Attacks on his church trouble Obama
He has criticized his pastor, but he won't abandon Trinity
When Sen. Barack Obama joined Trinity United Church of Christ 20 years ago, little did he know that the church’s charismatic pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr., would become a flashpoint in a Democratic presidential primary.
Wright, an activist pastor who brought the South Side church from a 85-member congregation to an 8,000-member mega-church, has been under constant attack on Fox News’ “Hannity & Colmes” as a “cult” and “separatist” church.
In an interview, Obama told the Chicago Sun-Times that, despite the controversy swirling around Wright over racial comments he made from the pulpit about Sen. Hillary Clinton, he is not abandoning his church.
“We are still members of the church,” Obama said.
At the same time, Obama strongly condemned the racially explosive language attributed to Wright.
“The particular statements that have been pulled out of Rev. Wright’s sermons are ones that I profoundly disagree with,” Obama said, adding that he has never been at Trinity when Wright made similar remarks.
“If I had heard Rev. Wright making those statements while I was sitting in the pews, I would have talked to him afterwards and said I am troubled by these statements. They do not reflect . . . how I feel about this country, how I feel about race relations.”
Campaign has put burdens on church
Apparently, Wright’s offense — at least in the video clip that is getting hits on YouTube — was telling his congregation that “Hillary has never been called a n - - - - -.”
For the last week, both campaigns have had to put out racial brush fires, beginning with Geraldine Ferraro’s widely quoted comment that Obama “would not be in the place he is if he was a white man.”
Under pressure from pundits, Ferraro, a chief fund-raiser for Clinton, was forced to resign from the candidate’s finance committee, but she stood by her remarks.
Obama’s predicament is different. Wright is not involved in Obama’s campaign, nor is Wright a fund-raiser.
Moreover, Obama has already distanced himself from Wright. Last year, when Obama announced his intention to run in the Democratic primary, he rescinded his invitation for Wright to give the opening prayer.
Obama acknowledges that his campaign has put “burdens” on Trinity and its members. The church has been under scrutiny by conservative talk show hosts since Obama announced his candidacy.
The parent church, the United Church of Christ, is now being investigated by the Internal Revenue Service for a speech Obama gave at a church convention attended by 10,000 people.
“It is tougher now to go to church, period, because of the attention that I draw . . . and obviously the controversy surrounding Rev. Wright,” Obama said.
Wright retiring in June
“They are constantly getting inquiries and having press people to show up reporting sermons. I feel bad about the burdens that I have placed on the other members of the church.”
In June, Wright will retire as the senior pastor, and the Rev. Otis Moss III will ascend to church leadership.
In a statement released to the Huffington Post, Obama said that because of his “strong” links to the Trinity faith community, the church where he married his wife, Michelle, and where his daughters were baptized, he does not think it is appropriate to leave the church.
But it’s also clear to me that Obama is troubled by how Trinity, a pillar of social activism in the black community, is being portrayed.
Wright “has preached for 30 years,” Obama said. “I don’t think this is a well-rounded portrait of him.”
Obama, who has been campaigning across the country since last year, is no longer among the Sunday morning worshippers at Trinity.
Although still a member of the church, Obama acknowledges that these ongoing controversies have put “strains” on his relationship with his pastor.
“I have felt frustrated by how the church has been characterized and by the suggestion that this is somehow a separatist church and by other statements made on these talk shows,” he said.
“Anybody who has been to the church knows this is a terrific, welcoming church,” Obama noted. Trinity “is a wonderful faith community that has done very positive things in the community and also in my life.”
As the gospel teaches, Obama is looking for a way to condemn Wright’s actions but still love the man.