Found this link perusing
Drudge.
What a maroon.
This article was a difficult read in that it had absolutely no flow. The topic in one paragraph did not lead to the next. I picked a few key quotes for analysis. Much of the article seemed to contradict itself and there were no conclusions. Drudge's headline indicated that Obama found Christ. I see none of that in this article. Emphasis mine throughout.
He [Obama] had sampled various faiths but adopted none until he met Mr. Wright, a dynamic pastor who preached Afrocentric theology, dabbled in radical politics and delivered music-and-profanity-spiked sermons.
Sorry, but the Bible is very clear that God loves us all.
The Christianity that Mr. Obama adopted at Trinity has infused not only his life, but also his campaign.
Obama's "Christianity" is different than mine? The type of Christianity that he "adopted"? What does that mean, to "adopt" Christianity. I "adopt" a dog from the pound, not my God.
The day after the party for Mr. Wright, Mr. Obama stood in an A.M.E. church pulpit in Selma, Ala., and cast his candidacy in nothing short of biblical terms, implicitly comparing himself to Joshua, known for his relative inexperience, steadfast faith and completion of Moses’ mission of delivering his people to the Promised Land.
“Be strong and have courage, for I am with you wherever you go,” Mr. Obama said in paraphrasing God’s message to Joshua.
Obama, the saviour and messiah. Spare us. You are not a deliverer.
Sarah Hussein Obama, who is his stepgrandmother but whom Mr. Obama calls his grandmother, still rises at 5 a.m. to pray before tending to her crops and the three orphans she has taken in.
“I am a strong believer of the Islamic faith,” Ms. Obama, 85, said in a recent interview in Kenya.
Hokay. Now which is it? Christianity or islam.
He [Mr. Wright, the minister of Obama] was also interested in the world beyond his own; in 1984, he traveled to Cuba to teach Christians about the value of nonviolent protest and to Libya to visit Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, along with the Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan. Mr. Wright said his visits implied no endorsement of their views.
Oh yeah right. And I have swampland in Florida to sell you. He goes to Cuba (oh and exactly HOW did he do that when you cannot travel there?), Libya, and Farrakhan. No extremism there! No condemnation of the brutalities in Cuba, Libya, and of the wretched stench that flows from Calypso Louis.
Mr. Wright preached black liberation theology, which interprets the Bible as the story of the struggles of black people, whom by virtue of their oppression are better able to understand Scripture than those who have suffered less.
So the Bible was written exclusively for black people and only THEY get it? Meaning that whites "suffered less"? That would be a big surprise to Pope Benny! So, he is saying he has absolute moral authority here? And no
white slaves ever existed?
This book illuminates a subject once well-known in the history of the West but which is now somewhat neglected: the enslavement, over several centuries, of tens of thousands of white Christian Europeans and (later) Americans in Muslim North Africa -- or the so-called “Barbary” states of Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Tripoli. Over the course of 10 centuries, tens of thousands of these unfortunates became the possessions of Muslims in North Africa courtesy of the feared Barbary pirates. These pirates cruised the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean in search of European and, later, American ships to pillage and plunder.
To the many members who, like the Obamas, are the first generation in their families to achieve financial success, the church warns against “middleclassness,” its term for selfish individualism, and urges them to channel their gains back into the community.
Obama is a FIRST generation of success? Um, no. Selfish INDIVIDUALISM? Ok, so now he is promoted collectivism? Nay, shall we say communism? Perhaps Marxism? And how does a poor, black family get to
own slaves themselves? By being poor? Or perhaps by trafficking in slaves themselves?
Mr. Obama reassures liberal audiences about the role of religion in public life, and he tells conservative Christians that he understands why abortion horrifies them and why they may prefer to curb H.I.V. through abstinence instead of condoms. AIDS has spread in part because “the relationship between men and women, between sexuality and spirituality, has broken down, and needs to be repaired,” he said to thunderous applause in December at the megachurch in California led by the Rev. Rick Warren, a best-selling author.
So Messiah Obama gets to speak in a church, and yet can you imagine if President Bush did? And this paragraph seems to suggest that Obama has one message for liberals, and another for conservatives. Way to be consistent and bring people together! Not. He tells conservatives he "understands" their feelings. Big whoop. Apparently he does not share those opinions, let alone act in a conservative interest.
Congregants respond by saying critics [of Mr Wright's church] are misreading the church’s tenets, that it is a warm and accepting community and is not hostile to whites.
And still, the article goes to great lengths to ensure we are aware that:
- Mr. Wright, a dynamic pastor who preached Afrocentric theology, dabbled in radical politics
- Mr. Wright preached black liberation theology, which interprets the Bible as the story of the struggles of black people, whom by virtue of their oppression
And the mission statement of this church, until the heat was turned up on this church, stated:
1. Commitment to God
2. Commitment to the Black Community
3. Commitment to the Black Family
4. Dedication to the Pursuit of Education
5. Dedication to the Pursuit of Excellence
6. Adherence to the Black Work Ethic
7. Commitment to Self-Discipline and Self-Respect
8. Disavowal of the Pursuit of “Middleclassness”
9. Pledge to make the fruits of all developing and acquired skills available to the Black Community
10. Pledge to Allocate Regularly, a Portion of Personal Resources for Strengthening and Supporting Black Institutions
11. Pledge allegiance to all Black leadership who espouse and embrace the Black Value System
12. Personal commitment to embracement of the Black Value System.
On the Sunday after the terrorist attacks of 9/11, Mr. Wright said the attacks were a consequence of violent American policies. Four years later he wrote that the attacks had proved that “people of color had not gone away, faded into the woodwork or just ‘disappeared’ as the Great White West went on its merry way of ignoring Black concerns.”
Oh yes, WE caused the attacks. Blah blah, yeah, yeah, heard it!
Interesting to note, that the mission statement has been REMOVED from the church's web site, to be replaced with the following pablum:
Trinity United Church of Christ has been called by God to be a congregation that is not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ and that does not apologize for its African roots!
And then concludes:
The fortunate who are among us combine forces with the less fortunate to become agents of change for God who is not pleased with America’s economic mal-distribution!
W.E.B. DuBois indicated that the problem in the 20th century was going to be the problem of the color line. He was absolutely correct. Our job as servants of God is to address that problem and eradicate it in the name of Him who came for the whole world by calling all men, women, boys and girls to Christ.
Eradicate what, exactly? White people? America's economic mal-distribution? You mean capitalism? And replace it with what, like I cannot guess. And how is God displeased? Example please! Your job as servants of God is to address THAT problem? Color? Yeah well,
color me surprised at this interpretation by this church.
Yup, where do I sign up to vote for THIS guy.
