Obama's Ties To Church Examined
A then 26-year-old Barack Obama walked down the aisle of Chicago's Trinity United Church of Christ, knelt beneath a cross suspended from its rafters and, as he later explained it, committed himself to God after years as a religious skeptic.
In those early days at the self-described "unashamedly black" church, the future Democratic presidential candidate was moved to tears by a sermon from its activist pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr., whom he has portrayed as his spiritual mentor.
Two decades later, Obama himself would be Wright's topic of the day — but not for reasons either man would have hoped.
At a recent Sunday service, following media coverage of Obama's last-minute decision not to have Wright speak at the senator's presidential announcement last month, Wright warned his flock not to believe any reports of a rift between him and the church's best-known member.
"Barack and I are fine," Wright, 65, on an out-of-state trip, said in a recorded message played to about 2,000 attendees. "The press is not to be trusted. ... Don't let somebody outside our camp divide us."
The erudite if blunt-speaking pastor also said Obama had apologized for withdrawing the invitation to speak at the Feb. 10 announcement in Springfield.
Obama had taken "some bad advice from some of his own campaign people who thought it would not be a good idea for me to be in front of the cameras on the day he announced," Wright said, adding that he and Obama had "moved on." Wright attended the announcement, but he did not speak.
His impassioned comments came after some conservatives questioned Obama's links to Trinity, which embraces what it calls a "Black Value System." Others criticized Obama for appearing to distance himself from the church and its leader.
Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton said that's not the case.
"The senator appreciates the continued prayers of his pastor," Burton said, adding in a statement that the invitation to Wright was withdrawn because Obama wanted to "avoid having statements and beliefs being used out of context and forcing the entire church to defend itself."
Wright declined to comment.
But in an interview with PBS's "Religion & Ethics Newsweekly" recorded just before Obama's February announcement, Wright said he warned the senator that their association could pose political problems, partly because of his history of supporting Palestinian causes.
Wright also told The New York Times in an interview published March 6: "When his (Obama's) enemies find out that in 1984 I went to Tripoli" with Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan to visit Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, "a lot of his Jewish support will dry up quicker than a snowball in hell."
The roughly 8,000-member church has often championed liberal causes, from gay rights to opposition to the Iraq war. It also emphasizes its African roots and asks parishioners to accept the "Black Value System," which includes tenets such as "commitment to the black family," "dedication to the pursuit of education" and one critics have seized upon - "disavowal of the pursuit of 'middleclassness."'
© 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. In those early days at the self-described "unashamedly black" church, the future Democratic presidential candidate was moved to tears by a sermon from its activist pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr., whom he has portrayed as his spiritual mentor.
Two decades later, Obama himself would be Wright's topic of the day — but not for reasons either man would have hoped.
At a recent Sunday service, following media coverage of Obama's last-minute decision not to have Wright speak at the senator's presidential announcement last month, Wright warned his flock not to believe any reports of a rift between him and the church's best-known member.
"Barack and I are fine," Wright, 65, on an out-of-state trip, said in a recorded message played to about 2,000 attendees. "The press is not to be trusted. ... Don't let somebody outside our camp divide us."
The erudite if blunt-speaking pastor also said Obama had apologized for withdrawing the invitation to speak at the Feb. 10 announcement in Springfield.
Obama had taken "some bad advice from some of his own campaign people who thought it would not be a good idea for me to be in front of the cameras on the day he announced," Wright said, adding that he and Obama had "moved on." Wright attended the announcement, but he did not speak.
His impassioned comments came after some conservatives questioned Obama's links to Trinity, which embraces what it calls a "Black Value System." Others criticized Obama for appearing to distance himself from the church and its leader.
Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton said that's not the case.
"The senator appreciates the continued prayers of his pastor," Burton said, adding in a statement that the invitation to Wright was withdrawn because Obama wanted to "avoid having statements and beliefs being used out of context and forcing the entire church to defend itself."
Wright declined to comment.
But in an interview with PBS's "Religion & Ethics Newsweekly" recorded just before Obama's February announcement, Wright said he warned the senator that their association could pose political problems, partly because of his history of supporting Palestinian causes.
Wright also told The New York Times in an interview published March 6: "When his (Obama's) enemies find out that in 1984 I went to Tripoli" with Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan to visit Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, "a lot of his Jewish support will dry up quicker than a snowball in hell."
The roughly 8,000-member church has often championed liberal causes, from gay rights to opposition to the Iraq war. It also emphasizes its African roots and asks parishioners to accept the "Black Value System," which includes tenets such as "commitment to the black family," "dedication to the pursuit of education" and one critics have seized upon - "disavowal of the pursuit of 'middleclassness."'
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Got it?
Posted by j0hnwi11iams at 01:39 AM : Mar 21, 2007
Well, blacks only make up about 16% of the US population. I would argue that they already yield a disproportionate amount of power....and they want more. Get that?
http://mylonging.net/
Got it?
Posted by huskerarmy at 05:14 PM : Mar 20, 2007"
Take it easy, buddy, just the media.
It is the racist media morons who are always hounding Obama about race and racial issues, a tactic the racist media morons do not do with white candidates!
And with the whites being the majority population in the country and the ones promoting racism for centuries, seems like the white candidates are the ones the racist media morons should be asking about THEIR WHITE RACISM, yes? LOL
I am greatly concerned that too many states having early primaries will give us the nominees by the end of February. This is likely to amount to a popularity contest and not really allow for the issues to drive who gets the nominations. I have no problem whatsoever with a populous state like California setting the tone for the nominees, but front-lading too many states on February 5th is a mistake, in my judgment.
I almost wish for the old days when we had a breather from politics before the year of the election, the candidates all campaigned in that year, and then the nominees were chosen at the conventions.
I will vote for the next Democratic nominee, no matter who it is. But if it's Hillary Clinton, I'll have to hold my nose as I'm voting - much like I did when I voted for John Kerry in 2004. I hope the Democratic primary voters will select someone who will stand up for average Americans and quit this nonsense of trying to pick the "safest" candidate, because that is a proven strategy for disaster come election day.
hopetrumps, what about Edwards/Richardson? I know you have your criticisms of Richardson, but his foreign policy experience is unmatched in the fields from either party. And if he isn't on the ticket, I certainly hope he ends up in the next ptresident's cabinet.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czM-wRuUyyE