More Change You Can Believe In

I swore that I wasn’t going to write about OsamaBama again, but I just can’t resist with such easy fruit hanging in front of me.

Part I - The Crazy Rev

Thanks in part to staying up entirely too late on Sunday night, I got up late on Monday morning and had the good fortune of being able to hear the first 20 minutes of Rev. Wrong … ooops, Wright, at the National Press Club. I had a few laughs and a couple of “could someone get me some of whatever he is smoking” moments. Here are a few of my favorite lines:

“And I stand before you to open up this two-day symposium with the hope that this most recent attack on the black church is not an attack on Jeremiah Wright; it is an attack on the black church.”

I think there are a lot of people who would tell you that “G– D— America” and the idea of “killing Gods who do not belong to the black community” isn’t a part of the typical black church experience. And for those who are scratching their heads wondering why I’m talking about killing God, the following is the entire basis for the “black liberation theology” that the Wrong Rev. Wright advocates; this is what he says is the black church:

“Black theology refuses to accept a God who is not identified totally with the goals of the black community. If God is not for us and against white people, then he is a murderer, and we had better kill him. The task of black theology is to kill Gods who do not belong to the black community … Black theology will accept only the love of God which participates in the destruction of the white enemy. What we need is the divine love as expressed in Black Power, which is the power of black people to destroy their oppressors here and now by any means at their disposal. Unless God is participating in this holy activity, we must reject his love.^“

That, my dear readers, is what Jeremiah Wright claims is the black church in America. I dare say that a lot of people who attend “black churches” should be outraged right about now. Where is Christ in that? Anyway, back to his comments from Monday morning:

“Maybe now, as an honest dialogue about race in this country begins, a dialogue called for by Senator Obama and a dialogue to begin in the United Church of Christ among 5,700 congregations in just a few weeks, maybe now, as that dialogue begins, the religious tradition that has kept hope alive for people struggling to survive in countless hopeless situation [sic], maybe that religious tradition will be understood, celebrated, and even embraced by a nation that seems not to have noticed why 11 o’clock on Sunday morning has been called the most segregated hour in America.”

So hating whitey and trying to sic God on him is a treasured black religious tradition. Wow, who knew?

“I take and trace the theology of the black church back to the prophets in the Hebrew Bible and to its last prophet, in my tradition, the one we call Jesus of Nazareth.”

Ok, I get it now — what he’s saying is that Jesus was just a prophet, not the born-of-a-virgin Son of God who came to redeem us once and for all. That makes sense seeing that The Rev.’s college degree is in Islamic Studies. Moving right along….

MODERATOR: Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the father but through me.” Do you believe this? And do you think Islam is a way to salvation?

REVEREND WRIGHT: Jesus also said, “Other sheep have I who are not of this fold.”

Oh hey how convenient. He confirmed it for me. This church isn’t a Christian church; and Obama isn’t a Christian. That’s how he can make comments about bitter people clinging to religion.

Part II - Schizophrenic Backpedaling

So what does Obama now think about the man who married he and his wife 20 years ago, has baptized his kids and received $22k in church contributions from the Obama family in 2007 alone?

“I have been a member of Trinity United Church of Christ since 1992, and have known Reverend Wright for 20 years.The person I saw yesterday was not the person that I met 20 years ago.”

Sure. Right.

“I am outraged by the comments that were made and saddened over the spectacle that we saw yesterday…

“Don’t say words don’t matter!“

What became clear to me is that he was presenting a world view that contradicts who I am and what I stand for. And what I think particularly angered me was his suggestion somehow that my previous denunciation of his remarks were somehow political posturing. Anybody who knows me and anybody who knows what I’m about knows that I am about trying to bridge gaps and I see the commonality in all people…

“Just words.“

I gave him the benefit of the doubt in my speech in Philadelphia explaining that he’s done enormous good. … But when he states and then amplifies such ridiculous propositions as the U.S. government somehow being involved in AIDS. … There are no excuses. They offended me. They rightly offend all Americans and they should be denounced…

“Just words.“

I think he felt vilified and attacked and I understand him wanting to defend himself,” Obama said. “That may account for the change but the insensitivity and the outrageousness of the statements shocked me and surprised me.

Wow. Just last month Obama listed him as his spiritual adviser on his campaign website. He claimed that he had never heard this stuff before after sitting in the pews for 20 years. What’s become obvious is that either a) Obama was never in the pews or b) he really does buy in to all of this crap and is pedaling in reverse as fast as he can.

So, how about we hit the re-wind button for just a second:

Feb. 10, 2007 _ Obama decides not to have Wright deliver the invocation at the launch of his presidential campaign.

Feb. 22, 2007 _ Rolling Stone magazine publishes a profile of Obama that includes Wright using profanity to condemn American racism.

April 2007 - New York Times article:

“If Barack gets past the primary, he might have to publicly distance himself from me,” Mr. Wright said with a shrug. “I said it to Barack personally, and he said yeah, that might have to happen.” 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.”

Yes, you read that right. Rev. Wright said in an April 2007 interview that Obama knew about his sermons and intentionally wanted him out of the spotlight.

March 13, 2008: ABC News airs a report on some of Wright’s inflammatory remarks. Clips from his sermons begin circulating on TV and the Internet.

March 14, 2008:

“I strongly condemn” Wright’s statements, but “I would not repudiate the man,” Obama said. “He’s been preaching for 30 years. He’s a man who was a former Marine, a biblical scholar, someone who’s spoken at theological schools all over the country. “That’s the man I know,” Obama said. “That’s the man who was the pastor of this church.”

March 18, 2008:

“I can no more disown him than I can disown the black community.”

April 29, 2008:

“And I did not vet my pastor before I decided to run for the presidency. I was a member of the church. So what I think it says is that I did not run my pastor through the paces or review every one of the sermons that he had made over the last 30 years. But I don’t think that anybody could attribute those ideas to me.”

Just in case you missed it, Obama admitted on Tuesday that he (allegedly) sat in the pews for 20 years and never once tested what Wright was saying against God’s Word, or anything else. He mindlessly took it in — until March of this year when suddenly it became unfashionable. How can I claim “never once”? The sheer number of clips floating around the internet is evidence that this wasn’t a one-time deal. He didn’t change his stripes overnight — “hate whitey” has been Sunday fare for decades.

In any case, I will remind you once again. This is the change and hope that you’re voting for.

---

Did you enjoy this post? Why not leave a comment below and continue the conversation, or subscribe to my feed and get articles like this delivered automatically each day to your feed reader.

Nothing Noteworthy | Powered by WordPress | ElegantBlue is a custom theme by Nathan Rice