Any thoughts out there on the recent hullabaloo over Barrack Obama's minister? Talk about politics from the pulpit!
After having released a written statement on the matter, Obama himself appeared on one of the Fox News shows tonight to address the issue. Was it me or did he have a panicky look in his eye?
How sad it would be if the Obama campaign were to be dealt a punishing blow by something Obama didn't even do? The cable news and talk radio are hammering Obama because he's been a member of this church for 20 years and, I guess, in their view, he should have quit the church bc. the minister has such out of the main stream political views and he obviously has expressed those views from the pulpit. And now, Obama is having to defend himself for what his preacher preaches. How tough is that to have to do?
The problem for the Obama campaign is that most Americans can't stomach what they see from that pulpit. And now it'll be Obama who has to pay the price.
I think Obama, as McCain and Hillary have had to do recently as well, has taken swift and decisive action in removing himself from people whose views are not his.
I think you're right. Any long lasting effects?
Will we see this come up again? I don't think it's McC's style to use such things but talk radio is a different story. . . .
I think we'll find some other bright shiny object to obsess over; meanwhile the ship is headed straight for the big hunk of ice...
I am not so sure that the Obama's are not represented by those views...however...taking Barrack's word that he disavows those comments (a political move in my opinion) just makes the point over and over that when churches become political they stray into divisiveness. That is one reason may of us are no longer in the UUA...but you see it in every denomination. Personally, I could not sit and listen to such fare for 20 years and stay if I did not agree with it......I left my local UUA church after a few short years as it increasingly became tooo political.
I dunno, Obama is half European/half African and grew up in Hawaii (which is very racially diverse/mixed) and Indonesia (also quite a diverse place). He's had enough exposure to people from different backgrounds to know the nonsense of the Rev's rhetoric. I think the Rev also made some statement about Hillary growing up rich and Obama growing up poor; considering Obama's parents were (including his natural father, and his stepfather) well-educated and well-traveled, and that he has an Ivy League education himself, I don't think his upbringing was one of poverty.
Also, I have to wonder just how close the two ever were or if Obama was a big church attender; prez candidates inevitably become publicly more religious around election time
Wikipedia says he joined the church in 1988, the same year he went off to Harvard. Time will tell I guess...
Here is an informative site on the religion of the founding fathers:
http://www.adherents.com/gov/Founding_Fa...igion.html
Hmm....I don't think John Adams, T. Jefferson, B Franklin and a few others could past muster with the nation today.
Indeed-many of them would face quite the challenge in getting elected in this day and age!
As for Obama's minister, I share the majority's disdain for his view. I do believe that the clergy are as entitled as anyone else to their religious views but they need to learn there is a place to advocate those views and it isn't the pulpit.
It's funny that the founders' religious affiliation has come up, as I was just listening to a podcast of "Speaking of Faith" in which the host, Krista Tippett, interviewed the founder of Beliefnet regarding a book he wrote recently on the issue of religion and the early days of the current republic. It was nice to hear a reasoned view-that is to say, he recognized that our right/left views of the founders being either devout Christian or heretical Deists ignores the complexity of both religious culture throughout the colonies (many of which had established churches) and the ideas/practices of the individual men themselves. Surprisingly, it was the evangelical wing of protestant Christianity that advocated for the separation of religion & government, for fear of government repression (Baptists) or government's misuse of religious rhetoric may turn people away from religion.
Oranges indeed are not the only fruit...
The line from Obie's speech that caught my eye was, "I can no more disown him [Wright] than I can disown the black community." It's hard for me to accept that one can condemn that rev's sermons and beliefs without disowning the man himself on some level. How can one separate the man from his calling?
It is good to see that for Obama there is something more important than the presidency--his affection for his minister and his standing as a member of the black community. I get the feeling that for Billary, there's nothing in their lives more important that getting back into the presidency. They'll do anything. . . .