Reverend Wright Will Be a Problem for Obama

millennial generation

These young people are (as has nearly always been the case) very idealistic. The fact that he has been a member of the church for twenty years isn't likely to affect them much. The fact that he remains a member is a much bigger deal.

Reverend Wright and Obama Relationship

I find the attention that the media has focused on Barrack Obama and his previous minister's relationship as a bit ridiculous. I do not agree with all of my pastor's political views, and they are not constantly thrown at me in church services. Occasionally, I have found some of his views offensive. However, I have never considered leaving my church or denouncing my pastor because 95% of his teachings are not pertaining to views which I do not agree. Also, because looking at him from a totality perspective he is a great Pastor and Servant of God. On issues that I do not agree, I tell my children that I do not agree and discuss the issues. If you find something they say horribly offensive, you let them know, and if they continue in your view to be offensive, then you move on. What else can Barack do besides what he has already done....this is ridiculous and another lynching of a black man's character. To reduce Barrack's character based on those few snippits constantly played by the media is just ridiculous and I hope fellow americans can see right through this media entermainment. Some of the show host are having so much fun, they can't wipe the grins off of their faces while continuously trying to tie Barack's character to another man's statements which he does not agree. I suppose the News media has determined they know best what Barack is thinking and Barack is a liar and really hates America and all other races beside Blacks, even though he is of a mixed race himself!!!

Obama's Preacher

Obama's minister/Preacher is a huge problem for the American people. If this is what Obama's beliefs are and have been for the past 20 years, then we as Americans need to wake up and really see what this man who is running for President is all about. SCAREY!!!! Please everyone wake up!

Obama's Wright problem

So far, on one that I've personally spoken with has ever heard anything like the rantings and ravings of Jeremiah Wright while in church. I'm in my 50s and have attended a number of different churches over the years.

This, indeed, does hurt Obama's chances. Why? Because other minorities in our country have also been abused and belittled. And many came here to escape it. Most of these people are sincere patriots. They love our country and detest hate talk.

And comparing Hagee / McCain to Wright/Obama is like apples and oranges. McCain did not have a 20 year close personal relationship with Hagee. See the difference?

J. Q. Public is thinking that Jeremiah Wright is a raving lunatic and wondering why & how did Barack Obama become so involved with him. (involved enough to perhaps know that Wright felt this way? probably.

Pastor Wright and Obama

I think it is the media, not the people that tend to focus on this issue. The full sermon has come out on CNN's site thanks to Roland Martin and Anderson Cooper. According to the comments left, people are pretty much over it after hearing it. People are understanding the differences in the Black Church and White Church worship services. Only a few have still been putting unfavorable information after hearing the full sermon.

I think it is the media's job to fairly represent the news, which has not been done. This Pastor and his Church have been treated unfairly just because people didn't understand their way of worship. I'm willing to bet the people from his Church are not the ones out robbing, killing, raping and the sort. The same with the hundreds of people that attend Minister Farrakhan's masque. Things may have been said that people don't agree with, but what happened to Freedom of Speech. If they both have large congregations of people that are not going out harming anyone, and both have people that have come from their churches who have achieved high government offices, where's the problem? It will be Clinton in the news next with something that will have nothing to do with the issues. This is getting silly. Sure we need to know these things, but enough is enough!

I think it is time to move on to some real topics like the budget, these foreclosures, the banks constant bailouts, former homeowners winding up in shelters, this horrible neverending war, our economy, shall I go on... Fox has been doing a pretty good beat up on the Wright/Obama issue that's why many don't watch any more, go to www.foxattacks.com to see what I mean.

Let's move on please, people are dying!!!!

Hypocrites

My pastor rails against African Americans, calls them them the scourge of America and routinely denigrates them as a people and a race, He decries the fact that black men think it's a sign of manhhod to father as many children out of wedlock and how they are as a group filling our jails to the limit. Now mind you I don't agree with him and I even find his sermons hateful and vile but I have no intention of leaving his church or turning my back on him no matter how distasetful and sickening his words are. I could no sooner abandon him than my own Grandfather

Why No Truth and Full Disclosure About Wright?

Pastor Wright is celebrated MARINE and worked on LBJ when he has cardio problems back in the 60's! He even receive Special Recognition for that medical service!

The cherry-picked speech snip-it of 15 secs we are seeing over and over ad nauseaum is directed at the words of our WHITE, AMERICAN AMBASSADOR 3 days after 9/11! Wright was saying how a white man and ambassador for our country was reacted to our encouraging this type of tragedy in NYC! Then he said it was terrible to say "God Bless America" when America does not follow GOD's will and teachings, but does vile, horrendous acts not only around th World, but against their own! THere is much evidence to this, esp to start with the syphillus experiments done to Black Military men back in the 40's by the military!!! The balck males were the only ones singles out for that one, where were the white test subjects? but i digress with the long list of these types of actions by the US on both cililians and military personnel with their experimentation that is comparable to those decried at the Nurmeberg trials! Actually, the Nazis tried to use our US experiments as a defense of their heinous acts! LOL!

SO, Pastor Wtight is a Veteran, has been a lifelong positive influence in the community, been recognized and acommodated by LBJ himself, AND was using the BIBLE to comment on the WHite Ambassador's outrage at American chickens coming home to roost, BUT THAT MAKES PASTOR HILL THE BAD GUY? In other words, kill the messenger?

Plus these are not Obama's words - Hillary belongs to "the Family", but no one is researching that fascist "religious" cult?

I just do not get it!

THe media is crewed up and not giving us the entire story and most citizens will not research for themselves - just go along with wht they are spoonfed - so blame the ignorant masses, NOT Obama, NOT Wright and certainly not the well informed OBAMA supporters!

OBAMA '08! Sending another $100 dolllars today to fight the propaganda of this entirely hateful, illiterate and misrepresented 2008 campaign!

Obama - Lies _ denies _ Tries_

Benefit of doubt, now gone; the man is a clear liar. He isn't fit for Senator, less President our nation would surely divide in a way not seen in hundreds of years.

Anyone that supports someone else that spreads hate against United States cannot run these United States - dear God wake Up America. Get your head from between your arse; stand up and be a Patriot! We have a wonderful NY Senator with many years of experience and wonderful pride in her country land of the free that wants to lead ALL of the PEOPLE not some SELECT few. Wake Up! Freedom is not a Dream! We cannot let Liberty go down like this! Did you hear what Obama sat threw in church about 9/11? - that is enough to vote your mind clear this primary season!!

Confused Americans

I was raised going to a Catholic Church, and attending a weekly course of Christian education.

Here's what I learned, and you can compare it against what you learned.

1) Christ told his followers to turn the other cheek

2) Christ lived his word of peace and loving the enemy so much that he did not physically resist his killers, and did not advise his followers physically resist

3) God spoke to us through the commandments: the 1st of which is thou shalt not kill

We Americans disagree with this approach. We believe violent tyrants who attack us should be killed.

The only way one can come up with a story that says Christ would support our policies is to put a bunch of PhDs in seminary a long, long time, where they twist and twist Christ's words until they say just the opposite of what he actually said.

I don't mean to be cheeky. But this is the same as what the Wall Street firms have recently done. They hired so many PhD's to hide behind such convoluted formulas that they deluded themselves to negate the obvious truth that low wage folks with poor credit and no equity can't handle low teaser rate loans when they jack up.

It is mass delusion for us as a nation to try to be Christian. Christ's ideas are horrible public policy. If we had been Christian, for example, Hitler would have rolled across America as we chose to lovingly not resist. That is a simple truth.

Rev. Wright has said several controversial things. In at least 2 of these cases, he is being criticized by false Christiians -- Churchogers who support our wars. But, reading his comments, one sees Wright is being a true Christian. Truly opposed to our violence.

What is the solution? We Americans are rightly proud of standing up to Hitler and bin Laden. We should stop the masquerade of thinking we can do this as Christians. We don't want to be Christian, as Christ has horrible ideas that would allow people like Hitler and bin Laden free reign in the physical world we inhabit.

Time for us Americans to be honest and leave the Christian Church... we don't agree with it. We do both ourselves and the Churches a disservice by trying to pervert Jesus' word to cover our favored national violence.

Congratulations to Rev. Wright for correctly reading the deep pacifism of Christ, and warning his Church members about what the Bible says is consequence for the knowing embrace of such sin. To me, it's folly. But, he's right. It is what the Bible says. It is Christian. And false Christians should leave him alone, and themselves leave the Church they defile by advocating violence against our enemies.

Obama & Preacher

I'm a "millennial" so maybe I have something to contribute to this.

before this flap over Obama's preacher, I more or less thought he was a decent alternative to Hillary Clinton because of his statements against the war. I was kind of ambivalent about the whole thing with "change" and "hope" which seemed to lack substance.

The fact his pastor was an angry black man didn't really bother me very much. Seems like the media struggled to make a big deal out of it to slam him. In fact, I agree with the pastor regarding Israel and U.S. foreign policy more than I do with Obama's!

After hearing his speech on race however, this guy (Barack Obama) has won me over. I now think it would be really great for America to have this man in office. For him to come out and say what we all say/think behind closed doors, put it out in the open and say NO, let's not blame each other or scapegoat blacks and immigrants--- let's go after the real crooks in government and big business, let's clean up the mess that history has strewn across the landscape and build, yes, "more perfect union." I never felt prouder to be an American. Yes our country has flaws and is a huge bully, but we can make it better. He has my vote in November even if Hilllary wins the primary!

Interesting the various veiwpoints

I find it interesting that some people suggest that similar to Obama's defense of Rev Wright, they don't abandon their preachers when they express objectionable viewpoints. Fine. Depending on the issue, that is totally understandable. But, in this issue the nature of the language and certainly the tone of voice used seemed to be very problematic. How do you listen to that a few times and not be put-off? I am sorry but it doesn't pass the smell test. You have got to be willing to overlook a lot of harsh, vile words to give Obama the benefit of doubt.

a commentor above wrote:

"What else can Barack do besides what he has already done....this is ridiculous and another lynching of a black man's character. To reduce Barrack's character based on those few snippits constantly played by the media is just ridiculous and I hope fellow americans can see right through this media entermainment"

The first thing he can do is to explicitly deny the lies Revf Wright tells about the US, not in general as "controversial statments, but expliciutly. He should have done long ago. Rev Wrights statements are not merely controversial. They are wicked lies, and intended to be deeply harmful to the US.

Wright has claimed the "US created AIDS" and he claimed the US did so in order to commit genocide. This is not religious or moral teaching, it is a claim about facts and history, and it is both wicked and ignorant.

HIV has been present in humans since about 1950 (this is known from preserved tissue samples from patients whose disease could not be explained at the time). At that time no one on earth knew how to manipulate viral genes. That was even before the structure of DNA itself was even known (Watson Crick 1953). Neither the CIA nor the KGB nor any other government agency does basic science research, and when AIDS first appeared "creating" it was beyond human knowledge. In fact HIV is believed to have mutated from the chimp virus SIV, and probably passed over to humans in central Africa:

"The transfer between chimps and humans probably happened before 1930," said Bibollet-Ruche from the University of Alabama, Birmingham.

http://www.cnn.com/2003/HEALTH/conditions/06/13/monkeys.aid/

BHO has a duty to the country he wants to lead. The president is the first defender of the United States. Today the enemies of the US, Osama bin Laden and the Iranian mullahs spread lies similar to those repeated by Wright. The first duty of a president is to defend the US from such lies.

Why has Mr Obama never explicitly said anything about this wicked lie? He still has not explicitly denied it, nor has he attempted to teach his own congregation how deeply false it is.

A person who is content to tolerate such lies and who declines to point out how wrong they are, is not capable of leading the nation which he declines to defend.

obama and the pastor

the media has been so easy on obama. why have they not asked him why he did not leave? The Klu Klux Klan also has done a lot of good works as did Hiltler. How does having done good works negate hate speech. It was hate not anger. We are white but have attended black churches on a regular basis and have never heard anything like this. We would have left. Staying as Obama has done gives legitimacy to the hate. This is fair game for the Clinton campaign but the media has been so bais against her on the racial issue that it will be very hard for them to raise it without being called negative or racist. Defintely a double standard

Black Ministers vs White Ministers

It seems to me that I have heard a lot of the white, evangelical ministers say that God was punishing America's permissiveness by sending HIV/AIDS, punishing American for our sins by allowing 9/11. How is God punishing us any different than saying God damns us. Why are they allowed to preach hatred, racism, & sexism and receive support and yet Mr. Obama only listens to it and is damned. I love my country but like Mrs. Obama I am not always proud of it. BTW-I'm a white born again Christian

Sounds like Farrakhan ??

Pastor J. Wright's speeches sound a LOT like Nation of Islam L. Farrakhan.....both hate America and whites.

Obama shows POOR JUDGMENT in the people he associates with.

A president must show GOOD judgment, as Obama himself says.

Religion smidgen

The irreverant Wright is irrelevant. I've never consider Obama to be a serious candidate for President of the United States. Obama has less experience than George W. Bush, someone who is wholly unqualified to hold the office. And Condoleeza Rice, who is also unqualified to hold her office. I would not hire Obama to run a company much less our country. And to compound his proposal with religion is to add insult to injury. Never mind Wright's brain washing tirades, his boo-hoo-hoo racist victimhooding of his black audience... the last thing our country needs is another evangelical religous wacko in the White House.

Obama is that... he is unqualified, he is most liberal, he rallys 99.999% of the black vote... dispite appearances, zero diversity is not a good thing, folks... and he is dripping wet in his religious salvation from a broken home, a fatherless childhood, a bi-racial identity complex (sorry whitey!), his specialness in special schools, and his recreational drug use. I can appreciate his need for Jesus Christ after all of that, but that is his problem, his baggage, not the country's. It's bad enough that a majority of Americans believe some god pulled their universe out of a hat in seven days... we do not need another saved soul wreaking their born-again I-can-do-no-harm havoc in government... George W. Bush was enough hope-and-prayer leadership for one century. Let Obama age a bit more in the real world and let go of your utopian dream that Obama is IT... there is no it, it is all in your head! And when there is an it, you should run from it, not worship it.

Hillary will not stand down. She can not and will not. So expect this contest to end only after the last super delegate is counted.

What Rev. Wright Means

What people don't realize is that most of the things Rev. Wright says African-Americans agree. The reason alot of us feel that AIDS was invented to kill off the black race is because it started in Africa. The monkeys are said to be the culprits. Now the monkeys have been running through the trees for centuries and out of no where they develop this horrendous disease. It smells fishy. Just because gay Caucasian men were the first to show the disease doesn't negate the fact that it started in our original homeland. Where there are still many millions of us, a large portion who are dying every day. So his words are not unfounded. They are not the words of a crazy man. They are the words of a frustrated black man who loves his country just doesn't like the racism that pervades every corner of it.

To a Typical White Person from VA: Coming from racist Virginia I don't expect anything but what you said from you. But I am a "typical black person" who lives in Philadelphia. There are parts of my city where I would not go, alone, or with a friend, day or night. So hush that mess. Does lynching ring any bells with you?

As for grandma, she is a racist. If she was so insensitive as to go around using the "n" word in the presence of her half-black grandchild, she doesn't deserve any sympathy. That's just stupid. But Obama is convinced she is not a racist. Now that's love. Love is blind. Gos bless his soul.

Right On!

Nice PLE of VA. Very smart post. I applaud you!!!

Rev. Wright's Christianity

. Where does Rev. Jeremiah Wright’s Trinity United Church of Christ fit into the Protestant scheme of things: Pentecostal, Baptist, Episcopal, Methodist, other? My mother was an evangelical missionary in Kalgan, North China. She said Christians do not swear or take the name of the Lord in vain; do not hate people, only some of their actions; and certainly Christian ministers do not shout God damn America from the pulpit. Maybe the Rev. Jeremiah Wright’s version is “other.”

I don't get it

I'm certain that any other candidate, to include McCain, would have been told that he is not suitable to hold the highest office in our country. They try to spin it by stating that McCain was endorsed by Hagee. McCain does not have a 20-year relationship with Hagee! He does not consider Hagee as his "old Uncle".

How convenient to try and paint brush Wright's anti-American rantings as ONLY an issue about race in America.