On Obama’s Pastor, Jeremiah Wright

2008 Presidential Race, National, Politics 2 Minutes

“Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.” — Martin Luther King, Jr.

The story of Barack Obama’s pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, hit the MSM over the last few days. But it is a story that has been simmering for quite some time. A quick Google search reveals a Rolling Stone story from over a year ago,with quotes from Wright that I’ve never heard in a pulpit. Obama, no doubt realizing that Wright might be a problem, disinvited him from his presidential announcement. Yet until the stuff hit the fan, Wright remained a part of the campaign, his testimonial only having recently been removed from the candidate’s website.

In January 2007, Obama had this to say:

Obama says that rather than advising him on strategy, Wright helps keep his priorities straight and his moral compass calibrated.

“What I value most about Pastor Wright is not his day-to-day political advice,” Obama said. “He’s much more of a sounding board for me to make sure that I am speaking as truthfully about what I believe as possible and that I’m not losing myself in some of the hype and hoopla and stress that’s involved in national politics.”

This is what Obama had to say in his HuffPo blog last week:

I first joined Trinity United Church of Christ nearly twenty years ago.

[…]

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.

I’m having a bit of trouble with Obama’s statements here. The only plausible explanations I can come up with for not hearing these kinds of statements is that he didn’t go to church very often or he wasn’t very close to the pastor. Neither of those things makes much sense. After all, this is the church he was married in. This is the church that his children were baptized in. And this is the church that he has donated a lot of money to.

For Obama to say that he’s never heard these things strains credibility. And at least one Obama supporter agrees with me.

Unlike Donna Brazile, who said on Sunday’s TV show that she attends a mostly white Catholic church (and, therefore, should have kept her mouth shut instead of adding fuel to the fire), I’ve attended mostly black churches as well as mostly white churches. I can say without hesitation that I’ve heard black pastors say things that would make white people uncomfortable. Heck, I’ve heard black pastors say things that make me uncomfortable. (As a matter of fact, the pastor at the church that I grew up in, the one that I was baptized in, the one that my father was ordained in, said something that has kept me away for a number of years.) But the language of Wright? Never.

I’m not buying that Wright only said these things when Obama was absent. The very things that Obama says attracted him to this church and its pastor -“a congregation that does not merely preach social justice but acts it out each day” – belie that. Obama’s statement was an attempt to mitigate the damage, just as his disinvitation was. What Obama has demonstrated that he’s just another politician, willing to do and say whatever is necessary to get elected.

Or, as MLK Jr., said, he’s just dangerous.

UPDATE: See this article on Obama’s church. h/t: Below the Beltway

UPDATE2: The dates mentioned in that article are wrong. See here.

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68 thoughts on “On Obama’s Pastor, Jeremiah Wright”

  1. UCC statement on Jeremiah Wright

    On those rare occasions I attended services at predominately black churches I never heard anything like that, however, Colbert King on the Inside Washington discussion show that such statements are not uncommon in black churches. I don’t see how Democrats can line up to “separate themselves” from Wright and then expect black ministers to introduce them to their congregations.

    At this point I prefer HRC, but for her to win on the Wright issue is going to exacerbate our ability to unite the party.

    dunno what to do.

  2. Vivian,

    I myself don’t see any significance in what my preacher, priest, rabbi, or any other religious leaders say about their opinion of the world. I have my own opinioins and those are what I base my preferences on in the presidential race. I only wish the voters would be so independently minded. This just further substantiates to me that one’s religious beliefs can bring great harm to many. Religion and politics definitely do not mix and accomplish only one thing-further division. All of this is tearing up the Democratic party and we will either come together after this or John MCCain will win easily.

  3. Uhm, Vivan…..you do know that link is from NEWSMAX….NOT a credible source….except for the way out there far right….

  4. Regardless of the source, we cannot pretend that this information isn’t out there. (Note that I have provided a link to a correction.)

    I struggled with whether to say anything about this at all. I’ve tried very hard not to write negative stuff about Obama, but I could not remain silent in the face of is duplicity on this.

    I honestly don’t know if the Democratic Party can unite after this primary. We had a unique opportunity to discuss the issues of race and gender. Instead, both issues have been trivialized. And its a damn shame.

  5. Vivian,

    “The hope of a secure and livable world lies with disciplined nonconformists who are dedicated to justice, peace and brotherhood.”-Martin Luther King, Jr.

    I respect you as a person, a political figure, a blogger, and a friend. I don’t like the political expediency displayed by Obama’s denunciation of Dr. Wright, but before you pass judgment, read the Newsweek Article, “Trying Times for Trinity.” I was particularly moved by it and impressed by this church’s commitment for all, including Gays and Lesbians.

    Lisa Miller wrote, “As a leader, Wright defied convention at every turn. In an interview with the Chicago Tribune last year, he recalled a time during the 1970s when the UCC decided to ordain gay and lesbian clergy. At its annual meeting, sensitive to the historic discomfort some blacks have with homosexuality, gay leaders reached out to black pastors. At that session, Wright heard the testimony of a gay Christian and, he said, he had a conversion experience on gay rights. He started one of the first AIDS ministries on the South Side and a singles group for Trinity gays and lesbians—a subject that still rankles some of the more conservative Trinity members, says Dwight Hopkins, a theology professor at the University of Chicago and a church member.”

    Consider that as you consider his Obama and Wright.

  6. Here’s a good sumary: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hPR5jnjtLo&NR=1

    As for Wright’s statement that Hillary “doesn’t know what it’s like.” He’s dead right on that — every word.

    As for his “God Damn America” tirade, his intro seems delusional, at best. The U.S. government is providing drugs to Blacks? Please. Even so, many White preachers have said much the same thing, if for different reasons. (We are damned by our immorality — our movie industry, abortion, etc.)

    If I had to agree with every position my pastor took, I’d never go to church.

  7. Let me be crystal clear: I believe Obama lied about not hearing his pastor say this stuff. Whether his pastor was right or wrong is not the point. Had he said “I was there, I heard him say this stuff, I didn’t agree with it and told him so at the time” or something like that, his story would have been plausible. But to attend a church for 20 years and say that he didn’t hear it is just BS.

    Further – let’s be honest: had this been Hillary, folks who are curiously remaining silent would have been on this like white on rice. Instead, when they do comment, all we get is excuses.

  8. OK, Vivian, I’ll certainly give you that one.

    BTW, it may also be noted that Obama’s belonged to THE richest segment of the population, when broken down by national origin — African Immigrants.

  9. “I’m having a bit of trouble with Obama’s statements here. The only plausible explanations I can come up with for not hearing these kinds of statements is that he didn’t go to church very often or he weren’t very close to the pastor. Neither of those things makes much sense. After all, this is the church he was married in. This is the church that his children were baptized in. And this is the church that he has donated a lot of money to.”

    I’m guessing that Obama never talked to any of the other attendants of the church after these sermons (when he was conveniently absent) as well?

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  11. Uh, well, if a white Presidential Candidate were found to have attended a church for 23 years, whose pastor revealed himself to be a Klansman and gave a Lifetime Achievement Award to David Duke, would any excuse be good enough? That’s about what it looks like from this side of the fence.

    My Father was a Catholic for most of his life, but when he learned that the money he donated to the Maryknoll Missions at his Priest’s urging was actually going to the Sandanista’s Communist revolutionaries, he walked out the door and never went back.

    White people created AIDS to wipe out Black’s? That’s not just bigoted, its insane. There is no excuse or explanation that can make that acceptable for a Pastor. Vivian, what would your Dad have had to say about this?

  13. Funny when things get uncomfortable for the Obama supporters they want to change the subject, but had this been reversed and it had been Hillary the media would be calling for her to get out of the race, she would be an unacceptable candidate for the Democratic Party.

  14. So, was Sen. Obama just attending this church for his own political benefit (esp. early in his career) or does find some value in the anti-American bigotry of his long time pastor?

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