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Wright defends sermons
Chicago reverend says criticisms are attacks on Black church
Nedra Pickler - Associated Press
Issue date: 4/29/08 Section: News
Obama has said he disagreed at times with Wright, but video clips of some of the preacher's most controversial remarks have widely been distributed on television and the Internet and been damaging to Obama's campaign.
In a sermon days after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, Wright said "America's chickens are coming home to roost" after the United States. Asked what he meant by that, Wright challenged the reporter questioning him.
"Have you heard the whole sermon?" he responded. "No. You haven't heard the whole sermon. That nullifies that question."
He said criticism comes from people who only have heard sound bites playing repeatedly on television and have never listened to his entire sermons.
Wright said he's told Obama that if he is elected in November and is inaugurated in January, "I'm coming after you." He said that's because his differences are not with the American people, but U.S. policies.
"Whether he gets elected or not, I'm still going to have to be answerable to God on November 5 and January 21," Wright said. But he rejected the suggestion that Obama was denouncing him or distancing himself. "He had to distance himself because he's a politician," Wright said.
Wright said he hopes the controversy will spark an honest dialogue about race in America. Wright says black church traditions are unknown to many Americans, as they have been throughout the country's history. He said he hopes the controversy "just might mean that the reality of the African-American church will no longer be invisible."
"It is not an attack on Jeremiah Wright - it's an attack on the black church," he said to applause.
Wright's appearance was his third in four days, keeping alive a story that continues to dog Obama's campaign and at points creating further controversy.
At the press club, he jokingly offered himself as Obama's running mate and embraced Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan even though he said he doesn't always agree with him. He criticized the U.S. government as imperialist and stood by his suggestion that the U.S. invented the HIV virus as a means of genocide against minorities. "Based on this Tuskegee experiment and based on what has happened to Africans in this country, I believe our government is capable of doing anything," he said.
"God damns some practices and there's no excuse for the things that the government, not the American people, have done," he said. "That doesn't make me not like America or unpatriotic."
In a sermon days after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, Wright said "America's chickens are coming home to roost" after the United States. Asked what he meant by that, Wright challenged the reporter questioning him.
"Have you heard the whole sermon?" he responded. "No. You haven't heard the whole sermon. That nullifies that question."
He said criticism comes from people who only have heard sound bites playing repeatedly on television and have never listened to his entire sermons.
Wright said he's told Obama that if he is elected in November and is inaugurated in January, "I'm coming after you." He said that's because his differences are not with the American people, but U.S. policies.
"Whether he gets elected or not, I'm still going to have to be answerable to God on November 5 and January 21," Wright said. But he rejected the suggestion that Obama was denouncing him or distancing himself. "He had to distance himself because he's a politician," Wright said.
Wright said he hopes the controversy will spark an honest dialogue about race in America. Wright says black church traditions are unknown to many Americans, as they have been throughout the country's history. He said he hopes the controversy "just might mean that the reality of the African-American church will no longer be invisible."
"It is not an attack on Jeremiah Wright - it's an attack on the black church," he said to applause.
Wright's appearance was his third in four days, keeping alive a story that continues to dog Obama's campaign and at points creating further controversy.
At the press club, he jokingly offered himself as Obama's running mate and embraced Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan even though he said he doesn't always agree with him. He criticized the U.S. government as imperialist and stood by his suggestion that the U.S. invented the HIV virus as a means of genocide against minorities. "Based on this Tuskegee experiment and based on what has happened to Africans in this country, I believe our government is capable of doing anything," he said.
"God damns some practices and there's no excuse for the things that the government, not the American people, have done," he said. "That doesn't make me not like America or unpatriotic."
Viewing Comments 1 - 2 of 2
Craig Hawley
posted 4/29/08 @ 6:04 AM MST
Wright just confirmed his mentally unbalanced status. This man is so arrogant and narcissistic he know says those who attack him are really attacking all black churches in general. (Continued…)
Peace Love
posted 4/29/08 @ 11:21 PM MST
I get it.
If you served in the military, then it's ok if you become a racist, America hating, bigot, preacher, who spews hate every Sunday to his congregation. (Continued…)
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