A Defense Of Jeremiah Wright

The Daily Dish:

This is simply must-reading for any fair-minded person interested in the full Jeremiah Wright story. There are very, very few people in American religious life as respected as Martin Marty, few scholars as learned, few Christians as sincere. He has been a professor of religious history at the University of Chicago for 35 years, one of the greatest universities in the world. If you do not know of him, here his is Wikipedia page and his own home-page. More here. I have never met the man but I have read a fraction of his over 5,000 articles, was deeply informed by his masterful Fundamentalism Project (co-edited with Scott Appleby) for The Conservative Soul, and know of few more distinguished, principled or decent public figures. Along with Barack Obama, he will not disown Jeremiah Wright, or Trinity United Church of Christ, where he attended services and listened to many Wright sermons.

Read the whole story: The Daily Dish

Comments

[kristianidol]

Maybe you'll agree with me on this. A true patriot:

* Does not shy from military action, but does not instigate an inappropriate war
* Sends enough troops to get the job done
* Provides adequate equipment to protect our troops
* Allows soldiers enough time between tours to decompress (at least as much as in-country)
* Gets the troops out as soon as safely possible
* Takes care of our soldiers when they get home, physically and mentally, with a minimum of hassle

NONE of which Bush has done, ALL of which Obama has spoken out about or introduced legislation for.

Barack Obama is more of an American patriot than those who twist his heritage or "catch" him without the superficial trappings of a flag pin. As far as I am concerned, those people can go to hell.

Honestly, he's not Muslim, he's not anti-white, he doesn't lie or cheat, he really doesn't. He's just a very intelligent guy who likes to help people worse off than he.

You don't have to agree with his policies, you don't have to vote for him, you don't even have to like him, but how about a little less hate? Only weak people hate. Even Christ said that.

Oh, by the way, the document that our entire system of government was based on, the Constitution?

Obama taught it at a university level for TEN YEARS.

[jdoyle29]

Guilt by association, with Dr. Wright it's guilt by association, he never complained about his sermons.
he never quit this church. He (Obama) won't pledge alliegance to the flag. He claims Dr. Write is like
one of his family, He associates with known crooks.
What else is he guilty of? Well for one he campaigned for his 1st Cousin to be president of Kenya.
His 1st cousin is a member as is Obama of the Lou tribe in Kenya, This is the Tribe who set fire
to the church that was filled with women and children when they lost the election. Oh by the way
his 1st cousin Raila Odinga is Muslem as is his half brother & sister.
Obama is a citizen of Kenya since December 12, 1963.
dont believe any of this?
go here:
http://www.freedomsenemies.com/_Obama/ObamaAfrica.htm
or here:
http://forums.newarkadvocate.com/viewtopic.php?t=25771
or here:
http://www.michnews.com/artman/publish/article_19407.shtml

[dasimms]

Why are you comfortable spreading lies and deception?

[HeadScratcher]

I distinctly recall hearing white evangelists preachers claiming that the 9/11 attacks were a result of God's judgement against America for embracing the gay lifestyle. How many visits to the White House have these nuts received during the last eight years?

I also believe that questions were raised after the breach of the levies and the destruction of black wardsin New Orleans due to Katrin were a result of a plot to drive minorities out of the area. If my memory serves - wasn't Spike Lee one of those that asserted that?

There are numerous instances of radical statements made by white and black pastors - many of whom are associated with candidates from both parties. Many of these pastors have been close advisors to Presidents - such as Billy Graham who made bigoted comments about Jews and their influence on the media. Graham took some heat, but was quickly forgiven and got a pass.

The point is, most of the sensationalism over Wright has been blown out of proportion intentionally to divert attention from real issues. The fact that Wright is black, as is Obama, is a bonus for those who wish to exploit bigotry and racism for their own selfish reasons.

[Zyzzygowski]

I will not be voting for Rev Wright to be the next President.

I will, however consider voting for Sens McCain, Obama, or Clinton. I might even 'write-in' someone's name.

[vippy]

First and foremost - SEPARATE the religions from politics, as it should be! I have never known
anyone who listened to their preacher, otherwise we would have a perfect world!
And I happen to agree with a lot with Mr. Wright. Governments have shady business and
we always see it like 50 years down the road but we were quick to call it a "conspiracy."
Enough already.

[LastDaysCafe]

Basically Rev.Wright is a white guy who desperately wqnts to be black and so thats why he delivers these speeches in this overly histrionic way,talking as if he was a real "po'folks" blackman from the 1920's Mississippi Delta! What a fat load of B.S. - he's really nothing but a joke of a lame cartoon figure!

[nomobull]

sounds like you are projecting or you don't realize how stupid this reads

[DRaymond]

Anybody with an attention span longer than twenty seconds (to look at the full sermons) or with an ounce of common sense (to realize that you dont build a parish to 8000 and get invited to the White House for Prayer Meetings without actually being fairly mainstream) knows that these clips are taken out of context.

With a little more thought though you realize that if this is allowed to stand it will be a devastating blow against freedom of religion. It would mean that ANY pastor or congregation could find them demonized by a twenty second YouTube clip. Are you really sure your pastor and church doesn't have a 20 second clip that could make you the next Trinity?

Moreover it this 'why didn't he quit' argument is allowed to stand it would mean that the standard of civic behavior will become that if your pastor says ONE offensive thing then your Moral Obligation and Patriotic Duty is to immediately and permanently quit! I forsee a lot of empty churches and coweringly lame preachers.

Finally what could go farther to divorce political life from religion than to have it be known that nobody who has ever been a part of a church that the pastor has ever said anything controvercial can be allowed in a position of public trust.

[pbarba1969]

That's total BS. If a Eoropean American or Hispanic American Minister, Reverend, Priest, or Rabbi would have issued such a sermon he would have been justifiably crucified in the press, and by most Americans.

Reverend Wright is entitled to have his opinions, and preach has he chooses to preach. I too believe in the seperation of church and state.

However I also believe that if you have these opinions you should be able to defend them, and as an American I have a right to disagree with you on them.

African Americans correctly called out Governor Romney on how African Americans were banned from joining the Mormon Church until recently, so why shouldn't Reverend Wright be called out as well?

Or this another case of the Obama supporters "do as I say not as I do" rhetoric...

[ResidentChimp]

Why not just say the name of the article is a defense of racism and anti-Semitism?

[springsm]

Oh gawd...read the damn sermons and then make this inane completely and totally wrong assessment. Geez I am tired of listening to you folks who have a maturity level directly proportional to your intelligence quota. I am sure you are white lower to middle class, a supposed patriot..beating your chest while you wave your Bible and of course, You have walked in the shoes of MLKing, jr,, Andrew Jackson, Jeremiah White, Rosa Parks and a number of really great people and of course you would recognize all of them. Resident you are not as smart as a chimp...tho they are probably almost as territorial as you seem to be. Oh ya..and you have of course, been attending mainly African American churches...so you of course, know how wonderfully loud and sassy they can be...but ya know..they also know their Jesus. What about you?

[Bystander]

Rather hateful words for someone who "knows" Jesus...you and Wright.

[tiedtothewhippingpost]

You idiots just forget stats and always have some sort of weird explanation for the reason some will not forget the past. You guys are always tossing pink, white guys at us like the fellow that wrote this piece. And then portray the black guy as some sort of super human that should never have been held down by these pink guys. Hell, i'd be wondering too if I were black, but luckily I go by stats.


Most victims of race crime"about 90 per cent"are white, according to the survey "Highlights from 20 Years of Surveying Crime Victims", published in 1993.

Almost 1 million white Americans were murdered, robbed, assaulted or raped by black Americans in 1992, compared with about 132,000 blacks who were murdered, robbed, assaulted or raped by whites, according to the same survey.

Blacks thus committed 7.5 times more violent inter-racial crimes than whites even though the black population is only one-seventh the size of the white population. When these figures are adjusted on a per capita basis, they reveal an extraordinary disparity: blacks are committing more than 50 times the number of violent racial crimes of whites.

According to the latest annual report on murder by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, most inter-racial murders involve black assailants and white victims, with blacks murdering whites at 18 times the rate that whites murder blacks

[pbarba1969]

That's a pretty insulting comment sprinsm. I have been to African American Churches and their love of GOD is as great if not greater than any one else.

I also know that the fist organized church in the worlds was Ethiopean Orthodoxy. Long before Europeans embraced Christ's message, Ethiopeans did.

However you cannot justify what the good Reverend said. And yes, I use the word "good" because I'm sure like most men of the cloth he is a good man. I'm sure in fact he is a better man than the clip shows, but how many men have said things that have been foolish and wrong?

The problem is how we deal with such things. My attitude is you do more good by making people realize they are wrong, and allowing them to redeem themselves. The problem is too often if a non African American says something, the feeling is he must be shown the door, and be shunned.

I don't agree with that. The essence of our Christian faith is forgiveness and redemption.I believe Senator Obama was right not to disavow his friendship with the Rev.

However, Obama supporters should not try to defend the indefensible because it will turn a lot of potential supporters away from the Senator particularlt in states that are crucial to win the election in November if he is indeed the nominee...

[MagisterLudi]

Along with Barack Obama, he will not disown Jeremiah Wright...

Obama did not "disown" Wright...right...

Why does blow hard like Wright need some to defend him? As a religion hustler he can talk an Eskimo into buying snow.

Obvious: Obama and his handlers keep Wright under wraps.

Why? So he wouldn't damage Obama's poll numbers among whites with his anti-Whitey nonsense.

Someone even with a meager intelligence can understand this.

[research]

There was no Wright "situation" it's all Republican Fake noise machine BS.

America has done damnable things.

Wright said nothing wrong.

You probably haven't even listened to the whole sermon.

Hillary Hurt her own ratings by her attacks on Obama.

[MagisterLudi]

Wright is wrong on many levels. He's blow hard who peddles reverse racism and racism in order to make a money and keep African Americans perpetually trapped in this hopeless Weltanaschauung. Opium for the masses indeed.

[nomobull]

provide evidence

[JMEB]

As far as religious nuts go, this guy is harmless.

If the worst things he said were condemning this country and peddling conspiracy theorists against the government, then he's already far better than most preachers, many of who preach outright bigotry against *people*.

Loony nut != Dangerous bigot

[shag11]

As a black liberal, I am sick of ministers like Wright, Jackson and Sharpton. With the black prisoner popoulation being 32% of the total, yet only 7% of the American population, we need encouragement, not anger.
Notwithstanding the residual affects of racism, and instance where it can occur, we need strength and energy to move forward and upward. Way too many ministers preach in an effort the keep their minions looking to them for guidance, which is often narrow-minded.
We need not forget the past, but we are doomed if we continue to use it for a crutch not to better oiurselves.

[couch2000]

Shag, Amen brother, i was wandering if any blacks saw it that way, i cant believe how Jesse Jackson and Al Sharton is treating Wright as bad as they are against Race comments, a reporter ask Jackson did he Condemn Wrights Statements and he said , we we we we we we we we we we we we we well i am not going to comment on it at this time, he studerd so be it was embarrising, i mean this is looking badly hipocritical on the black community

[quintus]

I wonder if ministers like Wright, Jackson, and Sharpton don't also serve a positive function in the black community? You seem to imply that all they have to offer is anger? Aside from being cathartic for some (many?) of those in the congregation, these sermons DO often speak truth to power and therefore, validate the injustices many have experienced. Moreover, I think it's possible that these ministers might also be normalizing to some extent the rage that many may be carrying from years of racism, etc.

[paul15260]

Just because you're black you don't get a free pass. Please look look at the full sermons and then make your judgments. If you can't see the introspection that this man imbues, then you're blind.

Full 9/11 sermon

http://odeo.com/audio/17889043/view

Full God Damn America sermon

http://odeo.com/audio/17890793/view

[kristianidol]

Paul is correct. Rev. Wright has given over THREE THOUSAND HOURS of sermons, and hateful, racist Fox just keep playing the same few minutes over and over, just brainwashing you with their fear tactics.

Wright was repeating what a white, American ambassador had said about our foreign policy -- you can't arrogantly stomp all over the world and not expect repercussions.

Oh, by the way, Senator Obama was inaugurated with his hand on a BIBLE by DICK CHENEY. And he leads the Senate (in rotation) in the Pledge of Allegiance with his hand on his heart. Here he was last summer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iC9veEouqqQ

The picture that all the idiots flip out about was the National Anthem, which you do not "have to" hold your hand over your heart. (Like he was taught by his white grandfather, who fought in Patton's army in WWII.)

[iswearington]

ahem! have you ever thought that perhaps that since the former slave owners are doing the arresting and jailing (aided of course by skinning grinning porch monkey uncle toms) that that might have something to do with the high incarceration rate of young black men? i would hazard a guess that if i out of three freckle faced white american boys...or german boys or french or norwegian boys were incarcerated...the united nations would have interceeded.case in point. if 4 year old blond blue-eyed norwegian...swedish and finnish and irish girls were being raped in front of their parents and then burned alive like little black girls in darfur...the 82nd airborne would have landed the next morning...and haliburton would be their building a state of the art military post to make sure it never happened again. please wake up...your life is waiting on you.

[Bystander]

Give up your "victimhood"...your life is waiting on you.

[Jenai]

I think that being a good American means looking at what is wrong with America and has been wrong with America and not just what has been right. In fact, it is the very being able to reflect and criticize that change has happened here.

It is unfortunate that Wright's 'style'...­.passionat­e evangelical is more likely the problem vs the text. It is true that we have made mistakes in the world and they have created enemies. In fact we are creating more every day with this current war.

I also doubt that any one of us has not been critical of our country at times and we should be. It doesn't mean we don't want to be Americans we do. We just want to be the best Americans we can be.

[couch2000]

I dont agree with our policies over seas is making things worse on us, what no one seems to get is that muslims hate the west it is there religion, if your not a muslim your an infadil, there goal is and always has been to kill invadales, they think this is gods will, its nothing america is doing

[nomobull]

if you don't think they hurt please explain how they have helped. most muslims don't hate. but the ones that do maybe they w3ould if w3e did interfere in their countries in attempt to get oil.

[quintus]

I agree, turning a critical eye on our problems here in America is quickly perceived by some as an overt act of betrayal, or a sign that one is throwing away one's patriotism. On the contrary, we have an obligation as citizens to speak up when we believe that our country is headed down the wrong road.

I believe Pastor Wright has been unfairly maligned by the media as a hate-monger when it seems closer to the truth to say that he is simply pointing out our failings as a government and as a people.

[JohnTalbutt]

As a white man I would feel comfortable in Reverend Wrights church. I am sure that He who founded the religion wanted us to speak against needless war, oppression, and for the weak against the merciless powerful. I am glad that in Chicago a good man has been doing this for twenty years according to his lights.

[couch2000]

The black leaders like Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson has destroyed obamas chances of winning the president, they are the big anti Raial Leaders oh yea unless you are black now its comeing home to roost and they expect to get the white votes, come on

[nomobull]

no one but the media listens to those two .the media has gotten so arrogant they w3ant to choose black leadership . they don't bother to ask the aa community who they consider leaders.

[springsm]

Me too John, I have been waiting three years to get back to Chicago and dang..if J. Wright hasn't retired....I will go tho and listen to Reverend Moss...and I know that I will be accepted with Christian hospitality as a white person in that congregation as to whom I am and where I am on my journey.

[Daniel73]

How long will it take for Andrew to disown this racist when his feelings on "the 'gays" start to come out . To paraphrase Obama black churches are typically as antigay if not more so than those rightwing preachers he hates.

[ethancorso]

Please get your facts straight. Under Wright, the Trinity United Church was perhaps more inclusive of gays and lesbians than any other congregation in the country. As well, he was a tireless advocate for the downtrodden -- regardless of race, sexuality, or religion.

http://chronicle.com/free/v54/i30/30b00101.htm

[Egghead]

Do your research. The United Church of Christ is not anti-gay, Trinity United Church of Christ is not anti-gay, and the Rev. Wright is not anti-gay.

[L4TRUTH]

Actually, the church has a gay/lesbian singles ministry.