Barack Obama's Pastor

For several weeks one only heard about him on the conservative talk radio programs. Yesterday, finally, some of the mainstream news media began to delve into some of the "teachings" of Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Jr. People across America were shocked to hear a number of telling sound bytes of the hate filled, vulgar, and race baiting messages of this so called "Man of God".

Wright is the retiring after 36 years as pastor of the Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, where U.S. Senator and Democratic Presidential candidate Barack Obama has been a member for twenty years. Trinity has over 8,000 members and has often been attended by Oprah Winfrey. In a March 7th article, "The New York Times" calls it a "mainstream church... but more Afrocentric and politically active than the standard black congregation." Trinity's website is http://www.tucc.org/home.htm you can judge for yourself.

In his only interview on network television (Hannity and Colmes over a year ago) http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,256078,00.html Wright constantly refers to blacks, as "Africans", eschewing the more commonly used politically correct term of "African Americans". He says he is a proponent of "Liberation Theology" and "Black Liberation Theology". This teaching, which emphasises liberation of oppressed peoples, originated in the Catholic Church, but parts of it's dogma have been rejected by the Vatican in recent years. Judging by the excerpts shown on the news programs, and from the archived messages found on Trinity's website, the type of "Liberation Theology" Rev. Wright espouses, doesn't have much to do with the Gospel of Grace that I find in my Bible.

Apologists for Wright claim that critics just don't understand "the Black Church" and their type of preaching. Well, I have attended several predominantly black churches in Kentucky, Ohio, and West Virginia over the years. I have had black pastors and evangelists fill my pulpits, and I have been blessed to preach in one black church, myself. I am personally acquainted with several black ministers and consider them to be close friends. While the worship styles may be different from some of our "stiff necked white churches", I have always enjoyed attending their services. The black Christians I know, really know how to "do church"! The singing is joyful and exuberant, the preaching is powerful and passionate, and nobody looks at the clock and worries about what time the service will be over. In all my experiences with black churches and their pastors, I have never heard the type of vulgar and hateful comments that spew from the lips of Rev. Wright.

Every pastor, like every other church member, is entitled to their own political views. I certainly have mine. However, the pulpit in the House of God is NOT the place for those views to be expressed. I have pledged to NEVER endorse partisan political candidates from the pulpit. As Tony Evans says, "Almighty God does not ride on the back of Donkey's or Elephants!" The church is the place where the Bible is to be preached, the Gospel is to be proclaimed, Grace is to be the theme. Pastor Wright's public endorsement of one political candidate over another is not only unseemly in the House of God, but has also brought on an investigation by the Internal Revenue Service that could result in Trinity Church losing their tax exempt status. I wonder if that might have anything to do with the timing of Rev. Wright's retirement?

Wright's sermons reek of socialism and are absolutely racist and anti-american in tone - constantly blasting "white America". One hears hardly a mention of Salvation, but continual messages about rising up against "rich, white America". Not only are his remarks racially offensive, but often down right vulgar. One of the more obnoxious clips that I saw played back early on (but not so much in the past day or so) involved Wright's criticism of Bill Clinton's Presidency. He told his congregation that while Clinton pretended to be a friend of blacks "He was riding you like he was riding Monica Lewinsky" (complete with pelvic thrusts for visual effect). "Money talks" he continued, "but B.S. walks!" This pronouncement brought a standing ovation from the crowd and slaps on the pastor's back from people in the choir and the "amen corner".

His disdain for this country is evident. Among his more far fetched pronouncements, Wright claims that the U.S. Government developed the HIV virus to "commit genocide on blacks". He claims that the terrorist attacks of 9/11 were God's retribution on America because we "bombed Hiroshima and Nagasaki, nuking thousands of people, and never batted an eye". Even the liberal news media has caught on to Wright's virulent Anti American teachings. ABC's Brian Ross reports in the "ABC News Blotter Website" that Wright "repeated denunciations of the U.S. based on what he described as his reading of the Gospels and the treatment of black Americans." In addition to providing his comments after 9/11 that had been previously publicized, the site also quoted Wright as saying "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, God damn America, that's in the Bible for killing innocent people".

While this is all shocking stuff, keep in mind that Rev. Wright has no corner on the market regarding hate and bigotry. I call to your attention the Rev. Fred Phelps of the so called "Westboro Baptist Church" in Kansas. This church (which basically consists of Phelps' family) has made national headlines by carrying their signs saying "God Hates Fags" and picketing the funerals of U.S. Servicemen and women who have been killed in action. Phelps claims that the death of these heroes is payback from God for the rampant homosexuality in America. We have all known of racism in some white churches as well. Ignorance and hate know no racial or cultural boundaries.

All of the recent attention to Wright from the national news media, would be no news at all, but not for his relationship with Presidential Candidate Barack Obama. Senator Obama has been a member of Wright's congregation for 20 years. He claims that Wright led him to Christ. Obama and his wife, Michelle, were married by Wright and the pastor also baptized the Obama children. Obama has called Wright his mentor and spiritual advisor and even took the theme and title of his book, "The Audacity of Hope" from one of Wright's sermons. The Senator hit all of the major news networks last night with a statement that he "rejected the particular teachings in the clips that have been played on the news".

In two interviews I saw last night, Obama told Anderson Cooper of CNN and Major Garrett of Fox News, that Wright "Was like an uncle at family reunions. You love him and he is family, but you have no control over some of the things he says." Cooper, somewhat surprisingly, told Obama that this situation was a little different than the uncle analogy. "We can't control who our family members are, but we can control who we voluntarily associate with."

Well said, Anderson.

Senator Obama, and other apologists for Wright were busy last night putting a spin on the whole situation. Besides the "you don't understand the black church" mantra, they are now saying that the whole situation is moot because Wright "has retired and has preached his last sermon at the church." While that may be true, does that fact undo all of his teachings of the past three decades? Instead of admitting the facts, Wright's supporters typically want to muddy the water by turning the focus on a controversial minister that has endorsed Republican candidate John McCain during the recent Texas primary. San Antonio's Cornerstone Church's Pastor John Hagee, has often been a critic of the Catholic Church. Hagee has stated his belief that the Catholic Church is the "Great Whore" of the prophecy in the biblical Book of Revelation. While this remark is certainly offensive to Catholics, the correlation between Hagee's endorsement of McCain and Wright's relationship with Obama, is like comparing apples to oranges. Hagee's endorsement of McCain was a purely political thing. McCain may or may not appreciate Hagee's endorsement, but the fact is that McCain barely knows Hagee and is certainly not a member of his church. On the other hand Obama and Wright's mentor/protegee relationship goes back for two decades.

Obama's claims that these quotes by Wright came to him as a surprise seem disingenuous to this writer. Especially since Jodi Kantor's March 6, 2007 article in "The New York Times" http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/06/us/politics/06obama.html?_r=1&oref=slogin reports that Obama recinded an earlier invitation to Wright to offer the invocation at Obama's Presidential Candidacy announcement last year. The reason? According to the pastor, Mr. Obama then told him, “You can get kind of rough in the sermons, so what we’ve decided is that it’s best for you not to be out there in public.”

I wouldn't call Obama a racist, and I don't really believe he is "unamerican", but his association with Wright is a concern. Now he can go to church wherever he wants. That's certainly his privilige. However, if Obama has been a member of Wright's church for 20 years and claims he wasn't aware of the hate, vulgarity, racism, and anti-americanism in Wright's messages, then one of two things is true. Obama is either a liar, or he is too stupid to be President of the United States of America.