Senator Obama and his wife Michelle have now resigned their membership from Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago.
\nGiven the outrageous and incendiary statements made from the pulpit by Rev. Wright and repeated with evident relish from the podium of the National Press Club, perhaps the Obamas\u2019 resignation was inevitable. I personally thought the most disgraceful part of Wright\u2019s performance at the National Press Club was his throwing of his parishioner (Sen. Obama) under the bus by saying that in distancing himself from Rev. Wright\u2019s statements, Senator Obama was just \u201cdoing what politicians do\u201d (calling into question Senator Obama\u2019s veracity and integrity). With a shepherd like this, who needs wolves?
\nI suspect the final straw for Senator Obama was the disgraceful and sickening rant by Father Michael Pfleger, the Catholic priest, whose racist and sexist mocking of Senator Hillary Clinton from any pulpit of any church by any clergyman would be sacrilegious because of its content, tone, and spirit.
\nI\u2019m glad that Senator Obama has severed his ties with Trinity Church. However, many Americans find the senator\u2019s long-term relationships with Rev. Wright, Father Pfleger and Trinity Church disquieting. Why?
\nRev. Wright and Father Pfleger didn\u2019t just engage in drive-by pulpit muggings of Senator Obama. Rev. Wright was Obama\u2019s pastor for 20 years, and the senator had called him a \u201cmentor\u201d who led him to Christ. As a pastor myself, I know that the pastor-church member relationship is very personal and intimate.
\nSenator Obama\u2019s relationship with Father Pfleger, the controversial Catholic priest, also is a long-term one. Pfleger has contributed to Senator Obama\u2019s political campaigns, and as a state legislator Senator Obama directed nearly a quarter of a million dollars in government grant money to social programs at St. Sabina\u2019s, Father Pfleger\u2019s parish church. The priest endorsed Senator Obama\u2019s candidacy, and the Obama campaign even brought him to Iowa last September to host an interfaith forum.
\nDid Senator Obama never have an inkling of Rev. Wright\u2019s and Father Pfleger\u2019s radical and incendiary views over the many years of his relationships with both clergymen?
\nAnd most disturbing of all is the enthusiastic and exuberant response demonstrated by many Trinity Church members to Wright\u2019s and Pfleger\u2019s outrageous comments. In discussions of this issue with friends and colleagues, that is the question that most often arises. Why were the church members so enthusiastic in their response, and what does it tell us about Senator Obama that he and his family remained in such a church for two decades?
\nMost people compare the Trinity Church members\u2019 reaction to what their own response would have been. I know I do. If I were ever witness to a rant such as the one Father Pfleger spewed out, I would get up and leave immediately, lest my continued presence be mistaken as silent agreement with such hateful racist and sexist speech. Why were so many present cheering?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Senator Obama and his wife Michelle have now resigned their membership from Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago. Given the outrageous and incendiary statements made from the pulpit by Rev. Wright and repeated with evident relish from the podium of the National Press Club, perhaps the Obamas\u2019 resignation was inevitable. I personally thought the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-190","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n