McCain's Church Hates America, Clinton's Friends Do Too -- But Let's Get the Black Guy (Or Not?)
Obama called us to our better selves today. Never mind that! Here's the latest new outrage from Obama's pastor! FOX News, CNN, MSNBC are all about to start playing new secret footage of Rev. Wright screaming:
If you lust after any woman grab a knife and gouge out your right eye and throw it in the trash. And if you're going to use your hand for masturbation cut it off or you're going to hell. I haven't come here to make peace but to bring war. I'm here to set a man against and his father and a daughter against her mother and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me and who doesn't want to get killed for me is damned. You mess with my people and you'll wish you'd hanged a stone around your neck and drowned yourself before I'm done with you!
Except, Obama's pastor didn't say any of that -- Jesus did.
So I guess all Christians must be disqualified from running for president. How can we trust any candidate that follows a violent Jewish-supremacist like Jesus? He called a woman of another race a dog just for talking to him! He said his enemies would all burn in a lake of fire...
There may be a few secularists out there who have never been to old-time church but the rest of us know that hyperbole, overstatement and ranting and raving (from the left or right) is a time honored style of preaching in just about every denomination -- other than in particularly boring Unitarian churches.
Religious biblical overstatement started with Jesus, actually with God the Father, who tended to do things like kill the whole of humankind to make a point to Noah. Most churchgoing Christians know how to take this stuff in the Bible, or from our preachers. That's why most Christians don't lop off their arms and penises when they feel lust. That's why even though Jesus said he only came to save Jews some of us "filthy dogs" (as Jesus called non-Jews) still believe in him. That is why reasonable people of good will who hear a black (or white) pastor saying "God damn America" in the context of a moralistic tirade know they're watching theater.
But fair is fair. So where are the clips of me in Falwell's pulpit (back in the early 1980s before I dropped out of the evangelical movement) preaching to five thousand cheering white fundamentalists while I shouted; "God hates America for the murder of the unborn! We should be destroyed!"
When my late father -- Religious Right leader Francis Schaeffer -- and I were the guests of Jerry Falwell at Liberty Baptist College, Falwell said to us quite casually and seriously, while speaking of the "homosexual problem," that: "If I had a dog that did what they do I take it out and shoot it." And when it came to saying God was damning America he and Pat Robertson sided with the 9/11 hijackers by saying the terrorist's actions served America right and were God's punishment. Yet John McCain went to Liberty Baptist College and spoke for Falwell, in order to "mend fences" with the Religious Right. He said he no longer believed that Falwell was "an agent of intolerance." And Rudy Giuliani gladly accepted Robertson's endorsement. So much for the Republican "mainstream."
Fair is fair. So where are the clips -- playing incessantly next to Hillary Clinton's picture -- of her antiwar friends and Bill Clinton's fellow draft dodger members of the New Left, cursing and damning America during Vietnam War protests and since? The company that Bill and Hillary kept in the late 1960s through the 1970s was defined by damning America and sometimes by rooting for the North Vietnamese. Anti-American spewing also came from left wing white preachers. Read the fiery sermons of the late Episcopal bishop of New York Paul Moore, Jr. who raged against America.
Bishop Moore, in his 1997 autobiography, Presences: A Bishop's Life in the City, wrote that the end of the Cold War had left the United States "like a wounded rooster crowing on the top of the dung heap." Blaming "corporate greed and lust" as well as "unbridled nationalism" for manufacturing causes for war, Moore cursed America as often as he served communion.
McCain is an Episcopalian. Where are the clips of the anti-American rantings of Bishop Moore and not a few other Episcopalian pastors and bishops, next to McCain's picture?
Want to play this smear-by-association game? Okay, while McCain was a prisoner of war his bishop Moore was rooting for McCain's torturers. How can McCain be a member of that denomination and be a real American, let alone commander in chief? Isn't it time he explains his anti-American white associations? Isn't it time McCain gives a speech to explain what it means to be a white in bed with hate-America white liberals..?
Okay, I'm being sarcastic, this is silly. And that's the point. From the other guy's point of view all religion and politics is extreme.
Preaching is a style of communication with its own cadences that is easy to mock and/or twist-by-sound-bite. The Clinton's smear machine, now tied to the FOX smear-machine, is playing a very dirty game. And the Clinton's know better.
As I recall both Clintons have been in plenty of black churches and understand the preaching style. If the Clintons were authentic progressives, or even authentic patriots, or just ordinary decent Americans, or just members of the Democratic Party who wanted their party to win in November, they would have led a furious defense of Obama and his pastor by putting things in perspective.
If the Clintons were decent people Obama would never have had to give a speech on being black and being a presidential candidate, let alone explain his pastor. The Clintons would have stepped up for him. And if FOX News, MSNBC, CNN et al. weren't playing a filthy game for ratings this wouldn't be a story.
As Obama said in his March 18, speech:
In the white community, the path to a more perfect union means acknowledging that what ails the African-American community does not just exist in the minds of black people; that the legacy of discrimination -- and current incidents of discrimination, while less overt than in the past -- are real and must be addressed.
Part of that discrimination that needs addressing is to stop playing the sorts of games that have been played by the white Republicans and the Clintons.
As Jesus said to the Pharisees: "Ye hypocrites!"
Frank Schaeffer is a writer and author of "CRAZY FOR GOD-How I Grew Up As One Of The Elect, Helped Found The Religious Right, And Lived To Take All (Or Almost All) Of It
Follow Frank Schaeffer on Twitter: www.twitter.com/frank_schaeffer
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This guy should get his facts straight. Southern Baptists are the extreme fundamentalists. The religion was created over slavery. McCains original church was Episcopal.
HuffPost's Pick
Yes, it was damage control. And it was in response to a well organized campaign whose sole intent has been to indict a man for another's ill-advised commentary. Critics can question its efficacy, they can suggest that the speech was steeped in hypocrisy, but the question remains, are they capable of rising above the argument that they perpetuate?
I have little faith in America at this juncture. So few Americans are conversant with their own history and they have an inability to separate the wheat from the chaff, providing support for political entities who are dedicated to maintaining the status quo. Hillary Clinton - and as much as one might want to believe otherwise - is a staunch supporter of the status quo. Clintonistas belittle Obama for his "lack of experience," yet they give a free pass to a candidate that voted for, and continues to support the Iraq War - but suggests otherwise in a blatant grab for votes; a candidate that has stood with the current administration on countless occasions, and has proven to be disingenuous at best when it comes to any discussion regarding her husband's support for bad trade agreements or the legislation he signed and approved regarding welfare "reform;" or absolutely unforthcoming when it comes to providing hard information about her outside income, financial support or documentation relating to her tenure as First Lady.
We can criticize - hell, CONDEMN - a candidate for having the audacity to sit in a church while a pastor - a frustrated pastor - rants about the perpetuated inequalities in what is supposed to be an equal society, but we must be willing to look past the obvious character flaws in our own candidate simply, I must assume, because she is a woman.
Political allegiance is fine, to a point. And while blogs have helped escalate political discourse, there is so much homering on these pages that obscures the real issues. If someone wishes to posit that all three candidates are simply selling votes, I'll go along with that. But the amount of cynicism present in these 'discussions' underscores the fact that we, the citizens of all countries, are doomed to our own insistent grasp on separate realities, realities that will never align. We all have expectations about our chosen candidate, and we inevitably reflect on the negative aspects of our candidate's opponent. But the backlash against Obama has been steeped in racism, no matter how you cut it. Again, the issues of the day don't revolve around any real or perceived racism on the part of HRC or BO, they do revolve around:
The War
The Economy
Healthcare
Education
The Infrastructure
Trade deficits
And any number of other issues that are more important than the he said/she said bullshit being perpetuated here...
"And while blogs have helped escalate political discourse"
Depends what you mean by "escalate." I think the net effect of blogs is a cartoon image of the political spectrum that magnifies the extremes and squashes moderation.
Thank you Mr. Schaeffer,
Also thank you blogger for posting the BIBLE scriptures Rev. Wright was quoting, JESUS. Where are those who stated he took his children to a church to hear a pastor who quoted Jesus. He quoted the Bible. Those who want Senator Obama to go to church to church to church to church to church to church to find a church that the pastor does NOT quote the scriptures with less gusto for the 20 years he stayed at one. How many stood up the children who have been raped by their church leaders.
Rev, Wright never rape anyone.
Where are your united moments for the justices of those children who are now adults still hurting.
Here they are again: Matt 5: 27-30 Matt: 10:12-15 Matt 10:34-38
Again, thank you Mr. Schaeffer very great documents facts. However, I don't read anywhere else the mad mad demand to see media YouTube or other TV very limited sound bites that have other pastors to have a fair and equal justice for the truth as how it is being shown on TV in this current elections period from other candidates. I want to say to those parents who are angry Michelle Obama took here children to this kind of church, I truly think they have never read the Bible to their children. If they did take the time to show them for their age group like the Obama have done for their children. It is very clear people writing on these bloggs have only been teaching their children to hate out of being to lazy to read the truth directly from GOD's written words.
Years ago it was a black face of a person in prison., that everyone voted to jail as many blacks as we could. Who got the jobs the states or Federal authority did want to hire people to care for.
They fooled people was told them it is now PRIVATE. Hello, if the funding is being paid from taxpayers
in order for the PRIVATE company to do business, Very good people it is truly not a private agency.
This is include local governments out=source or Federal government out source. The amount paid to them is double or more of your taxes. so we decided to build more prisons instead of placing bad boy behavior to a life serving our country as they did years ago, producing some of, not all of the BEST of this Nation leaders that did not allow misinformation on race, lust for more money they could ever spend on themselves or their families to cloud their great judgment that was very good for all the people in this nation. Why, because this country did not put them in jail, but the military.
As I have said before on my first blog ever, We have allowed the race card so mush here in this country for years, we have made China have a middle class with our jobs. MADE in China in every store. This will truly be a win-win for China. They loaned us the money with interest to go and purchase their made in China products that made us sick, so we can go to the doctor to purchase made in China medical products. If we and our pets are still alike next year we can pay taxes on the loaned money to jump start our United States. Are we ready to see those TV sound bites of the other white pastors so we can see how dishonest Mr. Obama really is?????
We the people are not involved in our country because we accept quick sound flashes on TV, because our leaders did not invest in this country
I am very much for a nation with the people who has the title and the wisdom to be United.
I
Didn't you listen to his speech? More hate is not the answer. Even hate directed toward his opponents. If hate is okay that way, then it is okay every way. What part of what your candidate is asking don't you understand?
Your blog was really off base. First, Hillary Clinton did not do the dirt on this. They have both been attacked plenty before. So, yes...they get it. What did you want Hillary to do? Do you really think she did this? Doubt it. But did she know it would happen to him as it happen to her. Probably.
I little too off on this blog.
What does Hillary Clinton have to do with Barack Obama's choice of church or his relationship with Jeremiah Wright? With regard to Barack Obama's minister spewing what sounded like racist, anti-semitic, anti-American, hateful words ("words matter," right?), what does Hillary Clinton have to do with it? Just as she is not responsible for Barack Obama's relationship with Tony Rezko, she is also not responsible for his relationship with his minister. She did not attend the church with Obama. She did not have a 20 year relationship or call Reverend Wright her "mentor" and "counselor" as Barack Obama did. How does she get dragged into it? I think that it was Barack Obama's place to clean up his own mess. And, although I think his speech about race was needed, there are a lot more questions about his relationship with Reverend Wright, that need to be answered, in my opinion. I also think he defended the Reverend regarding things that are indefensible.
I have another question about candidates not standing with each other on certain issues, though. I would like to know why Barack Obama is not standing beside Hillary Clinton to defend the rights of the voters of Michigan and Florida??? It is shameful and it smacks of another year 2000 when I believe, as a lot of others do, that the election was manipulated to get GW Bush into the White House. And, look what it's cost us!
Barack Obama should not have to "approve" whether or not the Michigan voters get a re-vote. Are Howard Dean and the DNC trying to manipulate the outcome of the election? The voters of Michigan and Florida have a RIGHT to have their voices heard and their votes EXACTLY AS THEY CAST THEM counted! No 50-50 as Obama reportedly suggested. It should be just as the voters voted.
Its hard to read your remarks since you have confounded so many arguments with multiple logical fallacies.
First, the author was making the point of the sillyness of accusation by association. He pointed out that if that was the standard of judgment, then both McCain and Clinton have a lot to explain as well and they are not being held accountable for such explanations. Its called an analogy. He didn't blame Clinton for Jeremiah Wright. Read carefully please.
Second, Obama never once claimed that he supported the Reverend's remarks. Yes pastors are theatrical, melodramatic, and says things that many often don't agree. Obama disagreed with many things the pastor said. So much so that he didn't have the pastor do an opening prayer for him at his announcement of his candidacy. He just didn't go around airing his dirty laundry of his disagreement with his pastor. Yes, he was aware of his pastor's controversial nature. But he was also aware of his pastor's good work. So, if you are convinced that the 30 seconds of endlessly looped footage is all that there is to this man, then you are easily manipulated by the mainstream media.
Third, Florida and Michigan broke party laws. When they broke party laws they themselves risked that the voters voices won't be heard. Hillary and Obama at the time agreed with these conditions. Ickes was on the board that decided to punish Florida and Michigan. The primary scheduling was done to favor Hillary. Now that she is trailing, she is making a point to hear the voters in the two states. These two states knew what was at stake but they wanted to think the rules did not apply to them. If voters should be mad at someone, they should be mad at their state officials and not Obama or Clinton.
Fourth, at this stage of the game, the Obama campaign has built around its own strategy seeking the nomination. The Clinton campaign is doing the same by asking to count the voters of the two states. Both the campaigns are pushing for what would favor their candidates. Thats political posturing and you should be critical enough in your consumership of information to see through that otherwise once again you are easy to manipulate.
Finally, if everyone chose to abide by the rules set forth before the elections, changing the rules midstream would be unfair to many people, especially to those states who chose to wait after super Tuesday to be part of the primary process. Just as the Clinton campaign wants to adhere to the rule that the Superdelegates vote whichever way they want and that cannot be changed midstream, the issue of changing the voting process midstream for Florida and Michigan should also be honored. There are process by which the state can appeal which will then be put forward for a decision by the party. At this point, those are the only options that both the states have. So if you are upset that there is silencing of the voters' wills, then be upset at the state leadership and not at the DNC or the Obama campaign and for that matter even the Clinton campaign.
2NurseLady: Sometimes our candidate loses. Deal with it. Hillary has lost. Deal with it. The sun will rise tomorrow, and the day after that, just as before. The Tides will ebb and flow; the earth will revolve, and Obama will not be elected president with 99.99% of the vote.
If this is the first disappointment you've ever suffered, let me assure you that you will emerge a better person for it.
No Jethro, Hillary hasn't lost and Obama hasn't won. How old are you?? 15? 16?
Well that certainly is a new twist Frank.
Brilliant, absolutely Brilliant.
Your analogies are so insightful and accurate, it boggles the mind to contemplate all the hypocrisies and distortion that is transpiring among the cable news idiots and the Clinton traitors.
most intelligent people can discern between rhetorical overstatements and vile anti-american lies. let's use the aids situation as an example. falwell may have said aids is gods wrath on homosexuals. that is quite different from saying the u.s. government created aids to kill black people, as rev. wright contends. when i hear a falwell or robertson make ridiculous statements i just shrug and think what idiots. when i hear rev. wright make some of his statements it affects me (and it seems most other people) more viscerally. one more thing, why do the people always try to justify one mans errors by bringing up other mens errors?
Because only Jesus is perfect.
i don't think the author is trying to justify reverend wright's errors by bringing someone else up. he is making an analogy to demonstrate the sillyness of guilty by association. he even said so in the piece.
Its called "putting it into perspective". The Tuskeegee Experiment was not a joke. If the government intenially injected you with Syphilis or some other non-cureable disease, wouldn't you become a skeptic on these issues?
The Tuskegee experiment was a huge tragedy but let's keep our facts straight. No one was injected with syphillis. Men with the disease were recruited but never told they had the disease and were not given any treatment.
HuffPost's Pick
I think we all accept Falwell as being nutty and then we ignore him even though he has millions of followers. Yet, we are not willing to extend the same kind of acceptance to a Minister that does not dress or look like us because it seems a little more frightening. But if you look and contrast the remarks of Wright vs Falwell, I find it LESS offensive when someone attacks the government or puts out a crazy conspiracy theory than when Falwell blames innocent americans.
In other words, why are you less offended when "Americans" are insulted than when the idea of "America" is insulted. Why is "seeming" patriotic more valued then loving they neighbor? Wright's comments were unacceptable and hateful towards whites but his speech was tied to institutional and historical legacy of the white oppressor which to me is the same as insulting the government. I think it is important even if you are a crazy to question your government - that is in the end what the founding fathers intended. Blind loyalty to a King is not.
Surely everyone knows by now that because of racism what a Reverend Wright says will always be more universally criticized than what a Falwell says. The putrid ravings of right wing pastors unfortunately resonate with far more Americans than the ravings of African American pastors. And as great as Obama's speech was, it's not going to change that dynamic. For my part, I'm waiting for an atheist to vote for; I'm so damned sick and tired of our president having to be a f***ing child of Jesus I could puke. Imagine if our political candidates didn't have to jump through all those idiotic religious tests before they can be certified to hold office - imagine how much energy would be available for important issues. There was an excellent article in Salon yesterday pointing out Obama's dilemma: he had to align himself with a black church in order to advance his political career locally; but now that very church has come back to haunt him. When you're playing with the devil or with God you get burned every time. I'd say "serves him right" except he didn't create the stupid need for religion the masses have; he's just the latest panderer to this madness.
That speech wasn't nearly as important for the Obama followers who orgasm every time he speaks. The important audience was middle America an audience who was significantly less impressed. If the Clintons were real progressives they would stand up for Obama. Please put down the koolaid and have a sip of reality. I don't recall MLK throwing his grandmother under the bus. The bottom line although people respect Oba for standing up for his beliefs I remain opposed to a man who stands by an America hater. In middle America this will hurt significantly.
he didn't throw his grandmother under the bus; he said he could never disown her no matter what she said.
To condemn racism is not to hate America.
Read the speech with an open mind. Read how he says that white anger at things like affirmative action, busing, crime, welfare is real and understandable. But it must be transcended.
Read how he says black anger at historical and contemporary discrimination is real and understandable, but it must be transcended.
Sip a little, or maybe a lot, of something like Celestial Seasons Tension-Tamer tea, and reread the speech.
Read the speech with an open mind. Read how he says that white anger at things like affirmative action, busing, crime, welfare is real and understandable. But it must be transcended.
Read how he says black anger at historical and contemporary discrimination is real and understandable, but it must be transcended.
*****************************************************************
Read the speech with an open mind...read how he says......
There is no open mind here, there is only blind acceptance of what he says. That is scary.
He compared his grandmothers ignorance of race and her simply saying a couple of stereo types, with that of a hate monger who preaches to children and to people who has great power because he is supposed to be a messenger of god. How is that even near a fair comparison? It's not, but he wanted to pander. Because he is a slick politician. The same way he tried to compare what the racist Rev. said to that of what Gerry F said. But when Gerry F said her comments Obama's advisor Axelrod, took the oppurtunity to attack HRC and her campaign.
THE AUDACITY OF HYPOCRISY
The Clintons are race-baiting morons. They have have dragged Obama in the mud, questioned his faith, patriotism and credentials. They are corrupt, crooked and clearly bigotted. They are not even real democrats. They have mobilized Republicans and have been working with Limbaugh to damage Senator Obama.
Wow MPeter, why don't you spread more hatred and lies. That's all Obama supporters do, so much for the inspiration from Obama, huh?
Are you als opposed to McCain who stands an America hater?
" while McCain was a prisoner of war his bishop Moore was rooting for McCain's torturers. How can McCain be a member of that denomination and be a real American, let alone commander in chief? Isn't it time he explains his anti-American white associations? Isn't it time McCain gives a speech to explain what it means to be a white in bed with hate-America white liberals..?"
Hilary Clinton apologizes to the Black community, when Geraldine Ferraro made an interesting comment, just after the Wyoming primary. A few days later,a video surfaces of Jeremiah Wright's sermon, with him condemning America. Why doesn't Barack Obama stand up for the citizens of America, who constantly work hard to fight for our God-given rights and freedom? Why isn't he apologizing for the words and actions of his "uncle"? Is Barack Obama so cold-hearted and thick-skinned, that he is too proud to say "I'm sorry."?
Do you feel sorry when you preacher does something someone else doesn't like? No, I didn't think so.
For TWENTY years??? This guy is Obama's self admitted spirtual guide.
Where were you when Senator Obama gave his speech yesterday? The text is readily available on this site if you missed it. In that speech, not to mention in countless speeches across the nation, he HAS "stood up" for people who work hard and have fought for this country. He has also utterly repudiated the offensive words of his pastor who, by the way, is among those who have served this country, in his case as a Marine. For you, the magic word is "sorry." For others, the magic formula would be repudiating the man as well as his words, however "un-Christian" such an act would be; for others, only leaving the church would be sufficient; for others, only never having joined the church in the first place would have been sufficient. What all the proponents of these positions have in common is an inability or unwillingness to hear what Obama actually said, to understand the entire issue in any but the most superficial and pre-conceived terms, and to accept the challenge that faces all of us as citizens of one nation whose fates are inextricably bound together.
Until proven mistaken, I will continue to believe that the majority of Americans will not allow themselves to be distracted by such narrow, divisive views and self-righteous pronouncements from the genuine and serious problems that beset our nation, not the least of which is healing the wounds of our racist history. Not this time.
Just because people want more from Obama doesn't mean we didn't hear it. Obama supporters didn't need to be reassured to the degree that the rest of us do . I thought the speech was historic bit Obama is not running for civil rights leader in chief he's running to be president of all of us . And a lot of people are turned off by Obamas response of keeping an America hating mysoginist so close to him. Obamas record is paper thin so these things help fill in the blanks for a lot of middle America.
Hillary distanced herself from Ferraro, she did not apologize. Why should Obama apologize for something he did not say? I am afraid nothing he might do or say will satisfy you, which is exactly the point of repeating demands for more "forceful" condemnation of Wright by Obama.
Ugh. If Obama were a true progressive he would have stepped forward and fiercely denounced the right wing talking points, rooted in misogyny, that he has stated, echoed or simply allowed to occur in the campaign and particularly, HIS campaign. Clearly Obama was born of a woman and is married to one and has heard about the various styles that occur in the church of women bashing. He should have said something.
Just. Stop. This cuts both ways.
Funny. Wright's batty moments are found out to be something antithetical to Obama's personal and campaign mantras. Obama is questioned as to how such rhetoric could have come from a man Obama has attributed much of the inspiration and foundation for his campaign. Obama, Inc. tries to cover their asses because they knew it was an issue form the get-go. Obama starts lapsing in his story and apparently someone in the campaign, I'm assuming other than Wright, had a "come to Jesus" moment with Obama and he finally fesses up. Obviously the fault of the non-progressive Clintons. :-|
Lame.
To mutatio: Please refer me to any source for any mysogynist remark Senator Obama has ever made.
Do you think that racism is systemic? That is the premise for Obama's justification of Wright's sermons.
If you believe that racism is systemic, you needn't point out specific incidents to support your claim; the system is racist.
I do believe that racism is systemic, institutionalized. That makes the eradicating of it that much more difficult, because people in the majority don't even realize that they have been socialized to 1) benefit from the system, and 2) participate actively in the system.
I also believe that sexism is systemic, institutionalized in the same manner as racism.
There are many, many majority people who denounce and decry racism, who actively work to change things, who speak out against it when it rears its proverbial ugly head. Hillary Clinton has worked for decades to help those victimized by racism, and she IMMEDIATELY denounced Ferraro's comments, and has apologized to the Black community for remarks that have seemed or genuinely been offensive. She also attended the Black State of the Union to try to bridge gaps.
Barack Obama has never once denounced the overwhelming misogynism present in the media regarding coverage of Clinton, and has used some questionable language of his own, including the "claws out" reference for when Clinton "periodically" gets "down" -- which many people recognized for what it is, rhetoric that perpetuates stereotypes about women.
Of course, Howard Dean has also ignored the misogynism, so Obama is not alone.
Just because you don't see it doesn't mean that misogynism -- like racism -- doesn't exist. The difference between the two, it seems, is that victims of racism are at least acknowledged when they rightfully point out behavior and rhetoric in the current campaigns that even hint at racism, while the victims of sexism are told that they're imagining things -- a typical, systemic, institutionalized, sexist response.
I don't have a source right now, but Obama said of Hillary, after one of the debates, "The claws are out." That is a sexist remark, pure and simple.
He said of Hillary, "the claws are out." That's sounds kinda sexist to me.
so i guest all the white folks that are members of the chuch are just stupid. i mean really just siting there listening to this racist pastor for years and not geting that he hates them............... hmmmmmmmmmmm
or could be his words are sound bites...................................hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
All the white folks??? You first must prove there ARE white folks who attend this church. Funny how even Obama refers to it as a black church. This guy, with the church's full blessing, calls Africa the "mother country." Excuse me? I thought AMERICA was your mother country.
Unless you were born in Africa, it is not your mother country.
I'm Irish, and I don't call Ireland my "mother country." I call America my mother country, because this is where I was born. I even gave 3 years of my life in service to this country. Why? Because it is the land where I was born.
What "white folks?" It's a black church. Even if there were white members, they are not running for the highest office in the land, like Obama is.
THANK YOU FRANK SCHAEFFER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I was dying waiting for an honest minister or any christian with a national voice to stand up and do the right thing and call this for the audacious hypocricy that it is!
Thank you so much!!!
on a personal note. it is wonderful to know that you quit. i did the same thing. i always wanted to be a minister since high school. after seminary and working in a church for 2 years i quit. i couldn't do it anymore. i was a real true believer and i couldn't take the distorted version filled with selfishness and hate that i was having to listen to. i couldn't take not being able to help anyone because nobody was interested in anything but talking and building 'empires'. and after i quit i was a black sheep. rejected by friends and family i'd known my whole life. but i knew it was the right thing to do. because i knew that truth and love mattered more than my career as a preacher. but, it can get lonely out here wondering if you are the only minister from an evangelical church who believed so much that you had to quit. it makes me feel really good that you did it too. makes me feel like i'm in good company, even though i'll never meet you.
Mr. Bursch, you sound like Elijah in his cave, "I'm the only one left." There are a lot of us post-Evangelicals who are tired of hearing the "distorted version filled with selfishness and hate." I don't want to reject Jesus, I just want to get back to what Jesus was all about: loving, healing, serving, and calling people back to God.
BTW, the imagined quote of Rev. Wright that Schaeffer writes is a conglomerate of slightly distorted, out of context sound bytes that he attributes to Jesus. When we read the whole life of Jesus in context those sound bytes take on a whole different meaning than what is implied in the "quote."
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