The Christian Science Monitor Mar 14, 5:52 PM EDT
Obama Denounces Pastor's 9/11 Comments
By NEDRA PICKLER Associated Press Writer
WA****NGTON (AP) -- Democratic presidential candidate Barack
Obama on Friday denounced inflammatory remarks from his
pastor, who has railed against the United States and accused
its leaders of bringing on the Sept. 11 attacks by spreading
terrorism.
As video of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright has widely aired on
television and the Internet, Obama responded by posting a blog
about his relation****p with Wright and his church, Chicago's
Trinity United Church of Christ, on the Huffington Post.
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's statement did not say whether Wright
would remain on his African American Religious Leader****p
Committee, and campaign officials wouldn't say either.
"I categorically denounce any statement that disparages our
great country or serves to divide us from our allies," Obama
said. "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 Hiro****ma, 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 sup****ted 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,
p***** 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 playing down Clinton.
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 that are "so contrary to my own life
and beliefs," but they have raised legitimate questions about
the nature of his relation****p with the pastor and the church.
He explained that he joined Wright's church, Trinity United
Church of Christ in Chicago, nearly 20 years ago. He said he
knew Wright 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 ties to the 6,000-
member congregation church - he and his wife were married
there and their daughters baptized - Obama decided not to
leave the church.
Obama also has credited Wright with delivering a sermon that
he adopted as the title of his book, "The Audacity of Hope."
"With Reverend Wright's retirement and the ascension of my new
pastor, Rev. Otis Moss, III, Michelle and I look forward to
continuing a relation****p 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 "flag****p" congregation.
John H. Thomas, United Church of Christ's president, lauded
Wright's church for its community service and work to nurture
youth. Other church leaders praised Wright for speaking out
against homophobia and ***ism 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," Thomas said
in the statement.
---
AP Religion Writer Eric Gorski in Denver contributed to this
re****t.
---
On the Net:
http://www.barackobama.com
http://customwire.ap.org/dynamic/stories/O/OBAMA_PASTOR?
SITE=MABOC&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2008-03-14-17-
52-26
--
A government, of, by, and, for: Rich, Elite, Freemasons.
But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the
light:
for whatsoever doth make manifest is light.
The light ****neth in darkness;
and the darkness comprehended it not.
The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be
single,
thy whole body shall be full of light.
But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of
darkness.
If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great
is that darkness!
Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead,
and Christ shall give thee light.
For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
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