I spent about 2 hours of my free time today watching videos on Rev. Wright. These videos included more than what the media is constantly playing over and over and over. It's best to listen to the context rather than just a 10 second edit of what someone says. To be quite honest, I watched some of Rev. Wrights sermons and was quite blessed by what he had to say.

Here is one video

And a whole channel devoted to putting things into context.

http://youtube.com/user/TRINITYCHGO

And Another

 

I know this isn't going to convince some of you that Wright isn't a racist, you've made up your minds on that. However, I think what he says needs to be put into the context of the sermons. I would appreciate if you would watch some of these videos before dismissing the Rev. outright.

Here is some context for you. First, let us establish from Rev. Dr. Jeremiah Wright's own words that Trinity United Church of Christ is a church that follows black liberation theology:

 

WRIGHT: Do you know liberation theology, sir? Do you know liberation theology?

 

HANNITY: I studied theology; I went to a seminary. And I studied Latin.

 

WRIGHT: Do you know black liberation theology?

 

HANNITY: I'm very aware of what you're calling black liberation, but let me get my question out.

 

(CROSSTALK)

 

WRIGHT: I said, do you know black theology?

 

HANNITY: Reverend, I'm going to give you a chance to answer my question.

 

WRIGHT: How many of Cone's books have you read? How many of Cone's book have you read? -

Hannity and Colmes transcript 3/02/07

Now that we have established that Rev. Wright is a black liberation theologian who is a proud admirer of James Hal Cone, one of the founders of Black Liberation Theology in the United States, let us examine some of James Cone's thoughts on the subject.

 

• Black theology refuses to accept a God who is not identified totally with the goals of the black community. If God is not for us and against white people, then he is a murderer, and we had better kill him. The task of black theology is to kill Gods who do not belong to the black community. . . . Black theology will accept only the love of God which participates in the destruction of the white enemy. What we need is the divine love as expressed in Black Power, which is the power of black people to destroy their oppressors here and now by any means at their disposal. Unless God is participating in this holy activity, we must reject his love.
  
  
   
  
  
• Christ is black therefore not because of some cultural or psychological need of black people, but because and only because Christ really enters into our world where the poor were despised and the black are, disclosing that he is with them enduring humiliation and pain and transforming oppressed slaves into liberating servants.
  
  
   
  
  
• In the black liberation theology taught by Wright, Cone and Hopkins, Jesus Christ is not for all men, but only for the oppressed:
  
  
  In the New Testament, Jesus is not for all, but for the oppressed, the poor and unwanted of society, and against oppressors ...
  
  
  Either God is for black people in their fight for liberation and against the white oppressors, or he is not [Cone]

  
  

The peculiar theology of black liberation

I watched the video the asian times was referencing, and I loved that Hannity wouldn't let Wright get his words in. Although that's Hannity's style.

 

One cannot brush over black liberation theology by the writings of just one of its founders. Consider the fact that Martin Luther King Jr. was a black liberation theologian. Every faith has its bruises. Consider that fact that the Southern Baptist denomination was formed b/c of their support for slavery. Are Southern Baptists racist?

I watched the video the asian times was referencing, and I loved that Hannity wouldn't let Wright get his words in. Although that's Hannity's style.

 

One cannot brush over black liberation theology by the writings of just one of its founders. Consider the fact that Martin Luther King Jr. was a black liberation theologian. Every faith has its bruises. Consider that fact that the Southern Baptist denomination was formed b/c of their support for slavery. Are Southern Baptists racist?

Jeremiah Wright cited James Cone as a modern authority on black liberation theology, what does that have to do with the Southern Baptist Church of 150 years ago? Cone has not abandoned his ideology and Wright was quizzing Hannity as if had he had not read Cone's books, then Hannity knew nothing of black liberation theology.

 

How much racism is acceptable in a sermon? 10%? 5%? 1% As Obama says, words mean something, and Wright's words are too often racist, at least for my tastes.

Jeremiah Wright cited James Cone as a modern authority on black liberation theology, what does that have to do with the Southern Baptist Church of 150 years ago? Cone has not abandoned his ideology and Wright was quizzing Hannity as if had he had not read Cone's books, then Hannity knew nothing of black liberation theology.

 

How much racism is acceptable in a sermon? 10%? 5%? 1% As Obama says, words mean something, and Wright's words are too often racist, at least for my tastes.

BINGO! :thumb:

Like I said, I'm not going to convince some (mainly you two) that Wright isn't racist. However, I would appreciate it if you would actually watch the videos and give it more thought than just a sound byte or what Hannity, Limbaugh, and Faux News are telling you. I brought up the SBC b/c what is to say that Trinity UCC has rejected the "racist" parts of Cone's writings. The SBC has rejected the racist parts of their heritage but still adhere to about 99.9% of the theology.

Like I said, I'm not going to convince some (mainly you two) that Wright isn't racist. However, I would appreciate it if you would actually watch the videos and give it more thought than just a sound byte or what Hannity, Limbaugh, and Faux News are telling you. I brought up the SBC b/c what is to say that Trinity UCC has rejected the "racist" parts of Cone's writings. The SBC has rejected the racist parts of their heritage but still adhere to about 99.9% of the theology.

If Rev. Wright and Trinity have renounced parts of Cone's writings, then surely that renunciation must have been made public. Where is it?

 

Here is another interesting fact. Trinity United Church of Christ still sells James Cone's Black Faith and Public Talk, which was published in 1969, and is described by Trinity as "the book that signaled the birth of Black theology." Does that sound to you like Jeremiah Wright and Trinity have rejected any part of Cone's writing?

 

As for watching more videos of Rev. Wright, I see no need. He has not apologized for his hate-filled, racist, anti-American rants. It is not my job to make excuses for the man's offensive remarks. If he delivered 995 non-racist sermons and apologized for 5 other sermons, then my mind would be more open to listening to more of what he had to say.

 

You and Wright's other tenacious defenders still have not explained why, if the offensive video clips are atypical of Wright's sermons, why his diatribes were greeted with cheers and applause? Can you place the cheers for racism and anti-American statements into context for me?

Like I said, I'm not going to convince some (mainly you two) that Wright isn't racist. However, I would appreciate it if you would actually watch the videos and give it more thought than just a sound byte or what Hannity, Limbaugh, and Faux News are telling you. I brought up the SBC b/c what is to say that Trinity UCC has rejected the "racist" parts of Cone's writings. The SBC has rejected the racist parts of their heritage but still adhere to about 99.9% of the theology.

 

Make me a third. And, yes, I watched your video attachments, though honestly I have no idea as to the relevence of the second video. So their church does many, many good things (I'm sure they do). That has no bearing on the racist-filled remarks preached by their pastor.

Maybe if Democrats had been paying more attention to "Faux" News, Democrats would not be stuck with a man who cannot win in November as its nominee. Hannity interviewed Rev. Wright more than a year ago and immediately began suggesting that Obama's link with Wright would be a legitimate campaign issue. Until the Clinton campaign became desperate, Hannity seemed to be the only national media figure to correctly identify Rev. Wright as a political liability.

If Rev. Wright and Trinity have renounced parts of Cone's writings, then surely that renunciation must have been made public. Where is it?

 

Here is another interesting fact. Trinity United Church of Christ still sells James Cone's Black Faith and Public Talk, which was published in 1969, and is described by Trinity as "the book that signaled the birth of Black theology." Does that sound to you like Jeremiah Wright and Trinity have rejected any part of Cone's writing?

 

As for watching more videos of Rev. Wright, I see no need. He has not apologized for his hate-filled, racist, anti-American rants. It is not my job to make excuses for the man's offensive remarks. If he delivered 995 non-racist sermons and apologized for 5 other sermons, then my mind would be more open to listening to more of what he had to say.

 

You and Wright's other tenacious defenders still have not explained why, if the offensive video clips are atypical of Wright's sermons, why his diatribes were greeted with cheers and applause? Can you place the cheers for racism and anti-American statements into context for me?

 

Therein lies the problem. I watched the videos and I didn't see anything racist about them and as for Anti-American, I saw the same condemnation of American policies that I've heard Baptist preachers give for years. I certainly didn't see racism when Rev. Wright was railing against America for not treating white women equally, or the conquest of Native Americans. None of that looked or sounded racist to me. What you're getting from the Mainstream Media (MSM) and mainly Faux News are two second sound bytes taken out of context, one of which is Wright quoting a US Ambassador.

Therein lies the problem. I watched the videos and I didn't see anything racist about them and as for Anti-American, I saw the same condemnation of American policies that I've heard Baptist preachers give for years. I certainly didn't see racism when Rev. Wright was railing against America for not treating white women equally, or the conquest of Native Americans. None of that looked or sounded racist to me. What you're getting from the Mainstream Media (MSM) and mainly Faux News are two second sound bytes taken out of context, one of which is Wright quoting a US Ambassador.

The problem is that some people want Obama to be elected so badly that they are willing to overlook the possible influence his race baiting mentor has had on him. Instead, they find some innocuous videos to view and ignore Rev. Wright's racist, anti-American tirades or dismiss them as being taken out of context.

 

Rev. Wright's controversial statements clearly are consistent with the black liberation theology to which he admits subscribing.

 

Jeremiah Wright is an anchor around Barack Obama's neck and independents and moderates are moving into the McCain camp. Rev. Wright's racist view of America are dooming Obama's campaign and most blacks agree that his remarks have damaged Obama's chances.

 

It is not too late for Democrats to rally behind Hillary Clinton and avoid the train wreck that will result from an Obama candidacy. I am considering voting for Clinton myself in the primary.:lol:

The problem as I see it is conservatives finding 10 second sound bytes to play on a 24 hour loop. I have seen nothing in the videos that is race baiting as you call it. I am not blinded by my desire for Obama to get elected, if I saw something racist about his church I would be offended by it, I was offended by Wright's "G-D America" but after careful reflection and looking into the matter, I didn't see any difference between that condemnation and the condemnations of America for allowing gays, and abortions that are preached from white conservative churches every Sunday. This whole escapade has shown white America that many of them do not have any idea what goes on in a large number of black churches. It's foreign to them and the media will pray on their ignorance.

 

Obama gave a great speech Tuesday that called for understanding and unity, but leave it to the MSM to continue to play the same 10 seconds over and over until people are convinced that this is all the church is about. In all this the media has ignored McCain's repeated gaffe about Al-Qaeda and Iran. The media knows that the vast majority of people are not going to look into things themselves and are going to tell them what the media wants them to hear. In the case of Faux News, it's going to be a a constant pounding on Obama as they do everything they can to get McCain elected.

 

Apparently this Rev. Wright business hasn't hurt Obama too much as the latest Gallup poll shows him with a lead over Clinton again.

 

By the time the General Election rolls around this will be fodder for a swift boat campaign but little else. The media is trying to turn Obama into the "Black Candidate" but it's not working as well as they would have liked.

Count me as a fourth.

 

Anyone who says that the US deserved the 9/11 attacks because of their past is someone that is not worth my time, anyone who said that the US developed the AIDS virus to kill blacks is not worthy of any consideration from me.

 

I put Wright in the same crackpot catagory as Fred Phelps.

 

There is no chance that I would have ever voted for Obama before hering his pastor's garbage, but now I feel some vindication in my views about Obama.

Count me out. I don't believe that Obama is wrong for still caring about someone whose beliefs he doesn't agree with. I have had personal experiences in my life that make me know that people are more than what they say.

Liberation theology is a little deeper than some of you are speaking of and it is a little deeper than just the blurbs some of you have printed.

 

Liberation theology comes out of a context of extreme persecution and repression. It's not like it's inherent to only the black religious community. It is has really been prevelant in the South America and Latin America. Check out Oscar Romero and much of the Catholic movement in El Salvador during the late 70's through the 80's. Many of them espoused a Liberation theology based on terrible repression and cruelty from the government and establishment.

 

All I am saying is you should not just throw off the concept of Liberation Theology without diving deeper into it's tenents on all levels.