Obama on Wright
This issue isn't going away, partly because some people have legitimate concerns and partly because the collective IQ of those running the media continues to hover somewhere around 30, but I don't see how it gets clearer than this:
(Clip via Andrew Sullivan)
And I want to be very clear that moving forward, Reverend Wright does not speak for me. He does not speak for our campaign. I cannot prevent him from continuing to make these outrageous remarks.You've likely made up your mind, one way or another. If you're like me, the above makes a lot of sense to you. If you harbor doubts, ask yourself: Is the clip below -- the woman speaking, the diverse audience cheering her on, Obama's reactions -- something that resembles in any way the rhetoric and tone of someone like Wright?
But what I do want him to be very clear about, as well as all of you and the American people, is that when I say I find these comments appalling, I mean it. It contradicts everything that I'm about and who I am.
And anybody who has worked with me, who knows my life, who has read my books, who has seen what this campaign's about, I think, will understand that it is completely opposed to what I stand for and where I want to take this country.
(Clip via Andrew Sullivan)
posted by JMW at 8:48 PM
3 Comments:
I can't believe more people aren't finding Obama's reaction refreshing. After Bush never renounced the crazy teachings of Falwell or Dobson and let the religious right steer the decisions his admin made, for Obama to speak up and renounce Wright, I think, is incredible. The current admin would tell us the opposite of what was true, and the publis would buy it. Obama is honest (granted, as much as a politician can) and doesn't get nearly as much credit as he deserves.
Also, do people really think that a person's preacher represents that person's views? It's insane to think so. If it were true, and my priests/pastors represented my personal beliefs, I would be against abortion & birth control, and for pedophilia. Obviously the opposite is true.
Incredible? He had no choice after Wright's performances at the Press Club and the NAACP.
Why wouldn't someone's priest or pastor represent their views? I would presume that is why they chose to attend those services being led by said priests or pastors. Otherwise, what is the purpose?
Riles, with all due respect, if you disagree so fundamentally with your priest/pastor on these things, why are you a member of that congregation? It would seem to make more sense for you to change denominations to one that was more in line with your personal belief system. By your pedophilia comment, I assume you are catholic. Are your priests/pastors at your particular church in favor of pedophilia? Were your particular priests/pastors accused or convicted of pedophilia? I'm not even catholic, but I think tainting the entire Church with the pedophilia mark is way off base and is at the level of Bill Maher sophistication. I don't go to any church precisely because I can't find one that fits my beliefs and I don't want to waste my time going through the motions somewhere if I can't commit to its principles. I mean, what's the point other than a place to socialize?
Back to Obama. This is what has bothered me all along. If Obama is as spiritual as he claims, it would seem that he would take his church and what his pastor has to say very seriously. If so, why didn't he go to a different church if what Wright has said is so diametrically opposed to what Obama is all about? These views Wright is expressing are not new for him. If Obama just went to the church but didn't care enough to know the philosophy of the place or its leadership, then his claim of being so spiritual is BS and he's a liar.
Dezmond, all good points…
You're right, I was raised Catholic. In my experience, and from what I know about others, Catholic families don't go to church for the priest. They go for the ritual and to hear the Bible readings. In many cases, you go to the church your parent(s) went to when they grew up, and that becomes your "parish". Catholic churches often have different priests each week, and since there is only so much room in the weekly ritual of mass for an individual's thoughts, it's almost pointless to change churches. Unless you change your denomination. When you are growing up, unless you're a rebel, which I wasn't, you go where your family goes, whether you agree with the principals of the church or not. I often think that Catholicism has been so ritualized that Catholics mostly seem to be brainless drones, but that’s for another topic.
You have a point about finding a church that fits your beliefs. It is a pain. My current wife and I tried a couple years back, but there really are a lot of motions to go through. So, what do we do when we feel we should go to church? Go to the closest one, even if we don't agree with all they have to say. And, who's to say that's not what Obama did? Granted, I haven't followed every comment made by him on this, but what if his wife just liked that church? What if that's where his family enjoyed going, and whether he agreed or not, he went along? Husbands are known to do that. Who's to say why Obama went there? And even if he fully explained it all, as honest as he seems, it still could all be politician BS.
That said, I'll take Obama and the possibility of a new type of BS over the old school shit that McCain and Hillary are shoveling. Any.day.
And, finally, is this really the issue people are going to decide their vote on? If so, we might just be fucked.
(I should say, sorry for the rambling...it's Friday.)
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