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.”
This is so dumb, i cannot believe all the dirty laundry that is coming out for this election..I dont even think i am going to vote..racist comments on both sides..like kids in a school yard..GROW up America..
and what the hell did that rev.. mean all the rich white folks..there are alot of rich black folks too..HELLO..you are what you make yourself..if you want to get ahead you work hard for it..come on..stupid is what stupid does..
willis
IF you don’t discriminate…..then why are you choosing OBAMA..YOU SHOULD vote for all three. See it is important to discriminate who is the best candidate which requires a great level of discrimination……based on HOW all of the candidates believe about their own country and quite frankly Obama thinks it offers no opportunity to the oppressed except of course him and oprah and his wife and also the hip hop stars have excelled in their pocket books becuase of this great country. If they were in Cuba or china they would be looking stupid probably just like you. Our founding fathers did not include the blacks and other minorities in the constitution but then they really did now that i think about it.. because they did say “ALL men are created equal” so I have no confusion about it maybe you should compare and contrast other forms of governments to see how great america really is.. why we always stay on top even despite the decline of the american dollar.. liberalism…..is affecting the economy…Spending money on social programs is affecting our economy.. Im black im female and I love the USA…why don’t you jump on board.. this country is the best and I am afraid that people who can’t pledge allegiance to our flag is basically a traitor to me
if you can’t wear a lapel on your collar and your name is obama hussein and your pastor is such then I know who you are immediately. A person who doesn’t believe in the Great America for all.
WOW ……HAVE YOU REALLY LISTENED TO THESE RECENT MESSAGES OF THIS PERSONAL PASTOR ….
PLEASE STUDY LOOK HARD AND DEEP INTO MR OBAMA ..I DONT THINK SO
SENATOR MCCAIN IS OLD 72 STRONG MAN BUT THEN WHO IS THE RUNNER UP..HELLO PEOPLE
I THINK A VOTE FOR MR OBAMA IS TROUBLE FOR AMERICAS TOMORROW.
I think Obama is the anti-christ, and people should fear him and his politics. It has nothing to do with race as some of my best friends are black americans. The american people should beware of Barack Obama.
sign the petition not to vote for obama in the general election
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/pledge-to-vote-against-obama-in-the-general-election
let the dems know he is unelectable
I can’t believe any pastor worth anything would use his pulpit in this way. His choice of vernacular is inexcusable. The words used in the pulpit are words which are normally used by people who are unintelligent. If Mr. Obama looks up to this man as a mentor, what kind of President would he make? I am offended by the racial comments. What many people fail to admit is that racism is not a one-sided problem. Many blacks are just as prejudiced against whites as vice versa, but that seems to be overlooked. It seems that blacks want to complain about their “struggles” to gain equality; however, it is my belief that the reason for any inequalities they may face are caused by the fact that they won’t let go of the past and move on. How many hundreds of years are they going to blame the white race for their problems? Get over it!!! Frankly, I would never vote for Mr. Obama and it has absolutely nothing to do with his being black. The reason I would not consider voting for him is because I do not trust him because of his Muslin background. Also, I think he has a lot of charisma but no real knowledge or experience to back it up. We definitely need someone who knows what they are doing.
I completly agree with Heidi and Beth Hillary has most likely gotton a little flak for being a women. However, I’m a strong black women born and breed in the projects and I know what REAL DESCRIMINATION IS!!! How many times has Hillary or her daughter been called the N word? How many times has she heard others blame her or her children and her race for the problems in this country (wel-fare recipiants)? How many white women have gone missing, abducted, Killed,Raped and nobody cared (especially the media)? God forbid me or one my children go missing because we don’t have blue eyes and blond hair were not the ALL-AMERICAN GIRL!!! I been descriminated by mostly WHITE WOMEN becaues my husband is white. WAKE UP! your at the top of the food chain right along side the white men in importance in this country and you know it.
It’s truly amazing to see that when it matters the most, Americans would rather feed off of media scraps, rather than focus on what is necessary! We are so easily distracted by things that are irrelevant versu those that are.
The price of oil is hitting record highs.
4000 Americans: Black, White, Men, Women, Christian, Jewish, Muslim, you name it are shedding their blood; their lives for us to continue to bicker over things that will not bring them home, or better equip them or keep us safe.
I don’t really care what the Pastor said or what Geraldein Ferrano said…I care about what the candidates say and their history.
I’m sorry to say but America is the Great Melting Pot, and we have laws to protect freedom of speech.
What we should be caring about is this country and what we are going through:
People are burning their homes rather than give them up to foreclosure.
People are still living in forsaken trailers along the Gulf Coast.
Pensions and Social Security is fading for our elders and children.
Factories are closing; Chrysler is on the verge of banckrupsy.
NASDAQ, S&P, and DOW are on a continual spiral downward.
Healthcare is out of the reach of most common Americans.
People are still rebuilding from the floods and tornados across the mid-west; the fires in San Diego.
There are far worst things to focus on than what people other than the candidates are saying and focus on what it will take to reinvest in our country.
If you are going to wake-up America than do so to unified; because no one is going anywhere! Rather than focusing your attention on what’s important, you hungar for the unimportant. It makes me weep, yet as Airman of Muslim faith I continue to fight for the America I grew up in along side my Christian brothers in arms in harmony. They would protect me as I would them; becuase we belive in America.
See our Chapel: http://www.united-publishers.com/EglinGuide/religious.html
So here’s my dilema to you…I’m and African-American voting for Sen. Clinton, my best friend who is white is voting for Obama. We both attend the same church but at different times becuase of our denominations. My wife also a Muslim will vote for Sen Obama and his wife for Sen Clinton. We joke about it all the time, but we were friends before this campaign and will always be. This is just a microcosm of what we feel a uified America should be.
V/r–A PROUD AMERICAN
Why is it alright for Obama-lama-ding-dong’s Reverend Wright to spit forth his racist venom and at the same time the Liberal Media and newspapers in this country want to crucify Geraldine Farraro for doing nothing more than tell the truth! For all the idiots in this country that think Obama is the second coming of JFK, they better do a little investigating of who he actually is, what his church really stands for and what is his experience base, other than writing books and looking pretty on the podium! I’m proud of my white heritage and what our white forefathers did to build this into one of the greatest nations in the world. If their only indiscretion was slavery, I can forgive them for that—it sure as hell doesn’t make me a slave master or backer! When is the black man in this country going to quit blaming all his ills on the white race! He has laws to protect him from discrimination and has as much right to an education or job as any other American Race! If this wasn’t true, then we wouldn’t have a Barak Hussein Obama running for president today!