It seems obvious that in Wright’s church the political and the religious were mixed together. Obama can try to distance himself from it but his pastor clearly had a political agenda. And if Wright wasn’t a political adviser why did he have a position on the campaign?<\/p>\n
As I have written about in my books, I first joined Trinity United Church of Christ nearly twenty years ago. I knew Rev. Wright as someone who served this nation with honor as a United States Marine, as a respected biblical scholar, and as someone who taught or lectured at seminaries across the country, from Union Theological Seminary to the University of Chicago. He also led a diverse congregation that was and still is a pillar of the South Side and the entire city of Chicago. It’s a congregation that does not merely preach social justice but acts it out each day, through ministries ranging from housing the homeless to reaching out to those with HIV\/AIDS.
\nMost importantly, Rev. Wright preached the gospel of Jesus, a gospel on which I base my life. In other words, he has never been my political advisor; he’s been my pastor. And the sermons I heard him preach always related to our obligation to love God and one another, to work on behalf of the poor, and to seek justice at every turn.
\nThe 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. When these statements first came to my attention, it was at the beginning of my presidential campaign<\/strong>. I made it clear at the time that I strongly condemned his comments. But because Rev. Wright was on the verge of retirement, and because of my strong links to the Trinity faith community, where I married my wife and where my daughters were baptized, I did not think it appropriate to leave the church. <\/p><\/blockquote>\nI find hard it to believe that he didn’t hear about any of these remarks until recently. One of the remarks was made after 9-11, wouldn’t that have been the talk of the congregation? If my pastor said what his pastor said in the pulpi, even if I weren’t there, someone would have let me know he said it, we would be talking about it for weeks to come and looking for a way to get the elder board to get him some help. We wouldn’t want our church associated with that type of rhetoric.
\nIt’s clear from the way Wright preached that he hates America and distrusts whites and I can’t help but think that would come out in other sermons that would’ve and in private conservations. It is unbelievable that the pastor only blurted this stuff out once or twice and I bet a further analysis of his sermons will bear that out.
\nObama is going to need a better response than this if he wants this story to go away. I bet the typical voter wouldn’t be too thrilled to vote for someone associated with hate speech against America and whites. And yeah, a guy who goes to the church for 20 years and says the pastor is his mentor is kind of associated with the pastor and his rhetoric. That he didn’t leave says something about his acceptance of what was said.
\nAnd then there’s this:<\/p>\n
And while Rev. Wright’s statements have pained and angered me, I believe that Americans will judge me not on the basis of what someone else said, but on the basis of who I am and what I believe in; on my values, judgment and experience to be President of the United States.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Doesn’t your choice of church reflect your values and judgment?
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