Connecting the Dots: Full Journalism

In this New Republic article entitled "Full Faith," E.J. Dionne expresses surprise at the sophistication of Obamas articulation of his faith. Specifically, he writes,

"As I paused to marvel at how this remark could have been plucked from one of Niebuhr's essays, Obama seemed to have the same realization. He quipped, "And that's as Niebuhrian as you can get." It's typical Obama: using Niebuhr to describe an African American church. During this campaign, Obama has set about preaching a different kind of liberal religion, one that includes the old social justice faith but is also deeply influenced by the experience of the black church."

Hmmh, Niebuhr in a black church focused on social justice, I wonder where that comes from? Below is my response to him, which I hope the New Republic's editors will approve and show in their comments section.

"E.J., thanks for your essay on Obama's articulation of his faith. It's by now well known that Jeremiah Wright subscribes to Black Liberation Theology. One of its main proponents is James H. Cone who in turn subscribes to Niebuhr. Which leads me to my final point; if the heavyweights of journalism like yourself could dedicate some time to doing further research and moving beyond the caricature of Wright painted in the media, it would become less confusing as to why Obama found some resonance with him. Wright, despite his incendiary statements, is by no means an intellectual lightweight and as you and other political commentators know from your interactions, intelligent people can disagree agreeably. For further contextualization of Wright's statements you can find some resources on my blog http://cultureofpolitics.blogspot.com/
You will find, there, a video of Wright directing Sean Hannity towards James Cone and you will find a link to a November 2007 interview of Cone by Bill Moyers, which you can also find at http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/11232007/watch.html
Cone mentions Niebuhr in this interview. Thanks."

For further historical contextualization of James Cone's comments on the crucifix and the lynching tree in the Bill Moyers interview, it's worth following up by listening to Terri Gross's interview of John Dominic Crossan on the historical context of crucifixion and Krista Tippet's Speaking of Faith episode on Neibuhr.

By the way, David Brooks also observed Obama's familiarity with Neibuhr a year ago.