The Wright Stuff
I would have thought that Jeremiah-gate, the controversy surrounding Barack Obama’s pastor Jermiah Wright, would be over by now, but it’s still being talked about. Even Hillary Clinton herself brought it up, saying, “He would not have been my pastor. You don’t choose your family, but you choose what church you want to attend.”
Of course, you can choose your husband, but I’ll let that one go.
What’s all the fuss about? Let’s looks at three Revered Wright quotes:
1) On 9/11: “[N]ow we are indignant, because the stuff we have done overseas is now brought back into our own front yards. America’s chickens are coming home to roost.”
2) On AIDS: “The government lied about inventing the HIV virus as a means of genocide against people of color”
3) On American morality “[t]he government gives them the drugs, builds bigger prisons, passes a three-strike law and then wants us to sing ‘God Bless America.’ No, no, no, God damn America, that’s in the Bible for killing innocent people… God damn America for treating our citizens as less than human. God damn America for as long as she acts like she is God and she is supreme.”
In #1, Wright claims that Americans are culpable in 9/11, that the attacks were payback for something we did. This idea remains controversial, even though, as Ron Paul pointed out, the 9/11 commission said basically the same thing.
#2 can be placed in the category of nutty conspiracy theories. This isn’t inflammatory; it’s silly, like fluoridation.
#3 is kind of a hodge-podge, with a nutty conspiracy theory (giving people drugs), bitter denunciation of government policies, and religious condemnation of America.
How bad is this stuff? Let’s compare it to what’s been said by another religious leader: John Hagee, Senior Pastor of the Cornerstone Church, whose endorsement John McCain sought and received.
Hagee claimed that Hurricane Katrina was punishment against New Orleans for “a level of sin that was offensive to God.” He’s also said that “those who live by the Qur’an have a scriptural mandate to kill Christians and Jews.” And he’s said, “Most readers will be shocked by the clear record of history linking Adolf Hitler and the Roman Catholic Church in a conspiracy to exterminate the Jews.”
Nutty conspiracy theories? Check. Religious judgments? Check. Offensive political views? Check.
McCain, by the way, has rejected Hagee’s Anti-Catholicism, but not his endorsement.
McCain’s so-called spiritual advisor, Rod Parsley, has also said some pretty offensive things about Islam, insinuating that mainstream Islam espouses violence, and that America “was founded, in part, with the intention of seeing this false religion destroyed.”
So why all the controversy surrounding Wright, and not McCain’s preachers? Is it racism? Is it because the Democratic race is still going strong and therefore draws more attention? Is it because people are more offended by the words “God damn America” than they are by “All Muslims are out to kill us”?
Undoubtedly, these are all factors. But I’d like to put forth another idea. The Wright controversy is a logical extension of the current climate of politics, which pressures candidates to stop associating themselves with people who make controversial statements. Statements by Geraldine Ferraro, Samantha Powers, and Louis Farrakhan have all become controversies that the respective campaigns have had to manage.
The other strange mandate of the current climate of politics is that all of our leaders be religious. A Gallup poll showed that of all minorities — blacks, homosexuals, Mormons, etc. — the group that people would be least likely to vote for was atheists.
So all of our leaders must be religious. Leaders that are religious often associate with religious leaders. But religious leaders are always controversial! Would we force a Catholic candidate to denounce the Pope if the Pope condemned the United States for allowing abortion? Would we make a Mormon candidate denounce Brigham Young?
One of the things Obama was trying to say in his recent speech on race is that you can condemn something someone says but not condemn the person. John McCain would do well to agree with this statement (as did Mike Hukabee), seeing as some of his associates have said things that would make even Reverend Wright blush.
– Hillel Aron
This is an interesting and well presented analysis of Reverend Wright’s comments, as well as showing the context v other candidates and their preachers. I also see in Reverend Wright’s comments, not a hatred of the USA, as the media and certain people with their own agendas have unsurprisingly sought to do, but rather a man who is passionate about trying to get the best from this great country. He sees the flaws in government as Washington is incapable of doing as it is the originator of those flaws. Most thoughtful people will understand the message that Reverend Wright was trying to give, which is far more important than the whimsical, typical knee-jerk response to his “words”. Thankfully, most people can see the message beyond the words. thankfully, most people also see that Obama is able to filter the goodness that exists in Reverend Wright’s messages, and brush off the extremes and “nuttiness”. After all, when people are as passionate about what they feel as Reverend Wright clearly is, they will sometimes err in their choice of words. The bottom line, where Reverend Wright is right…America, as is true for all countries and all people, would do well to more deeply reflect on its actions and the consequences of those actions. Indeed, it is time for change.
I think you should have elabolrated on this statement :
“Of course, you can choose your husband, but I’ll let that one go.” Can you still marry a President who ….”
Do we have the right to say he is ……….? And should any woman marry him for more than 20 years?
Why then is one woman still married to him?
I can honestly state that Rev. Wright has not said anything I havent heard my parents, professors, and pastors speak of. These are pastors, professors, and parents originating from various origins around the US, therefore, there assessment of the previous, present, and future of minorities and misconduct of the US are noteworthy and appreciated on numerous levels. Taken out of context or not, Rev. Wright deserves considerably more respect and appreciation than the American public and media have displayed. For that, I am ashamed.
4) The un-Reverend Wright retires to a $1.6 million dollar home bought and paid for by the church in Tinley Park, a gated and lily white community – Suckers.
I believe that the Senator Obama’s mind is brain wash. To sit and listen to this poisonous reverbrations, from the lips of a man that he is very heavy influence by will incoherenly have a negative effect on you after some time
and Senator Obama’s own admission is that he has been a member of this church for twenty years. I don’t care who you are, if you are influence by someone you reverent them after some time which Senator Obama admits too. See Senator Obama should have left that church, if he didn’t agree with what he was hearing. but deep down inside he also resents this Country . The speech that the Senator gave after all this was brought to light was reticence. But for what reason does he have to dislike this country His Father was from Africa, His mother was White and from the U.S. . He grew up having the best of everything. He went to the best schools. So why does he Dislike the country of his mother so? He is influence by the wrong people.
Black people have made great strides in this country. I too am a black man. struggling to make ends meet trying to live the best life that I can. I too feel that I haven’t been treated fairly in this country I too feel that I haven’t gotten the best breaks. but this is not about me. this is about a young man that wants to be the leader of free world. your influences in life say alot about you, me, who ever you are. Senator Obama and his Militant mind will not be putting the best effort forward to help us achieve what so many blacks before have strive for.. Many, Many, of you think that he is It! He is not the first black to run for this office. He won’t be the last. The only change I see Senator Obama making is taking the little change that I have left after a weeks pay and puting it in his pocket… I’m a former Marine who dedicate 8 years of services to the United States. even thought I didn’t feel like the Corps treated me and my fellow black Marines the same as or White counterparts. I was still there to defend the liberties of freedom and justice.and democracy around the world. So many people criticize. but unless you come from one of these countries that doesn’t have these liberties. How dare you criticize your own country. When you have countless of millions of people trying to escape to America. To taste what so many of you take for granted. Trade Places with one of them if you dislike this country this much.
Funny, I don’t see a lot of you making that move. I have been around the world and found there is no greater country than America. Elect someone that will kept it Strong!!!! not sell us out down the road. because he is influence wrong. This is the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave. God Bless America………………. p.s. If you don’t like it leave it!
“How dare you criticize your own country.” –Smoothnoble
I would hope that you are familiar with the first amendment…here it is:
Amendment I
Freedoms, Petitions, Assembly
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
We have the right to speak out against our government because government is not always right, and the founding fathers recognized this. By exercising our RIGHT to speak out against the things our country has done wrong or needs to change does not bring one’s patriotism into question…or at least it shouldn’t. I think that those who speak out against wrong doings and mistakes in judgement or just outright evils that the government has perpetrated are more of a patriot than someone who does nothing at all. Thank goodness great men like Martin Luther King Jr. spoke out and criticized his country. We would not have made the strides toward equality that we have had he decided that it was unpatriotic to call the country’s racist and segregational practices into question. And just because MLK didn’t like what was going on, should he have left? Really, that it not a rational or reasonable response to people who want to raise awareness about the wrongs our very own government is or has done. If everyone who was unhappy with the status quo just kept quiet or left…how would we ever go about the process of bettering ourselves or our country?
When I first heard the Wright story I do have to admit that I was a bit shocked. (I am a white woman.) However, I do not take the soundbites and snippets of info that the media clips together as the gospel truth. I was curious why he made the statements…but more importantly what the full CONTEXT was. After doing some searching and reading the whole sermon, I was not offended at all. I do agree with Hillel’s assesment of the statements. I think perhaps people need to be reminded of some similar statements made by Martin Luther King Jr.
“Many of the ugly pages of American history have been obscured and forgotten. A society is always eager to cover misdeeds with a cloak of forgetfulness, but no society can fully repress an ugly past when the ravages persist into the present. America owes a debt of justice which it has only begun to pay. If it loses the will to finish or slackens in its determination, history will recall its crimes and the country that would be great will lack the most element of greatness — justice.”
“A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual doom. ”
And by the way, if anyone questions Obama’s patriotism or sincere and deep love for this country, read the book “The Audacity of Hope” He outlines his views on every crucial social crisis/issue facing us today, as well as a thoughtful and insightful retelling of our journey as a country. This man loves America, but he loves it too much to let it stay the way it is.
I also say God Bless America…and if you don’t like it….get involved!! VOTE!! Contact your local representative…but please don’t leave. We need people who care enough to get bothered when things are not going the way they should.
Well said Megan F. Many of us are too quick to judge the statements or actions of others without fully understanding the intent. And, many are too quick to issue the solution “if you don’t like it then leave”. Fact is that change for the better has never followed those kind of reactions.
I too am an African American and in the military defending this great nation. But that doesn’t mean I agree with all of it’s policies or actions. And because I don’t agree doesn’t mean that I want to pack up and leave. There is a thing called change that will never be brought about if we all did that, and this country is a democratic one, not one of authoritarianism or dictatorship. We the people have the power to bring about change to any act that is not in the best interest of the people even if that act is brought about by a group of our representatives. We simply vote to replace them with someone who is more in line/touch with what we the people want or need.
Too many ills have befallen this country because people were not willing to standup and voice the need for change. At the same time many changes have been brought about by those who had the vision, courage and will to seek change. It has not always be quick or easy, but without the efforts of those with the foresite and determination to strive for change, we would not be who or where we are today.
There is still plenty of room for good change in this great country of ours “America” and God bless those who seek to bring about it’s existence. I am happy for the Obama family and for America. And it’s not because he’s black, but because of the message that he brings.
I really enjoyed your comments on this and it is the reason that I responded. Very insightful and well presented message.