Separation of Church And Hate
The former pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ, Jerimiah Wright, has stated in an interview recently, that the more weighty portions of his now infamous, “God D*** America,” sermon were taken completely out of context.
Mr. Wright and his Democrat, Obama defenders complain that only certain parts of the sermon were played over and over, and it made him appear as a racist and hate monger. He says people have not viewed or listened to all of the sermon which he indicated would vindicate him of such beliefs.
Well, I have heard most of the sermon, and I can say without a doubt that Mr. Wright and Trinity are filled with hate and hold racist views.
First of all, Trinity’s web site underwent a major make over shortly after the fervor over that sermon commenced. I know this because I viewed it. Was the content that was removed from the site taken out of context? I would say that the content was pretty easy to understand and was in context and was pretty much in harmony with the words Wright spoke in his sermon. Why was Trinity’s web site revamped? You can view the old Trinity site here: Trinity United Church of Christ
Secondly, I ask how could a preacher of the gospel speak such vile words after 9/11, when the nation was in mourning? He named his sermon, “America’s Chickens Have Come Home To Roost.” As if we as a nation, comprised of many nationalities by the way, deserved this awful carnage and whole sale death.
Black, white, Asian, all died together in those Towers. However, we must regard his comments as being aimed at the white residents of this country. And anyone that listens to the, “whole,” sermon will have no trouble understanding that.
I know he must not have had a loved one to die there. Maybe if he did have someone he loved perish in that tragedy he might not be so smug and self righteous, and most of all, now, unrepentant.
In his sermon he likens America as the new Roman oppressors that crucified Jesus. He said people (whites) confuse God with government. He stated that we (whites) kill, and we think we have Gods approval. He goes on to compare America with Al Qaeda and other radical Muslims that murder indiscriminately.
He says that we, as European American, “white,” folks, feel superior to African Americans. Wright said that we, “demonize others so we can kill them.”
Mr. Wright at one point mocked the Declaration of Independence as the, “Declaration of white Independence. Along with, “all men (whites) are created more equal than others (blacks).
He wanted to make sure the congregation got the point by pointing out the, “lily whiteness of the International Monetary Fund.
Instead of Homeland Security, Mr. Wright labeled it as, “Homeland Stupidity.” Even though Homeland Security has worked very well at keeping our citizens here safe since 9/11. That is a proven fact.
He said that the government lied in it’s founding documents, lied about Peal Harbor, our own C.I.A. lied about Nelson Mandela and helped put him in prison for 27 years.
During the sermon Mr. Wright kept wanting the congregation to repeat aloud that, “governments lie!” What he meant was that, “white,” governments lie, although our government is composed of all ethnic groups. More proof that anyone can succeed in this country if they want to.
He went on to make the more absurd statement that our government developed HIV in order to wipe out people of color. He also stated that America gives drugs to black folks and that it builds bigger prisons in order to house the black drug offenders that had been given the drugs by our own government.
That led into the now infamous God D*** America tirade. I want to point out that these words by Mr. Wright speak for themselves. I will also say that he has no defense for those words and they were clearly not taken out of context.
Mr. Wright went on to mention, “Uncle,” Clarence Thomas, Oprah Winfry, who at one time was a member at Trinity, Colin Powell, Condoleezza Rice, and Tiger Woods, who by the way was put down by Wright for playing golf at country clubs that he says discriminate against women.
He stated that for all these successful black people he mentioned, there were millions more poor and unsuccessful. Mr. Wright might have done well to mention himself as an example also, and preach that all folks have an opportunity to be successful with God’s help and hard honest work.
I’m sorry to say that the Reverend never even alluded to what a man can do, no matter the color, if he walks with God. He had the opportunity many times during that sermon but he never said one thing about Jesus being the answer to problems, or that God helps those that help themselves. All he did was disparage and condemn people that he didn’t even know, black and mostly white.
Later in his (sermon) it is evident that he senses that maybe he said the wrong thing with his, “God D***,” remarks and tried to subtly defend it by saying once again, “it is in the Bible!” It’s funny, but I just cannot for the life of me find those words in the Bible. I am a Christian and I do know the Bible pretty well, but maybe someone could point that out to me. I know that the Bible says to not use the Lords name in vain. I know it says not to swear. Oh well … I will digress.
I’ve got to say that Mr. Wright really jumped off the roof when he stated that the victims of 9/11 were to blame for their fate. Such callous words spewed forth from a preacher is something one does not expect, and so I was taken aback a little bit.
In conclusion, after listening to most of the Reverend Wright’s sermon, I must declare that his words were most definitely in context, concise and easily understood. His sermon was hateful, racist, and unbecoming of one that claims to be a preacher for Jesus Christ. His sermon was not a sermon of love, but a sermon of catering. He preached what the congregation wanted to hear, and it is easy to see this by hearing the people clapping, jeering and cheering when Mr. Wright declared something from far out in left field.
I forgive Mr. Wright and Trinity however, because I am a Christian and that is the right thing to do according to the New Testament of Jesus Christ. However, Mr. Wright needs to think about repentance. God is more keen on forgiveness than we are, and besides, it would be so sad to die an angry and unrepentant man.
Tags: Add new tag, Reverend Jerimiah Wright, Trinity United Church of Christ
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April 28, 2008 at 9:42 pm
When I first listened to pastor Wright, my blood pressure increased while at the same time my heart sunk little by little at each cadence. I too had no trouble divining who Rev. Wright blamed for 9/11.
That he would step into the pulpit intending to sermonize on the perceived faults of another person or group just BEYOND all rationale.
My goodness!
May 1, 2008 at 1:44 am
Greetings,
Hi hope you are well.
It sometimes seems we are living in so many different worlds. I do not doubt that the message was hateful for we are to Love our enemies and pray for those who despitefully use us.
I’d imagine that the author of this article is white as I am.
Let me introduce you to some facts of this country. It was built on lies, false promises and murder. Little by little the land was stolen from the indigenous peoples. Every time a treaty was drawn up taking more land from the red people. The promises were kept just until the white settlers needed more land and then more land was violently ripped away from the rightful owners. In fact the ‘Decleration of Independence’ calls these natives who saved the pilgrims “Merciless Indian Savages”. If you doubt this get yourself a copy. In fact the murder was so complete that it has become almost total genocide. I’d recommend you purchase the book “Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee” and read more of what was done.
I could go into slavery, expansionist wars, colonialism, neo colonialism and other areas. We have more people in jail in this country than any other country in the world. That includes China which has over three times our population.
But I would never say ‘God d**n America’. God raised America up for a purpose. I believe the purpose was two fold. The first to bring the Church of Christ into a revival of sorts and the second to defeat Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan.
Yet I could take every point Mr. Wright has made and defend them convincingly.
The text says ‘He goes on to compare America with Al Queda and other radical muslims that kill indiscriminately.” A man is know by what deeds they have done. Let me say I am a pacifist, Christ told us “to turn the other cheek”. I would never support a war on man as Ephesian 6 tells us the only kind of war that we should fight.
Saying this it was a terrible tragedy that those people perished on nine eleven. I had tears in my eyes as I saw close up the two towers burning. I could only think of my friends who worked for the Port Authority. Fortunately they were all evacuated as they were in the second building struck.
But how was that tragedy any worse than something called “Shock and Awe”. Here the United States invaded Iraq in an unprovoked invasion. In these massive and unrelentless bombings thousands likewise died. Men, women, children, elderly and so forth. What is the difference? Both groups are dead and both groups were certainly not responsible for the actions they were being punished for. They used to have a saying “What would Jesus do?” I have found one that is more appropriate for our society, it says “Who would Jesus bomb?”
But there is so more. We could go back to the Vietnam War, or to many operations of the CIA in their dirty little wars.
I know that God is Love. That is a quote from scripture. We are told to Love everyone including our enemies. I love the writer of this blog as I love Mr. Right. But the bottom line is this. Mr. Right has let the oppressions and the struggles carry him away from the core of Christianity, which is Love, to embrace something bitter and hateful. The writer of this blog has not of yet had his/her eyes opened to see things from an objective perspective.
I will pray for both of you.
Love,
John