One day last week I was driving home from work listening to Hugh Hewitt and he introduced an audio clip from a guest speaker at Obama’s church. Unbidden, my mind pictured a black guy.

Then Hugh said the speaker was Father Michael Pfleger; my mind then pictured “Catholic” and “white guy.” Then the cut played and the whispery voice and cadence of Fr. Pfleger spun my brain around again and I thought, “oh, a black guy.” (What really would have scrambled my brain was if the speaker – black or white – had said something I agreed with).

Then, last weekend, I eventually saw a photo of the priest and, lo and behold – a white guy. I had a bit of a laugh at myself and at how automatically our brains grab onto whatever clues it can to create a picture in our minds to help us try to make sense of things on the fly. The picture may not always be right, but without this processing trick our lives and interactions would bog down tremendously, and you could just about kiss off reading comprehension. And in a way, it makes life more interesting when your assumptions are confounded from time to time.

Anyway, I was reminded of this recent sensory experience again this morning when I read Mr. Dilettante’s post about his initial awareness of Fr. Pfleger years ago while living in Chicago, and then the connection Mr. D later made with another “activist priest” after moving to the Twin Cities. The post is only Part One of I don’t know how many, but I found the introduction very interesting and I’m looking forward to the next installment(s). Who knows what may be confounded this time? Check it out.

Update:
Michelle Malkin has the story of Fr. Pfleger being suspended for two weeks by his bishop in the wake of his remarks. Included is a funny photoshopping of Fr. Pfleger into Vanilla Ice. Word to your, er, Father.

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