Rev. Wright thing does not add up

[LuckyTheDog]

Clearly, Wright's story is more complicated than the caricature of him presented on Fox News. Here, you will find videos of Wright being an entirely different person than the one presented by the Fox News sound bites:

http://www.youtube.com/user/TRINITYCHGO

Here, the president of the United Church of Christ denomination (a VERY white man) praises Wright and his work:

http://www.ucc.org/news/responding-to-wright.html

Does any of this make it seem as though Wright is a "racist"? Also, if he was a racist, why would he keep his church inside the predominately white UCC? Why not become non-denominational?

This does not add up.

I think it is entirely plausible that Wright has become more prone to make extreme statements in recent years than he might have been in the past. That could be why he was retired by his congregation. At least that's how it appears.

Wright appears to have "episodes" in which his message becomes paranoid. It could be that the guy is just, simply, losing it. Could it be senility? Exhaustion from years of hard work? A touch of mental illness? Maybe he's just misguided. Who knows.

Does that mean he should be "disowned" by his friends? I think not. The fact that his friends are sticking by him tells me that Wright's story is more complex than the one presented.

[garybeck]

1. What if he said "Damn what America is doing" instead of "Damn America" ?

would the reaction be any different. i doubt he hates america. I think he hates the war that America started. I agree. If I said, "Damn our country for what we have done," Would I be ostrasized? I think it's semantics. He makes some good points in his rants. Some I agree with. I am very angry at the direction we have gone in the last 8 years too. I wouldn't use the exact same words he did, particularly in a public forum. but he did... big deal.

nothing worse than what you hear every night on the Michael Savage show.

[LuckyTheDog]

2. I agree (nt)

[jakem]

3. I get the impression he was- saying in effect "God Damn, America"

Eats, shoots, and leaves. < the comma is a powerful thing.

(Cheney misunderstood the above as well!)

[crankychatter]

8. God Damn, (comma and portentious pause) America!

I absolve him either way though.

This whole fry job is scandalous, not Rev Wright.

[trained specialist]

13. Wright isn't the issue here. Obama's judgement is.

As well as Obama's honesty. He went to this church for
20 years, and now is surprised to find Wright is a racist.
I have to add, how many Harvard grads go to churches that
appeal to the lowest common denomenator?
Like if Clinton attended the Holy Rollers, we would wonder.

[LuckyTheDog]

12. What he was saying was this

"God will damn America if it does not change." He was not calling on God to do that. He was making an observation, based on his reading of the Bible.

[cbayer]

4. I've posted this before, and I am going to say it again.

My father is a preacher. I sometimes was shocked at the person I saw in the pulpit. This relatively quiet, reflective, thoughtful person would become fiery and confrontational for about 20 minutes every week. He did it with a purpose. He wanted to get being worked up. He wanted to push them to the edge so that they could look at things from a different perspective. He did not want them to be complacent. His sermon was a tool to achieve this goal.

BTW, he is also a far, far left-leaning (actually radical) political activist who had a church in the neighborhood in which Obama lives.

[MadMaddie]

5. No...but the Republicans use racism as a weapon....black Americans

are not surprised by this.....we knew it was coming.

The irony is that the so called holier than thou Christian Republicans have shown their hand....A black American, or Asian or Indians religion is considered second class to the Republicans....

Attacking the black church - and Wright may have had short term gains but the fallout for the Republicans will be huge.

[LuckyTheDog]

7. Divide and conquer

The GOP makes its living by dividing working-class white people from working-class black people. They can't just sit back and let a guy like Obama promote racial healing and reconciliation. Such a thing literally would take money out of their pockets.

[Bread and Circus]

6. It very clear that we only get a skewed image of Wright to make a Democrat look bad.

It's how the Right Wing intends to divide and conquer us on the way to the White House. I am glad people are starting to see that Wright is not the "monster" the Sean Hannity's of the world are trying to make him out to be.

Folks, if you are siding with Sean Hannity, you've got a problem.

[boppers]

9. It adds up, easily.

Grow up black in the US in the 40's, and nothing he says seems odd.

[MadMaddie]

15. That's exactly right

[woolldog]

10. Read this thread

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=5187302&mesg_id=5187302

And start writing letters to the media.

[LuckyTheDog]

14. Whoa

I hope you have e-mailed those links to several thousand people.

[blogslut]

11. Wasn't this particular sermon from June 22, 2003?

Anyone know?

[RememberWellstone]

16. It's a black thaing.

“In the 21st century, white America got a wake-up call after 9/11/01. White America and the western world came to realize that people of color had not gone away, faded into the woodwork or just ‘disappeared’ as the Great White West kept on its merry way of ignoring black concerns.”

Jeremiah Wright

Evidently 9/11 was about racist white America ignoring the black world. Had nothing to do with terrorism or killing innocent people. It was our fault.:eyes: