by Stuart James
posted January 26, 2008
Have you heard of the Trinity United Church of Christ? If not, you are about to - particularly if Barack Obama is the Democratic nominee for president. If Obama wins the nomination you can expect the same Republican attack dogs that created the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth to attack Barack Obama's affiliation with this church. These attack dogs will call Obama un-American and unpatriotic.
At the church's website you are introduced to the church by a video. The video fades to the church logo with the country of Africa in the background. The Church mission states that its members have a nonnegotiable commitment to Africa. It is this nonnegotiable commitment that will raise questions about Obama's commitment to this country and its ideals. The attack dogs are probably poised to call Obama's patriotism into question.
Obama's church calls itself unashamedly Black with a non-negotiable commitment to Africa. If Obama is the Democratic nominee, you will hear that phrase over and over again.
If Obama wins the nomination, should his religion really matter? After all, he is a Christian and the works of the church are Christian - in our country we are allowed to practice our religion freely, so why does it matter?
It matters because the church states "we are an African people and remain true to our native land." It matters because the Republicans will consistently ask Mr. Obama why are he is not an American who remains true to his country.
Obama joined this church after he was moved to tears by a sermon of the church's pastor. MSNBC reports on Obama's experience:
“In those early days at the self-described 'unashamedly black' church, the future Democratic presidential candidate was moved to tears by a sermon from its activist pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr., whom he has portrayed as his spiritual mentor.”
Obama is obviously a spiritual man. So are the practices of his church relevant to Obama serving as President? The Republicans will make sure that the church becomes relevant if Obama is the nominee.
Rev. Wright, the pastor of Trinity United, makes the church’s vision clear on its website - parts of that vision will become a part of the Republican attack on Obama.
At its website the church proclaims:
“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."
The pastor as well as the membership of Trinity United Church of Christ is committed to a 10-point vision:
A congregation committed to ADORATION.
A congregation preaching SALVATION.
A congregation actively seeking RECONCILIATION.
A congregation with a non-negotiable COMMITMENT TO AFRICA.
A congregation committed to BIBLICAL EDUCATION.
A congregation committed to CULTURAL EDUCATION.
A congregation committed to the HISTORICAL EDUCATION OF AFRICAN PEOPLE IN DIASPORIA.
A congregation committed to LIBERATION.
A congregation committed to RESTORATION.
A congregation working towards ECONOMIC PARITY.
Is religion going to be a problem for Obama? How will the Republican attack dogs handle Obama's church, his religion, and the alleged commitment to Africa? There are a couple of issues that come to the forefront. MSNBC reports that
“Wright (the church’s pastor) also told The New York Times in an interview published March 6: 'When his (Obama's) enemies find out that in 1984 I went to Tripoli' with Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan to visit Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, "a lot of his Jewish support will dry up quicker than a snowball in hell."
Louis Farrakhan, can you imagine what the Republican attack dogs will do with Farrakhan and Obama’s church?
There are, in light of this brewing controversy, questions regarding Obama's relationship with his church since he became a candidate for President. Is Obama distancing himself from his church because of politics?
MSNBC reports:
“Two decades later, Obama himself would be Wright's topic of the day - but not for reasons either man would have hoped…following media coverage of Obama's last-minute decision not to have Wright speak at the senator's presidential announcement last month, Wright warned his flock not to believe any reports of a rift between him and the church's best-known member.
"Barack and I are fine," Wright, 65, on an out-of-state trip, said in a recorded message played to about 2,000 attendees. "The press is not to be trusted. ... Don't let somebody outside our camp divide us."
This apparent distancing, and contrary to statements by the minister of the church, demonstrates that Obama's church is an issue in the election. The question becomes - is Obama afraid of his church, and its mission? Is he afraid of what Republicans will do with this issue? Is he trying to hide his relationship with the church?
The church's stance on certain issues is surely to come out if Obama wins the Democratic nomination. MSNBC reports “The roughly 8,000-member church has often championed liberal causes, from gay rights to opposition to the Iraq war. It also emphasizes its African roots and asks parishioners to accept the "Black Value System," which includes tenets such as "commitment to the black family," "dedication to the pursuit of education" and one critics have seized upon - "disavowal of the pursuit of 'middleclassness.'"
Republicans will make race an issue - claiming race should not be an issue while proclaiming that Obama’s church, and Obama himself, are playing the race card. Moreover, Republicans will brand Obama as a liberal who undermines the conservative values of this country…and there will be much more.
The question for Democrats is can Obama handle this criticism in the general election? So far, no candidate has questioned Obama's church, its activities and its liberal leanings. However, Republicans are going to hit hard on the statements by Obama's church on Africa, the member's nonnegotiable commitment to Africa and that members are an African people that remain true to their native land.The attack does not stop with these issues - the Republican attack dogs will also tag Obama as a liberal who is a member of a liberal church that supports gay rights and gay marriage.
Republicans will ask: which is it for Obama - is he a patriotic American or is he an African pledging allegiance not to America but to his homeland of Africa? Republicans will also question Obama's experience and his record in both the United States Senate and the Illinois State Senate - the attacks will make the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth campaign seem like child's play.
Obama is failing to explain his church, his lack of experience, and his lack of a meaningful record in state government and in the United States Senate. Although Obama is gifted, he appears to be ignoring his weaknesses. It is apparent that Obama is going to be blindsided by Republican attack dogs who know their business.
Obama and voters must consider these issues now, not when the attack dogs start hitting Obama after he is the nominee. Obama must deal with this faith, his church, his record, and his inexperience by offering detailed statements on these issues nullifying the attack dogs before they hit him.
Obama's pastor explains what is going to happen to Obama when his "enemies" find out certain things. It is, therefore, worth repeating what Pastor Wright is reported as saying by MSNBC:
"When his (Obama's) enemies find out that in 1984 I went to Tripoli with nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan to visit Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, a lot of his Jewish support will dry up quicker than a snowball in hell."
Obama's problem is greater than that, the Republican attack dogs will make sure that Louis Farrakhan is tied around Obama’s neck like an albatross, ensuring that his bid for the presidency "dries up quicker than a snowball in hell."
All of this is unfortunate, but it is political reality and, if he is the nominee, Obama needs to be ready for this reality.
Stuart F. James
stuartfjames@americaninsider.us
* * *
I agree with Mr. James, the Republicans will use any means necessary to destroy Obama. However, if President Bush would have listened to The Honorable Minister Farrakhan, we would not be in Iraq.
The fact that Mr. Obama's pastor took a trip with Minister Farrakhan should not matter, but if the dear Republicans try to use this against Obama, he should point out the fact that Farrakhan tried to explain why President Bush should not go into Iraq in the first place and his reasons have proven true.
Carole Ann Mohommad
* * *
Mr. James tries to hide the truth of Sen. Obama by focusing so much on his church. The truth is that most of us conservative dogs don't care about his church. The senator is a man who votes as far left as just about any politician out there. He would raise our taxes and increase government regulation everywhere as all national Dems would. He would try to talk to terrorists instead of destroying them before they attack us. He would turn the military into the world babysitters and welfare arm of the U.S. instead of using it to defend us just like Clinton. He would destroy the economy, and, as a Democrat, he would seek to move the government into further control of our lives.
These are the truths that Mr. James hides with his long-winded piece on Sen. Obama's church. He is again using the old tactic of Democrats by calling all us racists and haters without providing proof of his statements. There is not one Democrat leader we can look to defend this country or keep the economy growing since they will tax us to death.
Mr. James needs to quit hiding behind the Democratic playbook of hiding the truth and deal with actual policy differences between Republicans and Democrats.
Bruce Caldwell
Signal Mountain
sarmatt25@comcast.net
* * *
It amazes me how pro-abortion left wing Democrats haul out Jesus when election time is near. I will not quote the dozens of references in the Old and New Testaments on what the Jewish/Christian God thinks of the unborn.
It also amazes me that pro-life African churches allow to speak then often endorse pro-abortion candidates. It must be a dichotomous mind, a split personality or as in is written in the Book of James, "a double mined man."
Do not speak of your love of God the be "...unequally yoked..." to those who slaughter innocent life.
Carnell Storie
* * *
If there is a political group in this country that consistently obstructs minorities seeking high public office, it's not Republicans but the party that brought you slavery and Jim Crow - Democrats.
Remember Alberto Gonzalez, Linda Chavez; Miguel Estrada; Condaleeza Rice; Clarence Thomas; and Colin Powell?
Sen. Obama is unlikely to draw many Republican votes because he's a Democrat and he's a huge liberal.
The only folks talking about skin-tone these days are from the left.
Jeff Young
Soddy Daisy
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