Campaign check: Loeffler faults ‘whiteness’ mention in Warnock sermon

The statement:

“THIS is what division and fear looks like. We are ALL God’s children. This rhetoric is disgusting and offensive,” Sen. Kelly Loeffler, Nov. 14 tweet in reference to a 2016 sermon by The Rev. Raphael Warnock in which he said that “American needs to repent for its worship of whiteness.”

What we found:

Sen. Kelly Loeffler, R-Georgia, has repeatedly criticized her Democratic opponent, Rev. Raphael Warnock, over an October 2016 sermon he delivered in Cannon Chapel at Emory University.

“Raphael Warnock clearly has a history of peddling in divisive rhetoric,” Nov. 14 news release, Sen. Kelly Loeffler’s campaign.

The sermon came during a worship service at the end of a two-day conference on issues of contemporary theology, just before the presidential election. The event was sponsored by the Candler School of Theology.

Credit: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Credit: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Warnock, the senior pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, delivered a nearly 23-minute sermon titled, “How Towers Tumble.” He quoted extensively from Genesis 11:4: “They said, “Come, let us build for ourselves a city, and a tower whose top will reach into heaven, and let us make for ourselves a name . . .”

He stressed that his faith was in God, rather than in man-made towers.

Although then-presidential candidate Donald Trump was never mentioned by name, the references were apparent.

The sermon came soon after Trump made headlines after the release of 2005 “Access Hollywood” recording in which he boasted about the ease of sexually harassing women. “When you’re a star, they let you do it,” Trump said.

Warnock told worshippers that America needed to repent for glorifying whiteness and celebrity, and ignoring Trump’s often-harsh remarks until the Access Hollywood tape was released. He also criticized Georgia for refusing to expand Medicaid and increase the minimum wage.

“If it is true that a man who has dominated the news and poisoned the discussion for months needs to repent, then it doubly true that a nation that can produce such a man and make his vitriol go viral needs to repent,” he said.

He then added, in reference to the 2016 presidential election: “No matter what happens next month, the more than a third of the nation that would go along with this is reason to be afraid. America needs to repent for its worship of whiteness on full display this season.”

Loeffler tweeted an edited 39-second clip of those remarks on Nov. 14, saying “this is what division and fear looks like.” She added: “We are all God’s children. This rhetoric is disgusting and offensive.”

Warnock spokesman Terrence Clark said that the sermon noted that “many people had tolerated then-candidate Trump’s hateful comments toward people with disabilities and marginalized communities, and only expressed outrage after that tape came out,” the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

Loeffler’s criticism didn’t offer that context. In October, she told reporters that she was not familiar with the “Access Hollywood” tape.

Whether Warnock’s words are divisive may depend on which segments of the sermon are considered. After all, not everyone hears sermons in the same way. The implied criticism of Trump and mention of whiteness could feel divisive to some, but the overall message of the sermon was about spiritual priorities.

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