Friday, 03.14.08
The Wright Problem
Emmanuel Dunand/AFP/Getty Images
Ever since the rise of the religious right, conservative politicians have attempted a delicate two-step with conservative Christianity's more extreme elements, simultaneously welcoming their support and keeping their more outlandish positions at arm's length. Now it's Barack Obama's turn to try the same trick -- except that the extremist in question is the pastor of his church, a spiritual mentor, and the man who married him and baptized his children.
For a time, it looked like the controversy surrounding the Reverend Wright would be confined to his connection to Louis Farrakhan and his Afrocentric gloss on Christianity. But the new video footage takes things a step further: The problem is less that Wright sounds Malcolm X than that he sounds like Jerry Falwell crossed with Ward Churchill, calling down God's vengeance on a corrupt U.S.A., but for leftist instead of right-wing reasons.
So far, Obama has attempted to laugh off Wright's penchant for inflammatory rhetoric, comparing him to "an old uncle who says things I don't always agree with," and suggesting that this is "what happens when you just cherry-pick statements from a guy who had a 40-year career as a pastor." But as Wright's America-bashing gets more airtime -- and as his Obama-boosting sermons put his church's tax exemption at risk -- Obama may have to go further down the road to explicitly disavowing his pastor. His connection to Wright isn't the equivalent of John McCain's going to Liberty University to make nice with Jerry Falwell. It's the equivalent of John McCain taking his wife and children, most Sundays, to Jerry Falwell's church. And the disconnect between Obama's studied moderation and his congregation's radicalism requires more of an explanation than he's offered so far.
In an election when many expected that Mitt Romney's fate would be determined by how he talked (or didn't) about his Mormon faith, it may be Obama whose candidacy ends up riding on how he addresses the relationship between his politics and his church.
Loyalty, not to a faultDaniel Larison admires Obama's politically inexpedient loyalty -- even to a pastor with "dreadful" views. |
Ward Churchill in the pulpitObama is disingenuous for claiming his church is "not that controversial," says Victor Davis Hanson. |
Obama's Willie HortonRoger Simon says Obama chose his church, and his choice will -- and should -- have consequences in the election. |
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I'm sorry but this just pisses me off. For the last few decades we've had conservative Christian leaders and pundits claiming gays are evil, making racist,anti-semitic, xenophobic and sexist comments, all with immunity. And now that a black man speaks his mind it becomes off limits, "scary". Black people have been getting screwed over in this country since it was founded. Most have a profoundly different experience than whites in this country and it just upsets some white people to be reminded of that. Why can't we talk about that? Why can't we say that some of what he's talking about reflects their daily experience?
Where has Obama been for all these years? Certainly, he has attended SOME services and heard SOME of these goofy and racist comments. No one denies this. Why did he not quit the church? Why did he not thoroughly denounce the racist comments right after they happened?
Can anyone imagine the enormous flap in the media if evidence surfaced that McCain kept attending a church year after year in which the minister said the church was "unashamedly white" and preached a "white message" and uttered similar racist nonsence? The roof would fall in!
Lesley,
That is crazy talk from you. 3000 people (Black. White, Latino, Christian, Jew, Hindu, Muslim, people from different countries) were murdered on 9/11. What does that have to do with black experience? Why did Obama's pastor, friend, and mentor say that the victims brought it upon themselves? Do you believe that the U.S. government invented HIV/AIDS to hurt blacks? Well, that is what Obama's pastor believes. Do you believe that god should damn America?
Bill Cosby, John Lewis, and a host of other blacks do talk about black experience everyday. No one is saying this is off limits.
Come on what Jeremiah Wright speaks is nonsense. Your defense of it is even worse.
What this insane pastor said is one thing. Meanwhile what Obama was saying about his pastor is another. From today's WSJ.
*
Meeting with Jewish leaders in Cleveland on Feb. 24, Mr. Obama described Mr. Wright as being like "an old uncle who sometimes will say things that I don't agree with." He rarely mentions the points of disagreement.
Mr. Obama went on to explain Mr. Wright's anti-Zionist statements as being rooted in his anger over the Jewish state's support for South Africa under its previous policy of apartheid. As with his previous claim that his church gave the award to Mr. Farrakhan because of his work with ex-offenders, Mr. Obama appears to have made that up. Mr. Wright's statements denouncing Israel have not been qualified in any way. Mr. Obama nonetheless told the Jewish leaders that the award to Mr. Farrakhan "showed a lack of sensitivity to the Jewish community." That is an understatement.
As for Mr. Wright's repeated comments blaming America for the 9/11 attacks because of what Mr. Wright calls its racist and violent policies, Mr. Obama has said it sounds as if the minister was trying to be "provocative."
Hearing Mr. Wright's venomous and paranoid denunciations of this country, the vast majority of Americans would walk out. Instead, Mr. Obama and his wife Michelle have presumably sat through numerous similar sermons by Mr. Wright.
Indeed, Mr. Obama has described Mr. Wright as his "sounding board" during the two decades he has known him. Mr. Obama has said he found religion through the minister in the 1980s. He joined the church in 1991 and walked down the aisle in a formal commitment of faith.
The title of Mr. Obama's bestseller "The Audacity of Hope" comes from one of Wright's sermons. Mr. Wright is one of the first people Mr. Obama thanked after his election to the Senate in 2004. Mr. Obama consulted Mr. Wright before deciding to run for president. He prayed privately with Mr. Wright before announcing his candidacy last year.
Mr. Obama obviously would not choose to belong to Mr. Wright's church and seek his advice unless he agreed with at least some of his views. In light of Mr. Wright's perspective, Michelle Obama's comment that she feels proud of America for the first time in her adult life makes perfect sense.
Obama is toast! There's NOOOOOO way this guy can ever get elected now. This is golden for the GOP!
Lesley, the "daily experience" you talk about is an experience which, if black America were a separate country, would result in black America being, by far, the richest black country in the world, with a life expentancy and a standard of living far higher than any other black country and higher than most other non-black countries. This results in enormous movement of people from black countries to the U. S., including blacks from Haiti who sail to Florida from Haiti and do not even give a thought to stopping at the People's Paradise of Cuba. The result is found in the lives of people like Obama and Colin Powell, people who have made a great deal of their lives and who did not indulge themselves with the luxury of playing the blame game. The number of blacks per year who leave the U. S. to live in other countries can usually be counted on two hands.
Now, you can keep on keepin' on playing the blame game, or you can enter the world of reality and touch base with facts. It's your choice. I join with everyone in wishing you make the right choice. Best wishes.
Of all the unexpected events of this campaign, this issue is Obama's "test." His political skills, judgment, intelligence, comprehension of the current tenor of American culture, courage, leadership skills, depth of self-reflection, and articulation of his views on race in America, will determine the results.
Lesley: You might feel that way, but Barack did not run his campaign on this message. He ran on a message of reconciliation and hope and post-racial politics.And THAT is why so many people were excited by him and voted for him. Now what are we Obama supporters supposed to believe? I am truly angry that this did not come out before because I would NEVER have voted for him.
Barack is a hypocrite of the worst kind. And to think that he takes his kids to hear such racist rage. Who is he really? What does he really believe? That's the issue here. We really don't know.
Regardless of what else Obama's pastor has said, it is silly to conflate acknowledging that U.S. support of dictators (i.e. state terrorism) in the middle east is partly responsible for 9/11 as controversial. Of course that has to do with it. Bin laden himself has said that U.S. troops in the middle east and support of corrupt oppressive dictatorships was partly why Al Qaeda attacked the U.S. That doesn't make what happened on 9/11 in any way justifiable, it just means we live in a world where our actions have consequences. What should be controversial is being surprised that supporting repressive anti-democratic regimes like Saudia Arabia and Egypt has made people angry at us.
Brad,
What do you think should be the consequences of Obama's contining to attend such a racist, hate-filled church year after year and counting Wright as both his mentor and close adviser? Should they be the same as those that would occur if a white candidate attended year after year a racist, hate-filled church? Any thoughts?
There is no way Obama can be elected in the general election, for many democrats, myself included, will simply never vote for him. We don't pack colliseums to hear him speak, don't show up in the polls, but we do take ourselves to the ballot box every November to vote. He may get Vermont, California and perhaps New York, but McCain will get ALL of the conservative states, Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvannia, probably Jersey, and win the electoral college.
This has nothing to do with Barak's skin color. He seems like a really nice guy. But he surrounds himself with radicals like his wife and Wright, which casts a large question mark on his judgement. Will he similarly cozy up to the president or Iran, and call him "a crazy old coot who's just a teddy bear inside"?
Everyone has a right to freedom of speech, and the black experience has been a tough one in America, no doubt. Many blacks still have emotional baggage from slavery and Jim Crow. I get it. But I simply do not want to see this type of baggage splayed out all over the White House.
I have friends with whom I vehemently disagree about some things.
I doubt whether my minister and I see eye to eye about many issues.
My wife and I disagree with one another on a lot of political issues.
I disagree with Senator Obama on some issues as well.
I still have friends, go to church (occasionally), and am married. And I voted for Senator Obama. Guess I'm a hypocrite all around for not cutting these people from my life because we don't think exactly alike.
True, I think minister Wright's comments are abhorrent--to me, as a white male--but I've never experienced what African Americans have experienced, either.
The problem is that minister Wright comes from the generation of African Americans and feminists who had to fight some pretty tough battles, and who can't seem to move beyond those battles. It's tough to be post-racial or post-feminist if these issues informed and consumed your entire life.
But the only real change, in my opinion, that can happen is when we move beyond the experience of the past into being open to a new experience in the future--an experience that is beyond racism, sexism and other 'isms.'
Naive? Probably. But hopeful just the same.
This is very serious. My view of Obama as a uniter and a moderate is gone.
I am stunned by Wright's comments about September 11th. They are outrageous. Also, he is a strong supporter of Farrakhan.
This is the beginning of the end of the Obama campaign. He is obviously a radical leftist. There can be no excuse for supporting a minister who is a true fanatic. I am just wondering why it took the media this long to find this information.
The issue surrounding The Rev. Wright boils down to this three-part question: What did Senator Obama know, when did he know it, and when and how did he respond?
Words matter. Obamas words his wife words his pastors and his hiding the truth. So much for his new politial and honest change. The word that bests suits him is POLITICIAN like all the the rest runnung in the primaries.
When people say that Wright is Obama's "spiritual advisor", do they bother asking themselves how much spiritual influence actually occurred? Do they imagine that underneath his thoughtful, balanced, rift-healing demeanour, he has in fact been filled with seething racist hatred?
Yes, perhaps at this point Obama needs to cut all ties publicly. But to suggest he has been corrupted by this man of the cloth is an exercise in convenient self-delusion. Obama lives in the thick of things and yet keeps his own counsel. This is why we love him. I admire it.
Is this kind of treatment just going to be reserved for OBAMA, or do we now get to make fun of the OTHER CANDIDATES' churches as well? I guess if someone want to be in politics, he or she has to send the spin doctors out years in advance to vet the church and make sure that it's BORING ENOUGH NOT TO OFFEND ANYBODY! The winners will be the hypocrites who go to church for appearance's sake just to please the public.
What are we going to do for an encore? Send the TV cameras into the candidates' bedrooms to see if they're having the right kind of sex? (...come to think of it, that's already been done...)
If you recall Michelle Obama's recent statement about being ashamed of America, I think you can see the influence Mr. Wright has had on the Obama's. Mr. Obama is of course more subtle, dropping the flag pin, not saluting the national anthem with hand over heart, defending Mr. Wright's clearly racist rants as if he were just a crusty old uncle. If Hillary spent the last 20 years going to KKK meetings, could she convencingly describe the Klan as a misunderstood social club? Obama has sat through 20 years of anit-America and anti-semitic sermons without objection, I hope that's not OK with the rest of the country.
Guilt by association. Awesome.
If you on the right really want to get into this, there are years of crazy statements by John Hagee (who called my church the "Great Whore" of Revelation) and McCain's "spiritual guide" Rod Parsley (who wants us to start a holy war against Islam).
So, yeah, let's start some shit and, by God, the religious right will finally be exposed as an enclave of nutjobs. I've been hoping for an opportunity like this for a long time.
Wondering in the west,
I just read through the NY Times article covering his pastor. The two things that troubled me were his visit to Qadafi and his comment that black people have a deeper understanding of Christianity because of their greater suffering. I don't know what the context of his visit to Qadafi was, why he went or what he did while he traveled there, so I can't fully evaluate it. To my mind, it's stupid for anyone to claim that they have a deeper connection with God than someone else. You can't objectify something as subjective as faith. What else has he said that is racist or anti-american? So, I can't answer your leading question unless you give me more to work with. Educate me!
Who Pastor Wright??? If It walks like a duck,sounds like a duck it must be a duck. A Black Racist with a bad problem of saying the wrong things at the right time to get peoples' attention. Is he what Oprah thinks America needs??? If Obama goes down ion political defeat it will be because of the company he choose to keep. The old saying "If it sounds too good to be true- It must be." That is what Obama and his promises of "Change" seem to be. Change to what Where Pastor Wright will advise our President's every move?? Lenin once said "Promises are like pie crust,made to be broken" One should look closer and think who it is they are really voting for. Not get carried away by slick talk and empty promises.
"Actions speak louder than words." At this point, it doesn't matter what Obama says. The fact that he returned again and again to the same church after hearing sermons like this tells me all I need to know. Remember, it was pointed out earlier that Obama wouldn't salute the flag or the national anthem.... This just make it more clear why. When your words and your actions don't match, it is lying. As much as I distrust the Clinton's, I can't tolerate a bigot of any color.
J. Nickell,
Enough with the theatrics! And you're taking Michelle Obama's comments out of context. She didn't say she was ashamed of America. She said this was the first time that she was really proud of America. Logically, then, before now she was proud of America, but not really proud of America. That is not even close to saying that she was ashamed. As far as the flag pin goes, maybe this'll help you understand why that's such a silly standard: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/180661.php
Jack Kingston, the congressman who's been going around criticizing Obama is shown to be entirely hypocritical. According to the Anti-Defamation league, they haven't found anything antisemitic from Mr. Wright. And your KKK analogy is ridiculuous, Mr. Wright and his church have not spent the past 400 years oppressing white people and lynching them when they felt like it. Give me a break.
Does Senator Obama have the Wright stuff?
I am truly angry that this did not come out before because I would NEVER have voted for him.
Do things not really happen for you until they show up on TV? Wright's radical views have been reported for over a year.
I don't see how he recovers from this.
Imagine it's Clinton or McCain attending a SEGREGATED church for 20 years.....
But let's not forget McCain and the Reverend Rodney Parsley, whom John McCain calls his "spiritual guide."
I've always marvelled at the irony that churches in America seem to be the last strongholds of racism, sexism, homophobia and xenophobia. These forms of prejudice and oppression contradict Christ's teachings as I understand them.
I can see why a lot of Americans, especially white Americans, are disturbed by Obama's connection to Rev. Wright. There shouldn't be this kind of hatred and fear between people whose religion teaches love for one's fellow (wo)man. There should instead be outreach and understanding.
I would encourage people who are disturbed by Wright's comments to visit a black church or read some books on black churches: "The Black Church in America" by Michael Battle gives some insight.
"The Black Church in the African American Experience" is another good one.
I also hope that black churches take this opportunity to do some outreach on their own part and exemplify their Christian beliefs.
Time to start enlightening ourselves.
I think a man who says to love your enemies, who calls for social and economic justice, and who rails against the privilege and power of the dominant social class is very different from Jerry Falwell. Falwell is a hypocritical judgmental person, while Jeremiah Wright is in our time what Jesus was in his time - a man who is willing to speak the truth to power, to afflict the comfortable and comfort the afflicted.
Sorry to respond to myself, but one other thought - Falwell claimed that "America is a Christian nation" and tried to create theocracy in the U.S. He has attempted to bring religious ideas into politics and legislate those religious views to be binding for all, regardless of religion. That is unconstitutional, even if it might be popular among some conservatives. On the other hand, Jeremiah Wright is a pastor who has spoken out boldly about the problems that come about when you marginalize, minimize, or attack the underprivileged. Comparing Falwell and Wright is like comparing the KKK with the NAACP.
I notice that some of the anti-Obama rants written here about the Obama-minister connection are sprinkled thruout other blogs all over the net today. Same words, same sign off names. So.... could this be yet another concerted campaign to bring Obama down? Coming from where, I wonder? Gee... Clintonistas perhaps? Another Mark Penn gem? Hmmmm.....
Barrack Obama along with his America hating wife and their America hating, racist preacher who HATE America and white people are NOT what America needs! VOTE FOR HILLARY!! Before it is too late. THIS is an OUTRAGE.
Obama's Mentor --> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hAYe7MT5BxM
Obama "disagrees with some of the statements" from Wright???
Give me a break! To sit and listen to ANY of that crap for 20 years makes Obama just as dirty as Scumbag Wright (don't call him Rev. again; he ain't no man of God!).
For Obama or anyone else to sit in that cult "church" and listen to that evil B.S., just lends a false credibility to such an imposter.
Now we see where Obama's wife feeds her hatred from too.
I don't care how many "good" things a person has to say. When their "evil" finally shows through, it's time to stay away permanently.
Obama displays TERRIBLE JUDGEMENT!!!!!! He should NEVER be allowed to make decisions for this country!!!
Hey Obama, try explaining what parts of Wright's message you DO agree with!
This is a really terrible time for Obama. I don't know how he will recover if he does not explain his church and his relationship with the pastor in great detail. I am seeing it on these message boards; the very people who voted for him are starting to lose faith in what he offers the country. In case you didn't know it, this is OBAMA's SWIFTBOAT- this attack came directly fron the Republicans and it is a good one with the ability to SINK his campaign. The thing you have to focus on IS because the Republicans have said this does it make it TRUE- does it make Obama a different candidate from the one you knew before. Was John Kerry different in his being after they ran the swiftboat ads? No, he was the SAME patriot he has always been. This country fell for Republican dirty tricks and lost the election in 2004. Are you going to fall for them again? Are you going to think that Obama HATES his white mother who gave him life and his WHITE GRANDPARENTS who raised him? Take out his pastors inflammatory language and get to the core TRUTHS he is espousing. America has made foreign policy decision that have maimed and killed people living outside of this country (this is FACT). We are doing this right now in IRAQ. His pastor believes us being attacked on 9/11 was retaliation for our foreign policy decisions that have killed and maimed- think about it for a second- IS that really so out of the ball park? Don't we WANT a foreign policy that is JUST for all of humankind? One that WILL ENSURES we are not hated enough to be attacked in the outrageous way we were on 9/11? If you as a white person can truly think for a second and try to join your black brothers and sisters (we are ALL HUMAN BEINGS) in this journey and I KNOW you have the decency in you to understand- BLACK AMERICANS have had to LOVE this country when it DID NOT LOVE US. This is the ULTIMATE ACT of love for your country. THAT is the BLACK EXPERIENCE. WHITE People do not have that UNIQUE experience. In the pastor's words WHITES hear HATRED because that has been your experience- to hate and terrorize black americans from slavery to Jim Crow. If you listen closer, you will find what you ACTUALLY hear is ANGER at being SOUGHT OUT for the bad things in country and being EXCLUDED from the goog things in the United States. ANGER comes from injustices. If you dig deep into your souls, you know that we can address these SOCIAL INJUSTICES so we can become the HUMAN FAMILY. Whites seems to think Obama sat there day after day and absorbed HATRED or even ANGER- Have you EVER thought he sat there day after day and said I WILL REPAIR this breach of TRUST that has occured between America and its citizens AND Americans of different races. Obama has said his presidency could bring about racial reconciliation and he is abosolutely RIGHT but do you think it will be easy? Of course not, we as Americans will have to face some UGLY truths about America and then seek to stamp them out. This is our chance to make a MORE PERFECT UNION- one where Pastor Wright can ONLY say GOD BLESS AMERICA for the way she has served her citizens. Are you going to let the REPUGNICANS take this away from you? They WILL you saw it in 2004!!!!!!!!!!! OBAMA 08!!!!!!!
Barack Obama have the strength of character to weather this storm and CREATE A MORE PERECT UNION in the vein of the GREAT AMERICAN Presidents that have come before you- Lincoln, Roosevelt, Kennedy....
Is Wright running for President? I am a Christian who does not accept every word of Jesus!
Let us get real and stop this politics of association.
Overlooked here is the fact that Obama's pastor is not fulfilling his duties as a pastor. Where is God in all of this? Is not his pastor's first duty to inform his congregation about the mind of God? Did Jesus ever discuss politics? Did Jesus condemn people for their sins? I think not. Obama's pastor is a charlatan politician disguising himself as a pastor. Pull his non-profit status.
Poor Obama ! He must feel so lonely having so different ideas fron those of his mother, his wife and now his spiritual guide. Please ! How can anyone more than 14 years old belive today (2008) in a politician claiming for 'change'. No wonder conmen can make so much money.
Obama has a problem here. I haven't seen any evidence he was present when Wright was making these comments and it isn't clear he was aware of them. I think some the political obituaries here a premature. However, Obama will have to explain his relationship with Wright and his view of Wright's rhetoric.
Ummm...call me crazy, but you can't choose your old foolish uncle but you CAN choose your pastor. Those closest to Obama (his wife, pastor, etc.) seem to be rather on the militant side...yet he just fluffs it all off. I don't think we really know who Obama is, so far, he has been hiding that. As a white person, who was going to vote for him, I feel somewhat betrayed...I will not be voting for him now.
I saw and heard the hateful words that came out of Pastor Wright (Obama's spiritual leader and close confident). I was appalled that anyone would consider this man a man of God. Yet, now I understand how Michelle Obama is so hateful herself; saying Americans are mean when her husband is scrutinized and that she has never been proud of being American until now that her husband is running for office. I cannot understand how no one has called Obama on these individual's hateful rhetoric. Then again this is America and even an individual with hateful supporters is entitle to run for office and God help us, maybe even win. As his pastor said we have brought the hate here and "it" is running for the highest office...
Obama, we don't choose our uncles. I am afraid this one will stick.
"I notice that some of the anti-Obama rants written here about the Obama-minister connection are sprinkled thruout other blogs all over the net today. Same words, same sign off names. So.... could this be yet another concerted campaign to bring Obama down? Coming from where, I wonder? Gee... Clintonistas perhaps? Another Mark Penn gem? Hmmmm....."
Gee, and we have all this press about how the Clinton campaign is in a shambles, chaotic.
Lost in the furor that I'm reading here is the fact that Wright's statements about 9/11 are true. My friends, it's called blowback, and just because you don't know or are ignoring what American foreign policy has looked like for the last 60 years, it doesn't make it go away.
Everybody's attacking the messenger - is it because the accuracy of his statements makes them uncomfortable?
As for African-American perceptions of a "culture controlled by rich white people" - I can see why they think that way. Can't you?
With this in mind, I'm having difficulty finding what exactly Obama - other than from a purely political standpoint - should denounce.
Yawn. I, speaking as one voter, believe in the separation of church and state. Although, sounds like a rockin' church.
Comments just as inflammatory and outside the mainstream of American thought coming from right-wing religious leaders associated with national Republican figures have been brushed off by Republican campaigns for years with relative insulation. Of course Obama should strongly reject the comments, but I don't see why this situation ought to play any differently than when it is a right-wing religious inflammation close to a politician.
Many of us are victims of hate and abuse dished out by friends, co-workers, family and strangers. Often when we finally speak up against the abuse we do it loudly and from a highly radical perspective. Later, looking back we generally find a balance and a way to make peace. We learn to forgive and move forward.
But when that abuse is dished out day after day it takes a far greater person than the average American to not be influenced by the abuse.
I don't deny that the African American population of America has been whipped around and has suffered vast measures of abuse. I also don't deny that other minorities (women, GLBT, Hispanics, Jews, etc.) have also suffered vast amounts of abuse.
My concern lies with the factors that not only allow but encourage such abuse to continue. Wright's words are abusive. They are that gut instinct to fight back from the radical side. Even if seen as sarcasm they are degrading and equally as abusive as the actions and words the African American people have suffered. He isn't asking his parish to stand up for themselves and be counted for - he's asking them to rally against their oppressors and attack with unforgiving force.
He plays an equal part in the continuance of racism, sexism, classism, etc as the people he is speaking out against.
For me, electing to subject yourself to his sermons is one thing - it's possible Barack Obama feels stronger than the average american and has the strength to remove himself from the hate. It's possible Obama could respect Wright simple because he points out an extreme that Obama would like to prevent. But if that is the case... why would you subject your offspring, at such an impressionable age, to incredibly radical extremly hateful sermons such as this? On a regular basis no less.
Christian Americans go to church at a young age to have the influence of Christ in their day to day life.
Obama and his family have gone to hear Wright for 20 years... how can ANY christian think that isn't going to have an influence on how Obama sees and treats the women, any race other than African American, and any person of a religious background not the same as his own?
I'm sorry, he can't reject or denounce Wright. He's a Wright follower, and to me - Wright is a danger to my safety and my freedom.
Obama might as well willingly listen to Phelps, Farwell and many others I can't stomach the thought of mentioning.
If HRC had a mentor for 20 years who made anti-jewish remarks or blamed the US for 9-11, she would be out of the race and probably out of the Senate. Obama's only "hope" seems to come from white guilt and the media giving him yet ANOTHER free pass. G Ferraro is out on her ear and Obama can make jokes about "not being in church that day".
It's hard to reconcile the fact that Obama has been consulted by Jeremiah Wright for the past 20 years -not to mention that he also baptized Obama's children- with the fact that Obama has lightly distanced himself from Wright's remarks.
If Obama truly didn't agree with what Wright preached, why didn't he leave his church earlier?
When you take Michelle Obama's statement that she just started having pride in her country after her husband began getting elected, you understand where that influence was coming from.
I scanned the comments and noticed many of you saying, basically, that we should "stop the politics of association." That is a preposterous statement. There is no possible way (psychologically speaking) that Obama could go to that Church for 20 years, have Wright play a crucial role in his life, and then disagree with him enough to make a difference. What is the motivation for doing that?
Even if Obama did start out disagreeing with Wright's Racist Anti-American nonsense, the mere length of attendance would compel him to begin to believe what he was hearing since there is nothing else (reasonable) to attribute his attendance too. If one is a proud american, why does one go to a vehemently anti-american church? Occum's razor simlply applied, one doesn't. The politics of association is the politics of truth. Now we know how Obama REALLY feels. Taken with his wife's despicable comments, and his total lack of experience, Obama is finished.
Disposing of the partisan "swift boat" claims for just a moment, allow me to expose my own bias. I have not made a political post in over 3 months, and that one was on global warming. I'm a right leaning independent voter in a heavily Republican area. Falwell was, in my view, cetainly as destructive as Wright. I find the fringes of both parties to be dangerous to the republic. Race: My church of 5,000 is 99.9% white, but our pastor is a black man. I attend, but at best I'm agnostic. I can't say that any of the three remaining candidates appeal to me deeply. I don't trust Clinton, and McCain is "business as usual." Obama is not Christ-like, as Mr. Wright has implied, and as was implied at a rally here when the minister concluded the opening prayer with the word, "in his name we pray, Barack Obama, yes we can, Amen." It appears to me that many of you on the far left are so desperate for a viable liberal candidate, but without the Clinton baggage, that you are willing to wear blinders and ignore dangerous signals. Go ahead and drink the koolade if you like. I'll just keep studying the candidates and keep an open mind.
Peezle : Thank you. Oh and I can see if anyone says there some context to understanding why a black pastor says these things they are accused of wanting all those people to die on 9/11. Are we back to that again? Yell traitor/treason anytime someone tries to understand the larger picture? I say there's a double standard in this country for blacks and whites because, say it with me people, THERE IS ONE. Get your ass down to the west side of Baltimore if you don't think so. I don't agree with everything Wright says, but I don't have to to understand the context. He's not getting a pass. And neither is Obama. But he should not be subjected to the kind of scared white people hysteria I see going on.
Reminds me of John McCain and Pastor Parsley, Kennedy and the Pope and Huckabee and Pastor Haggard, the minister of meth & Spitzer like massages of the Massachusetts style. Yep. Obama has BIG PROBLEM! He has joined just about every politician of faith that has leaders and members of the faith saying things that are not in agreement with their own preferences. I suppose we all have problems of an ecumenical nature. Parsley thinks that we need to initiate preemptive nuclear war in the middle east to rid ourselves of the Mohammedan threat to the purity of Christianity. The Pope thinks that if you are not Catholic you are bound for hell and are unworthy of consideration until conversion. And Obama's preacher thinks all sorts of things. I can only surmise that from a reading of this article it is just peachy that we should nuke the Islamic nations until they glow and that all the non Catholic folks should spend all eternity in some sort of purest damnation. And that Obama thinks 100% exactly what his preacher does. The only one that does. Thank you for making things so clear. You have been most helpful!
WHO CARES? THIS REV.WRIGHT IS AN IDIOT. THE REV. SPEAKS FOR HIMSELF NOT OBAMA. AND FOR THE MEDIA TO BRINGING UP OLD NEWS LIKE IS A WAIST OF TIME. THE MEDIA KNOWS GOOD-AND-WELL OBAMA DISAGREES WITH WRIGHT, BUT THEY STILL WANT TO MAKE A STORY--GET A LIFE? WHERE WERE ALL THE QUESTIONS WHEN BUSH WAS PLANNING TO INVADE IRAQ? IF IT'S NOT HILLARY, THEN ITS OBAMA. WHY IS THE MEDIA INJECTING RACE AND SEX INTO THIS ELECTION?
Barack Obama is going to get a free ride. He is a blank slate, wears a "mask" (said Black author Shelby Steele), is said to be able to "leap tall buildings with a single bound", and has the ultimate protective device at his disposal - The word "Rascist". He is going to enter the front doors of the White House and we'll all be saying "Uh, Oh, Who is that guy?"
Whats sad and rediculous about this is how long it has taken this stuff to get reported on. This is what happens when the MSM takes sides in an election. Wonder where we would be right now if this would have been reported on the week before the Iowa caucuses? I am pretty sure this race would be over and HRC and the Democrats would be focusing on John Mccain. Its a shame it took SNL to wake the media up!
This is not as much a racial issue (it is, to some degree, but just not wholesale) as it is an issue with the entire scrutiny of endorsement by association.
I'm almost positive that Hillary Clinton has people VERY close to her whose statements you can comb for inflammatory content. I'm sure John McCain has MANY people close to him that you could do the same.
Moreover, the public/private distinction is somewhat artificial in terms of its effect on public outrage. The fact that Wright's a pastor over an historic black church (and the black church has rich heritage to be celebrated by all Americans), does that make him more susceptible to scrutiny? Yes. Does it mean that there aren't people with incredibly skewed viewpoints associating with other candidates, but just privately? Absolutely not.
The comparisons being made between Wright and Falwell are completely absurd, on top of that. Wright has expressed his opinion as he preaches in a public forum, while Falwell transcended his role as a preacher to speak directly into American politics, intentionally and knowingly for shock value at times.
And finally, I have no doubt that Obama can separate himself from the radicalist comments of his pastor. I have several pastors that have shepherded me, taught me, fostered me in the faith and invested into who I am. Invariably, I am shaped by their investment, and I thank God for them. But I'm in absolute disagreement with many MANY important issues, especially on public policy.
Intelligent people do not wholesale adopt all of the views of those they respect. That goes for Obama, Clinton, McCain and many others. Without that basis, mud-slinging arguments lack merit.
If you dispense with the virtriol and recriminations, you can get to real potential effects of these statements and sound bites.
Primaries: Race was already a factor, and this won't play well in Pensylvania's blue collar Have fun in Denver.
Superdelegates: Anybody who's tun as a moderate will be tempted to flee from this. Other factors will be at work, but it's hard to see how the specter of this doesn't hurt Obama. Of course, if something new comes out on Hilary...
General Election: This comes down to who wins late deciders in key states: Middle Aged, Middle Class irritated people. Do they vote for the smiley guy with the neat vague message but the radical backing, or do they vote for the cranky old guy who has a reputation as belligerent but honest. Not hard to see how that breaks.
The irony is, the Dems should gain seats in both houses of Congress and lose the Presidency quite convincingly. What a year.
Of course, it's just March. This will get crazier. I can't wait.
For someone to say "God D* America" repeatedly and for most of the congregation not to get up and walk out led by the Senator is beyond comprehension. This is not Christianity and they are the opposite of what Dr. King taught and lived. The Senator and his Pastor ought to be castigated by everyone, right and left, for what they have said and supported. I can tell you one thing, if my Pastor said what this man has said, I would walk out immediately, cancel any checks, move my membership and wait for him at his office Monday morning for a very frank discussion. To give over 22k to him in 06, have him perform my marriage, baptize my kids and teach my children week in and week out would make me an absolute supporter of his hate and prejudice. Obama cannot run from this one. He either agrees or he has no backbone. Either one means he should never visit the White House, much less serve in the Oval Office of Lincoln, FDR and JFK.
Obama hasn't offered a response because there simply is not justification for it. Obama would not have attended this man's church for 20 years if he didn't agree with him.
If I walked into this guy's church, and he was preaching the hatred for this country and for whites that he was preaching on the video, I would immediately walk out. I would expect everyone else to do the same.
There is no justification. Obama needs to drop out. I'm a dem, but there is no way, NO WAY, I would support Obama now. If he gets the nomination, I'm voting for McCain.
IF OBAMA IS THE NOMINEE, WITH THIS, HE IS TOAST.
NO WAY HE CAN GET AWAY FROM THIS. WRIGHT ACTIVELY WORKS IN OBAMAS CAMPAIGN AS WELL.
Rev. Wright is part of Obama's campaign - he is a member of Obama's African American Religious Leadership Committee.
http://www.mydd.com/story/2008/3/13/14167/3166
Seeing this video of Rev. Wright is chilling. It also explains many things that have troubled me about Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle.
His refusal to wear a flag pin.
His refusal to hold his hand over his heart during the Pledge of Allegiance.
His wife's comments about her lack of pride in America and other extremely negative comments about America.
It's all starting to make sense now.
Barack and Michelle Obama's loyalty is certainly not with this country.
Obama referred to Rev. Wright as an uncle who says crazy things sometimes.
Well, you can't choose who your uncle is, but you certainly can choose what church you attend.
20 years of a steady diet of this kind of vitriolic hate speech has to be at the very foundation of one's outlook on life.
This man and his wife cannot be our president and first lady.
Yes, there was some real anger in Reverend Wright's words. And many now pretend to take the full measure of the man's life and career from a few video clips and unfamiliarity with the rhetorical style of many African American ministers. Perhaps we should remember the words of an earlier preacher:
“Do not judge so that you will not be judged. 2 “For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you. 3 “Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? 4 “Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ and behold, the log is in your own eye? 5 “You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye. 6 “Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine, or they will trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces."
Of course, this same preacher upset local authorities when he became violent, lost his temper, and pushed moneychangers out of the temple of Jerusalem, "And said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves."
A preacher who spoke in this intemperate manner might well find himself running afoul of the authorities. They might want to humiliate him publicly or worse. Likewise, the notion that the events of September 11th might have anything to do with America's own actions is unthinkable. How could a religious man hold such an opinion?:
II Kings 17:7-23: God has allowed the Assyrians to defeat and deport all his people, taking them from Israel to other parts of the Assyrian world. This occurred in 722 B.C. This passage in II Kings tells us why: “All this took place because the Israelites had sinned against the Lord their god, who had brought them up out of Egypt. . . . They worshiped other gods and followed the practices of the nations the Lord had driven out before them.” And the passage continues to enumerate their sins. For 200 years the prophets had warned the kings and people of Israel: “Repent or you’ll be punished.” For 200 years, the nation ignored God and his prophets.
Judah: Now Isaiah is a prophet who begins to minister just at the time of the fall of Israel, and who sees visions of what will happen to Judah if they continue on a similar, unfaithful path. And we know, from Isaiah 6, that God told Isaiah that no one would listen to him. Their destruction is also inevitable, and it comes in its finality in 586 B.C. when Jerusalem falls and the last of three groups of people is exiled to Babylon. [two preceding paragraphs off of a google bible site]
These examples are not included as prophecy about the United States , but simply to show that the Judeo-Christian prophetic tradition in which Reverend Wright stands is not one simply of sweetness and light, but also of divine judgment, even on one's own country when it fails to uphold its ideals, whether it is worshipping a calf of gold, or one of “black gold.”
The message from Rev. Wright is nothing new--this goes on in many black churches across the country every Sunday. It's a fact.
A few observations:
There is a core of truth in what Wright says, and some amount of rational anger at US policy and US history. This country has routinely supported some of the nastiest dictators in history, has routinely deposed left wing thugs and democratically elected leaders in order to install right wing thugs, has interfered in the legitimate politics of many other nations and has deserved a tremendous amount of vitriole. (Google: Mossadegh, Allende, Ferdinand Marcos, Saddam Hussein(he was our client for a while),and read up on US policy and history. AT THE SAME TIME, this country has a beautiful constitution (have you read it lately?) and a people who when called upon to do good actually manage sometimes to forget some of their own stupid beliefs long enough to reach out, to rebuild after disasters. So let's try to see both of these countries simultaneously--the bad and the good. The Rev. Mr. Wright (Dr?) sees part of it, and he's right to see that part. Obama sees both parts. In his second book he talks about meeting with Sen. Byrd, who had once been aligned with the KKK. Think about serving in the US Senate with a former member of that organization -- when you are an African-American. Just think about it for a minute--it's worth the brain cells. Then think about this man's ability to see that, yes this country has had a history of denying his life, his worth, his humanity. And this country has gotten past a lot of that. Maybe it's time for all of us to understand this history, treat it with the sadness and even anger it deserves, and then move forward. We have not been perfect, we have sometimes been truly awful, we have sometimes been good, though. Obama is transformational precisely in that he can see the anger and move beyond. And no, I don't work for his campaign! I merely vote.
This video clip is 6 months old. SHAME ON THE MEDIA FOR HIDING THIS UNTIL NOW. You sit on something THIS IMPORTANT for all this time.
If I had seen this months ago, I would have supported Hillary. I suspect many, many people who voted Obama would have done the same.
What do we do now? Obama has the delegate and vote lead, but I sure as heck am not going to support him now. But if the supers back Hillary, blacks will be outraged.
We're pretty much stuck in a bind we can't get out of thanks to the media's blind support for Obama in the past. McCain is guaranteed to win in November because of you.
I hope you're happy. Please consider what you've done the next time you decide to slant news coverage in favor of one candidate for months.
OMG!!
This is outrageous, Obama MIGHT HAVE TO SPEAK UP AND SAY SOMETHING ABOUT THIS... suck it up media/pundits have some courage, balls, nerve, do your chicken hearted, scared to death looking over your shoulder, light weight, weak...selve's a favor. MAN UP!!
The gutless media and pundits are at it again... Always scared to say what is obvious to all, about this race bating that has been going on in around and during the Obama campaign....
Talk about Muslims dancing in the streets, I've been left winged, all my adult life, but the Right wingers are right about this one. Dead right!!! I have no problems with religion, but Wright's sermons are tailor made for fanning the flames of many people in the world, who want to kill Americans just for the sake of being born American.
Obama's lack of courage to step away form this, is extraordinary telling about him and his wife. They are Ivy League schooled, both of them, Harvard lawyers!! They understood exactly what was going on in that church and they (((embraced it.))) Then comes injury to insult, once he, Obama, decided to take a role in Public Service he continued to be a part of it. Here lies his serious lack of judgment, as to what kind of explosive consequences that are associated with this. ARE PARAMOUNT...
I feel sorry for Obama, he is not going to be able to wiggle out of this. Axelrod, Obama's campaign manager is a fool, he should have done something with/about this early on.
One cannot pick family, but one can pick pastors and associations....
This is a serious lack of judgment, no president of America can be this naive, and just plain stupid. He will never be elected in the general election. He is dead in the water in Presidential Politics.
I do feel for Obama, but Oh My God, his judgment about this is terrifying. Early on, he had a chance to "get out of the oven" but he stayed inside, turned up the heat, and closed the door. No one can survive that.....
Obama is not guilty for the remarks his former pastor made. Remember that Obama was raised by a white single mother and did not know his Kenyan father. So, attending this church was a way for him to try to understand the struggles of African Americans. Obama's mother died of cancer, and his father died in a car accident. Obama really did work as a community organizer. And we have done a lot of things wrong, though I disagree with his pastor's radical remarks. I think Obama is an entirely different person than his pastor. First of all, can anyone picture Obama shouting like this? I could never see him doing that. In fact, I could see Hillary Clinton shouting like this if she happens to fail to rig the Democratic struggle for nomination by buying the votes of superdelegates and by playing the race card--trying to get non-African Americans to hate African Americans or to belittle their struggle for equality. Let's not forget that Barack is half-white and that he wouldn't be where he is if it weren't for his white mother. Let's also not forget the African American community's struggle for equality. The last time I checked, only 37 black politicians in positions of power have existed, and Barack is the only black man in the Senate. And yes, those among us who are white cannot say we know what it means to be degraded by someone else calling us a n---.
Obama is raising his children in this vile, hateful church. He can't spin out of this. He's a chameleon -- one thing in the hood, something else when he wants our votes.
bethtopaz's post laid it all out. Some more of the same.
People keep saying that Obama does not believe what Wright was preaching, even though they were obviously quite close. How can Obama have a "spiritual guide" that he disagrees with on such fundamental issues? Any patriot could not sit for 20 years and have his country bashed by anyone, much less friend. Why are people so against seeing Obama for what he is? Denial? What has Obama given us to support his claim that he disagrees with Wright..."trying to be provocative"? Gimme a break, if Obama disagreed with Wright he would have left the church. Anyone with any common sense can see he beliefs this garbage.
I believe America is prepared to elect a black man as president. However, there is a caveat to that. He needs to be an American first, a proud American, and a "melted" American. Obama has a lot of support from people who are young and idealistic and believe that all people are equal and essentially the same. If it turns out that Obama subscribes to the Black America mentality, that he is not truly an American Everyman as he has been portrayed, a lot of that support will disappear. This is not to deny the "Black Experience" in America and our collective historical sins and so on -- but political reality. The comments of his wife, now his pastor, his continuing to trust that man and value his advice for decades despite the vileness -- to the vast majority of Americans -- of much of what he says. The more Obama moves from the ideal he has represented, the less support he will have. It may be "racist" but it is also "culturalist" one could say. America isn't ready, and should never be ready, to have somebody serve as our Chief Executive and Commander in Chief who is not 100% unabashedly American in heart and mind. It is fine, laudable, to be critical of our country, to recognize our faults and seek to correct them -- but you must love our country to be President. That must be unassailable and unquestionable. It's becoming questionable for Obama.
This is not a swiftboat!!!Noone forced Obama to visit a racist church for 20 years. Noone made up the vided of his pastor ranting on about how Americans deserved 9/11. Obama says the pastor has been his mentor. Gee, I wonder what Obama really thinks, what his true values are! He is bamboozling the Americans about his message of hope and change.
How is Rev.Right different that outlandish statements of all the evangelical religous leaders going on TV and mouthing off? I did not see any right wingers' apologize and distance themselves or have to explain themselves. On the other hand, those seeking political office have to suck up to them, so they can get the white evangleical crowd to vote for them (what is Mr.Cain is doing right now?)
i do think Mr.Obama will have some explaining to do to those who consider this relevant. But its funny that he should have to explain his church associations, but nobody else has had to!
as for those who worry about Mr. Obama exposing his children to hatred and violent thought - have you taken away those video games from your kids, those toy guns and turned off Cable TV that has endless shows on crime, war and other violent ACTS rather than just violent WORDS?
lets get a grip on ourselves!
OBAMA'S MINISTER OF HATE
WHEN IS BHO GONNA """SEPARATE" Himself from this "SPEWWWWWWWWWWW""
THIS IS TERRIBLE, THE WORST THING I HAVE EVER HEARD. AND BHO is not saying a word, as most of the mainstream media is not saying a word.
I would have walked out of that church 20 years ago. This man, BHO, is running for President of the United States of America.
His Preacher, and I use that word lightly, CURSES AMERICA ???????????? AND BHO remains a member and stands by this [ preacher ]
SPEAK OUT AMERICANS. I AM A PROUD AMERICAN.
BORN AND RAISED AMERICAN.
RAISE MY HAND TO THE FLAG.
Hold my hand OVER my heart to the Star Spangled Banner.
EMAIL, CALL, Write letters.. MAKE BHO either get this preacher off his campaign and away from his MENTORING. OR QUIT THE RACE FOR PRESIDENT
I am 64 years old, a wife, mother, grandmother and great grandmoter. AND A PROUD AMERICAN.
I am HORRIFIED BY THIS REV WRIGHT RACIST HATRED !!!!!!!!!!!!
Given what has transpired today, Florida and Michigan should not be the only ones redoing their primaries. Many Obama voters are now wishing the could take back their vote. If Barack is nomited, the Dems can kiss their November victotry goodbye. Obama would have been better off being a muslim.
Let's all remember this is not the only time Obama has said one thing to find out he did differently behind closed doors. "nafta-gate" for instance.
There is no way he can distance himself now from this church or pastor. It would be like saying he denounced his mother or father. He has a 20 year relationship by choice with them pastor
not to mention the 17 year friendship with Rezko that was also BY CHOICE.
Wright blamed American foreign policies for Sept. 11, but that seems little different than the line of reasoning proposed by Jerry Falwell. The bottom line is that these ministers are not up for election, and people of faith (Democrats and Republicans) risk losing much if these lines of attack continue unchallenged. We have enough atheists and lukewarm adherents in higher office already.
I would rather hear what the candidates believe about matters of policy and of moral conviction regarding life, marriage, and helping the less fortunate. Those are weighty enough issues to address without the aforementioned sideshows.
For those drawing comparisons to right wing Christian leaders.
Lets assume that some conservative Christian leaders may have said things that could be construed as on par with Wright's sermons (though none come to mind right now). The difference is that these people, while potentially allied with many GOP politicians in some common causes, do not have nearly the same relationship that Wright and Obama have. No baptisms, no marriages, no 20 years of allegiance. The comparison is a weak point at best.
talk about a lack of good judgement.To continue to affilliate intimately with this church for 20 years is far more dispicable than Hillary giving a vote for authorization based on George Bushs lies. This really shows who can get it right on day 1, and it is not Obama. This also should open up even further the discussion of the clever manipulation of the press that the Obama campaign has used to try and portray the Clintons as racist. Clearly Obama knows exactly what race bating does to advantage his campaign with the African American voter and is not as innocent as he trys to portray himself in this matter. It looks like he has spent 20 years learning from a "master" which is very disturbing.
I'm with Lesley.
The longer the nomination process goes on, the more stories like this will come out from the media. They can't attack the individual so they go this guilty by association route. We'll see a new one every week.
Being a New Yorker - I'm not offended. If you don't believe we contributed to 9/11, take another look at the history of our foreign policy.
This situation isn't any different for Obama than a white candidate being a member of a country club that won't admit blacks. I also reject the Wright/Falwell comparison. As far as I know Falwell has never said anything close to "Gd D*m America". Wright gives explanation to why Michelle Obama has pride in her country for the first time in her adult life.
I think that we all have close friends or mentors with whom we share many ideas or values, but differ dramatically on politics. If this man were Obama's advisor in law school, or his mentor in the state or US senate, then it would be a different matter. But a professor of constitutional law does not go to church to get politicked.
Is it really so difficult to understand the vitriol of an old black pastor in an inner city Chicago church? Have we lost all understanding of the pain endured by the African American community for so many years? I?m sure on the whole he is a fine man who has endured much in his long career. Long ago I learned to accept the imperfect realities of organized religion. Does attendance at this church make Barack Obama anything less than a human being striving for a greater good? Look deeper at the statements of this pastor and you we may see the true imperfections in both ourselves and this nation. We are a good but imperfect people. Our policies have done much to harm others despite best intentions.
I think this issue is something to think over. However, to somehow eclipse Obama's public record due to Wright's doctrine is ignorant. Obama needs to approach this man the same way Kennedy approached the Catholic church by stating that Wright will not influence his administration. Remember that Kennedy and his children were baptized, married, etc. by a Catholic priest.
I think what we are seeing is Obama's negative rating will rise among those who would not have supported him in any case. Tough luck for him.
Barack Obama's Post-Racial Politics?
Barack Obama's long time association with Reverend Wright puts the lie to the candidate's assertion that he is somehow bringing a transcendent, post-racial kind of politics to our country.
It seems apparent to me that someone with a religious background such as his, and with a wife who has let more than one ill-considered remark slip past her lips, is just a fake and a fraud, trying to convince the voters that he is something new and different when he is nothing more than a radical rabble rouser intent on foisting his own ambitions on a gullible nation.
In this regard he reminds me a great deal of Hillary Clinton. She too has suppressed her crypto-communist views so as to make herself all the more electable.
We have here two Manchurian Candidates. I am hopeful that the "bark" will in fact be peeled off both of them and John McCain will rise to victory to defend this nation at its most critical hour since 9/11 itself.
Most of the people here who has said that because of this issue alone they are now not going to support Obama, probably were looking for a reason not to support him anyway but felt guilty doing it just because he is black. Or they just showed how uninformed they are seeing that Wright said these things years ago. Amazing, we can have John McCain and Bush give speecches at Bob Jones University, have McCain have to earn the the respect and support of some of these right-wing nuts, watch Bill Oreilly, Hannity, and Pat Buchanan spew their right-wing, racist nonsense everyday on T.V. but we want to cast Obama away because of what his Pastor said 8 years ago? News flash people: What Wright said about 911 was no different than any of the stuff Ron Paul has been saying for a year now! Oh and guess what... A great deal of it was.. gasp.. true! The reason we keep ending up with the same people in power is because every time someone good comes along we hold them to some ridiculous standard that we don't hold the others to because we expect it from them. Did Obama make a mistake by not totally disavowing this guy? Yes. But I think it's time we as a nation grow up a little bit and decide what we really want in this country. To all of you who want to hate Obama now... Go ahead and pay your $4.00 a gallon gasoline and vote for McCain or reward Clinton for her tactics. I'm want a change. I want Obama
Republican Hypocracy
I remember that John McCain went to stand beside Minister Hagey to thank him for his endorsement. It was Minister Hagey that called all Catholics devil worshipers?
McCain said and I quote "Just because I recievean endorsement from someone doesn't mean that I agree with everything they say."
Well, it seems to me that the same could be said for Minister Wright and Barack Obama.
To The ATLANTIC editors - do you see, as I do, that the vast majority of these comments were orchestrated and are likely the result of 2 or 3 writers? These SAME remarks are posted at any blog with this article and the ability to post without registering. You may want to do a fix - or some poor suspecting soul might actually think thate are 30 or 40 folks out there that really feel they've been "shammed by Barack"!
"Obama ain't rich" ???? If buying a mansion for $1.65 million and then a slice of land for $100k from your rich slum lord buddy (who let poor black people freeze through Chicago winters) ... if that isn't rich, then tell the poor people in the rust belt who've lost their mortgages, what IS rich, exactly? Wright has pulled back the curtain on Obama's disingenuous candidacy once and for all.
The problem I have is that many Americans allow the media to do their thinking for them. I do not think that reverend Wright is an idiot or any other demoralizing term, but only speaking to African Americans from the perspective of an African American who has experienced the but of this country's extremely racially devisive history. Non African American people realy have little appreciatin of this vantagepoint. Somethings, however, are facts. Racism was legal in this country-fact. The country's current socio econmic environment has been structured around a "dominant" white culture--fact. America has, in the past, made some mistakes in international policy and dealings with other nations-fact. The "N" word is a derrogatory term used by some to demoralize African Americans-fact. All of these are true, but what do they have to do with Obama's abilities to reconstruct healthcare, employ a logical exit strategy as far as the war in Iraq is concerned,Promote "green" efficiency, such as use of alternative fuels, energy conservation etc, or to initiate plans that reverse our country's downward economic spiral? If you want to critisize Wright, please find fault with him as a spiritual leader-if you can- because that is what he was. As you condemn Wright, It would help for to you also be intimately familiar with the African American experience, otherwise you may not understand the depth of what you are repudiating. Wright was not a noted politician or policy adviosor to anyone. Obama has stated plainly that he denounces much of what Wright has said. It makes no sense to hold Senator Obama accountable for a person who is not his surragate, who has opinions that some Americans do not agree with.
If I had seen this months ago, I WOULD NOT HAVE RAISED MY HAND FOR OBAMA. Now all I can do is hope that Hillary wins, or I will vote for McCain. And if the Democratic party nominates someone whose "SPIRTUAL ADVISOR" is so vitriolic and hate filled, I will never vote for a democrat again, including dog catcher.
These are some of the things Mormons have been taught about Black People. Mitt Romney is a member of this Church! No body even cared win he was running. Go figure.
"Now WE ARE GENEROUS WITH THE NEGRO. WE ARE WILLING that the Negro have the highest kind of education. I WOULD BE WILLING to LET every Negro DRIVE A CADILLAC IF THEY COULD AFFORD IT. I WOULD BE WILLING that they have all the advantages they can get out of life in the world. BUT LET THEM ENJOY THESE THINGS AMONG THEMSELVES." LDS "Apostle" Mark E. Petersen, "Race Problems - As They Affect the Church," Address delivered at Brigham Young University, August 27, 1954, as quoted in Jerald and Sandra Tanner's book entitled, "The Changing World of Mormonism," p. 307, emphasis added.
LDS - "Those who were LESS VALIANT IN PRE-EXISTENCE and who thereby had certain spiritual restrictions imposed upon them during mortality are known to us as the NEGROES." LDS "Apostle" Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, p. 527, 1966 edition, emphasis added.
LDS - "THE NEGROES ARE NOT EQUAL WITH OTHER RACES where the receipt of certain spiritual blessings are concerned, ...but this inequality is not of man's origin. IT IS THE LORD'S DOING, is based on his eternal laws of justice, and grows out of the LACK OF SPIRITUAL VALIANCE OF THOSE CONCERNED IN THEIR FIRST ESTATE [the Mormon pre-existence]." LDS "Apostle" Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, p. 527 - 528, 1966 edition, emphasis added.
LDS - "...[T]hrough their INDIFFERENCE or LACK OF INTEGRITY TO RIGHTEOUSNESS, [blacks] rendered themselves UNWORTHY of the Priesthood and its powers...." LDS "Historian" B. H. Roberts, The Contributor, vol. 6, pp. 296-297, as quoted in Jerald and Sandra Tanner's book entitled "The Changing World of Mormonism," p. 293, emphasis added.
One small detail about Kennedy and Catholicism is that the Catholics never said "God D*$m America" or anything like Wright's other obnoxious statements.
And also, Hagey was never McCain's "spiritual advisor", and Wright's support to Obama is Far MORE than endorsement. Not to mention McCain hasn't touched this issue. Didn't you guys hear about the "talking points"?
Seems posters here are upset about the Wright sermons and comments. Many of you suffer from extreme naivite. In a sense, black folk live in a world seperate from other races in America. The kind of vitriol associated with Wright is seen as truth and wisdom to black folk in general. Otherwise why would Wright have such a successful ministry? So the real question is not "is America ready for a black president?", rather "is a black man ready to be the American president?"
Ethan - don't be surprised. They are only pointing their fingers at others because they have no excuse for this.
And seriously McCain is the last person you can accuse of being a "radical right wing Christian".
Dillon, to put it another way, those of you who are not concerned by this issue and plan to vote for Obama anyway, are doing so solely because he's black. Sauce for the goose.
"There is no possible way (psychologically speaking) that Obama could go to that Church for 20 years, have Wright play a crucial role in his life, and then disagree with him enough to make a difference. What is the motivation for doing that?"
My mother has been going to the same Catholic church about 5 times a week for the last 50 years and disagrees with a vast amount of what is said there. That with which she agrees outweighs the negative aspects for her.
These are some of the things Mormons have been taught about Black People. Mitt Romney is a member of this Church!
"Now WE ARE GENEROUS WITH THE NEGRO. WE ARE WILLING that the Negro have the highest kind of education. I WOULD BE WILLING to LET every Negro DRIVE A CADILLAC IF THEY COULD AFFORD IT. I WOULD BE WILLING that they have all the advantages they can get out of life in the world. BUT LET THEM ENJOY THESE THINGS AMONG THEMSELVES." LDS "Apostle" Mark E. Petersen, "Race Problems - As They Affect the Church," Address delivered at Brigham Young University, August 27, 1954, as quoted in Jerald and Sandra Tanner's book entitled, "The Changing World of Mormonism," p. 307, emphasis added.
LDS - "Those who were LESS VALIANT IN PRE-EXISTENCE and who thereby had certain spiritual restrictions imposed upon them during mortality are known to us as the NEGROES." LDS "Apostle" Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, p. 527, 1966 edition, emphasis added.
LDS - "THE NEGROES ARE NOT EQUAL WITH OTHER RACES where the receipt of certain spiritual blessings are concerned, ...but this inequality is not of man's origin. IT IS THE LORD'S DOING, is based on his eternal laws of justice, and grows out of the LACK OF SPIRITUAL VALIANCE OF THOSE CONCERNED IN THEIR FIRST ESTATE [the Mormon pre-existence]." LDS "Apostle" Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, p. 527 - 528, 1966 edition, emphasis added.
LDS - "...[T]hrough their INDIFFERENCE or LACK OF INTEGRITY TO RIGHTEOUSNESS, [blacks] rendered themselves UNWORTHY of the Priesthood and its powers...." LDS "Historian" B. H. Roberts, The Contributor, vol. 6, pp. 296-297, as quoted in Jerald and Sandra Tanner's book entitled "The Changing World of Mormonism," p. 293, emphasis added.
Pappy: "black folk live in a world seperate from other races in America" - This is a very sad statement. If this pastors comments are typical of the black community... I have a fear we will never reach racial harmony.
Njorl- Then why does she go? And if what you say is true, than it goes against the overwhelming body of psychological literature that says otherwise (ie. cognitive dissonance and attribution theory).
As a longtime supporter of Sen.Obama, I am completely appalled. This spells DISASTER for the so far sparkling campaign.
Why can't we in this supposedly 'greatest country in the world', find politicians worthy of our respect and trust ?
Walter - why are you attacking Mormons for something someone said 50 years ago? Maybe they felt that way then... but to use this as a point in this discussion seems way out of line.
FYI - I am not a Mormon or a fan of their religion (at all).
For sometime now I have felt like I needed to take a shower when I would listen to Obama, now I know why? You can't sit in a church for 20 years and not believe what is being taught. this is just the beginning of the end for the Obama campaign.
To all those out here defending Obama-- I may not know what his personal beliefs are about whites or Muslims, or leftists. But I do know one thing. If you really want to know who a man is, look at who he surrounds himself with. Rezko, Wright, former weathermen. Hmm. Interesting about what I see.
OBAMA CAN'T DENOUNCE WRIGHT NOW AFTER 20 YEARS
Obama's been going to Wright's church and listening to his sermons for 20 years. Too late to start denouncing him now. Why didn't he leave the church at any time in the last 20 years? Why does he call him his "mentor"? Why did he name his book after Wright's sermon? Why did he get baptized by Wright? Why did he get married by Wright? Why did he allow his children to get baptized by Wright.
It looks like we have a common Hustler/Con Man running for President--one with a law degree.
Posted by Lexi | March 14, 2008 10:41 AM