Support Obama (Read 1249 times)