Will The Reverend Jeremiah Wright Jr.Impact the Election?
All of the Presidential campaigns have had an issue that overshadowed the issues. In some cases more than one. The latest one that has taken over the Barack Obama campaign involves the minister of his church, The Reverend Jeremiah Wright Jr., who to say the least, is a very outspoken individual. This is his right, but the things he said such as that the US is to blame for 9/11as well as being responsible for the spread of AIDS in the African American community have cast a shadow over the Obama campaign.
Let’s face it. Americans believe in the principle of guilt by association. If Barack Obama, or anyone else for that matter, is strongly associated with someone like The Reverend Jeremiah Wright Jr., then they are thought to have the same beliefs. To many, if you are strongly associated with such a person, then you must share his beliefs
Just who is The Reverend Jeremiah Wright? How close is the relationship between him and Barack Obama? Does he speak for the church or are the opinions his and his alone? The Reverend Jeremiah Wright has been the church’s pastor for 36 years, Barack Obama a member for 20. He was married in the church, his daughter christened in the church and he has no intention of leaving the church.
Barack Obama has stated that he never heard the Reverend Jeremiah Wright Jr. say such things as “America’s chickens are coming home to roost,” which was part of a sermon he delivered just after the attacks on 9/11or accusing the Government of “ inventing the HIV virus as a means of genocide against people of color.” There are those who will believe Obama when he said that he denounces statements such as these and then there are those who will think if he attends the church regularly as he says he does, how did he not hear what others heard?
The Reverend Jeremiah Wright Jr. has also made comments that have stirred up the racial issue when he called Hillary Clinton a member of the white ruling elite and went on to say Barack Obama, who owns a home worth over $2 million, `ain’t rich and he ain’t privileged.”
The Reverend Jeremiah Wright Jr. has been removed from Obama’s African American Religious Leadership Committee and is on longer officially connected to the campaign. But guilt by association will still influence some voters. Just take a look at what has happened in this race for President alone. Mitt Romney lost votes because of his association with the Mormon Church irregardless of the fact that we have freedom of religion guaranteed by the Constitution. Voters did not agree with what they perceived to be the ideals of the church, Romney belongs to the church, therefor they do not agree with Romney no matter what his political views.
There are some big and important primaries coming up for the Democratic candidates for President, the biggest being Pennsylvania with 158 delegates at stake. Hillary Clinton has a commanding lead in the poles here. Did the controversy concerning The Reverend Jeremiah Wright Jr. have anything to do with it? The latest polls show that Obama has lost the lead he had over Clinton in nationwide and they are now tied. Clinton now has the highest lead she has had in Pennsylvania. The guilt by association belief could be playing a bigger part than anyone knows.
Comment by Christian Prophet on 16 March 2008:
It’s not about the minister. Barack Obama is finished if a public spotlight is put on his THEOLOGY. See:
http://miraclesdaily.blogspot.com/
Comment by TC on 16 March 2008:
More here: http://acropolisreview.com/2008/03/barack-obama-condemns-reverend-jeremiah.html
Comment by Dan on 16 March 2008:
HUSSEIN Obama supported a bigot like Wright for years and gave him thousands of dollars to support his hate speech. Obama should suspend his campaign and be sent for Toelrance courses.
Comment by David on 16 March 2008:
Obama claims to have never personally been aware of Wright speaking the kinds of anti-American, anti-White vitriol heard in the infamous videos.
But neoconservative reporter Jim Davis wrote an article last July placing Obama at the scene one such sermon by Wright:
http://archive.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2007/8/8/194812.shtml
The Relevant Excerpt:
“…he continues to attend a controversial Chicago church whose pastor routinely refers to “white arrogance” and “the United States of White America.”
In fact, Obama was in attendance at the church when these statements were made on July 22.”
Wright laced into America’s establishment, blaming the “white arrogance” of America’s Caucasian majority for the woes of the world, especially the oppression suffered by blacks. To underscore the point he refers to the country as the “United States of White America.” Many in the congregation, including Obama, nodded in apparent agreement as these statements were made.”
Has Obama been caught lying? Will the press investigate?
Comment by JTS on 18 March 2008:
The issue is what are the beliefs of the person on the ballot: Mr. Obama, not Mr. Wright. We can know what a person’s beliefs are based on the actions they take. For example, we know Abraham Lincoln believed slavery was wrong because he issued the Emancipation Proclamation. Lots of people wanted to end slavery, but Abraham Lincoln did. That was an action and it proved a belief.
We know Obama’s beliefs from his actions: working to help folks in the community, helping unemployed steel workers, getting involved in government, teaching, voting appropriately for laws that help all communities, advocating for unity and better government. We know from Senator Obama’s actions what his beliefs are, and they are admirable.
Does befriending a radical talker make one a radical? No. A person’s beliefs are their own, chosen by free will from among the beliefs of the many people who have been a part of that person’s life, including the people who raised that person, the people who taught that person in schools and universities, the people who have been that person’s friends, colleagues, and fellow worshippers at church, and even that person’s minister.
Many Democrats, independents, and some Republicans know of and approve the policies that Mr. Obama has furthered through enactment of law, and they approve of the policies that he has proposed. That’s why people have been voting for him, and will continue to. Mr. Obama is well respected by his fellow senators. Mr. Obama’s policy positions are not at issue. What is at issue is Obama’s qualification for presidency. Specifically: “what are Obama’s beliefs, do we know them, and does he harbor secret beliefs?” Unless someone has some proof that Obama has some secret and unacceptable beliefs, then we must accept him at face value. The public is familiar enough with Mr. Obama and his actions to know what his beliefs are and what they aren’t; he has no “hidden beliefs”. Senator Obama is a mainstream U.S. politician.
Senator Obama has laudably spent much time in the African American community, and no doubt he has associated with many interesting persons. We’re sure to hear more about them, but they, like Reverend Wright, will be side shows. All of the candidates have these diversionary side shows. Contrary to the hopes of the Right, most people will pay little attention to them when voting in this critical election.
Comment by Valorie Hall on 23 March 2008:
BLACK VALUE SYSTEM
The media has had a field day depicting the Black Value System that was enacted at Rev. Wright’s Trinity United Church as a racist agenda. The Black Value System urges members to follow a list of 12 concepts such as a commitment to the black community, commitment to family, and dedication to the pursuit of education and excellence.
Most white and affluent young black Americans do not understand the mindset of black people who live in a poverty-stricken community. For these forgotten Americans, they need special attention. Many are ashamed of the color of their skin. They see pimps and drug dealers as role models. It is within this community that Trinity United Church came up with the Black Value System. The desire of this program is to build pride in being black not superiority. This program wants to encourage black children to get a good education and not become teen parents, drug dealers, pimps, and prostitutes. The Black Value System is not to promote superiority of black people but to help eliminate the self hatred that many feel coming from this community. I believe Barack Obama stayed at Trinity United Church for 20 years because he has witnessed the many changed lives of black people who are now full participating members in the American economy thanks to Rev. Wright.
REV. WRIGHT QUOTES
“We bombed Hiroshima, we bombed Nagasaki, and we nuked far more than the thousands in New York and the Pentagon, and we never batted an eye…and now we are indignant, because the stuff we have done overseas is now brought back into our own front yards. America’s chickens are coming home to roost.”
“Violence begets violence. Hatred begets hatred. And terrorism begets terrorism. A white ambassador said that y’all, not a black militant. Not a reverend who preaches about racism. An ambassador whose eyes are wide open and who is trying to get us to wake up and move away from this dangerous precipice upon which we are now poised. The ambassador said the people we have wounded don’t have the military capability we have. But they do have individuals who are willing to die and take thousands with them. And we need to come to grips with that.”
“The government lied about inventing the HIV virus as a means of genocide against people of color”, referring to AIDS origins theories, and “The government gives them the drugs, builds bigger prisons, passes a three-strike law and then wants us to sing ‘God Bless America.’ No, no, no, God damn America, that’s in the Bible for killing innocent people…God damn America for treating our citizens as less than human. God damn America for as long as she acts like she is God and she is supreme”
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US Government Performs Human Experiment On 400 Black Men
“For 40 years, the U.S. Public Health Service has conducted a study in which human guinea pigs, not given proper treatment, have died of syphilis and its side effects,” Associated Press reporter Jean Heller wrote on July 25, 1972. “The study was conducted to determine from autopsies what the disease does to the human body.”
The Public Health Service, working with the Tuskegee Institute, began the study in 1932. Nearly 400 poor black men with syphilis from Macon County , Ala. , were enrolled in the study. They were never told they had syphilis, nor were they ever treated for it. According to the Centers for Disease Control, the men were told they were being treated for “bad blood,” a local term used to describe several illnesses, including syphilis, anemia and fatigue.
At the start of the study, there was no proven treatment for syphilis. But even after penicillin became a standard cure for the disease in 1947, the medicine was withheld from the men. The Tuskegee scientists wanted to continue to study how the disease spreads and kills. The experiment lasted four decades, until public health workers leaked the story to the media.
By then, dozens of the men had died, and many wives and children had been infected. In 1973, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) filed a class-action lawsuit. A $9 million settlement was divided among the study’s participants. Free health care was given to the men who were still living, and to infected wives, widows and children.
Comment by jessica on 4 May 2008:
Rev. was wrong.
He should of kept his comments at his family table and out of the pulpit. Obviously hes a little loopy and seems to just rant and rave. i dont understand why people are taking him seriously. Hes just craving the spotlight since he retired. i had a uncle like him we just payed him no attention and he eventually moved on to a more sane like type of conversations.
Senator Barack Obama attend Rev. Wrights church for twenty years. Now, i am a member of a church and we have politicians who are members and with all honesty their schedule is so busy that they are not frequent attendies. Possibly, Obama was a little too busy helping common people in illinois and keeping his family stable to keep tabs on his hot head preacher.
Heres a reality check: because someone is your reverend does not mean they use mind control and alter your own beliefs. Reverend led him to Jesus and Obama took care of the rest.