Obama’s Spiritual Mentor May Put Church in Hot Water
(Trinity United Church of Christ/Religion News Service) Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., and the Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr., senior pastor, Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, March 2005.
By Jeff Goldblatt
CHICAGO - Barack Obama’s controversial pastor and the church he’s served for 36 years may be in hot water over statements he has made from the pulpit in support of the Illinois senator’s run for the White House.
The Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr. preaches that he follows the righteous path, but when it comes to the federal tax law, his Trinity United Church of Christ may have crossed the line.
Although Wright delivered what was billed as his final sermon last month on his path to retirement, prior to his departure he delivered commentary from the pulpit now being scrutinized in which he praised Obama.
“There is a man here who can take this country in a new direction,” Wright said during his Jan. 13 sermon, according to recordings obtained by FOX News.
It was not the first time Wright appeared to endorse Obama, who was baptized at Trinity United, has been an active member of the church for two decades and receives spiritual mentorship from Wright.
The title of Obama’s second book, “The Audacity of Hope,” was taken from a sermon by Wright.
During a Christmas sermon, Wright tried to compare Obama’s upbringing to Jesus at the hands of the Romans.
“Barack knows what it means living in a country and a culture that is controlled by rich white people,” Wright said. “Hillary would never know that.
“Hillary ain’t never been called a nigger. Hillary has never had a people defined as a non-person.”
In his Jan. 13 sermon, Wright said:
“Hillary is married to Bill, and Bill has been good to us. No he ain’t! Bill did us, just like he did Monica Lewinsky. He was riding dirty.”
FOX News purchased the video recordings of Wright’s sermons from the church.
“It’s pretty clear an indirect endorsement of Barack Obama - that’s not something you’re supposed to do according to the tax code,” said Andrew Walsh, a professor at Trinity College who specializes in religion in politics.
The tax code bans churches from participating in or intervening in a political campaign. Violations can result in the loss of a church’s tax exempt status.
The Obama campaign issued a statement in response to FOX News’ inquiries about Wright’s sermons.
“Senator Obama has said repeatedly that personal attacks such as this have no place in this campaign or our politics, whether they’re offered from a platform at a rally or the pulpit of a church,” said Bill Burton, a campaign spokesman.
“Senator Obama does not think of the pastor of his church in political terms. Like a member of his family, there are things he says with which Senator Obama deeply disagrees.”
Click here to visit Trinity United Church of Christ Web site.
Obama defended Wright’s longtime activism for blacks in America last week at a campaign event in Ohio.
“Jeremiah Wright … has said some things that are considered controversial because he’s considered that part of his social gospel,” Obama said.
The Internal Revenue Service wouldn’t comment on whether it is looking into potential tax violations at Trinity United. The church declined to make Wright available for an interview.
Congregant Dwight Hopkins, a professor of Theology at the University of Chicago, said there is no basis for the IRS to go after the church.
“From the church side they will say it’s theology,” said. “If it wasn’t a senator running for president and it wasn’t his church, then I think we could say all kinds of things.”
The IRS has written dozens of letters warning churches against political advocacy from the pulpit. Yet it has revoked a church’s tax-exempt status only twice in the last half-century.
Walsh said it’s not typical for the IRS to enforce the rules.
“There’s a tension here between the desires of the religious leaders to say important things in the public marketplace and the IRS rules, and so most of the time, the IRS does not enforce these rules,” Walsh said.
The public scrutiny of these sermons comes in the wake of last month’s revelation by the head of the United Church of Christ that the IRS is investigation a speech Obama gave at the denomination’s national conference last year in Connecticut.
In a certified letter, Marsha Ramirez, IRS director, EO Examinations, wrote:
“Our concerns are based on articles posted on several Web sites including the church’s which state the United States Presidential Candidate Senator Barack Obama addressed nearly 10,000 church members gathered at the United Church of Christ’s biennial General Synod at the Hartford Civic Center, on June 23, 2007. In addition, 40 Obama volunteers staffed campaign tables outside the center to promote his campaign.”
The church and the Obama campaign have denied that any inappropriate political advocacy occurred during this speech.
Wright’s sermons often address themes of white supremacy and black repression, and critics have called them racially divisive.
Some remarks attributed to Wright that have been posted on the Internet and cited in press accounts include:
“Fact number one: We’ve got more black men in prison than there are in college.
“Fact number two: Racism is how this country was founded and how this country is still run.
“We are deeply involved in the importing of drugs, the exporting of guns and the training of professional killers. … We believe in white supremacy and black inferiority and believe it more than we believe in God. … We conducted radiation experiments on our own people. … We care nothing about human life if the ends justify the means.
“And … And … And! God! Has got! To be sick! Of this shit!”
Click here to hear an audio clip of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr. WARNING: Contains offensive language.
Once Wright’s remarks were widely publicized last year, Obama backed out of his plans for his pastor to speak at his Feb. 10 presidential announcement.
Obama met Wright after college while working with local churches in Chicago to tackle problems of drug abuse and unemployment in inner-city neighborhoods. Wright preached an Afrocentric theology that interpreted the Bible through shared suffering of African Americans.
For Obama, this experience was a spiritual turning point. He has written that he had been exposed to various faiths during his life but never formally adopted one until after meeting Wright.
“Inside the thousands of churches across the city, I imagined the stories of ordinary black people merging with the stories of David and Goliath, Moses and Pharaoh, the Christians in the lion’s den, Ezekiel’s field of dry bones,” he wrote in his memoir, “Dreams From My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance.”
“Those stories - of survival, and freedom, and hope - became our story, my story.”
I thank FoxNews for exposing the truth.
Does anyone find it interesting that there is no statement of faith on the churches web site? What does this congretion believe as far as “christianity” is concerned?
obama is a racist.put together the comments of his wife together with his hate america hate whitey so called pastor a this and its quite plain what obama truly is. Obamas so called minister is a racist pig and spreads that word amongst those who attend. My parents taught me long ago that you are defined by who you associate with. I believe weve all seen who Barak Obama considers his friends to be-racist pigs like Jeremiah Wright and terrorist pigs like weather undergound commie William Ayers and his wife Bernadette Dohrn.
Interesting that everyone is up in arms about the preacher. I am sure everyone in every congregation has agreed with everything that their preacher has said every Sunday…said sarcastically!
Andn as one journalist said today…you can’t control those who are attracted to you. Just because they agree with everything that you say doesn’t mean you agree with everything THEY say.
I don’t consider myself a highly educated person, however, this is gravely upsetting. I hate describing myself by the color of my skin.
Our country has in my opinon tried to compensate for the unjustice done to the African Americans. Was it wrong yes! Anyone in their right mind would agree.
Today, there are more oportunities available to the African Americans than that of the “white” population. Many jobs are now decided by the COLOR of a persons skin than that of the qualifications. Many schools ship children from all over in order not to descriminate. The list goes on and on.
As we all know America is a melting pot of people with all different beliefs, and cultures. It is what this country was founded on. When we as Americans start putting name to the color of our skin it cause extreme division. “A house divided against itself can not stand”. In this case our Country.
African Americans have a better life HERE in America than they would have in their native land. Which still today wars against itself. Tribes against tribes, death, famine, and a high percentage of AIDS.
It is just sad that a pastor who with the same mouth preaches about ” not to judge lest ye be judged” is saying such horrible remarks. I guess he is trying to rally as many people as he can.
This Presidential debate is not about ” oh, let’s finally get a “black” person as a president. It is not about “whites against blacks”. It is about a job, and who can fill it. Who can better represent this Country, America! Who will speak for all. Whether thier color be white, black, yellow, purple, red, or green.
You folks have not posted any new comments for over 14 hours on several important stories here. What is going on? Hire a larger staff. This is only going to heat up as November approaches. Don’t be caught with your corporate pants down, Fox News Online! A lot of people want to speak out, and this is one of the few places it is possible nationally on political matters. Don’t let us all down!
It’s true that people shouldn’t be accountable for what other people say. That being said, nobody sits through 20 yrs of sermons, has a reverend perform the most spiritual of ceremonies for their family (Obama’s wedding and the baptisms of their children) -unless you share that person’s faith and preachings. To release a statement that he doesn’t agree with Wright’s preachings - is merely words. I’d like to hear Obama try to justify his commitment to that church and it’s sermons if he now claims he doesn’t support what Jeremiah Wright says. You wouldn’t go to church week after week if you didn’t share that faith. I’m so tired of hearing about black repression. The only racist in this story is Rev Wright. He’s the one preaching hate for white people and our country - and if Obama has sat in this guys congregation the past two decades, has gone to him for spiritual guidance - we cannot risk Obama becoming our president. Hillary either for that matter.
P.S. If the church has altered their website, previous versions of it can be viewed through the Internet Archive.
chris Matthews spoke about Obama’s Book Dreams of My Father
Chrs said it was a great book almost like Tom Sawyer so interesting
MSNBC should get to the facts about Obama and not just a tidbit
Mr. Obama is well aware that words are weapons and have much power, that is all he has used so far in his campaign. I regard his association (and close personal and spiritual relationship) with this minister for over two decades as tacit complicity and agreement with the mans comments. This is like if someone sat and listened to Hitler voluntarily in an audience week after week after week as racist and dehumanizing comments were made about Jewish people. Does that not appear to imply that the audience member likes to hear such things, that they basically agree with it? Does that act of being in the audience not give more power to the words of this preacher? And then that person asks Hitler to serve as a minister in his marraige, and to baptise him, etc. Probably Mr. Obama can be found in the audience cheering on such hate-filled “preaching”. If I had a friend who said such hateful comments on a ongoing basis, I would choose to no longer be a friend to them. Everyone knows the saying that a person is best judged by the company he chooses to keep, so be it for Obama. If Obama likes this type of talk, and agrees with it, why doesnt he do the right thing and say so, instead of strategically “distancing” himself from the minister so he will appear “electable” as he distanced himself from Mr. Farrakhan. As Ferraro had the courage to say, race is a factor here - the media is taking a kid glove approach to Obama and every one knows it. I am afraid that most people who are favoring Obama really know very little of who he is as a person. BTW, while Hillary cannot know what is is like for a black man in the US (so the preacher says), neither can Mr. Obama or any man can really know what it is like for a woman of her generation and all the prejudice and discrimation she has faced due to her gender and the fear of crime etc.. To say “anything goes” in regard to behavioural ethics and expediency, as long as the that ethics and and economy get fixed is very short-sighted.