Finding Truth in a Sound Bite Society - What You Might Not Learn From the Media about Rev. Jeremiah Wright

If you keep up with the the news even just a little, I'm sure you have seen a sound bite or two of Obama's Pastor Jeremiah Wright.  Maybe you saw a clip of his message that he shared the Sunday after 9/11.  We watched the clips, many got angry, but I want to say how many of you went beyond the sound bite to understand the context? 

In some way, this blog entry has two topics.  One is Rev. Jeremiah Wright, the second is the effects of living in a Sound Bite Society.  There is a book entitled: The Sound Bite Society that talks about the affects of living in a Sound Bite Society. 

"SOUND BITES... ZINGERS... BUZZ WORDS... IMAGERY... HYPE... NOISE

We all know how these define the texture and culture of the modern electronic media.  And we also know why our media climate resembles a dust storm on a barren plain: the bottom line of audience share.  The impatience of the camera and the microphone, their need to gobble up one image or phrase and move on to the next.  No depth or context; no background; no past, no future; no sometimes, no maybe, no why.  But what does such a media environment really mean - how does it shape the values and ideals that underlie our political life?"

"No depth or context; no background; no past, no future; no sometimes, no maybe, no why."  That statement is an amazing one to think about, and it is one that I believe has been true about the treatment of Rev. Jeremiah Wright.  While I don't know much about Rev. Jeremiah Wright, I can say this: I felt one way after watching the media sound bites and listening to the political pundits talk about Wright and a different way after getting just a little more of the context from which the sound bite had been taken.  I wanted to see if this is true for you as well. (Which is why I have supplied a clip below).  Being able to see a little more of the context of some of the sound bites I have been watching, gave me an appetite to want to get an even larger context of his message and life, so that I can make more of an informed decision about what I think about Rev. Dr. Jeremiah Wright.

I also thought about this, what would it look like if Jesus lived in our sound bit society today?  If the media wanted to demonize Jesus, I think that they might pick some of these sound bites:

"If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple." Luke 14:26

"Do you think I came to bring peace on earth?  No, I tell you, but division." Luke 12:51

"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites!  You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean... You snakes!  You brood of vipers!  How will you escape being condemned to hell?" Matt. 23:27,33

"The woman was a Greek, born in Syrian Phoenicia.  She begged Jesus to drive the demon out of her daughter.  "First let the children eat all they want," he (Jesus) told her, "for it is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to the dogs."  "Lord," she replied, "even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs." Mark 7:26-28

I think that would be enough to demonize Jesus, don't you think?  But you cannot understand Jesus apart from his Jewish culture and apart from the context of his entire life and message, can you?

I began thinking about this yesterday:  What if someone took some (potentially incriminating) sound bites of my preaching without giving any context, how would I feel about that?  Actually, I have done interviews with newspapers and sometimes after reading the article I asked myself:  How in the heck did that get that out of what I said, and why did they choose to use that quote but left out the context in which that quote was said. Has that ever happened to you?  It helped me to realize that it is difficult to be a journalist and that sound bites can obviously be misleading.

With all that said I want you to do something for me.  If you haven't already, check out one of the sound bites on Rev. Jeremiah Wright and then watch the following clip that gives us just a little more context and let me know what you think.  What do you think about living in a sound bite society?  What are the dangers of being a people shaped by sound bites?  I would love to have a little discussion on this, if you are up to it.

Here is a bit more of Rev. Dr. Jeremiah Wright's message on the Sunday after 9/11. Make sure you watch all the way to the end.

Comments

[sander]

Preach it Reverent Wright! I like preachers who are not mixing up patriotism with Christian faith. Patriotism is idolatry!

[JR Woodward]

Sander,

You are funny. Hope all is well with you. Peace.

[Kevin Chez]

I stopped "watching" the news to avoid the sound bites. So I try to read as much as I can from a variety of sources. Although instead of sound bites it is headlines that I must sift through instead of sound bites.

I think there is a lack of depth to tv news but I guess you can't get to deep in 30 minutes to an hour. I also blame the sound bites on a division between right and left (or however you want to call it) and the need for one's point to be made/heard. Shows like Hannity and Colmbes where the two sides argue it out. Too annoying for me.

I want to think about this post more and listen to the clip again. I don't know if the clip provides much context to the sound bite of the "chickens coming home to roost" but I do want to think about it more.

In the meantime I would like to find some context to the Reverend's $1.6 million home. Heaven has come to earth baby.

http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/03/27/obamas-former-pastor-builds-a-multimillion-dollar-retirement-home/

[JR Woodward]

Kevin,

That is cool that you have found a variety of sources by which to keep up on what is happening in the world.

As far as the chickens coming home to roost, I think this clip does provide a bit more context to the statement, as it is a footnote in the talk, and the footnote in itself mentions the reasons for why he is sharing that quote that he had heard on Fox.

In regard to the Reverend's house, it seems that my understanding of "bringing a little more heaven to earth" is a quite a bit different than his.

Thanks for your comments Kevin. I always appreciate your perspective.

[Kevin Chez]

Forgive me for throwing the "jab" at the Rev. for his house (I don't think that is really any of my business). Your original post didn't ask about the content of the clip - a whole other discussion - but the sound bite society. I don't want to make the Rev. the focus.

You ask about the dangers of a sound bite society. It makes me ambivalent to the story and those affected by it. I turn off my feelings because I do not want to feel anything - rage, anger, sympathy, etc... This probably isn't healthy.

Hopefully when we hear a sound bite we will ask ourselves "Is that really true?" and dig deeper into the issue. I am a news junkie so I really need to be disciplined in this and have the patience to read/listen beyond the headline/sound bite.

JR, that has changed my thoughts on Mr. Wright. I appreciate his boldness. I can't imagine saying something like that in light of a tragedy so great. The "normal" response would be to say God will comfort us in our terrible tragedy. But that's based on presupposing that God's always "on our side" because we're a Christian nation. Shouldn't we instead accept judgment from God, as well as, His comfort? And shouldn't we face the fact that we're not always right? And we haven't always obeyed God's guidance?

This was a very helpful post. I'm passing it on.

Oops, JR that last comment was from Dustin James.

[JR Woodward]

Kevin,

Hey bro, thanks for your additional comments. And I am with you, we need to train ourselves and others to ask "Is that really true." Also, I appreciate you taking back your jab. Cause after living in LA, I know that sometimes 1.6 million doesn't buy what it used to in regard to houses. And of course, I don't know all the purposes of his place, so I don't want to stand in judgment on that issue either.

Dustin,

I'm glad you found the post helpful. Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Peace.