Sojourners magazine founder Jim Wallis predicted on National Public Radio’s Interfaith Voices this week that a button circulating on the Internet stating that Jesus Christ was a community organizer, Pontius Pilate was a governor would be all over the place in a few days. Wallis was making the point that the comment by Republican Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin during her acceptance speech about Democratic Presidential Candidate Barack Obama’s community organizing experience was fairly offensive to community organizers and may backfire in faith-based communities where community organizers are often associated with churches. He suggested he might want to apologize.
For variety of reasons, comparing Palin to Pontius Pilate and Obama to Jesus Christ has not gone over very well in some circles. How has the media covered this issue? Based on the limited amount of real news coverage of the issue (Rush Limbaugh does not count), the coverage has not been all that substantive. The gist of the coverage is that the analogy is not very funny, and not very effective. We aren’t told however, whether the analogy is accurate.
Here is the Memphis Commercial Appeal article dated Friday:
WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen’s House floor speech suggesting that both Barack Obama and Jesus were “community organizers” has lit up the blogosphere, produced heated partisan exchanges and, on Thursday, landed him on “Hardball.”
Cohen released a statement on Thursday clarifying his intent in making the remarks Wednesday night, saying, “I didn’t and I wouldn’t compare anyone to Jesus. Jesus cannot be compared to anyone. What I pointed out was that Jesus was a force of change, and those who work to accomplish change deserve respect.”
He then went on the political TV show “Hardball” to say of the Jesus remark: “I shouldn’t have done it,” and that he’d learned from the mistake.
In the brief speech on Wednesday, the Memphis Democrat had said Republicans are campaigning against “a Washington they created and cultivated” for more than a decade before the Democrats assumed control last year. He added that he believed the political parties have differences “but if you want change, you want the Democratic Party. Barack Obama was a community organizer like Jesus … Pontius Pilate was a governor.”
Some have taken the latter part of that statement as a reference to Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, the Republican vice presidential candidate.
See here for the Associated Press’s coverage of the comment.
Unfortunately, the article does not attempt to examine the comparisons that at least some people who like community organizers thought would be effective. Democratic political activist and CNN commentator Donna Brazile made the same comparison Sunday on CNN. I don’t think I am going too far out on a limb in suggesting that neither Cohen came up with that comparison on his own.
There are a couple of things that are worth noting for the purposes of media analysis of this political and religious kerfuffle. The first is the question of why Democrats seem to always get on the wrong side of these things? Wallis thought the comparison was fairly effective. Obviously, Republicans did not appreciate it, but why are Democrats backing down from the line so quickly? Is the comparison that offensive and that ineffective?
Secondly, exactly how valid are the comparisons and are there any community organizers out there that don’t want the Democrats to back down from defending their work? Note that USA Today’s Jill Lawrence covered the issue of community organizers being upset right after the convention (noting former New York Mayor and Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani snickering), but there is little mention of religious groups being among who are upset.
Ultimately though reporters should get beyond covering silly analogies and report on the story of community organizers and religion that is worth telling.
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Comments (15) |
September 12, 2008, at 7:37 pm
As you pointed out, the start of this kerfluffle was the Republican party trash talking Obama’s background as a community organizer. People got angry and fired back. Now, of course, the Republicans are using the angry response to escalate the situation. And so it goes since the Democrats have sworn to not let swiftboating pass unchallenged this time. So we’re seeing political total war with everything including religion being exploited. Those in the media financial departments are presumably celebrating as ratings go up and profits follow.
That’s something to hope for. I don’t think the odds are good at all, but I’d love to be wrong.
I wonder if you folk at GetReligion should deliberately ignore as much political trash for the next couple of months to cover other stories worth telling no matter how deeply off the rails the political reporting gets. There’s only so much of this stuff I can read about before I feel the need to take a shower to wash off the muck piled up in my brain from wading through the reportorial swamp.
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September 12, 2008, at 7:39 pm
In the area of Boston at least 3 of the talk shows had a field day with the Dems using this phrase. They kept playing the tapes of Donna Brazile and Susan Sarandon along with 2 or 3 other Dems or liberals, whose names I can’t remember, saying it. It was claimed the analogy spread so much because the Dem Party at one point used it as a “talking point.”
But, first of all, using this analogy is to many very sacrilegious.
And second, it reinforces the idea that either Obama or his followers arrogantly consider him “The One, The Messiah.”
However, I have heard another analogy running in some Catholic circles. Since Obama has the earned record and reputation of being the most pro-abortion (and virtually pro-infanticide)
politician in America—the Biblical personage he should be equated with is not Jesus, but King Herod—the slaughterer of the innocents.
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September 12, 2008, at 7:56 pm
Note—the first shot in this back-and-forth “communitty organizer” kerfuffle did NOT start with the Republican side according to a few stories I have read.
It started when Sarah Palin’s name was first announced. At that time a number of Dem and Obama spokesmen ridiculed and derided her for her having such a meager background as being mayor of a small town (forgetting she was now Gov. Palin). But after 24 or 48 hours Obama apparently realized small town residents are a huge voting bloc and began publicly criticizing his own campaign team for what they had said. The wisecracks about community organizers (part of Obama’s claimed experience for office) were the Republican response.
However, in the days after the Repub convention the MSM seems to have forgotten the history of this, and have made it look like the zings about community organizing were not caused by anything the Dems said or did.
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September 13, 2008, at 9:00 am
OK, I just killed out 10 or so comments from the back and forth political arguments about Obama and Palin.
Back to the news coverage, folks.
I’m sorry that Daniel and I were away from computers for a while and let that train wreck roll on too long.
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September 13, 2008, at 12:04 pm
I just looked up “community organizer” on Wikipedia, not a source I’d usually use but for having seen it referred to on GetRelision.org. And after checking out some of the folks listed I’d have to say that I’ve done some community organizing in my day. But it was something if I listed it at all on my cv, it would be under the heading “on my own time” — stuff like informing property owners of an ordiance that would depreciate their rights; campaigning for school vouchers; getting budget increases for improved storm drains by going door to door. More likely I’d save that stuff for the interview.
Modernity has created job titles for lots of things, and donations have created a non-profit world that’s become a cash cow for those who don’t fit into the economy in traditional roles. Lots of kids get out of law school and wonder what to do with their life. Most have dads who kick them in the rear and tell them to get going.
Wikipedia lists a number of folks including one who is credited with penning “we shall overcome” but most on the list appear to be disciples of Saul Alinsky, and Cesar Chavez. There’s even some drivel about Hillary’s senior thesis.
I suppose it’s all a matter of what you’re organizing for and who is served at the end. I’m not sure most on the Wikipedia list were serving anyone but themselves or their collectivist dreams. The site is updated regularly. Obama is second on the list under Chavez. That’s something to ponder.
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September 13, 2008, at 12:50 pm
Did you mean to mispell “Pilate” as “Pilot” in the title?
And at the end of your first paragraph, you write, “He suggested he might want to apologize.” Did you mean “she might want…”? I was confused.
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September 13, 2008, at 12:51 pm
Of course, then I misspell misspell.
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September 13, 2008, at 1:32 pm
Pontius Pilate was what was intended. Apologies for the mistake.
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September 13, 2008, at 3:15 pm
The remark is hilarious for a sufficiently irreverent sense of humor (like mine) but likely offensive to the reverent, who vote, and hence was withdrawn. That’s the story in a nutshell. If the media continue to cover it, it’s because the original remark has gone viral. (For example, I first read it here.)
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September 13, 2008, at 8:06 pm
Some of us have probably already heard the story about the child who drew his picture of “The Flight Into Egypt” with four figures in a plane. When asked “That’s Mary, Jesus, Joseph.. but who’s the other one?” he replied “Pontius the Pilot!”
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September 13, 2008, at 9:07 pm
Just for the sake of clarity, I hope that Jim Wallis did not come up with this formulation - if so he’s moved into extreme territory.
Also, as a follow-up, I see the Republicans are responding:
And
Actually, as an Obama primary voter, I have to admit I still don’t know what it was, exactly, that he did as a “community organizer.” Instead of responding in a surly manner, the campaign had the perfect opportunity to explain in specific detail what he did. The Jesus-Pilate jab just makes it look like it’s something else he’s hiding.
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September 14, 2008, at 2:08 pm
Raider51 wrote:
There’s been stuff in the media in the past week explaining what a community organizer does; whether it comes from the campaign or not — well, who can tell, really? You can be sure that the Jesus/Pilate joke is not the campaign’s response.
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September 14, 2008, at 6:13 pm
Please tell me what Jesus did as a “community organizer”. I just don’t see the analogy between the Son of God and the works of a “community organizer”. I have heard about all of the “community organizer” stuff I can stand from the Obama mouthpieces. The fact is that I have also encountered them when they are trying to organize the community of a particular work force, and call themselves “labor organizers” there.
Just to remind you, they are NOT democratically-minded people. Just like the “labor organizers” are pushing for card-check to keep people from voting for unions, the “community organizer” tries to suppress the community in favor of some minority group.
Can anyone tell me what OBAMA did as a community organizer? Can we view it as any more worthwhile than the Woods Foundation which he chaired with Bill Ayers as vice-chairman?
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September 15, 2008, at 2:45 pm
I thought he was a King?
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September 16, 2008, at 2:09 pm
I do not understand , as such delirium possible to write?????
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