Senator Obama and his minister

A story surfaced a few days ago about Barack Obama’s minister and it’s really gotten some serious press. CNN said, in part:


"A Chicago minister who delivered a fiery sermon about Sen. Hillary Clinton having an advantage over Sen. Barack Obama in the presidential race because she is white is no longer a part of the Obama campaign.


The Rev. Jeremiah Wright is no longer serving on the African American Religious Leadership Committee, campaign sources told CNN.


In another sermon, Wright had said America had brought the September 11 attacks upon itself.
Obama denounced some of Wright's sermons on Friday, telling CNN's Anderson Cooper: "These are a series of incendiary statements that I can't object to strongly enough."


Earlier Friday, before the announcement of Wright's departure from the Obama camp, the Illinois senator denounced some of the ministers's sermons, calling them "inflammatory and appalling."


"I categorically denounce any statement that disparages our great country or serves to divide us from our allies," Obama wrote on the liberal Web site Huffingtonpost.com about recently surfaced sermons from Wright -- his longtime pastor at the Trinity United Church of Christ.


"I also believe that words that degrade individuals have no place in our public dialogue, whether it's on the campaign stump or in the pulpit," Obama continued. "In sum, I reject outright the statements by Rev. Wright that are at issue."


Obama, during the CNN interview, said, "I just don't think it's necessary to talk about Senator Clinton or anybody in those terms."


And, even though he has been a member of Trinity United for the past 20 years, Obama said he had never witnessed Wright making such statements."


You can read the rest of the piece here: http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/03/14/obama.minister/index.html.


I have struggled to really know what to do with this information. There are many who say that Obama, as a 20 year member of this church, should know what his pastor believes and trying to say that he didn’t hear those sermons is a weak argument. However, what I’ve come to understand is that, while I don’t agree with the pastor’s statements, I can see how they may be taken out of context. Also, there are things that Pastor Wright has said that I believe come from a place of being disgusted with how America has treated it's black citizens over the years. We all experience things differently. Therefore, who am I to say that pastor has no right to say these things? Who am I to say Obama shouldn’t be a member of his church?


Frankly, I disagree with my own dear pastor on several issues. In fact, just about everyone at my church thinks abortion on demand being legal is the right thing. That includes my pastor. Apostle Dale also believes that the earth is millions of years old, while I believe that it’s only thousands of years old.


What matters is not what a pastor may say about current events. What matters to me is what he or she says about Jesus. Apostle Dale is a mighty man of God and I respect him because he shares what he believes from the Bible and from his heart. Many people who are on the religious right side of things believe every word that proceeds from the mouth of a pastor should be treated almost in the same way you treat the Bible. My church teaches that we should check everything that is said from the pulpit against the Word of God. However, if there is something that Bible doesn't even address, you have to think for yourself and believe what you feel is right. I don't believe it's wise to just take everything a pastor says as gospel truth for everyone. They are human after all!


I don’t know what Obama’s pastor believes, but that’s none of my business. It’s Obama’s business. To be fair, he may not have heard the sermons in question. Being a member of the church doesn’t mean he’s there every Sunday. In fact, since he’s been living in Washington, DC most of the last 2 years, I would think he would be away more than he’s there!


The bottom line here is that we should judge a Presidential candidate not on what his pastor says, but on what the candidate says and does. If he disagrees with his pastor, then he should say so, and Obama has done that.


I think this whole issue is a smokescreen to rally the religious right against Obama if he becomes the Democratic candidate. They are throwing everything but the kitchen sink at him because they can’t seem to find any dirt. They’re scared that if he gets the nomination, Senator McCain will have no chance to beat him. They’re probably right to think that way, but it doesn’t excuse these cheap shots.


All I know is that it's unfair to say that because someone's pastor says things you don't like, you shouldn't consider them for public office. You should consider what they have voted for in the past or done in the past and what they say they will do in the future.