I was very impressed by Barack Obama's Speech on Race in America. Maybe I'm a bit more familiar with the black style of preaching than many, and I certainly see a lot of truth in what Wright had to say about America being run by old white rich men, and truth in Obama's reference to "this nation's original sin of slavery," so I was not too offended by Wright's words.

I can't think of anyone I know who belongs to a church who does not have to discount some percentage of what's preached there as wrong. Catholics who put up with the church's prejudice against women for one example. Belonging to a church or an organization means acknowledging some important connection to its people, it means throwing your lot in with them. It can be a socially and morally healthy thing to do. And it has to be people you are actually involved with, including grumpy old Republicans. On rare occasions I visit UU churches in Waterville or Belfast to catch a good sermon, but I can't belong to those churches because their members are not in my community. Membership would be meaningless. It says good things about Obama's integrity that he will not disavow his community or the good that his pastor has done.

I remember riding through rural Maine in the winter with Melissa years ago when we first started coming up at Christmas. Town after town had a post office, a grange hall or town office, and a little white clapboard church. And nothing else. Community is important.