. . . leave it to Sean Hannity to play God and try to resurrect it. I wrote here back in January about John Solomon's lazy, unresearched attempted hit-piece on Barack Obama's home church in Chicago. The story was chewed up and spit out by just about everyone, and one would have thought that such an ignominious death to such blatant nonsense would rest easily in the grave. Sadly, though, Sean Hannity - who, like Tucker Carlson, suddenly fancies himself a critic of the varieties of the expression of Christian faith - dragged on some no-name critic who managed to smear Obama, his church, its statement of faith, and its mission, all without ever actually visiting the church or talking to members.
Actually, the person Hannity placed before the cameras has a name - Erik Rush. Rush is a columnist for WorldNetDaily. He is also lazy, ignorant, and somewhat of a blowhard. I say all these things, and use these epithets very consciously because they are not so much insults as descriptive of his (lack of) work ethic. He looked at the church's website and proceeds to smear an entire congregation as a "cult" on national television. The reason? Barack Obama is a member there!
Now, of course, this entire thing is nonsense. Trinity United Church of Christ is an active, vital congregation and its view of its place in the world is both within the mainstream of the church and American religious history. The problem for Rush and Hannity is the church is self-conscious of its mission to and ministry for African-Americans on the south side of Chicago. It is not Afro-centrist, or, as Rush put it, "African-centrist". It is simply aware of its history, identity, and what this means for the church's responsibility to the community in which it lives. Apparently this is so far beyond the religious imaginings of Rush - I don't even want to begin to speculate on Hannity's ability to imagine anything - that, when Alan Colmes asks some basic, you know, journalistic-type questions, as well as a question on integrity - who is Rush to judge the church, its ministry, or its faithfulness to Christian teaching - he sputters, spews, and merely re-asserts his original claim as a defense of his original claim.
In many ways, Obama's outspoken Christian faith is a good thing for the country, as is Mitt Romney's candidacy, and both for the same reason. What they show is that right-leaning Christians are actually small-minded, ignorant, and that their enablers in the media are actually more shallow and ignorant than they are. Sean Hannity criticizing the beliefs of others is a bit ludicrous. Personally, I would love to take this guy on - anywhere, anytime - on matters of faith. Precisely because he does not have a clue what he is talking about, and invites guests on to his show who are just as lazy and stupid as he is, it would be a joy to watch someone, or even be someone, to take this guy down on national television.
You don't suppose Hannity will invite the pastor of the church on to respond? Or perhaps Sen. Obama?
Nah.
Didn't think so.
