Culture and Style Gap: Obama Leaves Trinity....

Update: Here is a link to press conference transcript relating to the Obama's decision to leave Trinity United.

Blaming reporters and assorted busybodies pestering church members, especially the shut-ins and the sick, Barack Obama has resigned from Trinity United Church of Christ. Press reports this evening note his leaving the church with "some sadness" and that has been months since he attended Trinity. This action is obviously fallout from not only the Jeremiah Wright rants but the newly emerging reports about the lunatic priest Father Michael Pfleger who performed at the church last Sunday. (see our posting below)

At a news conference in Aberdeen, S.D., after the news emerged on the blog of a black journalist in Chicago, Obama said he and his wife, Michelle, had notified the church in a letter Friday that they “”were withdrawing as members of Trinity,” in part because of “a cultural and a stylistic gap."

Tags:barack obama,campaign 08,jeremiah wright,trinity united church of christ,michael pfleger

Obama-Rev Wright: Chris Dodd Weighs In....

In the following clip (5:39) from today's Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace we see our Senator Dodd, a Barack Obama supporter, visibly annoyed at having to answer questions about the relationship between Sen. Obama and his former pastor the Rev. Jeremiah Wright. He attempts to end the discussion by saying Obama has rejected his pastor's statements and that's that. Wallace points out that Obama only rejected Wright's inflammatory statements this week after they received widespread coverage in the media including ABC's Brian Ross. Dodd counters with words to the effect that Obama didn't know about it until it surfaced in the press. Wallace says Obama knew about it year ago when he commenced his campaign and dis invited the reverend from officiating at the kickoff event. All Dodd could do was to repeat we need to get to the "real issues", as though the Obama-Wright affair was not one.




A new feature on Fox News Sunday: "The Obama Countdown" h/t ConPunk


Tagged: barack obama,black values,rev jeremiah wright,sen chris dodd,chris wallace,campaign 08,fox news sunday

Wright Rants and Wrong Chants....

Yesterday I posted the video of Fox's Major Owens interviewing Barack Obama about his former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright. Today I am posting 2 videos consisting of an interview conducted by CNN's Anderson Cooper covering pretty much the same ground. And, Obama gives pretty much the same answers as in the previous interview and does not make a very convincing case for his professed ignorance of goings on at the Trinity United Church of Christ. For example, he says that the recently surfaced statements of Wright do not reflect his views and beliefs and that they are also not the views of the congregation. This statement is flatly contradicted by the video evidence. We clearly see the worshipers standing and clapping, jumping up and down, high fiving, whooping and hollering throughout the Wright rants. One can make allowances for the exuberance commonly expressed at Black religious events. Here the enthusiasm, however, is not for their Saviour or Lord but for the truly bizarre and outrageously false claims emanating from the pulpit.
Part I (07:34)

Part II (04:24)

But wait, there's much more. the next video (08:27) is from the 3/14 Hannity and Colmes Show on Fox featuring more of Dr. Wright's rantings which program guest Tanya Acker, a Democratic strategist labels "crazy". Sean Hannity asserts "this is going to end his (Obama's) presidential run...or any chance he has to win..." Hannity further outlines the facts that at Obama's formal announcement as a presidential candidate in Feb '07 he had to dis invite the pastor because he knew full well what the guy had said in the past. He also had to have known of Wright's visit to Khaddffi in Libya in the company of Minister Farakhan, and Trinity United's bestowal of a "Lifetime Achievement Award" on Farakhan. Additionally Obama and family gave tens of thousands of dollars to Trinity United.


Tagged: black value system,trinity united church of christ,rev jeremiah wright,irrational exuberance,barack obama,obama disavows wright statements,farakhan,khaddfi,wright visits libya

The Reverend Wright: So Wrong, So Long....

Here is breaking news video from Fox News:


ABC News' Brian Ross, which was the only main stream news source to delve into the racist, America hating sermons delivered from the pulpit by the Rev Jeremiah Wright, has just announced (3/14/08 9:12 PM) that Wright has been removed from the Obama campaign spiritual advisory committee.

Citing the need for a ".... sabbatical.... that it was important for him to step out of the spotlight in this situation."Obama said that he did not know the extent of Wright's controversial comments until recently. He confirmed that he was not in the church when Wright made the comments that were reported this week.

He had to have been in the church when at least some of the minister's other hateful sermons were preached. Obama sought to further distance himself from the "God Damn America" sermon saying:

I wasn't in church during the time that these statements were made," Obama said. "I did not hear such incendiary language myself, personally. Either in conversations with him or when I was in the pew, he always preached the social gospel."

Of course the larger question is, given the scores of inflammatory sermons by Rev Wright, which ones does he agree with.

The video below is by Jane Fisler Hoffman who says she is a minister of the United Church of Christ and attends Barack Obama's church, Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago which until last month was lead by the controversial minister Jeremiah Wright. This video and another similar video appear both on the church website and on one of Obama's campaign web sites. The video attempts to place Trinity United in the mainstream of American Christian practice. I believe that Trinity United is far from the mainstream of even the left wing national United Church of Christ but totally out of bounds in respect to most Christian congregations in this nation. This blog posting is an attempt to bring some clarity to the controversy involving candidate Obama and his recently retired pastor. It is known that the Barack Obama family has belonged to the Trinity United church of Christ for some 20 years. The Rev. Wright married the couple, baptized their children, and blessed their new home.



Following are several versions of the Black Values System that have appeared on the website of Trinity United church of Christ. Barack Obama needs to be asked if these precepts inform his philosophical underpinnings. If as a member of Trinity United he subscribes to these principles then one is entitled to wonder how he can be a President of all the people of the United States. Mitt Romney's religious beliefs were probed ad naseum by the press until he had finally to make a speech solely to explain his faith.

We are a congregation which is Unashamedly Black and Unapologetically Christian... Our roots in the Black religious experience and tradition are deep, lasting and permanent. We are an African people, and remain "true to our native land," the mother continent, the cradle of civilization. God has superintended our pilgrimage through the days of slavery, the days of segregation, and the long night of racism. It is God who gives us the strength and courage to continuously address injustice as a people, and as a congregation. We constantly affirm our trust in God through cultural expression of a Black worship service and ministries which address the Black Community.

Trinity United Church of Christ adopted the Black Value System written by the Manford Byrd Recognition Committee chaired by Vallmer Jordan in 1981. We believe in the following 12 precepts and covenantal statements. These Black Ethics must be taught and exemplified in homes, churches, nurseries and schools, wherever Blacks are gathered. They must reflect on the following concepts:

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

At some point within the past year the statement above was removed and replaced by the text below:

We are a congregation which is Unashamedly Black and Unapologetically Christian... Our roots in the Black religious experience and tradition are deep, lasting and permanent. We are an African people, and remain "true to our native land," the mother continent, the cradle of civilization. God has superintended our pilgrimage through the days of slavery, the days of segregation, and the long night of racism. It is God who gives us the strength and courage to continuously address injustice as a people, and as a congregation. We constantly affirm our trust in God through cultural expression of a Black worship service and ministries which address the Black Community.

The Pastor as well as the membership of Trinity United Church of Christ is committed to a 10-point Vision:

1. A congregation committed to ADORATION.
2. A congregation preaching SALVATION.
3. A congregation actively seeking RECONCILIATION.
4. A congregation with a non-negotiable COMMITMENT TO AFRICA.
5. A congregation committed to BIBLICAL EDUCATION.
6. A congregation committed to CULTURAL EDUCATION.
7. A congregation committed to the HISTORICAL EDUCATION OF AFRICAN PEOPLE IN DIASPORA.
8. A congregation committed to LIBERATION.
9. A congregation committed to RESTORATION.
10. A congregation working towards ECONOMIC PARITY.

Now we note that the original Black Value System has returned with additional commentary. The Black Value System as on the Church web site now:

THE BLACK VALUE SYSTEM

Trinity United Church of Christ adopted the Black Value System, written by the Manford Byrd Recognition Committee, chaired by the late Vallmer Jordan in 1981.

Dr. Manford Byrd, our brother in Christ, withstood the ravage of being denied his earned ascension to the number one position in the Chicago School System. His dedication to the pursuit of excellence, despite systematic denials, has inspired the congregation of Trinity United Church of Christ. Prayerfully, we have called upon the wisdom of all past generations of suffering Blacks for guidance in fashioning an instrument of Black self-determination, the Black Value System.

Beginning in 1982, an annual Black Value System – Educational Scholarship in the name of Dr. Byrd was instituted. The first recipient of the Dr. Manford Byrd Award, which is given annually to the man or woman who best exemplifies the Black Value System, was our brother, Dr. Manford Byrd.

These Black Ethics must be taught and exemplified in homes, churches, nurseries and schools, wherever Blacks are gathered. They consist of the following concepts:

1. Commitment to God. “The God of our weary years” will give us the strength to give up prayerful passivism and become Black Christian Activists, soldiers for Black freedom and the dignity of all humankind.

2. Commitment to the Black Community. The highest level of achievement for any Black person must be a contribution of strength and continuity of the Black Community.
3. Commitment to the Black Family. The Black family circle must generate strength, stability and love, despite the uncertainty of externals, because these characteristics are required if the developing person is to withstand warping by our racist competitive society.

Those Blacks who are blessed with membership in a strong family unit must reach out and expand that blessing to the less fortunate.

4. Dedication to the Pursuit of Education. We must forswear anti-intellectualism. Continued survival demands that each Black person be developed to the utmost of his/her mental potential despite the inadequacies of the formal education process. “Real education” fosters understanding of ourselves as well as every aspect of our environment. Also, it develops within us the ability to fashion concepts and tools for better utilization of our resources, and more effective solutions to our problems. Since the majority of Blacks have been denied such learning, Black Education must include elements that produce high school graduates with marketable skills, a trade or qualifications for apprenticeships, or proper preparation for college.

Basic education for all Blacks should include Mathematics, Science, Logic, General Semantics, Participative Politics, Economics and Finance, and the Care and Nurture of Black minds.

5. Dedication to the Pursuit of Excellence. To the extent that we individually reach for, even strain for excellence, we increase, geometrically, the value and resourcefulness of the Black Community. We must recognize the relativity of one’s best; this year’s best can be bettered next year. Such is the language of growth and development. We must seek to excel in every endeavor.
6. Adherence to the Black Work Ethic. “It is becoming harder to find qualified people to work in Chicago.” Whether this is true or not, it represents one of the many reasons given by businesses and industries for deserting the Chicago area. We must realize that a location with good facilities, adequate transportation and a reputation for producing skilled workers will attract industry. We are in competition with other cities, states and nations for jobs. High productivity must be a goal of the Black workforce.
7. Commitment to Self-Discipline and Self-Respect. To accomplish anything worthwhile requires self-discipline. We must be a community of self-disciplined persons if we are to actualize and utilize our own human resources, instead of perpetually submitting to exploitation by others. Self-discipline, coupled with a respect for self, will enable each of us to be an instrument of Black Progress and a model for Black Youth.
8. Disavowal of the Pursuit of “Middleclassness.” Classic methodology on control of captives teaches that captors must be able to identify the “talented tenth” of those subjugated, especially those who show promise of providing the kind of leadership that might threaten the captor’s control.

Those so identified are separated from the rest of the people by:

1. Killing them off directly, and/or fostering a social system that encourages them to kill off one another.
2. Placing them in concentration camps, and/or structuring an economic environment that induces captive youth to fill the jails and prisons.
3. Seducing them into a socioeconomic class system which, while training them to earn more dollars, hypnotizes them into believing they are better than others and teaches them to think in terms of “we” and “they” instead of “us.”
4. So, while it is permissible to chase “middleclassness” with all our might, we must avoid the third separation method – the psychological entrapment of Black “middleclassness.” If we avoid this snare, we will also diminish our “voluntary” contributions to methods A and B. And more importantly, Black people no longer will be deprived of their birthright: the leadership, resourcefulness and example of their own talented persons.

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. To measure the worth and validity of all activity in terms of positive contributions to the general welfare of the Black Community and the Advancement of Black People towards freedom

Tags: black value system,trinity united church of christ,barack obama,jeremiah wright,campaign 08, mitt romney,candidates religion,brian ross report,newt gingrich on wright,left rhetoric

Rev. Jeremiah Wright Retires....

The Chicago Tribune is reporting today that yesterday (Sunday Feb 10)
was Reverend Jeremiah H. Wright's last day in the pulpit of the city's Trinity United Church of Christ.Rev. Wright was Barack Obama's spiritual mentor and Wright's sermon "The Audacity of Hope" inspired Obama's breakthrough 2006 speech and highly acclaimed book of the same title. The videos below help illustrate some of the controversy that surrounds Pastor Wright and his church.





See Baltimore Sun, 1/16/08
Tags: barack obama, rev jeremiah wright,trinity united church of christ,religion and politics, campaign 08, audacity of hope,