Jason Linkins

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Jason Linkins

The Huffington Post

Video Disputes

Video Disputes "Black Separatist" Tag On Obama's Church

March 26, 2008 01:40 PM


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In the wake of the Jeremiah Wright flap, the church that presidential hopeful Barack Obama attends -- Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago -- has been the target of all sorts of criticism. They've been labeled "black separatist," even racist. Those contentions are receiving some push back from a blog called The Truth About Trinity, which has released a video that accuses the media of being one-sided in their coverage, and demonstrates that not only are white pastors welcome in their congregation, but that even white pastors who aren't all "yelly" are welcome.

Furthermore, the soundtrack choice in this video clearly indicates that Trinity welcomes all "white boys" to lift up their voices and "play" their "funky music" in praise of the Almighty.


 
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Beautiful. Now we are scouring church bulletins for evidence of what Scary Black People Think. We've moved from the Silly Season to the Psychotic season.

Now, re the video: I could have done without the soundtrack (althought that was a great song back in the day). but it was great to see Rev. Thomas calmly and forcefully make the case for the fantastic work Rev. Wright has done. That's why pastors from all over the country came to fete him at his retirement and why they have disputed the FOXification of his ministry in op-eds all over the nation. As for Father Pfleger, his "fiery rhetoric" is no less accurate. He's an ardently progressive Roman Catholic priest and a good friend of Rev. Wright. Give him ups for being a stand up guy!

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 01:15 PM on 03/28/2008

Funny Mr Linkins, the press is coming out with many more instances of hate, bigotry and racism showing where it definitely was a pattern. The are reporting even in church bulletins and the eulogies at funerals were packed with I hate America rhetoric and racism against different WHITE groups in America. I guess it's ok to be a racist and hate America if you are a black preacher. You just whine about the past and it makes it ok! In my world, as a democrat, I was taught that you shouldn't hate any group of people, and I tried to teach my daughter that. I guess if you are the Obamas you bring your children to church to hear hate. What a great model for Americans to follow!

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 07:17 AM on 03/28/2008


Hearsay is a wonderful tool for slander, but without facts and sources to back you up, you're just making noise.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 12:12 PM on 03/28/2008

What happen to Rev. Wright is what has happen to many people who dared to speak criticism about this country even when criticism was needed. It wasn't to long ago people were afraid to speak out against the invasion of Iraq in fear of being labeled unpatriotic. All the yellow ribbon car magnets, support our troops magnets. What was that all about? - for some reason people felt they had to prove they were patriots. We are in this war because of peoples fears of being labeled. Just think if all the people that knew the invasion was a wrong and spoke out perhaps it would have never happened. Let it be a lesson to us all, and may we never let it happen again.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 09:52 PM on 03/27/2008

AMEN!!! criticism of ones country does not render on unpatriotic, I am so sick of that!!! that is why we have freedom of speech, and now my husband has to be deployed over there for a lie and be in danger for a lie, what happens if he does not return? I think it is truly patriotic when one sees ones country going in the wrong direction and they stand up for it!!!

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 06:36 PM on 04/02/2008

I knew from day one this church and Rev Wright were being misrepresented for the simply fact if this man was preaching the hateful things he was being accused of he would not have 8,000 members. The man's been in business for 30 years no way someone would not have put a spot light on him and his church long before now if he was the person the media has portrayed him to be. And I truly admire Sen. Obama for once again not doing what would have been better (just throw Wright under the bus) for him, but to do the right thing. When everyone else was afraid to speak out against Iraq he did so, even when he was being told it would cost him the IL Senator race. This is called integrity, standing for what is right even when it might cost you.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 09:01 PM on 03/27/2008

Get religion out of politics or please do as extensive reporting on Hillary's and McCain's spiritual advisors. WE ARE OVER IT MEDIA!! GET THE IDEA?

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 08:37 PM on 03/27/2008

I'm actually glad that the Rev. Wright controversy came out now. Hannity & Co. were sitting on it for a while. And would have probably turned it into a Karl Rove-style "October Surprise" right before the election. The fact that they played this dirty hand now is good because Barack Obama had the chance to properly address the issue instead of having the reprehensible soundbites filling the airwaves of a stunned America days before the election.

Maybe I'm naive... maybe it's just a coincidence the Fox News turned into the ACATT channel at precisely the same time that these videos surfaces. Oh... you don't know that channel... All Clinton All the Time!

The exclusive interviews of our former President and Hillary Clinton carried by Fox have been most enlightening to me. Guess Hillary got over her aversion to the network after all. Remember how she turned down their previous interview and debate requests?

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 06:03 PM on 03/27/2008

THIS CHURCH ORGANIZATION IS 90+ PERCENTAGE WHITE!

The destruction of the Democrat Party, because of two idiots, would rather destroy it, than behave like adults. Everyone fears another four years of REPUBLICAN GARBAGE, but the two Morons, Bill and Hillary will fight like school yard children until the REPUBLICAN agenda is realized. The big losers will not be Clintonions, but it will surely be the citizens of America SAD SAD SAD "AND SICK"

GO BARACK OBAMA/JIM WEBB 2008

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 03:10 PM on 03/27/2008

These few white "uncle Tom" pastors are only tokens. One seems emotionally unstable screaming as Reverend Wright does and the other sounds like he took a sedative. From the video it appears that they are affiliate churches of Wright's therefore have a stake in trying to support Wright's reputation and the reputation of his racist church since regrettably they were foolish enough to affiliate with Reverend Wright in the first place.

Wright=Racism=Obama

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 02:22 PM on 03/27/2008
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"Wright=Racism=Obama"

Clever of you. Obviously you didn't major in math. If Obama is racist who can he be racist against? Himself? He's white and black. Oops sorry to throw off your equation. Go back to your hole you troll. We don't want you here. We'll take our mutiethnic candidate over you any day of the week.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 04:49 PM on 03/27/2008

It sounds like you would not be convinced that Wright is not satan in disguise even if he could prove that Jesus Himself was in his pulpit.

And if you knew anything at all about the subject you would know that racism can only be attributed to the group in power - and you don't need to try to argue the point - it just is.

By virtue of their race, neither Wright nor Obama can be racist. They can be prejudiced or bigoted, but not racist.

OK, I give you that maybe Obama can be HALF racist, since he's HALF WHITE, and I'm puking as I write this because the whole race discussion give me hives - I thought we were all of the HUMAN RACE - but then that's wishful thingking.

Just go away - you give me a headache.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 05:22 PM on 03/27/2008
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Yes! Yes! Yes! Thank you for defining "racist" for all those who throw the term around, but have not a clue what it means!!!!

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 12:13 AM on 03/28/2008

TriniGirl ,you can be black and racist; in fact it is a racist statement to say you can't be racist if you are black.

That said, I am a white man living in a majority black county for close to 30 years and only recall being treated in a clearly racist manner twice. I wish blacks in white counties fared as well.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 02:32 AM on 03/28/2008

White "Uncle Tom"?!?!? Hmmmm.... don't know where you're going with this one so I'll leave it alone.

Father Michael Pfleger who appears in the video is pastor of St. Sabrina Catholic Church and is an extremely popular Catholic priest, well known throughout this country.. Granted the Roman Catholic and United Church of Christ are Christian churches, they're not "affiliated" as you suggest. Further, what Father Michael Pfleger says is true - Rev. Wright has been invited by many seminaries of various denominations to teach and give talks and is well regarded as a biblical scholar.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 11:37 PM on 03/27/2008

You are wrong on both counts. The "screamer" is a Catholic priest, Michael Pfleger, a well known activist on Chicago's south side. The "sedated" one is the current president of the United Church of Christ, Wright's (predominantly white) denomination, so it would be much more correct to say that
Wright's church is an affiliate of his. Why should you let facts get in the way of your opinions?

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 11:45 PM on 03/27/2008
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Wow! "White uncle Toms"??? Damn, black folks can't have anything. Now you steal the term "uncle Tom". That's really low. You sound like a true and faithful Christian. I'm sure you will receive the blessings of God for the love you bestow on the less than perfect human beings - you being perfect yourself, I mean.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 12:11 AM on 03/28/2008

Maybe the media should look into Hillary's secret cult, 'the Family'

Apparently, the magazine Mother Jones thinks they recruited some 'ex-' and some 'not-so-ex' Nazis just after the Second World War.
They sound like a fun bunch
Why isn't the media investigating THIS church ?

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 01:58 PM on 03/27/2008

Absolutely, the cult that Hillary belongs to is scary; this church is not. But how do you get the media to expose "the Family"?

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 02:37 AM on 03/28/2008

I am so glad that people are waking up insofar as the mighty MEDIA is concerned. Now you can see why Blacks have always felt a conspiracy was in the background of our society to keep us down, ignorant, and unable to advance. America is controlled by the corporate elite who want all of us to stay ignorant and not use our own minds in considering what is good for us. They want to tell us what we need, what we should think, and how we should behave. Our own government is against the will of the people, as you can see. And make no bones about it, the conspiracy comes from way up at the top. It's not just stupid, independent, ignorant, racial commentators. It comes from their bosses. How do you think this kind of behavior can be allowed if not from higher ups who control the process with the people in the government to back them up. Our Justice Department doesn't work 24/7 on justice as you can again see. The FCC policies and head officials are also looking the other way. Nothing about what is going on in America Today resembles JUSTICE to all. If nothing else, we should all be asking ourselves, WHO IS ALLOWING THE MEDIA TO REPORT SO PREJUDICIAL, ONE-SIDED HARMFUL INFORMATION TO THE PUBLIC? Follow the money!

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 01:06 PM on 03/27/2008
Moderator's Pick

HuffPost's Pick

A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth gets its pants on (or something like that).

Especially when the lie feeds our prejudices and fears. It's going to take a lot of hard work this year to get Obama elected. The right knows it has fertile ground to spread its seeds of bigotry, fear, and intolerance.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 12:14 PM on 03/27/2008

Lets try to be honest.

Who is the dumb@ss that believes the USA infected black people with the AIDS virus without any proof? The only reason the racist preacher would make that charge is because he is a racist. What would be any other purpose?

Wright probably is a nice guy. Not all racists are mean spirited and angry all the time. Maybe the preacher is trying to make money on the topic. It is hard to be black (or any color) and try to make some JACK without some training or education unless you are a RACE BAITER! Race baiting is always good for raising money!

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 07:43 AM on 03/28/2008

I'm still wondering why the media has refused to show Reverend Wright's sermon in the right context. This is absurd. I mean, the 9/11 sermon he gave was clearly NOT anti-American. If serious persons took a few mintues to view the actual clip properly, they would see that Reverend Wright was QUOTING former US Ambassador Edward Peck "we bombed Nagasaki, Hiroshima....chickens are coming home to roost..." Those were not HIS words, they were Ambassador Peck's words, and the clip clearly shows Wright asking the congregation if they had seen Peck's appearance on Fox News on September 12th, 2001. He then pulls out a sheet of paper and starts reading Peck's words.
Fox News selectively edited out the part where Rev. Wright pulls out the sheet of paper, so people now assume those were HIS words, and not Edward Peck's.

Wake up, America, you are being played by the media. Wake up for God's sake!

Here is the fuller version of Reverend Wright's 9/11 sermon...pay close attention after the 3:00 mark.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOdlnzkeoyQ&feature=related

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 10:17 AM on 03/27/2008

I am so sick of hearing about this minister I could scream! Why doesn't the 'right wing media' dwell on all McCain's rabid ministers who have endorsed him. They are a bigger threat to the welfare of this country than Wright is. Well, we all know why! As always they are trying to rig the election for McCain. That's about the only way the old fart can win!

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 09:57 AM on 03/27/2008
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I think it is a lot of nerve the way people attacked Rev Wright.

Has anyone investigated Hillary's group "The Fellowship"
She, who declared she would not be a member of Trinity Church.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 09:52 AM on 03/27/2008

can't we do both. Why is it ok with you to attack Hillary on her church, but not Obama. You want us to investigate Hillary, and leave Obama alone. That's why I can't vote for him, his followers are insane, racist hate mongers and I can't vote for someone who inspires such hate!

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 07:21 AM on 03/28/2008
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I am a white woman, born and raised on Chicago's southside, and I have been
welcomed at Trinity several times.

The MSM and the Clinton Camp have not presented an honest "Christian" picture of this Church and its members.

Shame on them. It is time to DEMAND clarifications and apologies.

AirForceVet/Vietnam

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 08:27 AM on 03/27/2008

this is what has bothered me the most about this whole incident. not only have they engaged in egregious character assassination against rev. wright, but they've also slandered the reputation of an entire church community.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 03:43 PM on 03/27/2008
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