Misery Index

No, it was not Obama, although he has pushed “change” and “sharing the wealth”.  It was Rev. Wright, the pastor of the church that Obama went to for 20 years, as noted on an archived version of the Trinity United Church’s website from 2004 via the Internet Archive.

On Obama’s website “Fight The Smears” under “The Truth About Barack’s Faith” it states, “Barack Obama is a committed Christian.  He was sworn into the Senate on his family Bible.  He has regularly attended church with his wife and daughters for years.”  I have to show you a cached copy, because the website “Fight The Smears” seems to have disappeared now, from yesterday to today, with a message of “Database unavailable.”  I’m curious to see why this has happened, especially in light of the entire Obama/Biden agenda “disappearing” within four days of the site going live with the explanation that it was being “revised” and then appearing missing a few things.

But for about 20 years, Obama and his family attended Chicago’s Trinity United Church of Christ.  This is the same church that Obama states he “found” his Christianity, where he was married, where his daughters were baptized, and whose pastor, the Rev. Wright, gave him the title of his book, The Audacity of Hope.  In a 1995 Obama interview, Obama states that Rev Wright represents “best” black church has to offer. 

At the church’s website, at one time which has now been removed, but brought back to light via the Internet Archive from Jan 2007 (and archived as far back as 2003), contained the “Black Value System” written in 1981.

“We are a congregation which is Unashamedly Black and Unapologically 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 believe in the following 12 precepts and covenantal statements.  These Black Ethics must be taught and exemplified in homes, churches, nurseries and schools, wherever Black are gathered.  They must reflect on the following concepts:

1.  Commitment to God
2.  Commitment to the Black Community
3.  Commitment to the Black Family
4.  Dedication to the Pursuit of Education
5.  Dedication to the Pursuit of Excellence
6.  Adherence to the Black Worth Ethic
7.  Commitment to Self-Discipline and Self-Respect
8.  Disavowal of the Pursuit of “Middleclassness”
9.  Pledge to make the fruits of all developing and acquired skills available to the Black Community.
10.  Pledge to Allocate Regularly, a Portion of Personal Resources for Strengthening and Supporting Black Institutions.
11.  Pledge allegiance to all Black leadership who espouse and embrace the Black Value System
12.  Personal commitment to embracement of the Black Value System

Also on the church’s website at one time, was their “mission” page, which again has come back to light thanks to the Internet Archive, from 2004.

Trinity United Church of Christ has been called by God to be a congregation that is not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ and that does not apologize for its African roots! […]

We are called out to be “a chosen people” that pays no attention to socio-economic or educational backgrounds. 

The fortunate who are among us combine forces with the less fortunate to become agents of change for God who is not pleased with America’s economic mal-distribution!

W.E.B DuBois indicated that the problem in the 20th century was going to be the problem of the color line.  He was absolutely correct.  Our job as servants of God is to address that problem and eradicate it in the name of Him who came for the whole world by calling all men, women, boys and girls to Christ.

But when certain sermons that were given by the Rev. Jeremiah Wright came to light, such as one in from 2003, when Obama was regularly attending the church, when Wright made statements [VIDEO] such as “God Damn America” and “…and they will not only attack you, if you try to point out what’s going on in white America, US of KKK-A”, has referred to Condoleezza Rice as “Condemnesia” and stated that 9/11 was America’s fault with their chickens coming home to roost.  Rev. Wright retired in April of 2008.

Obama at first defended the church saying “I don’t think my church is particularly controversial” and “Rev Wright was like an old Uncle, who sometimes says things I don’t agree with.”  Then due to the negative media, also in April of 2008, Obama’s family resigned their membership with the church.

It has been reported that Obama was an infrequently churchgoer on the campaign trail, though he did make a series of appearances in the pews and pulpits of South Carolina churches ahead of that heavily religious state’s primary.  And during the campaign, on Father’s Day, Obama chose to attend the South Side’s Apostolic Church of God to give a speech aimed at the black community on the importance of fatherhood and family.

Now, since Obama’s election he has opted for Sunday morning workouts three weeks in a row over attending church, much unlike his predecessors. 

According to Politico, when a transition aide was asked about this, the person “noted that the Obama’s value their faith experience in Chicago but were concerned about the impact their large retinue may have on other parishioners.”

“Because they have a great deal of respect for places of worship, they do not want to draw unwelcome or inappropriate attention to a church not used to the attention their attendance would draw,” said the aide.

Politico notes that “Both President-elect George W. Bush and President-elect Bill Clinton managed to attend church in the weeks after they were elected.”

“In November of 1992, Clinton went to services in Little Rock, Ark., on the three weekends following his election, taking pre-church jogs on the first two and attending on the third weekend a Catholic Mass with the Rev. Jesse Jackson,”.

“In the weeks after the contested 2000 election, Bush regularly attended services at Tarrytown United Methodist Church in Austin, Texas, and Al Gore was frequently photographed arriving at and leaving church in Virginia.”

For some reason, the word hypocrite is suddenly coming to mind.  And now I know where Obama gets his “change” from.  The “wonderful” Rev. Wright, who was Obama’s pastor for 20 years, as it is stated on the church’s old Mission page from 2004, “The fortunate who are among us combine forces with the less fortunate to become agents of change for God who is not pleased with America’s economic mal-distribution!”  Hmm.. change and “share the wealth” suddenly come to mind.

And is not a church racist if it only caters to blacks?  And is it not racist if it reinforces that there are differences between whites and blacks using God’s house, scripture and name?  And if it is a church for all as with the statement of “who came for the whole world by calling all men, women, boys and girls to Christ, “ would a white person be welcome in that church?  Because I thought God didn’t care what color your skin was, last time I checked.  Sounds to me more like a suicide mission than a pilmigrage.