# Vile, Filthy RACIST Remarks-by Obama's PASTOR? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [March 15, 2008, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vile-filthy-racist-remarks-by-obamas-pastor/441421 "2008-03-15T00:15:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![Two\_and\_a\_Half\_Inches\_of\_Fun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ea666f/32.png) [@Two\_and\_a\_Half\_Inches\_of\_Fun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_and_a_Half_Inches_of_Fun)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2008, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vile-filthy-racist-remarks-by-obamas-pastor/441421/161 "2008-03-15T19:17:41Z")
[QUOTE=tds1273] Context, sense and reason people. Please. With the same tools and intentions, one could reduce Ghandi and King into Hitler and Stalin. Unfair editting does not make a complete reality. This is nothing but a cherry picked and created conspiracy. [/QUOTE] What possible context can excuse saying that the government lied about creating HIV as anything other than an ignorant and delusional statement? What possible context can excuse saying that the government imported drugs as anything other than an ignorant and delusional statement? What possible context can excuse saying that the government knew about the attacks on Pearl Harbor beforehand as anything other than an ignorant and delusional statement? ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2008, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vile-filthy-racist-remarks-by-obamas-pastor/441421/162 "2008-03-15T19:19:29Z")
[QUOTE=tds1273] The irony is that we are asking a man to answer for the history of another man while completely ignoring his own. Not to mention that it is a 30 year history we are trying to fit into a 15 second sound bite. …This is nothing but a cherry picked and created conspiracy. [/quote] Note that the Ferraro discussion, with pretty much the same points, has suddenly gone quiet. > [@](#): > > Besides that, I trust a rant based on history and facts of socioeconomic injustice a whole lot more than I would trust one based on xenophobic, metaphysical superstitions. Suit yourself, but I don’t trust rants at all. ---
**Author:** ![tds1273](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/df705f/32.png) [@tds1273](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tds1273)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2008, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vile-filthy-racist-remarks-by-obamas-pastor/441421/163 "2008-03-15T19:21:15Z")
Thanks; twice. Feels like we are just starting the primary season all over again, doesn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2008, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vile-filthy-racist-remarks-by-obamas-pastor/441421/164 "2008-03-15T19:30:19Z")
[QUOTE=Two and a Half Inches of Fun] What possible context can excuse saying that the government lied about creating HIV as anything other than an ignorant and delusional statement? What possible context can excuse saying that the government imported drugs as anything other than an ignorant and delusional statement? What possible context can excuse saying that the government knew about the attacks on Pearl Harbor beforehand as anything other than an ignorant and delusional statement? [/QUOTE] I think Pastor Wright sincerely believes what he preaches-that the CIA developed AIDs as a way of killing africans, that the WTC attack was arranged by the US government, that African Americans are not to blame for their actions. My question; does listing every Sunday, to such an ignoramus mean that YOU are just as bad? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![cosmosdan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@cosmosdan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cosmosdan)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2008, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vile-filthy-racist-remarks-by-obamas-pastor/441421/165 "2008-03-15T19:32:26Z")
[QUOTE=The Flying Dutchman] Are you two really gonna welcome me to the fold. 😃 I am very serious. And relieved. I’ve completely made up my mind. Some one once told me that the time to take the full measure of a man was when he was down. This Wright controversy is the very worst moment for his campaign, and as I as I watched his response to Cooper as well as listened to Gergen and the newspaperman on CNN, I suddenly fully understood that he was the right man for the job. [/QUOTE] I didn’t really switch camps but I was undecided thinking maybe it was too early for Obama and maybe we needed a hard fighting political animal like Hillary. The more I observed them both the more I was drawn to his quality of character. I’d say as well that if we really want things to get better we need to stay involved after he’s elected to help him not lose track and to raise our voices and efforts to make positive change happen. ---
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2008, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vile-filthy-racist-remarks-by-obamas-pastor/441421/166 "2008-03-15T19:33:39Z")
[QUOTE=ralph124c] I think Pastor Wright sincerely believes what he preaches-that the CIA developed AIDs as a way of killing africans, that the WTC attack was arranged by the US government, that African Americans are not to blame for their actions. My question; does listing every Sunday, to such an ignoramus mean that YOU are just as bad? 😕 [/QUOTE] Can I answer that with a question??? Do the people that listen to a priest who is a voracious pedophile make **THEM** believe pedophilia is OK? Seriously, **ralph** , it doesn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2008, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vile-filthy-racist-remarks-by-obamas-pastor/441421/167 "2008-03-15T19:39:50Z")
[QUOTE=Menocchio] From most accounts these kinds of things weren’t exactly typical for Wright, either. [/QUOTE] Correct me if I’m wrong but the quotes you are hearing are the ones he and the church made available on the web. That doesn’t make much of a case for a slip of the tongue. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_and\_a\_Half\_Inches\_of\_Fun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ea666f/32.png) [@Two\_and\_a\_Half\_Inches\_of\_Fun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_and_a_Half_Inches_of_Fun)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2008, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vile-filthy-racist-remarks-by-obamas-pastor/441421/168 "2008-03-15T19:41:35Z")
[QUOTE=Phlosphr] Do the people that listen to a priest who is a voracious pedophile make **THEM** believe pedophilia is OK? [/QUOTE] Do priests usually announce that they are voracious pedophiles? If the members know the priest is a pedophile and do nothing to stop him, they are bad people. If they cheer him on they are even worse. > [@](#): > > My question; does listing every Sunday, to such an ignoramus mean that YOU are just as bad? No, but you have to wonder why a person would choose a church like this. ---
**Author:** ![Revenant\_Threshold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@Revenant\_Threshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revenant_Threshold)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2008, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vile-filthy-racist-remarks-by-obamas-pastor/441421/169 "2008-03-15T19:42:18Z")
[QUOTE=Phlosphr] Can I answer that with a question??? Do the people that listen to a priest who is a voracious pedophile make **THEM** believe pedophilia is OK? [/QUOTE] There is a slight difference in that I would imagine the priests in question tend not to broadcast their pedophilia. If there was a priest who openly praised the merits of screwing little kids, I think i’d probably question his congregation’s thoughts in that area too. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2008, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vile-filthy-racist-remarks-by-obamas-pastor/441421/170 "2008-03-15T19:43:44Z")
[QUOTE=Phlosphr] Do the people that listen to a priest who is a voracious pedophile make **THEM** believe pedophilia is OK? . [/QUOTE] Does the priest preach the goodness of pedophilia from the pulpit, week after week? Do they keep coming, knowing that’s what they’re going to hear? Come on now. ---
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2008, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vile-filthy-racist-remarks-by-obamas-pastor/441421/171 "2008-03-15T19:49:04Z")
Ok to all three of you - The catholic church was under a lot of pressure to get all the pedophiles out of the churches, of course priests didn’t preach the merits of pedophilia, but people did know it went on and supported the very church that held it’s tongue and covered things up for so many years. Just because Obama and many, many other educated people went to that church, they went there as I understand it to have God in their lives. They don’t flock there to simply see one man they flock there to learn about their God. Wright was a wingnut no question, and people should have asked him to temper his shit down. But people weren’t there to simply listen to him and his conspiracy BS, they were there for other reasons. ---
**Author:** ![Revenant\_Threshold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@Revenant\_Threshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revenant_Threshold)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2008, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vile-filthy-racist-remarks-by-obamas-pastor/441421/172 "2008-03-15T19:54:54Z")
[QUOTE=Phlosphr] Ok to all three of you - The catholic church was under a lot of pressure to get all the pedophiles out of the churches, of course priests didn’t preach the merits of pedophilia, but people did know it went on and supported the very church that held it’s tongue and covered things up for so many years. [/quote] But the alternatives there were either continue to be a Catholic, or quit the Church entirely. The congregation of a sole priest has the option to go to another church of the same denomination. > [@](#): > > Just because Obama and many, many other educated people went to that church, they went there as I understand it to have God in their lives. They don’t flock there to simply see one man they flock there to learn about their God. Wright was a wingnut no question, and people should have asked him to temper his shit down. But people weren’t there to simply listen to him and his conspiracy BS, they were there for other reasons. So let them pick another church. If it means that much to them, and it would to me, I imagine I would be having a look round the other churches in the area and chatting to their priests. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2008, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vile-filthy-racist-remarks-by-obamas-pastor/441421/173 "2008-03-15T19:57:01Z")
[QUOTE=Phlosphr] people did know it went on and supported the very church [/quote] Cite? Just because Obama and many, many other educated people went to that church, they went there as I understand it to have God in their lives. They don’t flock there to simply see one man they flock there to learn about their God. Wright was a wingnut no question [/quote] And the very leader of that very church, which had and has many alternatives available for those very parishioners. The power of rationalization is strong. Note: The daily Rasmussen tracking poll has Obama’s lead down from 7 points to 1 in just one day, and this story is still blossoming. Think this doesn’t matter politically? ---
**Author:** ![Two\_and\_a\_Half\_Inches\_of\_Fun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ea666f/32.png) [@Two\_and\_a\_Half\_Inches\_of\_Fun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_and_a_Half_Inches_of_Fun)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2008, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vile-filthy-racist-remarks-by-obamas-pastor/441421/174 "2008-03-15T19:58:55Z")
[QUOTE=Phlosphr] Ok to all three of you - The catholic church was under a lot of pressure to get all the pedophiles out of the churches, of course priests didn’t preach the merits of pedophilia, but people did know it went on and supported the very church that held it’s tongue and covered things up for so many years. [/quote] And they should be condemned. Anyone who chooses to be a member of the Catholic Church has a lot of things to answer for. But that is probably a topic for another thread. ---
**Author:** ![cosmosdan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@cosmosdan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cosmosdan)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2008, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vile-filthy-racist-remarks-by-obamas-pastor/441421/175 "2008-03-15T20:00:22Z")
[QUOTE=ralph124c] I think Pastor Wright sincerely believes what he preaches-that the CIA developed AIDs as a way of killing africans, that the WTC attack was arranged by the US government, that African Americans are not to blame for their actions. My question; does listing every Sunday, to such an ignoramus mean that YOU are just as bad? 😕 [/QUOTE] I think it’s already been suggested that this kind of rhetoric was not used every Sunday. After decades of sermons and service do you think it’'s reasonable to for people to overlook some outrageous views? Not only that, In an interview on Hannity and Colmes Wright spoke of black liberation theology. I’m ignorant about it myself but [here](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_theology) is a brief Wikki article on it. > [@](#): > > Black theology is a Christian theology of liberation. Methodist James Cone is still considered its leading theologian, though now there are many scholars who have contributed a great deal to the field. One of its major concerns is with the perceived historic and present racism in “Western civilizations” (especially within Christendom) and the ways in which Jesus urged his disciples to seek freedom for all people. > > As with all liberation theologies, black theology focuses on those who are perceived as oppressed and/or poor. Through its intentionally particular lens, black theology seeks to contribute to the liberation of black peoples. I don’t assume that black people noting the existence of racism and being pissed about it automatically means they also think > [@](#): > > African Americans are not to blame for their actions I’d also note that watching the video’s I don’t recall Wright saying > [@](#): > > the WTC attack was arranged by the US government but he was ranting and perhaps I missed it. Can you point it out to me? ---
**Author:** ![tds1273](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/df705f/32.png) [@tds1273](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tds1273)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2008, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vile-filthy-racist-remarks-by-obamas-pastor/441421/176 "2008-03-15T20:00:35Z")
[QUOTE=Two and a Half Inches of Fun] What possible context can excuse saying that the government lied about creating HIV as anything other than an ignorant and delusional statement? What possible context can excuse saying that the government imported drugs as anything other than an ignorant and delusional statement? What possible context can excuse saying that the government knew about the attacks on Pearl Harbor beforehand as anything other than an ignorant and delusional statement? [/QUOTE] Maybe I missed the links, but could you cite these within their full context? I can’t speak for the man any more than you, or my neighbor’s second grade teacher could. However if I trim a few words off of your’s, without even adding any of my own, could I not make it look like you are saying the same thing? Could I not take a tiny piece from one of your 500+ posts and paint you as some sort of copy of \*\*Der Tris \*\* or **Carol Stream**? I could, but that doesn’t mean it would have any sort of validity. Would that make a member of your family or any of your friends ineligible to one day run for office? No. Rediculous to hold them to such standards? I agree. Perhaps, this Pastor could use a subscription to the SDMB. Perhaps he needs some of his own ignorance fought. I know I haven’t seen any clips of him, or anyone for that matter, saying the guy is perfect. Or maybe he, like many others on this very cite, look at the actual facts presented to them and came to a different conclusion than you or I might have. I guess it is a good thing that Wright, himself, is not running for President huh? That said, all I have heard from the Presidential Candidate, current United States Senator, who happens to be a Constitutional Lawyer, and who was President of the Harvard Law Review, is that he vehemently disagrees, denounces and rejects, the Pastor’s political views. And rather admires him for the spiritual views, the way he teaches the words of the Bible into messages of peace and of actually caring for the broken, sick, hungry, downtroddened, and homeless; not just paying them lip service while starting a war based on lies in the process. It’s these values precisely that are evident in Sen.Obama’s well documented history of public service. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_and\_a\_Half\_Inches\_of\_Fun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ea666f/32.png) [@Two\_and\_a\_Half\_Inches\_of\_Fun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_and_a_Half_Inches_of_Fun)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2008, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vile-filthy-racist-remarks-by-obamas-pastor/441421/177 "2008-03-15T20:03:21Z")
> [@](#): > > the WTC attack was arranged by the US government Wright never said that. He said 9/11 was America’s chickens coming home to roost. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2008, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vile-filthy-racist-remarks-by-obamas-pastor/441421/178 "2008-03-15T20:06:45Z")
[QUOTE=Shayna] I have had a 46 year relationship with my father. I lived in the same house with him for more than 20 of them. In the first 43 years of my life I never once heard my father utter what could even conceivably be construed as a racist remark. Never. And yet, one day, after 43 years of knowing him and relying strongly on his counsel, insight and wisdom, he made a comment that took me completely aback. [/QUOTE] You have completely missed the point. Obama knew about the earlier statements and was forced to disavow them. He then continued the relationship. This isn’t a case of the Reverend sticking his foot in his mouth yesterday. The material you’re now hearing came from the church’s website. This is what they put out to represent themselves. Wright is nothing but an urban hillbilly who doesn’t like white people. People don’t want an ethnic-centric president, they want a president who represents everybody. He has a 20-year close-relationship with an afrocentric nutjob. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2008, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vile-filthy-racist-remarks-by-obamas-pastor/441421/179 "2008-03-15T20:07:25Z")
[QUOTE=Phlosphr] Ok to all three of you - The catholic church was under a lot of pressure to get all the pedophiles out of the churches, of course priests didn’t preach the merits of pedophilia, but people did know it went on and supported the very church that held it’s tongue and covered things up for so many years. Just because Obama and many, many other educated people went to that church, they went there as I understand it to have God in their lives. They don’t flock there to simply see one man they flock there to learn about their God. Wright was a wingnut no question, and people should have asked him to temper his shit down. But people weren’t there to simply listen to him and his conspiracy BS, they were there for other reasons. [/QUOTE] Perhaps that’s true of most people, but it doesn’t seem to be true of Obama. He singled out Wright to be his spiritual adviser, having him perform his marriage, baptize his kids, and serve on his campaign. That’s the actions of someone who just went to the church without thinking much about the particular clergyman. ---
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2008, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vile-filthy-racist-remarks-by-obamas-pastor/441421/180 "2008-03-15T20:09:35Z")
Look - last week it was Hillary and Ferraro and Hillary’s popularity went down. This week it’s Obama’s turn. Still, not a make or break for the eventual nominee. A month from now when something else is stirring pundits will say, "_and remember a month ago when Rev.Wright and Geraldine Ferraro were the worse things we had heard…"_ I don’t see it getting too much nicer, I see it getting uglier. Clinton’s trying to figure the best way to win and so is Obama. Again, not a deal breaker for his constituency. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vile-filthy-racist-remarks-by-obamas-pastor/441421.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vile-filthy-racist-remarks-by-obamas-pastor/441421.md?page=10)