Washington insiders have intervened in the Barack Obama campaign not just to promote Islamophobia, but also to attack the Black church. By seizing on a few statements by Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Obama’s former pastor, they seek to portray the Black church as un-American and subversive. Something similar happened during the civil rights struggle of the 1960s, when Martin Luther King said that America was “the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today.” He was attacked for being a Communist sympathizer, and preachers who agreed with him were harassed by the FBI.       

King preached out of a long tradition of “speaking truth to power,” as he often put it. Christianity was originally disseminated by slave-owners (and segregationist plantation owners later) who sought to “pacify” Blacks, but African-Americans turned the tables on them by identifying with Bible stories of liberation from bondage. Thus grew up a preaching tradition focused on social justice. Some call it Black liberation theology, but it actually predates the form of liberation theology that became popular among Latin American Catholics in the 1960s.

Meanwhile, a unique and powerful style of worship arose in the Black church, based on sustained and intensifying emotion. Accompanied by singing, clapping and the intricate rhythms of a preacher’s cadence, worshippers seek personal salvation while petitioning God for transformation of a broken world. Since perfect social justice is difficult to achieve, the central experience of the Black church is likely to be more cathartic than intellectual. That works for me, because personally I believe that God often touches and transforms us more quickly through emotion rather than intellect. 

Over the years some Black preachers adopted a kind of sermon known as a Jeremiad. This refers to the Prophet Jeremiah in the Bible, who denounced the ancient Hebrews for disobeying God. Whether sermon, poem or essay, a Jeremiad is a strongly-worded attack on the moral decline of a society, usually suggesting its destruction if people don't repent.

There is controversy among Black clergy themselves, however, about how best to present the social justice message. Some say that too much identification with victim statues can get in the way of emotional growth. Others seek a balance, vigorously pointing out society’s ills while indicating the direction society should take.

To some extent, then, the Black church has become the conscience of America, and certainly of American Christianity. The Black church appreciates the freedom and opportunity of America, but also has first-hand experience with its idolatry and bigotry.  The Black church tells us that religion must be prepared to speak out against injustice, or risk being misled by the false gods of money, power, and the prevailing culture.

Therein is the great similarity of the Black church to Islam in America. Both speak with a prophetic voice, and both challenge popular misconceptions. The organized Muslim community challenges prevailing ideas about the Palestinians and the Middle East. The Black church challenges the assumption that race and class are no longer issues in America and the world. Both Muslims and African-Americans oppose the American drive for empire in the developing world; both communities oppose unnecessary war.    

And both Islam and the Black church seek to save youth from corrupting influences. Muslim parents are fearful of guns and drugs in the schools, not to mention a popular culture that glamorizes both. The Black church strives to support the Black family by similarly opposing those aspects of popular culture that romanticize criminality. Both are learning to do so in ways that appeal to the larger audience, especially youth.

There are, for example, both Muslim and Christian hip hop artists who project a religious message that is wholesome yet energizing. With such innovations, both Islam and the Black church are finding new ways to address the evils that challenge America. Both seek to make America stronger spiritually, through intact families, good schools, safe communities, and justice as the proper standard for business and government.