Obama's Pastor

[Tigermike 3,054]

That Rev. Wright is a racist of the worst kind is indisputable--all you have to do is watch him to understand the hatred he preaches. This is the kind of hatred that Barack Obama has listened to and admired for more than 20 years-- and given his money to support; it represents the audacity of hate and a high dose of racial paranoia, rather than the audacity of hope or change.

So it is interesting to wonder how so many people have come to imagine that Barack Hussein Obama could possibly heal America's racist past? That he represents some sort of redemption?

Don't you think it's interesting that for all of Barack's saintly attempts to "keep race out of the race" that the Democratic primary has been the scene of the most disgusting race-baiting and racist/sexist name-calling in memory? I don't believe this is only Hillary and Bill's fault....just listen to Obama's mentor for a moment or two and think about it.

The Democrats (who were largely responsible for America's racist past) are in pure denial and wishful thinking mode (are they ever in any other?) if they believe that either Obama or Hillary represent any sort of healing, since both campaigns are based on the identity politics the Democrats have championed over the last two decades.

The Rev. Wright appears to believe in a vast number of conspiracy theories, including the idea that AIDS was developed to use against the Black community; that the government is feeding Blacks drugs; that they are behind 9/11 etc. etc.

And you thought that such nonsense was so paranoid and psychotic that it could only exist on the margins. Well, the Democratic Party is about to take it mainstream.

Remember, Obama has been listening to and supporting this crap for more than 20 years. His "repudiations" of Rev. Wright are lukewarm and affectionate. You've got to ask yourself how any reasonable person could stay in such an environment for two decades without absorbing some of the insanity being preached there.

But this is the same sort of insanity that infused the left wing of the Democratic party. It is the same sort of insanity that is promulgated in many of our academic institutions--and you have to spend time on university campuses to appreciate the baseline level of intense political and racial paranoia that exists in this particular bastion of "diversity". The university campus is where you can promote diversity as much as you want--as long as you aren't inclusive of white, heterosexual, male, Republicans.

Obama's Pastor: damn America, U.S. to Blame for 9/11

Obama's Pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Has a History of What Even Obama's Campaign Aides Say Is 'Inflammatory Rhetoric'

By BRIAN ROSS and REHAB EL-BURI

March 13, 2008

Sen. Barack Obama's pastor says blacks should not sing "God Bless America" but "damn America."

The Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Obama's pastor for the last 20 years at the Trinity United Church of Christ on Chicago's south side, has a long history of what even Obama's campaign aides concede is "inflammatory rhetoric," including the assertion that the United States brought on the 9/11 attacks with its own "terrorism."

In a campaign appearance earlier this month, Sen. Obama said, "I don't think my church is actually particularly controversial." He said Rev. Wright "is like an old uncle who says things I don't always agree with," telling a Jewish group that everyone has someone like that in their family.

Rev. Wright married Obama and his wife Michelle, baptized their two daughters and is credited by Obama for the title of his book, "The Audacity of Hope."

An ABC News review of dozens of Rev. Wright's sermons, offered for sale by the church, found repeated denunciations of the U.S. based on what he described as his reading of the Gospels and the treatment of black Americans.

"The government gives them the drugs, builds bigger prisons, passes a three-strike law and then wants us to sing 'God Bless America.' No, no, no, damn America, that's in the Bible for killing innocent people," he said in a 2003 sermon. "damn America for treating our citizens as less than human. damn America for as long as she acts like she is God and she is supreme."

In addition to damning America, he told his congregation on the Sunday after Sept. 11, 2001 that the United States had brought on al Qaeda's attacks because of its own terrorism.

"We bombed Hiroshima, we bombed Nagasaki, and we nuked far more than the thousands in New York and the Pentagon, and we never batted an eye," Rev. Wright said in a sermon on Sept. 16, 2001.

"We have supported state terrorism against the Palestinians and black South Africans, and now we are indignant because the stuff we have done overseas is now brought right back to our own front yards. America's chickens are coming home to roost," he told his congregation.

Sen. Obama told the New York Times he was not at the church on the day of Rev. Wright's 9/11 sermon. "The violence of 9/11 was inexcusable and without justification," Obama said in a recent interview. "It sounds like he was trying to be provocative," Obama told the paper.

Rev. Wright, who announced his retirement last month, has built a large and loyal following at his church with his mesmerizing sermons, mixing traditional spiritual content and his views on contemporary issues.

"I wouldn't call it radical. I call it being black in America," said one congregation member outside the church last Sunday.

"He has impacted the life of Barack Obama so much so that he wants to portray that feeling he got from Rev. Wright onto the country because we all need something positive," said another member of the congregation.

Rev. Wright, who declined to be interviewed by ABC News, is considered one of the country's 10 most influential black pastors, according to members of the Obama campaign.

Obama has praised at least one aspect of Rev. Wright's approach, referring to his "social gospel" and his focus on Africa, "and I agree with him on that."

Sen. Obama declined to comment on Rev. Wright's denunciations of the United States, but a campaign religious adviser, Shaun Casey, appearing on "Good Morning America" Thursday, said Obama "had repudiated" those comments.

In a statement to ABCNews.com, Obama's press spokesman Bill Burton said, "Sen. Obama has said repeatedly that personal attacks such as this have no place in this campaign or our politics, whether they're offered from a platform at a rally or the pulpit of a church. Sen. Obama does not think of the pastor of his church in political terms. Like a member of his family, there are things he says with which Sen. Obama deeply disagrees. But now that he is retired, that doesn't detract from Sen. Obama's affection for Rev. Wright or his appreciation for the good works he has done."

http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=4443788&page=1

If you want to watch the video. Use the link for the article and watch the video from there.

[LegalEagle 22]

With this and his wife's recent statement, I think BHO will have a tougher time winning against McCain than Clinton would. While either of these as an isolated event may be explained away, together I believe they make a statement. That statement is not positive and not patriotic. McCain and the Repub. machine will pounce upon him.

[channonc 466]

This is going to be hard to retaliate against. And while I like Obama, stuff like this is quite disturbing.

[Tigermike 3,054]

With this and his wife's recent statement, I think BHO will have a tougher time winning against McCain than Clinton would. While either of these as an isolated event may be explained away, together I believe they make a statement. That statement is not positive and not patriotic. McCain and the Repub. machine will pounce upon him.

The fact that you see and acknowledge it as not patriotic says a lot. A lot about the incident and a lot about you.

LE, - It is beginning to get a lot of play in the national media now and will be hard to cover up as much as they would like. This isn't coming from the Clinton's or the Republicans but from the MSM and they are only reporting what is happening and being said. Months ago I pointed out Wrights statements and thoughts. Tex & RR poopooed it as if it was nothing and did not indicate anything at all. We will see.

[CCTAU 3,346]

It is disturbing. But according to Texas Tiger, only rich white republicans can be racist. And I would comment more, but since his preacher is a black man, I would just be upholding TT's accusations about me and those like me.

Another take:

Victor Davis Hanson on the Democrats and race:

Race and the Democrats

Victor Davis Hanson

I recently listened to, and read from, various disgusting excerpts of Rev. (“damn America!”) Wright, the Obama pastor and his Ward Churchill-like “chickens coming home to roost” rhetoric.

The problem is that he is not simply a well-meaning black pastor, sounding themes of African-American self-improvement. His loopy references about the past, and the many sins of a white racist America, coupled with his promiscuous use of slurs about other races and religions, (and his own country), put him clearly in the camp of extremists. In other words, he is a nut, and the more Obama’s tries to pooh-pooh that, the worse it gets. Most who could sit through those diatribes and venom each week might find it difficult to have a balanced view of so-called “white” people or the country at large.

I’m surprised that Obama has not dealt with the issue more forcefully, since the Rev. will become a media fixation. And, given his temperament and zest for attention, he will delight reporters and journalists with weekly doses of his gratuitous slanders. And it won’t do to suggest that such worry is “guilt by association” or that Rev. Wright is analogous to other controversial religious figures endorsing other candidates. Wright baptized the Obama children; Obama belongs to and attends his church and has listened in the past without objection to these extremist sermons; and he took his “Audacity of Hope” book title from a Wright lecture. In that incestuous context, Obama’s weak disclaimer, "I don't think my church is actually particularly controversial, " is as disingenuous and ‘old politics’ as they come.

As far as the latest racial controversy among Democrats in a campaign intended to transcend race, it is hard to know quite what is going on. It is true, as alleged, that were Obama not African-American with an exotic name, a rookie senator without much experience, or reputation from his state legislator days, would not be receiving the current mainstream media adulation or public attention.

But that said, should an Al Sharpton or Jesse Jackson have had African or Middle-Eastern names, it would have done neither any good, since both utterly lack Sen. Obama’s eloquence (not seen since JFK) and sense of decency that so reassures voters—at a time of great national insecurity about the economy and the war.

In truth, one key to Obama’s success is that, on the one hand, his education, diction, charisma, and mixed racial ancestry reassure white, Asian, and Latino voters that the senator is firmly within the American mainstream while offering a promise of novelty-lite and “change” and “hope” to boot. And for the more elite among them, he raises the additional ante of psychological redemption at little cost—that his election proves that we are not only not currently racist, but also can be given atonement for the sins of our grandparents and beyond. Overseas that magic wand reinvents Americans as a revolutionary society led by the “other”, and not to be targeted any longer and caricatured as the old white oppressor.

On the other hand, a tripartite name like Barack Hussein Obama, silhouetted at times by the fiery racialist rhetoric of Rev. Wright, and the serial lamentations of Michelle Obama, also provides a clear subtext to the African-American base, and the hard Left— Obama has real fides; he is one of the people; and he expects and enjoys such lopsided racial solidarity.

Is this tightrope walking sustainable? I doubt it. At some point, given the high bar he has set for candor and the new ‘change’ politics, Obama will have to be honest and explain the difficulty of reconciling these constituencies—perhaps emphasizing that he is concerned only with the issues, and, given his mixed racial and varied cultural background, assorted groups sometimes see in him superficially only what they wish.

He should address it head on, since the tiny droplets of Michelle’s sloppy rhetoric, the Wright outbursts, the old radicals in the closet, the snippets in the memoirs that assume a sort of hard left view of the United States abroad, and more to come will coalesce in the mind of the voter into a deluge of far left criticism of America. So far he has been lucky to have critics like Ferraro whose inferred logic is full of holes (e.g., I was once nominated as VP only because I was a woman, but as an obscure congresswoman without accomplishments I would have nevertheless been a great VP; but Hillary is not there because she is a woman or Bill’s husband, but [unlike Obama?] has real gifts that earned her such stature); others will be more circumspect and effective in their dissection of the Obama contradictions.

Since Billary has almost mined out the racialist ore, expect them to tap this vein of easy anti-Americanism that characterizes Obama’s associates.

link

[LegalEagle 22]

With this and his wife's recent statement, I think BHO will have a tougher time winning against McCain than Clinton would. While either of these as an isolated event may be explained away, together I believe they make a statement. That statement is not positive and not patriotic. McCain and the Repub. machine will pounce upon him.

The fact that you see and acknowledge it as not patriotic says a lot. A lot about the incident and a lot about you.

LE, - It is beginning to get a lot of play in the national media now and will be hard to cover up as much as they would like. This isn't coming from the Clinton's or the Republicans but from the MSM and they are only reporting what is happening and being said. Months ago I pointed out Wrights statements and thoughts. Tex & RR poopooed it as if it was nothing and did not indicate anything at all. We will see.

Thank you Tm. I don't respond to compliments well. It's because I have such little practice! *grin*

[bojack34 2]

All I got to say is "I told you so!" I tried warning people about this a few months ago in a previous thread and I remember some calling me a racist because of it. More proof that the Black Panthers legacy lives on through Obama and his church. Change=Hate.

[LegalEagle 22]

All I got to say is "I told you so!" I tried warning people about this a few months ago in a previous thread and I remember some calling me a racist because of it. More proof that the Black Panthers legacy lives on through Obama and his church. Change=Hate.

Hey, just because you're a racist doesn't mean you don't have a good point! You have to learn to separate the two.

[autiger4life 3]

Politically this certainly will start to hurt Obama and certainly does not make me feel better about him.

It still doesn't make me worry about Obama's true intentions. There are people who I look up to who disappoint me all the time, and Obama has publicly said he disagrees with these statements(I would hope so). I will say that even articles on Fox(I think either that or CNN) that the preacher is respected in the theological realm, just not on his certain social views.

It is troublesome that Obama says he is his spiritual advisor, I would assume Obama seperates his spiritual and social advice, but I don't know if the voters will be able to do the same, or if they should do the same. Definately not good for Obama.

[TitanTiger 20,511]

On the subject of patriotism, first let's establish, there is nothing wrong with calling a nation to task on something. The question is, are you doing it simply to vent anger, point fingers, shirk responsibility and assign blame? Or are you doing it out of love for your country and want what's best for it? Of course everyone will claim the latter, but most people can tell where the real motive lies. Even in the OT when the prophets strongly admonished Israel for its sins, it wasn't to berate the people or to take pleasure in judgment upon them. It was to see the nation repent and embrace truth and righteousness.

My problem with him is not that he purports to be pointing out harsh truths America needs to hear. My problem is that I don't see how any objective observer could watch or listen to the sermons in question and come away with the idea that Wright is doing anything out of love or concern.

[autiger4life 3]

On the subject of patriotism, first let's establish, there is nothing wrong with calling a nation to task on something. The question is, are you doing it simply to vent anger, point fingers, shirk responsibility and assign blame? Or are you doing it out of love for your country and want what's best for it? Of course everyone will claim the latter, but most people can tell where the real motive lies. Even in the OT when the prophets strongly admonished Israel for its sins, it wasn't to berate the people or to take pleasure in judgment upon them. It was to see the nation repent and embrace truth and righteousness.

My problem with him is not that he purports to be pointing out harsh truths America needs to hear. My problem is that I don't see how any objective observer could watch or listen to the sermons in question and come away with the idea that Wright is doing anything out of love or concern.

Excellent post. I get frustrated when people say a person is not patriotic just because they disagree with the government. That freedom is what makes this country so great and some people's attempt to get others to keep their mouth shut about disagreements over how the country is run is one of the biggest threats to this country.

With they said, what this guy said is not based on facts, reason, or desire to see the US advance in my opinion. People like this remind me those protestors out in Berkely, make claims completely based on conspiracy websites, nothing on fact.

[autiger4life 3]

Patriotism is defending your country at all times and your government when they deserve it.

Mark Twain

I think this is a wonderful quote.

[LegalEagle 22]

On the subject of patriotism, first let's establish, there is nothing wrong with calling a nation to task on something. The question is, are you doing it simply to vent anger, point fingers, shirk responsibility and assign blame? Or are you doing it out of love for your country and want what's best for it? Of course everyone will claim the latter, but most people can tell where the real motive lies. Even in the OT when the prophets strongly admonished Israel for its sins, it wasn't to berate the people or to take pleasure in judgment upon them. It was to see the nation repent and embrace truth and righteousness.

My problem with him is not that he purports to be pointing out harsh truths America needs to hear. My problem is that I don't see how any objective observer could watch or listen to the sermons in question and come away with the idea that Wright is doing anything out of love or concern.

Excellent post. I get frustrated when people say a person is not patriotic just because they disagree with the government. That freedom is what makes this country so great and some people's attempt to get others to keep their mouth shut about disagreements over how the country is run is one of the biggest threats to this country.

With they said, what this guy said is not based on facts, reason, or desire to see the US advance in my opinion. People like this remind me those protestors out in Berkely, make claims completely based on conspiracy websites, nothing on fact.

Two good posts. (Let the love fest begin!)

You would be naive to believe US foreign policy has been perfect. Further it has alienated certain peoples. We should not have had those bad policies. Perhaps we should change some policies and apologize. However, anyone who says we deserved 911 is not right. Perhaps someone should get up at the UN and call us out on our policies, but no one can justify the loss of life on 9/11. It appears to me that the preach is saying just that.

[autiger4life 3]

Well I think everyone on the board is agreeing that the preacher is crazy and way off the mark.

So the question is how does this affect Obama, and more important, does Obama buy into any of this crap.

1. It hurts him more in the general election then in the primaries, but Hillary is clapping right now.

2. I truly don't think he does. It doesn't look good that this is not only his preacher, but as he put it, his spiritual advisor. The thing that makes me trust more in Obama is that what he is saying now is not just because he is just running for President IMO. He has been living the life of trying to change things since he got out of college, from giving up the big bucks to be a community organizer, to helping civil right cases. We'll see how it plays out.

[arnaldoabru 11]

I have friends who have opinions.There are people who I respect who have opinions.I don't always agree with their opinions.

[TitanTiger 20,511]

I have friends who have opinions.There are people who I respect who have opinions.I don't always agree with their opinions.

And if they or anyone else expresses those opinions out loud, and those opinions are controversial or offensive, then the flip side of the free speech coin is that others get to chime in and tell you what they think of those opinions.

[arnaldoabru 11]

I have friends who have opinions.There are people who I respect who have opinions.I don't always agree with their opinions.

And if they or anyone else expresses those opinions out loud, and those opinions are controversial or offensive, then the flip side of the free speech coin is that others get to chime in and tell you what they think of those opinions.

I don't always agree with my Pastor's opinions.Just because it is his,it doesn't make it mine.

[TigerHeat 9]

I have friends who have opinions.There are people who I respect who have opinions.I don't always agree with their opinions.

And if they or anyone else expresses those opinions out loud, and those opinions are controversial or offensive, then the flip side of the free speech coin is that others get to chime in and tell you what they think of those opinions.

I don't always agree with my Pastor's opinions.Just because it is his,it doesn't make it mine.

Does your pastor preach hate? If so, common sense and general decency would dictate that you find a new congregation. Unless you're a Muslim or dhimmicrat "christian", that is.

[TitanTiger 20,511]

Ok. But if your pastor is expressing things that are far outside the mainstream and accusing groups of people of things and expressing opinions that castigate others and you don't agree with them, how long would you continue to sit under his teaching? If your pastor started expressing the opinion that most of America's current ills could be laid at the feet of black people, would you stay?

[Defense(clap clap) 4]

http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/p...amfelsen/gGBzFP

Barack Obama: On My Faith and My Church

The pastor of my church, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, who recently preached his last sermon and is in the process of retiring, has touched off a firestorm over the last few days. He's drawn attention as the result of some inflammatory and appalling remarks he made about our country, our politics, and my political opponents.

Let me say at the outset that I vehemently disagree and strongly condemn the statements that have been the subject of this controversy. I categorically denounce any statement that disparages our great country or serves to divide us from our allies. I also believe that words that degrade individuals have no place in our public dialogue, whether it's on the campaign stump or in the pulpit. In sum, I reject outright the statements by Rev. Wright that are at issue.

Because these particular statements by Rev. Wright are so contrary to my own life and beliefs, a number of people have legitimately raised questions about the nature of my relationship with Rev. Wright and my membership in the church. Let me therefore provide some context.

As I have written about in my books, I first joined Trinity United Church of Christ nearly twenty years ago. I knew Rev. Wright as someone who served this nation with honor as a United States Marine, as a respected biblical scholar, and as someone who taught or lectured at seminaries across the country, from Union Theological Seminary to the University of Chicago. He also led a diverse congregation that was and still is a pillar of the South Side and the entire city of Chicago. It's a congregation that does not merely preach social justice but acts it out each day, through ministries ranging from housing the homeless to reaching out to those with HIV/AIDS.

Most importantly, Rev. Wright preached the gospel of Jesus, a gospel on which I base my life. In other words, he has never been my political advisor; he's been my pastor. And the sermons I heard him preach always related to our obligation to love God and one another, to work on behalf of the poor, and to seek justice at every turn.

The statements that Rev. Wright made that are the cause of this controversy were not statements I personally heard him preach while I sat in the pews of Trinity or heard him utter in private conversation. When these statements first came to my attention, it was at the beginning of my presidential campaign. I made it clear at the time that I strongly condemned his comments. But because Rev. Wright was on the verge of retirement, and because of my strong links to the Trinity faith community, where I married my wife and where my daughters were baptized, I did not think it appropriate to leave the church.

Let me repeat what I've said earlier. All of the statements that have been the subject of controversy are ones that I vehemently condemn. They in no way reflect my attitudes and directly contradict my profound love for this country.

With Rev. Wright's retirement and the ascension of my new pastor, Rev. Otis Moss, III, Michelle and I look forward to continuing a relationship with a church that has done so much good. And while Rev. Wright's statements have pained and angered me, I believe that Americans will judge me not on the basis of what someone else said, but on the basis of who I am and what I believe in; on my values, judgment and experience to be President of the United States.

[arnaldoabru 11]

Ok. But if your pastor is expressing things that are far outside the mainstream and accusing groups of people of things and expressing opinions that castigate others and you don't agree with them, how long would you continue to sit under his teaching? If your pastor started expressing the opinion that most of America's current ills could be laid at the feet of black people, would you stay?

I love my Church,I don't have to like my Pastor.I'm hoping he will be gone soon.

[TitanTiger 20,511]

Ok. But if your pastor is expressing things that are far outside the mainstream and accusing groups of people of things and expressing opinions that castigate others and you don't agree with them, how long would you continue to sit under his teaching? If your pastor started expressing the opinion that most of America's current ills could be laid at the feet of black people, would you stay?

I love my Church,I don't have to like my Pastor.I'm hoping he will be gone soon.

I love my church too, but if my pastor starting veering off into moonbat racist territory in his sermons, I wouldn't stay very long thereafter.

[TigerHeat 9]

Ok. But if your pastor is expressing things that are far outside the mainstream and accusing groups of people of things and expressing opinions that castigate others and you don't agree with them, how long would you continue to sit under his teaching? If your pastor started expressing the opinion that most of America's current ills could be laid at the feet of black people, would you stay?

I love my Church,I don't have to like my Pastor.I'm hoping he will be gone soon.

I love my church too, but if my pastor starting veering off into moonbat racist territory in his sermons, I wouldn't stay very long thereafter.

Good point, TT.

The Christians in pre-war Germany thought Hitler was a pretty righteous dude. They loved their church enough to stick it out and leave him essentially unopposed by the church. Dietrich Boenhoffer thanks all who think like that.

[RunInRed 16,489]

Well said by Obama above. The radical right will continue to try to tear this man down b/c that is what they do.

[TitanTiger 20,511]

I also give kudos to Obama. But don't act like people being bothered by it and expecting an explanation from Obama was being unreasonable. It offended my not only as an American and a white person, it especially offended me that such hateful rhetoric would come from someone that calls themselves a Christian.