[Peace-discuss] Obama vs his 'god damn america' preacher

[Ricky Baldwin]

[Thought folks at AWARE, if you haven't seen it, would enjoy this interesting
development related to our savior Barack Obama :-) ...]

Obama denounces pastor's 9/11 comments

By NEDRA PICKLER, Associated Press Writer 49 minutes ago

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama on Friday denounced inflammatory remarks
from his pastor, who has railed against the United States and accused the country of
bringing on the Sept. 11 attacks by spreading terrorism.

Obama called the statements appearing on television and the Internet "completely
unacceptable and inexcusable" in a Fox News interview and said they didn't reflect the
kinds of sermons he had heard from the Rev. Jeremiah Wright while attending services at
Chicago's Trinity United Church of Christ.

Obama, a member of the church since the early 1990s, said he would have quit Trinity
had such statements been "the repeated tenor of the church. ... I wouldn't feel
comfortable there."

Earlier Friday, Obama responded by posting a blog about his relationship with Wright
and Trinity on the Huffington Post. Wright brought Obama to Christianity, officiated at
his wedding, baptized his daughters and inspired the title of his book, "The Audacity
of Hope."

Obama wrote that he's looked to Wright for spiritual advice, not political guidance,
and he's been pained and angered to learn of some of his pastor's comments for which he
had not been present. Obama told MSNBC that Wright had stepped down from his campaign's
African American Religious Leadership Committee.

"I categorically denounce any statement that disparages our great country or serves to
divide us from our allies," Obama said in his blog posting. "I also believe that words
that degrade individuals have no place in our public dialogue, whether it's on the
campaign stump or in the pulpit. In sum, I reject outright the statements by Reverend
Wright that are at issue."

In a sermon on the Sunday after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, Wright
suggested the United States brought on the attacks.

"We bombed Hiroshima, we bombed Nagasaki, and we nuked far more than the thousands in
New York and the Pentagon, and we never batted an eye," Wright said. "We have supported
state terrorism against the Palestinians and black South Africans, and now we are
indignant because the stuff we have done overseas is now brought right back to our own
front yards. America's chickens are coming home to roost."

In a 2003 sermon, he said blacks should condemn the United States.

"The 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."

He also gave a sermon in December comparing Obama to Jesus, promoting his candidacy and
criticizing his rival, Hillary Rodham Clinton.

"Barack knows what it means to be a black man to be living in a country and a culture
that is controlled by rich white people," Wright told a cheering congregation. "Hillary
can never know that. Hillary ain't never been called a nigger."

Obama told MSNBC that he would not repudiate Wright as a man, describing him as "like
an uncle" who says something that he disagrees with and must speak out against. He also
said he expects his political opponents will use video of the sermons to attack him as
the campaign goes on.

Questions about Obama's religious beliefs have dogged him throughout his candidacy.
He's had to fight against false Internet rumors suggesting he's really a Muslim intent
on destroying the United States, and now his pastor's words uttered nearly seven years
ago have become an issue.

Obama wrote on the Huffington Post that he never heard Wright say any of the
statements, but he acknowledged that they have raised legitimate questions about the
nature of his relationship with the pastor and the church. He wrote that he joined
Wright's church nearly 20 years ago, familiar with the pastor's background as a former
Marine and respected biblical scholar who lectured at seminaries across the country.

"Reverend Wright preached the gospel of Jesus, a gospel on which I base my life," he
wrote. "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."

He said Wright's controversial statements first came to his attention at the beginning
of his presidential campaign last year, and he condemned them. Because of his long and
deep ties to the 6,000-member congregation church, Obama said he decided not to leave.

"With Reverend Wright's retirement and the ascension of my new pastor, Rev. Otis Moss
III, Michelle and I look forward to continuing a relationship with a church that has
done so much good," he wrote.

Also Friday, the United Church of Christ issued a 1,400-word statement defending Wright
and his "flagship" congregation. The statement lauded Wright's church for its community
service and work to nurture youth and the pastor for speaking out against homophobia
and sexism in the black community.

"It's time for all of us to say no to these attacks and to declare that we will not
allow anyone to undermine or destroy the ministries of any of our congregations in
order to serve their own narrow political or ideological ends," John H. Thomas, United
Church of Christ's president, said in the statement.

___

AP Religion Writer Eric Gorski in Denver contributed to this report. 


      ____________________________________________________________________________________
Never miss a thing.  Make Yahoo your home page. 
http://www.yahoo.com/r/hs