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Home Front: Politix
Church Officials Say the Rev. Wright's Message Taken Out of Context
2008-03-18
Officials at Sen. Barack Obama's church have taken offense at the controversy born out of the fiery statements made by their senior pastor who sermonized that black Americans should sing "God Damn America" instead of "God Bless America."
Take offense and be damned, then.
Since last week's media eruption after the controversial sermons of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright of the Trinity United Church of Christ, Wright left the campaign's African American Religious Leadership Committee and Obama distanced himself from his pastor of 20 years. "I vehemently disagree and strongly condemn the statements that have [been] the subject of this controversy," Obama said, saying that he'd never heard any of them personally.
"Yep. Twenty years in church, never heard a one of them."
"One of them I had heard about after I had started running for president and I put out a statement at that time condemning them," he continued.

But more than a year ago, Obama disinvited Wright from speaking at his candidacy announcement. Wright told The New York Times then that Obama told him, "You can get kind of rough in the sermons. Â… It's best for you not to be out there in public."
"Settle for being a power behind the throne, okay?"
Church member and University of Chicago theology professor Dwight Hopkins says Wright's message has been taken out of context.
What's the context that makes "God damn America" acceptable?
"The whole point to Dr. Wright's sermons is to how do you make America a better America. If anything he's a true patriot," Hopkins said.
Right. Washington used to say "God damn America" all the time. It was regularly on the lips of Lincoln. Audie Murphy had it embroidered on his underwear.
He also argues that the furor surrounding Wright smacks of a general attack against the idea of a black church born during slavery. "It tries to be a healing balm in the midst of some very challenging situations in the inner city and ghettos," Hopkins said. "If we took a field trip to a thousand black churches across the country on Sunday, you would have a very serious wake-up call on the nature of those messages."
You mean all black churches are venomously anti-American?
The Illinois senator is considering giving a speech this week on race. Referencing the tight delegate race ahead for the Democratic candidates, Democratic strategist Donna Brazile called the Wright focus "a distraction" to the campaign.
Same kind of "distraction" that little incident in Noo Joisey was to the Hindenberg.
Posted by:Fred

#19  Here's a message that transcends context...hey Wright....FOAD!
Posted by: Rex Mundi   2008-03-18 23:48  

#18  Flashback from Drudgereport

Obama First White House Contender to Demand Imus Firing after Racial Comments

April 11, 2007

In an interview with ABC News Wednesday afternoon, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., called for the firing of talk radio host Don Imus. Obama said he would never again appear on Imus' show, which is broadcast on CBS Radio and MSNBC television.

"I understand MSNBC has suspended Mr. Imus," Obama told ABC News, "but I would also say that there's nobody on my staff who would still be working for me if they made a comment like that about anybody of any ethnic group. And I would hope that NBC ends up having that same attitude."
Posted by: Punky Threang1071   2008-03-18 16:28  

#17  Telling people that they are taking it out of context when they have just watched the video is just making it worse. That's adding the insult of being a dumbass onto the heap.
Posted by: bigjim-ky   2008-03-18 15:30  

#16  Sorry, professor. Believe it or not, not all of us are on the guvmint issued crack...
Posted by: tu3031   2008-03-18 14:49  

#15  What is most important about Wright and his relationship to OHB is the consistent message that America is bad. Same message we get from Mrs. Obama. Same message he got when he grew up with his hippy mom. That is just not good. If he becomes president, he is going to go into every situation with a starting point perspective that America is at fault and so must make concessions. He is not going to defend what he doesn't love or respect. This stuff clearly runs very deeply in OBH. It is not going to go away and I don't think he is going to be able to 'splain it away. The curtain has started to be pulled back and what we see is down right scary!
Posted by: Remoteman   2008-03-18 14:40  

#14  Folks have been listening to this rubbish for so long they have come to believe it or are fully desensitized. Unfortunately, the Obama momentum is such now that if he loses, I fear we're in for some real social trouble.

Besoeker, am I the only one here seeing the similarity with the european decolonization of africa, north and subsaharan, and the relationship with former colonies (through foreign policies, AND, mostly through mass immigration from said former colonies), IE an explosive mix-up between a sense of grievance, a sense of entitlement, and plain resentment, met with a force-fed/enforced guilt from the other side? And, as for the USA, this particular negative and ultimately very harmful IMHO trend was not at all unavoidable, quite the contrary, it was cultivated by the same marxists/progressives strain, for ideological reasons, and for profit (many demagogues have built their career on that).
To me, there's an obvious parallal to be made between race relations in the USA since the civil rights era, and in race relations between ethnic europeans and migrants in Europe. Quite a waste.
Posted by: anonymous5089   2008-03-18 14:06  

#13  somebody walked into the church gift shop and purchased the tapes and then put them on you tube. no conspiracy here, just play the tapes.
Posted by: bman   2008-03-18 12:02  

#12  Obama has a knife sticking out of his back. Every replay of the "Wright Stuff" causes his campaign to lose a bit more vilocity. Bill is just sittin back sayin ,"Lets let things play out".
Who dunnit to BO? Any ideas? Class? Anyone?
Posted by: Capsu78   2008-03-18 11:26  

#11  IRS Investigating Obama's Church
Posted by: ed   2008-03-18 11:17  

#10  "The whole point to Dr. Wright's sermons is to how do you make America a better America. If anything he's a true patriot"

The USA created AIDS to kill black people?
Blacks are superior to whites?
Farrakhan is worthy of an award?

Tell me how these things make America better. Stormfront couldn't be more racist than this guy.

And tell me why Wright himself isn't saying one word to the press about any of this? He sure had a lot to say over the course of 20 years. Does he only speak to black people? Why are Obama and others his apologists?
Posted by: PlanetDan   2008-03-18 10:49  

#9  My dad, the retired Lutheran Pastors, thinks the politics and racism in these sermons and this church should cause them to lose their religious tax-exempt status.
Posted by: 3dc   2008-03-18 10:25  

#8  Either way, this racist just cost Obama the presidency, if not the nomination.

Please drink bleach and die Wright. You would do a better service to this planet and humankind as worm food and fertilizer.
Posted by: DarthVader   2008-03-18 09:50  

#7  "Taken out of context" - like you accepted that line as a defense from another Senator, Trent Lott. The ruled class not buy the Lib mantra of 'one set of rules for thee and another set of rules for me'? Your Platinum Guilt Card(tm) is over the limit sir.
Posted by: Procopius2k   2008-03-18 09:33  

#6  He also argues that the furor surrounding Wright smacks of a general attack against the idea of a black church born during slavery.

The Race CardTM. Don't leave home without it!
Posted by: Raj   2008-03-18 08:18  

#5  Here' what he doesn't "hate;" Your ability to fund midnight basketball, finance black college full-ride tuition, pay restitution, compensation, 40 acres, mules, etc. Stoked for decades by the liberal government affirmative action blame game, that's what it's always been about, that's what it will always be about. Folks have been listening to this rubbish for so long they have come to believe it or are fully desensitized. Unfortunately, the Obama momentum is such now that if he loses, I fear we're in for some real social trouble.
Posted by: Besoeker   2008-03-18 02:21  

#4  Officials at Sen. Barack Obama's church have taken offense
Well lots of us kind-of really take offense with the words and actions seen from that church....
Posted by: 3dc   2008-03-18 01:31  

#3  Just another reverand whose bible is not the one from God, but the one from the liberal hate America and God segment of society. He hates whites, even white Christians (followers of Christ) and Israel (God's chosen people). Both stances violate Old and New testament laws, statutes and commandemnts.
Posted by: www   2008-03-18 01:31  

#2  Let's see, who else do we know that uses the "It was a misunderstanding" meme?
Posted by: gorb   2008-03-18 01:07  

#1  Folks that follow Obama are all about excusing away all of these issues. Throwing it back on us for condemning it. Really unbelievable stuff.

Just reading the credo of the Trinity church is pretty controversial. Wright just reinforces it with his preaching (if you want to call it that).
Posted by: Jan   2008-03-18 00:45  

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