UPDATE: Religion Dispatches and others have found the video of Wallace Charles Smith and his comments:
This speech is not a sermon in a church, but at Eastern University’s Windows on the World. Windows on the World is a speaker series that features ideas, thoughts, and feelings of popular speakers. In the academic environment, Smith offered his thoughts that racism was not solved by the election of Obama.
Original post:
Wallace Charles Smith (a fellow American Baptist Churches pastor, my former seminary president, and fellow American Baptist Home Mission Society board director) was thrown into Sean Hannity’s cross hairs this week after President Obama attended Smith’s church on Easter. The Washington Post Reports:
The Rev. Wallace Charles Smith said the church has received more than 100 threats since Fox News channel’s Sean Hannity aired a tape Monday of a speech Smith gave in January 2010 at Eastern University in Saint Davids, Pa.
Shiloh Baptist Church in the District said it has received threatening phone calls and e-mails after an Easter visit from President Obama and a conservative television commentator’s subsequent playing of a videotape in which the pastor said that those espousing racial prejudice do so “under the protective cover of talk radio.”
What did Sean Hannity say that started all of this? It’s not what he said, but what he edited:
On Monday, Hannity aired a clip of a speech Smith gave when he served as president of Palmer Theological Seminary in Philadelphia:
“It may not be Jim Crow anymore,” Smith says in the videotape. “Now, Jim Crow wears blue pinstripes, goes to law school and carries fancy briefs in cases. And now, Jim Crow has become James Crow, esquire. And he doesn’t have to wear white robes anymore because now he can wear the protective cover of talk radio or can get a regular news program on Fox.”
Smith, 62, said that he had been asked to give a speech on racism and that he “was giving some background on what I thought were some of the issues regarding race in this country.”
Hannity said,
“I don’t believe that it is a coincidence out of all the churches in the country that Obama finds himself sitting in, why is he always in pews listening to such controversial spiritual leaders?”
Listen. I’m a proud alum of Eastern University and Palmer Theological Seminary. I know Wallace Charles Smith and I value his friendship through our denomination. He is not a racist. This is clearly the type of tactics certain radio personalities use to discredit people who do not fit their ideology. The speech that Smith gave is taken out of context. Like the Shirley Sherrod video conflict debacle, this is Fox News doing some poor researching and journalism. You can take any sermon out of context. As the Washington Post commented, several presidents, Reagan, Bush, and Clinton attended Shiloh. They never were criticized.
Sean Hannity, I’m calling on you to apologize for this segment. Your editors most likely handed you some pretty thin information and a lot of false facts. You took something out of context and you want to throw it on President Obama. You have gone too far. I’m not the only one who thinks so.
There are those with an agenda to discredit Obama’s Christian beliefs. Why not mentioned the fact that the President shared his faith at the National Prayer Breakfast or held (for the second year) an Easter prayer breakfast? Something that other Presidents did not do. Our President said last week,
But then comes Holy Week. The triumph of Palm Sunday. The humility of Jesus washing the disciples’ feet. His slow march up that hill, and the pain and the scorn and the shame of the cross.
And we’re reminded that in that moment, he took on the sins of the world — past, present and future — and he extended to us that unfathomable gift of grace and salvation through his death and resurrection.
This magnificent grace, this expansive grace, this “Amazing Grace” calls me to reflect. And it calls me to pray. It calls me to ask God for forgiveness for the times that I’ve not shown grace to others, those times that I’ve fallen short. It calls me to praise God for the gift of our son — his Son and our Savior.
These false accusations are hurting people and death threats might lead to violence against Smith or his church. Stop the pointless rhetoric.
14 Comments
It might have been taken out of context. I have seen both sides that do that. However how was it taken out of context. Over at Relgious Dispatches which you link she seems to think that the Pastor was referring to Hannity in that past speech. I am against death threats. I bet Hannity get thems too. Yet it seems this Pastor might be giving as much as he gets here.
Anyway I am interested in the full context if you can provide it
jh, thanks for the thoughts. It’s close to home. However, if Hannity is going to make the connection or allegation you need strong proof. Not just one out of context comment.
I suppose but lets face it this Pastor sort of opened himself up. Plus I was following the Press Corp twittering from that Service when the Pastor Prayed To Support Obama “in the next 6 years of his service” LOL. Now I thought that was sort of funny but it appears he is not afraid of the partisan fight.
That being said I anot a huge fan of Hannity because he is a tad bombastic. I perhaps would have taken a dfferent tact with him
Frankly, I am getting tired of the tirades against conservative talk radio personalities. I am getting tired of the predictable character assasinations, the demonizing and the constant playing of the race card. When I hear Pastor Smith condeming the inflamatory rhetoric being spewed out by people such as Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton and Minister Farakhan, then I’ll be more willing to listen to what he has to say about Sean Hannity. When I hear him stand up and oppose the hate filled rhetoric coming out of the leaders of the New Black Panther or Rev. Jeremiah Wright, then I’ll be more open to hearing what he has to say about Hannity. Until then, this is just the typical tirade being thrown at people that the left disagrees with and feels threatened by. A more civil society indeed.
I think threatening phone calls and communications of any kind are horrible. No one deserves to be subjected to that kind of treatment. I am sure Sean Hannity gets his share of those as well.
I am saddened by his comments. I listened and I heard what Hannity heard and I am not a favorite of Hannity. This nation is in dire need of God’s saving grace, not lectures on racism. The games that are being played in the pulpit and political arena are to the nations detriment and every Christian will answer for how they have either helped or hindered. You know the worst thing God could do to us is leave us to ourselves. God have mercy on us all and forgive.
Alan are you a minister? What did you study? The Word clearly teaches he that repeats a matter separateth chief friends. Proverbs
B, please check out the “About page”.
I remember sitting in a Pastoral Theology class taught by Wall-E and being told I was racist if I didn’t vote for John Kerry. I don’t care for Hannity, but I also don’t think a minister should openly support any politician in our country. It’s ironic to me that a year or so ago you didn’t think kids in GA should be able to put verses on posters. I think your argument then was separation of church and state. Now however you’re supporting a minister who believes only racist white people listen to Fox, and who also must be racist because they don’t like BO from both the podium of a seminary and the pulpit of his church. I’d much more appreciate your point if it were Adelekan or Keener; but I think Hanny has a pretty good read on Wall-E.
Mark, while I wasn’t in class with you for that situation so I can’t really address that. Did Smith says those words? What do the cheerleaders from GA have to do with Hannity’s comments or a minister supporting a political candidate? Hypothetically, it’s not illegal for a minister to support a candidate, but it is if a 501c3 church supports a political candidate. When did Smith say anything about racist white people listening to Fox? I just take issue with Hannity editing the comments to make it look like/infer Smith was racist. If someone can find other explicit public comments that support Hannity’s theory, I’ll gladly retract my post.
I watched Reverend Smith’s speech in it’s entirety, and I took nothing racist away from it. However, his comment about fox news was inappropriate. You need to have facts to use the term racist! Especially when your a reverend preaching God’s word to a group of people. He called out the entire news station, which is exactly what he meant to do. That is wrong! This is suppose to be a man of faith, and for all I know his faith could be stronger than ever. That still doesn’t take away from the overall message. In that audience there could have been unsaved, backslidden, or lukewarm individuals. How did that message speak to the love of God sending Jesus to die for our sins so that we all may have everlasting life in Heaven with our Creator and Savior?
I’m aware that he was giving a speech on racism, but the fact is it wasn’t a speech…it was a sermon. Where’s the love? ***Matthew 5:43-44***
Oh, and yes Hannity should apologise!
Yes Wall-E said that in the fall of 2004 in a pastoral theology class in WV. It did not bode well for him. What the cheerleaders in GA have in common with this argument is that you’re gagging at gnats and swallowing camels. You arduously support denying public education students writing Christian mantras on posterboard for a game as an American and a Christian; but you get upset when someone in the public sector opines about a political statement from a minister. Sorry that I don’t have a soundbyte to back up my statement, but Hannity struck true when he called Wall-E racially motivated. And if you don’t pick up on the inference that Wall-E calls out Fox listeners as James Crow (nineteenth century slang for African American btw) as Fox being racist then I concede to your immenance forthwith.
Mark, as for Smith comments, those explicit words would be grounds for automatic removal. Palmer had to catch wind of that from WV students. Those comments would be undeniable. Professors at Palmer have been removed for lesser offensives.
The GA cheerleaders were clearly acting against subsequent federal court rulings: public school sponsored functions (football game), featuring public school supported activities (cheerleading) and students, cannot feature an expression of religion in a public school gathering (use of scripture). Just because ministers can do the contrary, doesn’t make it legal for public school sponsored events to support official expressions of religion. Until the courts overturn those rulings, it is not done in a public vacuum with gnats and camels. If students want to gather, without the support of a publicly funded activity, to show their faith, then they are free to do that, legally.
You have to remember, Smith said these words just after Glenn Beck said, “Obama has a deep seated hatred for white people. I’m not saying that he doesn’t like white people. I’m saying he has a problem. He has a, this guy is, I believe, a racist.” If anything, Smith is talking about those comments on Fox. http://thinkprogress.org/2009/07/28/beck-obama-hatred/ And, Rush Limbaugh playing his song “‘Barack the Magic Negro” on his show. And, saying that “we need segregated buses. ” http://newsone.com/nation/cganemccalla/limbaugh-blames-beating-of-white-student-on-obamas-america/ So, Smith’s comments were very on point, in context, as my post points out. My whole issue is that Hannity, obviously took Smith’s comments out of content and edited to suit his personal agenda. At what point in the video does Smith call Fox listeners “James Crow”? What is the minute and second mark? He talks about James Crow and talks about Fox, but does not mention Fox’s listeners as James Crow.
So, Smith’s comments, in this video, are backed up by Fox personalities’ own words. Smith’s speech at Eastern in January 2010 was in reference to the fact that some think that America no longer has racial justice issues because we have a black president.
Reverend Rudnick,
Since you didn’t respond to my above comments let me ask you this…
As a man of faith do you think that Reverend Smith’s sermon was one that spoke of God’s love, and Christ’s ultimate sacrifice?
Ephesians 4:32
While Hannity was wrong, Reverend Smith’s sermon was not of God, but of this world!
Luke 6:27-36