This is a continuation of two earlier posts regarding the Dr. Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Jr and Barack Obama;
The Audacity of... Race &
Unity & hope or Smoke & Mirrors. Feel free to read them to see the progression of thought.
Today Barack Obama appeared in Philadelphia to deliver a speech aimed, in part, at quelling the unrest caused by his former pastor, Dr. Jeremiah Wright, in a series of sermons at Trinity United Church of Christ. People will be debating for years whether this is or is not a real
issue and whether Mr. Obama successfully dealt with it. A transcript of the speech can be found here for those that have not read it.
As a young man I was taught by my father, as I taught our children, that mere words are meaningless next to our actions. What you do or don't do says far more about your character than simply what you say. I was raised in the deeply divided south in an era in which people believed blacks were not equal to whites. While many were open about their beliefs, they refrained from expressing those views in front of my father for fear of being publicly rebuked. He firmly believed that we all children of God - and that God loved us all equally. I won't pretend to be blind - we come in all different shapes, sizes and colors, but our common thread as children of God transcends all.
Mr. Obama delivered an emotionally powerful speech today. In it he referred to the forces in his life that shaped him into the man he is today. He sought to evoke the idea that in America, anything is possible. It is possible for the son of a white woman from Kansas and a black man from Kenya to rise above the fray to receive a world class education, to fight for those who have no voice and to be within an arms length of being the Democratic nominee for President of the United States. On those points we are in total agreement and I applaud Mr. Obama for what he as accomplished and the lives he has touched along the way.
As we listen to this finely crafted piece of political prose, we are reminded that Mr. Obama is, in some respects, fighting for his political life. He has built a campaign upon a theme of unity, hope and faith in the greatness that lies within the heart and soul of all Americans. The question before us today is whether he can truly unite us or is he simply another in a long line of pretenders to the throne of a United America.
Many people, myself included, have questioned his twenty year devotion to a pastor and a church that openly and unashamedly seeks to divide rather than unite us. Legitimate concerns have been raised over whether a church that "...refuses to accept a God who is not identified totally with the goals of the black community...." is an appropriate place for a man with Presidential ambitions. Mr. Obama acknowledged that "there will no doubt be those for whom my statements of condemnation are not enough." He well understands that perception is often a formidable wall to penetrate. Mr. Obama would have us believe that he is inexplicably bound to Dr. Wright in the same fashion as his white grandmother. This is simply disingenuous.
The problem with that argument is that Mr. Obama's grandmother is not charged with the spiritual development and nurturing of the 8,000 souls that worship at Trinity United Church of Christ. Dr. Wright has used his position as a man of God to preach hatred and division - fostering the notion that somehow everyone else is to blame for the plight of the downtrodden in America. Dr. Wright seems to relish in pointing the righteous finger of indignation and assigning blame for the atrocities suffered by generations of African-American's rather than releasing those shackles and turning to God to benefit from the unbridled unity that is salvation through Jesus Christ.
Further issue is taken with the political two-step Mr. Obama danced today when he recanted an earlier comment of having never been in Dr. Wright’s presence when 'controversial' remarks were made. Seeking to diminish the inexcusable rhetoric he equates Dr. Wright's hate speech with comments we have all surely heard in our own church homes. If we did not abandon our church, then why should he? I have attended worship services in a multitude of churches, basilica's and cathedral's on five different continents and have never heard anything but messages of peace, love, hope and a call to serve God. Had I ever been confronted with a sermon advocating division and hatred I would have made an immediate exit. Our actions speak louder than our words - to remain in a church where such divisions and hatred were routinely offered as a substitute for spiritual nourishment is to sanction those words and actions. A forced 11th hour condemnation of the decades of vitriolic speech by Dr. Wright neither excuses or erases Mr. Obama's history of silent validation and endorsement of Dr. Wrights spiritual philosophy. It simply highlights a twenty year record of hypocrisy.
Mr. Obama sorely wants to wear the Crown of the Uniter - to be the man who overcomes historical chasms of separation and bridges the racial divisions that still exist. It is time we moved past the issues of race. There are pressing issues we, as a nation, need to address for the benefit of all citizens. I fail to see how a man who does not have the fortitude to take his own pastor to task for seeking to widen the social divides of this country or to resign in protest is ready to assume the role of the leader of the free world.
It would seem under the harsh light of scrutiny, Mr. Obama is not the uniter he would aspire to be, but simply just another politician who will do or say anything to grasp the ultimate political brass ring.
Fairbanks Ak Real Estate Broker Jesse Clifton
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Jesse and Kathy, I will agree with you. Although Obama is charismatic and a good orator, he is not the statesman or patriot that he aspires to be. He like all the others in this hunt is just another politician who will say and do anything to get elected.