Obama’s Church - Afrocentric, Racist And Bush-Hating

Sweetness & Light ^ | January 25, 2007 | Steve Gilbert

[Sam Hill]

There has been some recent controversy about Barack Obama's religious background. Mr. Obama has recently issued statements through his spokesmen in the media (i.e., reporters) which express his shock at being questioned about such things.

Most of his media spokesmen (i.e., reporters) have then gone on to cite his membership in Chicago's Trinity United Church Of Christ parish as proof that he is just a regular run of the mill American Christian.

But a visit to the Trinity Church's website proves that it is not your everyday Christian parish:

Trinity United Church of Christ

About Us

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.

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.

A visit to the church's bookstore shows they have been true to their word. It is full of (bogus) Afrocentric books, many of  which make the usual preposterous Afrocentric claims, such as that Cleopatra was black:

 

The book store also shamelessly hawks Mr. Osama's books as well:

 

But Trinity Church's proselytizing doesn't stop with re-writing history and promoting its parishioners.

Here is here is the latest sermon from its pastor, Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright, Jr. (pdf file):

WHAT’S GOIN’ ON?

Sunday, January 21, 2007

Marvin Gaye’s powerful “message song” is a song that made him famous because it went against the “Motown entertainment rule.” It raised serious questions about the culture, the country and governmental policy.

His song raised questions about Black-on-Black violence, about drugs, about war and about the way in which we were living (or not living) in a very difficult period of history.

I use his words today on the third Sunday of a New Year to keep before you the painful truth of who we are and where it is we are in this racist United States of America! What’s goin’ on?

We have lost over 3,000 boys and girls in an illegal and unjust war, and the media is on a feeding frenzy about Barack Obama’s church. Where is the outrage about the 3,000 dead American military personnel and the 600,000 dead Iraqi civilians who are dead for no reason other than greed and ego? What’s goin’ on?

This past Wednesday, January 17th, the House of Representatives deliberated on a bill to cut interest rates on federally subsidized student loans. On Thursday, January 18th, the House of Representatives considered legislation that would repeal some royalties and tax incentives from the oil and gas industries and redistribute that money to alternative and renewable energy such as bio-fuels.

The media, however, is not covering that news. The media wants to know about Barack Obama’s pastor. What’s goin’ on?

On the weekend leading up to Dr. Martin Luther King’s birthday, the House of Representatives passed a bill requiring the United States Secretary of Health and Human Services to negotiate drug prices for the Medicare program. The President who is “staying the course” and sending 1,500 more troops to their death has issued a veto threat against the measure and there is no public outcry and no media outrage. What’s goin’ on?

The President, who is “staying the course” and sending 21,500 more troops to their death has issued a veto threat against the measure and there is no public outcry and no media outrage.

The President’s “New Plan” (more troops, more death and more war) promises an insane escalation — in Iraq, Iran and beyond! With the torture of Abu Ghraib, the complete destructions of cities like Fallujah and over 600,000 deaths due to collateral damage, the President complained in his speech that there had been “too many restrictions” on the actions of the United States Forces in the Iraq war.

The President’s “New Plan” (more troops, more death and more war) promises an insane escalation — in Iraq, Iran and beyond!

Am I the only one who heard that? What’s goin’ on?

I celebrate forty years of ordained ministry this weekend. I bask in the 40-year glow of God’s Grace, God’s forgiveness and God’s lessons about humility.

The e-mails that I have been getting this week, the news clippings that I am being sent and the racist blogs that are flooding the Internet make me know, however, that even as I bask, the work ahead for the church of Jesus Christ is just as serious and difficult today (if not more so) as it was forty years ago when I was ordained during the Vietnamese War!

The President tries to frame the justification for his insanity by using language describing the debate in this country over the war as “a great struggle between those who believe in freedom in moderation and extremists who kill the innocent.”

The reality, however, is that the entire war in Iraq and the larger “war on terror” have been based on lies, half-truths and distortions to serve the agenda of the United States imperialism. Where is the public outcry? Where is the outrage? What’s goin’ on?

There is more focus on what the Bears may or may not do as they play a football game against New Orleans than there is on the 3,000 homeless who are still living or displaced in the real life game called “New Orleans.”

Those poor Black and white displaced citizens of New Orleans (not imported team members playing for New Orleans), who have no place to go and no place to live because of this administration’s illegal war and its billions of dollars wasted on prosecuting that war, join with me in asking, “What’s goin’ on?”

Excuse me! The victims of Hurricane Katrina are no longer on the radar screen of the media. Only Barack, his church, his pastor and white arrogance!

I invite your sincere prayers this weekend. The generation of ministers behind me has its work cut out for them in some incredible and overwhelming ways!

Sincerely yours,

Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright, Jr.

So much for the separation of church and state.

Speaking of which, here is what is being promoted at the top of the church's home page as we speak:

MEET SENATOR BARACK OBAMA!!!

On Sunday, January 28th, immediately following the 11:00 a.m. worship service, meet Senator Barack Obama, author of the best-selling book, Audacity of Hope. Purchase your copy of Audacity of Hope in the Akiba Bookstore and have it personally signed by Senator Obama. You do not want to miss this monumental experience!

Where is the ACLU?

[boop]

Wow, this is frightening. Now THIS is a story the MSM can really sink its teeth into. Since they've "discredited" the story about Obama being a Muslim, they can now demonstrate what a "real Christian" he is today and highlight some of these beliefs. Obama is a racist pig. This "church" is nothing but a bunch of psychotic and intolerant kooks.

[Sam Hill]

"That's cute, the way the author capitalizes Black, but leaves white lower case."

Good eye.

And the Reverend does it twice, so it isn't just a typo.

Yet he even managed to capitalize "Black-on-Black violence."

[04-Bravo]

That was my first thought. What would people say if such a sermon substituted the words "Black" and "African" with "White" and "European"? I imagine there would be an uproar and the writer would be called an extremist.

[Southside_Chicago_Republican]

I don't recall. I tuned in just to see what it was, since it's kind of unusual for UCC congregations to have TV broadcasts and, at that time, I didn't even make the connection between the church and Obama. In this particular sermon, I didn't notice much that I would call Afro-centric, but there was plenty of bashing Bush and conservatives by name, and that's when I bailed out. (That, and that fact that the guy preaching at the time wasn't very good. He was reading his sermon, which is okay, but he should do it so it doesn't sound like he's reading, and he had a kind of lacksidaisical delivery style.)

[Mercat]

I have heard that. I might do that. I think that they consider themselves catholic with a small c.

[Pharmboy]

...or that was committed to Ireland or Sweden?

[ctdonath2]

What of those who are half-and-half? Like Mr. O?

[SamuraiScot]

Since they've "discredited" the story about Obama being a Muslim

Did you notice that this "Church" is just the black Muslim cult with a name change?

Some great political ads on the way: reading quotes from the Rev. and asking Osama-obama whether he disavows or endorses the quotes. Even if no alphabet-network reporter will ask the question in an interview, you can pose the question in the ads.

With stuff like that hanging out there, this dude is not ready for prime time.

[quadrant]

It is acceptable for a US Senator to belong to such a church but not a President of the United States.

[PeterPrinciple]

. A congregation with a non-negotiable COMMITMENT TO AFRICA.


With the emphasis, I would assume everything else is negotiable.

[Desron13]

""I discovered that the homilies in these churchs were no longer about Jesus or the Bible. In fact, I went to a Methodist service at Easter one year to be with my mother in law. Not one mention of the Resurrection or Our Lord. Wow."

Note the above "sermon" only mentions Jesus' name once and not in a religious or biblical context. Seems fixed on the world rather than the Holy Spirit."

No surprise here. The Marxist left has targeted Christian institutions right along with government, labor, and education. All pillars of civilization that must be co opted before their Marxist Utopia can be realized. Notice that Jimmy and Bill are attempting to do the same to the Baptists right now.

[Zionist Conspirator]

Ya'll don't think that 90+% black vote is a coincidence, do you? Marching orders come from the churches.

I no longer believe the Black Church is Fundamentalist. It isn't openly evolutionist/anti-supernaturalist/higher critical. They just avoid the issue altogether, and since most conservatives are focused on economic issues they get away with it.

I've never poured one anthill on top of another to see them fight, but in this case I'd love to try.

[kcvl]

THE BLACK VALUE SYSTEM

Commitment to the Black Family
The Black family circle must generate strength, stability, and love despite the uncertaintyof externals, because these characteristics are required if the developing person is to withstand warping by our racist competitive society.

Disavowal of the Pursuit of “Middleclassness”
Classic methodology on control of captives teaches that captors must keep the captiveignorant educationally, but trained sufficiently well to serve the system. Also, the captorsmust 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 as separated from the rest of the people by:

Killing them off directly, and/or fostering a social system that encourages them to kill offone another.

Placing them in concentration camps, and/or structuring an economic environment that induces captive youth to fill the jails and prisons. Seducing them into a socioeconomic class system which while training them to earnmore dollars, hypnotizes them into believing they are better than others and teaches themto think in terms of “we” and “they” instead of “us”.

So, while it is permissible to chase “middle-incomeness” with all our might, we must avoid the third separation method-the psychological entrapment of Black “middleclassness”: If we avoid the 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.

[kcvl]

War on Iraq IQ Test

REV. JEREMIAH WRIGHT / Trinity Pastor's Page 23feb03

Take the War on Iraq IQ Test

Do you know enough to justify going to war with Iraq?



http://tinyurl.com/yu5vol

[Sam Hill]

LOL. GMTA. I just posted this at S&L:

More from Trinity Church's Pastor:

War on Iraq IQ Test

REV. JEREMIAH WRIGHT / Trinity Pastor's Page 23feb03

Take the War on Iraq IQ Test
Do you know enough to justify going to war with Iraq?

1. Q: What percentage of the world's population does the U.S. have?
A: 6% [correction - 4.8% of world's population - 6.2 billion vs. 280 million]

2. Q: What percentage of the world's wealth does the U.S. have?
A: 50% [correction - 22% of global GDP]

3. Q: Which country has the largest oil reserves?
A: Saudi Arabia

4. Q: Which country has the second largest oil reserves?
A: Iraq

5. Q: How much is spent on military budgets a year worldwide?
A: $900+ billion

6. Q: How much of this is spent by the U.S.?
A: 50% [explanation - military expenditures for FY2003 may be $460-470 billion including $378.5 billion for the Pentagon, $15.4 billion for nuclear weapons programs, $3.8 billion for foreign military assistance, $1.4 billion for military-related activities of other agencies, $32 billion for military retirement benefits and health care for current employees, $30 billion for the CIA, plus funding for the Homeland Security Department]

7. Q: What percent of US military spending would ensure the essentials of life to everyone in the world, according the UN?
A: 10% (that's about $40 billion, the amount of funding initially requested to fund our retaliatory attack on Afghanistan)

8. Q: How many people have died in wars since World War II?
A: 86 million

9. Q: How long has Iraq had chemical and biological weapons?
A: Since the early 1980's.

10. Q: Did Iraq develop these chemical & biological weapons on their own?
A: No, the materials and technology were supplied by the US government, along with Britain and private corporations.

11. Q: Did the US government condemn the Iraqi use of gas warfare against Iran?
A: No

12. Q: How many people did Saddam Hussein kill using gas in the Kurdish town of Halabja in 1988?
A: 5,000

13. Q: How many western countries condemned this action at the time?
A: 0

14. Q: How many gallons of agent Orange did America use in Vietnam?
A: 17 million.

15. Q: Are there any proven links between Iraq and September 11th terrorist attack?
A: No

16. Q: What is the estimated number of civilian casualties in the Gulf War?
A: 35,000

17. Q: How many casualties did the Iraqi military inflict on the western forces during the Gulf War ?
A: 0

18. Q: How many retreating Iraqi soldiers were buried alive by U. S. tanks with ploughs mounted on the front?
A: 6,000

19. Q: How many tons of depleted uranium were left in Iraq and Kuwait after the Gulf War?
A: 40 tons

20. Q: What according to the UN was the increase in cancer rates in Iraq between 1991 and 1994?
A: 700%

21. Q: How much of Iraq's military capacity did America claim it had destroyed in 1991?
A: 80%

22. Q: Is there any proof that Iraq plans to use its weapons for anything other than deterrence and self-defense?
A: No

23. Q: Does Iraq present more of a threat to world peace now than 10 years ago?
A: No

24. Q: How many civilian deaths has the Pentagon predicted in the event of an attack on Iraq in 2003? A: 10,000

25. Q: What percentage of these will be children? A: Over 50%

26. Q: How many years has the U.S. engaged in air strikes on Iraq? A: 11 years

27. Q: Were the U.S and the UK at war with Iraq between December 1998 and September 1999?
A: No

28. Q: How many pounds of explosives were dropped on Iraq between December 1998 and September 1999?
A: 20 million

29. Q: How many years ago was UN Resolution 661 introduced, imposing strict sanctions on Iraq's imports and exports?
A: 12 years

30. Q: What was the child death rate in Iraq in 1989 (per 1,000 births)?
A: 38

31. Q: What was the estimated child death rate in Iraq in 1999 (per 1,000 births)?
A: 131 (that's an increase of 345%)

32. Q: How many Iraqis are estimated to have died by October 1999 as a result of UN sanctions?
A: 1.5 million

33. Q: How many Iraqi children are estimated to have died due to sanctions since 1997?
A: 750,000

34. Q: Did Saddam order the inspectors out of Iraq?
A: No

35. Q: How many inspections were there in November and December 1998?
A:300

36. Q: How many of these inspections had problems?
A:5

37. Q: Were the weapons inspectors allowed entry to the Ba'ath Party HQ?
A: Yes

38. Q: Who said that by December 1998, Iraq had in fact, been disarmed to a level unprecedented in modern history.
A: Scott Ritter, UNSCOM chief.

39. Q: In 1998 how much of Iraq's post 1991 capacity to develop weapons of mass destruction did the UN weapons inspectors claim to have discovered and dismantled?
A: 90%

40. Q: Is Iraq willing to allow the weapons inspectors back in?
A: Yes

41. Q: How many UN resolutions did Israel violate by 1992?
A: Over 65

42. Q: How many UN resolutions on Israel did America veto between 1972 and 1990?
A: 30+

43. Q: How much does the U.S. fund Israel a year?
A:$5 billion

44. Q: How many countries are known to have nuclear weapons?
A: 8

45. Q: How many nuclear warheads has Iraq got?
A: 0

46. Q: How many nuclear warheads has US got?
A: over 10,000

47. Q: Which is the only country to use nuclear weapons?
A: the US

48. Q: How many nuclear warheads does Israel have?
A: Over 400

49. Q: Has Israel every allowed UN weapon inspections?
A: No

50. Q: What percentage of the Palestinian territories are controlled by Israeli settlements?
A: 42%

51. Q: Is Israel illegally occupying Palestinian land?
A: Yes

52. Q: Which country do you think poses the greatest threat to global peace: Iraq or the U.S.?
A: ????

53. Q: Who said, "Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter"?
A: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr

Members of Trinity are asked to think about these things and be prayerful as we sift through the "hype" being poured on by the George Bush-controlled media.

Rev Jeremiah A Wright, Jr.

War on Iraq IQ Test - written by: Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, placed the following 'War on Iraq IQ Test' on the Trinity "Pastor's Page" for Sunday, Feb. 23.

http://tinyurl.com/ytjqs9

[kcvl]

Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright, Jr.


Under his leadership, Trinity adopted the motto "Unashamedly Black and Unapologetically Christian" and has set out to make activism within and on behalf of the African American community a key aspect of the church's mission. An outspoken community leader, Wright has been vocal in making once-taboo issues, such as AIDS, a priority within the African American church leadership and service. His commitment to political activism, coupled with his dedication to the African American sermonic tradition, has made him a highly sought-after speaker nationally and internationally.


The Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr. Senior pastor of the Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, is considered one of the nation’s leading authorities on and advocates for social, spiritual and economic justice. His topic is “The Emerging of African American Cultures: Who Stole my Identity?”


When he took over Trinity United Church of Christ in 1972, Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr. was a maverick pastor with a wardrobe of dashikis and a militant message.

Six years later, he planted a "Free South Africa" sign on the lawn of his church and asked other local religious leaders to follow his lead.

None took him up on the invitation.

The sign stayed until the end of apartheid, --long enough to catch the eye of a young Barack Obama, who visited the church in 1985 as a community activist. Obama, was not a churchgoer at the time, but he found himself returning to the sanctuary of Trinity United. In Wright he had found both a spiritual mentor and a role model.


with his win in the Democratic U.S. Senate primary race for a U.S. Senate seat, he found a growing audience by preaching the politics of social justice

The rebellious son of a Baptist minister, Wright was hired by Trinity United when he could find no Baptist church to take him. The congregation on 95th Street, then numbering just 87, had recently adopted the motto "Unashamedly black and unapologetically Christian." They did not mind his fiery red Afro and black power agenda.


often questioning the common sense of Scripture, objecting to mandatory prayer in schools and clashing with clergy


"The black church is probably the only space in America where black men can have unquestioned authority,"


Wright takes members of his flock to different African nations every year. Wright also encourages youths in the congregation to attend historically black colleges and universities


The pastor warned the community activist that getting involved with Trinity might turn off other black clergy because of the church's radical reputation.

the senator does check with his pastor before making any bold political moves.

[Sam Hill]

"Obama, was not a churchgoer at the time, but he found himself returning to the sanctuary of Trinity United. In Wright he had found both a spiritual mentor and a role model."

Excellent!

Do you have a link or is this from Lex/Nex?

[happygrl]

I noticed that the Pastor's message had just one mention of Jesus, and was otherwise an entirely political screed.

Also, what's with this "Disavowal of the Pursuit of Middleclassness" (#8 ) ?

How does that "jive" with Osama's purchase of a sumptious home and sidelot ?

[kcvl]

Pastor inspires Obama's 'audacity'

By Manya A. Brachear
Tribune religion reporter
Published January 21, 2007


http://tinyurl.com/38z3oo

[happygrl]

While I lived in Philly, I attended a small Housechurch led by an immigrant Liberian Pastor. I've also lived in Zimbabwe and attended Church there.

In neither case did I ever hear politics disguised as religion, but, to the contrary, real Bible-based Christianity by people who really knew where their Savation lay.

My Liberian pastor prayed every week for our President Bush and for the troops.

Sorry, these political Churches cannot hold a candle to the real authentic worship of Jesus by Africans on this continent or in Africa.