151 Band

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Jeremiah Wright in Oklahoma?

 Heard It Here First
Ron Black, the 400lb Gorilla
An apology for our forefathers, a plea to God to ensure elected officials are merciful to illegal immigrants...all things we would easily expect from President Obama's pastor Jeremiah Wright - and the conservative community had a field day dissecting his sermons and his appearances on Fox News only fueled the fire against him and the most popular member of his congregation.

Dr. James Hewitt, Wesley UMC, Shawnee
We talk radio junkies remember Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity ripping to shreds the liberal commentary of Jeremiah Wright and taking to task President Obama for holding himself spiritually accountable for 20 years to Reverend Wright.  But it appears as though Oklahoma is in the midst of its own Jeremiah Wright moment.

And no, we're not talking about Robin Meyers from Mayflower Church either.

In this case, we're talking about the pastor of the church Republican Speaker of the House, Kris Steele is a part of, as the pastor addressed and prayed for the legislature on the birthday of the great state of Oklahoma.

Dr. James Hewitt is the pastor of Wesley United Methodist Church of Shawnee and when he was asked to conduct the opening prayer at the Oklahoma House of Representatives swearing-in ceremony, many of the Republican members of the House were shocked to hear language that we have become quite accustomed to hearing from the likes of Jeremiah Wright.  An apology to what our forefathers did, a prayer to God that the legislature would be merciful and go easy on the illegal immigrant population in Oklahoma was enough to cause quite the stir with many Representatives, including my good friend Representative Randy Terrill - who has been an author of Oklahoma's legendary HB1804 - tackling the tough issue of illegal immigration.

Sadly, the difference between President Obama and his culpability and Speaker Kris Steele's culpability is that Steele is an Associate Minister at Dr. Hewitt's church.  Much different from simply being a congregant.

You need to pay very close attention to what this prayer asks...
"Some came by forced relocations...to them we say we're sorry for what our poor foreparents did to your forebearers."  
"They're aliens in our midst..." 

Wright expressed his support for liberation theology - and in the course of two years, we got an idea what that meant.  In this prayer, Dr. Hewitt made a call for social justice.  What does this portend for the future policy agenda in the Republican-controlled Oklahoma House of Representatives?  Does it explain Speaker-elect Steele's past fixation on social health care and welfare issues?