First off, you really shouldn't speculate about other people's true inner feelings. How could you know? But then, when you get to running for POTUS and wanting keys to the nukes, we all need to understand you as best we can inside and out. Plus, Barack Hussein Obama is some kind of piece of work. Only in God damn America.
This brings us to the infamous Rev Jeremiah Wright, late of the Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, the man who led Obama to Jesus, married him, baptized his children, etc. See, I strongly suspect that neither of these guys nor much of this congregation really actually believe in Jesus Christ.
Obama appears to have had a theoretically ideal multi-cultural upbringing with the secular college professor mom and Muslims on the other side. He's had at least a little taste of mosque going growing up - which is all to the good. But Barry Obama is way too cool, educated and sophisticated to really seriously believe any of that jive.
However, as a young adult wanting to put down roots and go into politics, he becomes a Christian so he can join this cheesy black nationalist church. Jeremiah Wright doesn't believe in Jesus of Nazareth any more than me or Jesse Jackson do. If he did, he'd be too scared of being struck by lightning to talk some of the black foolishness that he does.
Jesus of Nazareth barely shows up during the Jeremiah Wright Show. What does making up hateful nonsense about AIDS conspiracies have to do with the message of the Christ? He's getting over with the million dollar home and fame not for preaching the Good News of Jesus Christ, but cheesy black nationalist shtick about some black God what is going to smite whitey. Not much of a 'love thy neighbor as thyself' message in that. Barack Obama surely doesn't believe this nonsense - but Jeremiah Wright doesn't believe most of this foolishness himself, any more than Al Sharpton really believed Tawana Brawley. These are not stupid men.
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Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - Edward
Jesus Hussein Christ! So much for coming together as a nation.
2 - Dr Dreadful
Well, I'm not sure what discordant chord you seem to have struck here, Al, but as the Assistant Comments Editor on watch this evening, my experience of this article so far has been largely along the lines of Delete... Delete... Delete...
3 - troll
...hard to understand why Wright can't just be a good negro huh hermano
4 - Al Barger
Hey Dr D, thanks for minding the night shift. Hard telling exactly who'll be cheesed with this, but nobody should be. I think I'm being pretty muted and understated in my criticism here.
5 - Zedd
Al,
Are you drunk?
What exactly is your point???
6 - Clavos
Probably the same reason the chavos aren't.
BTW, troll, did you know that there's a bridge here in Miami that has a group of sex offenders living under it by order of the authorities?/
Google it. It's the absolute truth.
We've got a surfeit of 'em here, so I've suggested to the Parole Board that we send some to NM. Gave 'em your name as a potential landlord/housing coordinator.
7 - troll
(Clavos - bring em on...the drop from my bridge to the Rio Grande below is 650' - we lose one or two every year: even a lovers' leap thing now and again)
8 - Brett
I have never been to Trinity United Church of Christ, but I havbe met many of its members, all outstanding people of faith, as is Barack Obama from everything I can see.
His comments at the National Press Club introduced me to a biblical verse I had not studied, with Jesus saying I have other sheep not of this fold.
Yes, he was too casual. Yes, he hurt Obama. Bot yes, he is a person of faith who has led many, including Obama, to Christ. Thank God for people like Jeremiah Wright who remind us the role of a pastor is to comfort the afflicted, and afflict the comfortable.
9 - Jordan Richardson
"There'd be a lot less god damning of America (most of which damned Americans are Wright's brothers and sisters in Christ). There'd be a lot more gratitude to the maker."
Only if what being a Christian is starts to mean being a nationalist/patriot first and a follower of Christ second. But maybe that's just "black foolishness."
10 - G
Sure looks like Jeremiah and Obama are conspiring to make Hillary look good and win the nomination. Who wins in that scenario? Not taxpayers or capitalists or anyone who believes in individual freedoms.
11 - Al Barger
Jordan, where'd you get "nationalist/patriot first"? Wright certainly isn't putting Christ first. He acts like he's putting the black nationalist movement first, but in the practice he sure seems to be placing Rev Wright at numero uno. I can't tell that Jesus of Nazareth even makes the Rev Wright Top Ten.
In any case, yes, the entirety of the Rev Wright personnae is certainly a prime example of black foolishness.
12 - Ruvy
Brother Barger,
Jeremiah Wright doesn't believe in Jesus of Nazareth any more than me or Jesse Jackson do.
Another SHARK swimming in BC's waters, I see (damn, but I miss that guy!).
The "Obnoxious American" would do well to learn from the tone of this article if he wants to keep any purchase on his screen name. Reasonable Jewboys should not use the title "obnoxious" if they can't deliver. Heck, even I'm nastier than he is!
I have to admit that there is a lot I don't understand in this article, but that isn't because of your writing; the message of Christianity just doesn't turn my crank. We have our own messianic traditions that don't include street preachers getting nailed up on crosses. But I probably don't have to explain that to you. I've mentioned to Irene Wagner occasionally that the base idea of Christianity - a perfect HUMAN sacrifice - is abhorrent to most of us.
But no matter. You march, however dissonantly, to a different drummer.
For my money, Reverend Wrong has picked up the hatred that lurks in much of Christianity, given it a black hue and and a bitter flavor of resentment, and is flying with it, screwing over a former student with it as well, to demonstrate the "love" at the base of his religion.
Before you guys can act like the decent human beings you aspire to being, you need to be redeemed, and to ditch entirely the evil inclination that is the base of much of your economy, the base of how this (and all other) entertainent/news outlet operates (greed and profit), and the substance (exploitation) of much of existence and relationships today.
That is a task far beyond you all. And far beyond us as well. I'm not hustling snake oil here, just stating the obvious. Humanity has reached the point where its stewardship of the planet can include its destruction, and which already includes attempting to mimic G-d by cloning. In addition, an artificial food shortage is being created world wide.
These are the real issues you need to contemplate, not the words of a bitter preacher trying to shove the stick up the ass of an upstart parishioner.
That anybody pays any attention to these hateful bastards calling themselves "men of the cloth" shows how deluded they are as to what is truly important in determining their futures.
13 - Zedd
Al,
You don't know what a Christian is. This is sad and slightly difficult to read. If there should be any deleting, it should be the entirety of your article. I thought that at some point you'd sober up and make a retraction of sorts. But it looks like you mean what you've stated. Christianity is not about saying what makes anyone happy, it is about a very personal relationship with G d and nothing else. Using your value system as a barometer for others' level of closeness with the creator of the universe is interesting at best.
Do you realise that "our" founding fathers could not claim a Christian affiliation based on their support of the evil that slavery was or the unimaginable destruction of the Native American population. Heck just about every White person prior to the sixties was complaisant in the evil that this country perpetrated. Could we say they were Christian (based on your barometer).
14 - Ruvy
This could get interesting - Bad Brother Barger versus the Zulu Warrior Princess....
I'm gonna pull up a chair, have myself some pumpkin seeds and mango nectar. Anyone wanna' join me?
15 - Al Barger
Mmm- mango nectar! Brother Ruvy, I'm always happy to provide you with a spot of amusement. You're right that this ridiculous demagogue Wright is so much the center of attention, but he's significant as a reflection of the guy who's just a couple of steps away from getting keys to the nukes. It is an indication that Obama is - to use your word - deluded, or worse.
As a former Christian, I have mixed feelings about Christianity. Yup, that whole human sacrifice thing is a pretty whack concept. Plus, Wright picks up on the worst side of the system, the side that caused Nietzche to say that Christianity is based on resentment. However, Christianity does have its very good points.
Zedd is just wrong to say "it is about a very personal relationship with G d and nothing else." No, that's just not true. There's more to it than that. There's more to it than to just say you believe in God, and other than that it's all good no matter what kind of dirtbag you are. No. "Faith without works is dead."
You can get out in the theological weeds real quick, but absolutely any person claiming the mantle of Christianity should know the most basic points that you 1)have to believe in the resurrected Lord Jesus Christ, and that 2)you need to "love thy neighbor as thyself." That's not MY value system. That's what JESUS said.
Now Zedd has some legitimate point that a lot of Americans haven't been very good Christians. Only some of our founding fathers, however, would even have intended to claim to be Christians. It's way too harsh to disenfranchise all Americans on the basis of complacency. But yes, some supposed good Baptist running with the Klan ain't no kind of real Christian.
None of which historical sins at all excuses the naked hatefulness and dishonesty of this wicked demagogue Wright, or makes me want to elect a president who would be happy to sit in his pews for 20 years.
16 - blizzade
u are crazy! Jesus himself was one of the most radical speakers that ever lived! did he butter up the truth? no!! he spoke truth and was killed for it! Dr King spoke truth and was killed for it! Obama can't get into the white house with a friend like Rev Wright...but with God, all things are possible. what's meant to be will be... Obama is a coward.....
17 - Franco
Zedd
You said.....Do you realise that "our" founding fathers could not claim a Christian affiliation based on their support of the evil of slavery
I know you are a Christian and I support that. But your statment above dose not hold because slaver is written about and sanctioned in the Bible, in both Testaments from Genesis to Revelations.
Concerning the Old Testaments, it would be interesting to hear from Ruvy on this.
18 - Al Barger
blizzade- Yeah, Jesus might have been considered "radical," but radical is not a synonym for blind hatred. Where Jeremiah Wright preaches hatred against white America for actions long past mostly by and to people long dead, Jesus of Nazareth called for mercy and forgiveness even to the Romans as they tortured him to death. Compare and contrast.
19 - Zedd
Franco,
A slave in biblical times was not what we had in Jefferson's bed or fields.
20 - Zedd
Al,
Wright does not preach hatred. Man up or grow up or at least grow a brain cell.
21 - Franco
Zedd,
Look, first you said the founding fathers could not be Christians because they had slaves.
Then I offer up Christian and Hebrew evidence that in fact the scriptures sanctioned it.
Now you want to try and claim that in Jefferson’s day it was of a non-Christian non-biblical sanctioned kind of slavery.
There is no way you could even support such an assertion.
It leads one to think that you harbor so much of your own deep anger for white America to the point that you are willing to abandon logic.
22 - Zedd
Franco
Look it up.
Are you saying that kidnapping someone and forcing them to work for you without pay, sexually molesting them at will is a Christian act?
Do you think that that is what the bible spoke of?
I'm disappointed at you Franco. While I rarely agree with you, you have a history of being lucid even in your romantic idealism.
You are making your point poorly AND under estimating me.
23 - Zedd
The slavery of that time came mainly from wars between groups. The possibility of the reverse happening to the master was plausible. There was no racial or biological, automatic designation to slavery. The role may be defined by being a member of a country or group that has lost in war or in the case of the Israelites are already in place and are there as foreigners and forced into servitude. Even under those circumstances, not every Hebrew was a slave and not every slave was a Hebrew.
Even in Africa during the time of the Atlantic trade, there was that type of slavery. It was within a cultural context and not because of ones subhuman status. It was an economic and political designation, not a species re-categorization.
American slavery designated individuals lessor than because of their DNA. The master could not become the slave on another day. Even after they were "freed" that distinction remained with them and we have the illness in this country that persists because of that.
While the monarchy saw themselves to have a form of superiority over their subjects through history, the humanity of their subjects was never in question.
24 - Casey Michel
Zedd,
I need to throw my two cents into the ring on one point. You claimed that "[t]here was no racial or biological...designation to slavery." However, according to Genesis 9:20-25 of the KJV Bible, Noah cursed Canaan and his descendants, saying "a servant of servants shall [Canaan] be unto his brethren." Granted, a servant may not own the same intensely negative connotations that the word slave contains, but the Bible's evidence of biological servitude is irrefutable.
In fact, this verse - and the (arguably false) assumption that Canaan's descendants comprised the entirety of Africa - was one of the numerous ways outside forced, both Christian and Muslim, justified the extensive African slave trade.
25 - Casey Michel
Sorry, meant to say "outside forces." Darn Celtics/Hawks game is pretty distracting.