To understand Obama’s legislative agenda, it is essential to understand the ideology espoused by his former Pastor Jeremiah Wright.
Black Liberation Theology is the basis for former Pastor Jeremiah Wright’s anti-American sermons at Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago – a church attended by Sen. Barack Obama and his wife Michelle for more than 20 years. Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) has the most liberal voting record in the U.S. Senate and is expected to become the Democrat nominee for President of the United States after the Democratic National Convention in Denver later this year.
Obama’s legislative record includes opposition to bans on partial-birth abortion; opposition to marriage protection amendments and the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA); opposition to our war on terrorism in Iraq; opposition to expanded military defense research and deployment of nuclear weapons to deter aggressors; and promotion of the Global Poverty Act, which will funnel billions of American tax dollars into United Nations’ poverty programs.
A politician like Sen. Obama is guided by a political and moral philosophy. What does he believe? To understand Obama’s legislative agenda, it is essential to understand the ideology espoused by his former Pastor Jeremiah Wright.
Why is this important? Because Wright served as Obama’s pastor for more than 20 years as well as his mentor and spiritual advisor. It is unlikely that a person can sit in a pew of a church for 20 years and not understand or disagree with the ideology being promoted every week in Sunday sermons and in published materials distributed by a church.
Only when Wright became a political liability did Obama eventually decide to leave the church. (His decision may also have been pushed forward by the rantings of Catholic Priest Michael Pfleger who ridiculed Sen. Hillary Clinton in a sermon at Trinity on May 25.) He accused Clinton of thinking she deserved the nomination because she’s white and “there’s a black man stealing my show.”
Pfleger has been a long-time confidant of Obama. According to a report in the Chicago Sun-Times in 2004, it described Pfleger as one who helped Obama keep his moral compass. Pfleger claims that America is the greatest sin against God. What is Wright’s theological viewpoint and where did it come from?
The Trinity United Church of Christ web site provides ample evidence and Wright’s own sermons show clearly that Black Liberation Theology is the foundational philosophy of this church and its leadership. The church has a Black Values System that each member must agree to. It is totally Afrocentric. (More about this later.)
Black Liberation Theology is the creation of Professor James Cone, who currently serves at New York’s Union Theological Seminary. In 1969, Cone wrote Black Theology and Black Power, which has become required reading at Trinity. In it, Cone observed: “When we look at what whiteness has done to the minds of men in this country, we can see clearly what the New Testament meant when it spoke of the principalities and powers.”
This reference from Ephesians refers to spiritual powers in Heaven, not whites or earthly governmental institutions. Cone has also written:
... 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.
Professor Cone’s Black Liberation Theology is a mixture of Marxism and Afrocentric thinking. According to Cone, “Together, black religion and Marxist philosophy may show us the way to build a completely new society.” Capitalism is economic slavery imposed upon black Americans by whites. Cone serves as a contributing editor to Sojourners Journal, run by Jim Wallis whose leftist leanings are well documented in a report by TVC.
Cone has openly admitted that Pastor Wright “is really the one who took it [his philosophy] from my books and brought it to the church.” This Black Liberation Theology was adopted by Trinity 10 years before Sen. Obama and his family joined it in 1991. Every person who joins Trinity goes through a new member class, where he is taught Black Liberation Theology.
Cone has also written: “To be black is to be committed to destroying everything this country loves and adores.”
According to Black Liberation Theology, divine justice will only reign on earth when the black Jesus enables African-Americans to gain sufficient power to destroy “white greed” and white institutions and to replace them with a black value system.
James Cone writes a great deal about “hope” in his books and speeches. According to Cone, so-called “hope theology” “places the Marxist emphasis on action and change in the Christian context (and) is compatible with black theology’s concerns.” Pastor Wright’s sermon on the audacity of hope was adopted by Obama as the title of his second book, The Audacity of Hope. The “hope” theme appears to have gone from Cone to Wright’s sermons and into the book by Obama.
According to Cone, “I don’t see anything in (Obama’s) books or in the (Philadelphia race) speech that contradicts black liberation theology.” Obama simply sanded over the “radical edge to it” [Black Liberation Theology].
Pastor Wright’s sermons are the direct result of his adoption of Cone’s views on Black Liberation Theology. This is why they are filled with hateful comments about whites, America or are supportive of Marxist regimes, Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, and include wild conspiracy theories about how the U.S. government supposedly created the AIDS virus to kill black people.
Sen. Obama and his family sat in the pews listening to these sermons for 20 years. Are we being naïve to assume he wasn’t influenced by any of these sermons?
What Is The Black Value System?
Trinity United Church of Christ’s web site was sanitized after Wright became a political liability to Obama earlier this year. The original Black Value System site has been removed and replaced with a more harmless series of statements about this system.
The original version, however, is archived on the Internet and describes the real Black Value System advocated by the church leadership. In the original version, it states, in part, that members of the church must be committed to:
The idea of “economic parity” refers to Pastor Wright’s belief that America’s capitalistic system results in what he calls “economic mal-distribution.” This is basically a Marxist viewpoint that seeks to “take from the haves, and give to the have nots.” Wright clearly favors a socialist welfare state. As Dr. James Cone has written in For My People: “…the Christian faith does not possess in its nature the means for analyzing the structure of capitalism. Marxism as a tool of social analysis can disclose the gap between appearance and reality, and thereby help Christians to see how things really are.”
The newly sanitized version has an obvious anti-Capitalistic and anti-white viewpoint. Under “Disavowal of the Pursuit of ‘Middleclassness,” it describes the relationship between capitalism and blacks. It refers to blacks as “captives” and capitalism or whites as “captors” who train blacks to serve the capitalistic system.
The Black Value System criticizes those blacks who wish to achieve economic success in America and says that once they earn more money, they think they are better than others who are not seeking wealth. The statement warns against “the psychological entrapment of Black ‘middleclassness.’”
The Black Value System should be of great concern to most voters who are being asked to choose between Senator Barack Obama and Senator John McCain to become the next President of the United States.
The Black Value System, the writings of James Cone and the sermons preached by Pastor Jeremiah Wright have clearly influenced the thinking of Sen. Obama.
Marxist Connections?
Black Liberation Theology is an admittedly Marxist worldview and one that has shaped the thinking of Sen. Obama.
However, there are more Marxist connections to Obama that must be taken into account.
In an earlier TVC report, we discussed the relationship between Obama and a member of the Communist Party, USA named Frank Marshall Davis.
Davis became a key mentor to Obama during his high school years in Hawaii. According to Marxist Professor Gerald Horne, Davis had a profound influence on Obama’s sense of identity and career moves. In fact, it was Davis who convinced Obama to move from Hawaii to Chicago, where he became a political community organizer for a Saul Alinsky-inspired group.
Chicago has been a hotbed of radical black and white Marxist organizing since the 1930s. In fact, TVC’s report on David Axelrod, Obama’s key strategist and speech writer, details the existence of Black Power radicalism in Chicago over the decades. (Axelrod’s own mother was involved in Marxist publishing back in the 1940s.)
Investigative journalist Cliff Kincaid and his associates recently published lengthy exposes on Obama’s Marxist ties both in Hawaii and in Chicago: Communism in Hawaii and the Obama Connection; Communism in Chicago and the Obama Connection.
What Are We Getting This November?
Liberal pundits routinely defend Obama when critics bring up Pastor Jeremiah Wright. They claim that Obama isn’t responsible for Wright’s comments any more than John McCain is responsible for any inflammatory statements made by TV evangelists who have openly supported his candidacy.
This is a bogus comparison. Sen. Obama, his wife Michelle attended Trinity for 20 years sitting under the teachings of a blatantly anti-American, anti-capitalist and racist pastor. If McCain had attended an anti-black church for 20 years, the comparison would be valid. He did not.
Intelligent voters must carefully consider the records and philosophies of McCain and Obama when they go to the polls in November. We must be well-informed about the choices we have for President of the United States and the Commander-in-Chief of our Armed Forces.
References: “Obama’s Real Faith,” Investor’s Business Daily, January 23, 2007
“Obama’s Church,” Investor’s Business Daily, January 16, 2008
“Revisiting Obama’s Church,” Investor’s Business Daily, March 10, 2008
“Obama: Stealth Socialist?” Investor’s Business Daily, May 19, 2008
Cone has openly admitted that Pastor Wright “is really the one who took it [his philosophy] from my books and brought it to the church.” This Black Liberation Theology was adopted by Trinity 10 years before Sen. Obama and his family joined it in 1991. Every person who joins Trinity goes through a new member class, where he is taught Black Liberation Theology.
Cone has also written: “To be black is to be committed to destroying everything this country loves and adores.” According to Black Liberation Theology, divine justice will only reign on earth when the black Jesus enables African-Americans to gain sufficient power to destroy “white greed” and white institutions and to replace them with a black value system.
James Cone writes a great deal about “hope” in his books and speeches. According to Cone, so-called “hope theology” “places the Marxist emphasis on action and change in the Christian context (and) is compatible with black theology’s concerns.” Pastor Wright’s sermon on the audacity of hope was adopted by Obama as the title of his second book, The Audacity of Hope. The “hope” theme appears to have gone from Cone to Wright’s sermons and into the book by Obama.
According to Cone, “I don’t see anything in (Obama’s) books or in the (Philadelphia race) speech that contradicts black liberation theology.” Obama simply sanded over the “radical edge to it” [Black Liberation Theology].
Pastor Wright’s sermons are the direct result of his adoption of Cone’s views on Black Liberation Theology. This is why they are filled with hateful comments about whites, America or are supportive of Marxist regimes, Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, and include wild conspiracy theories about how the U.S. government supposedly created the AIDS virus to kill black people.
Sen. Obama and his family sat in the pews listening to these sermons for 20 years. Are we being naïve to assume he wasn’t influenced by any of these sermons?
What Is The Black Value System?Trinity United Church of Christ’s web site was sanitized after Wright became a political liability to Obama earlier this year. The original Black Value System site has been removed and replaced with a more harmless series of statements about this system.
The original version, however, is archived on the Internet and describes the real Black Value System advocated by the church leadership. In the original version, it states, in part, that members of the church must be committed to:
- Disavowal of the Pursuit of "Middleclassness"
- Pledge to make the fruits of all developing and acquired skills available to the Black Community
- Pledge to Allocate Regularly, a Portion of Personal Resources for Strengthening and Supporting Black Institutions
- Pledge allegiance to all Black leadership who espouse and embrace the Black Value System
- Personal commitment to embracement of the Black Value System.
- A congregation committed to ADORATION.
- A congregation preaching SALVATION.
- A congregation actively seeking RECONCILIATION.
- A congregation with a non-negotiable COMMITMENT TO AFRICA.
- A congregation committed to BIBLICAL EDUCATION.
- A congregation committed to CULTURAL EDUCATION.
- A congregation committed to the HISTORICAL EDUCATION OF AFRICAN PEOPLE IN DIASPORA.
- A congregation committed to LIBERATION.
- A congregation committed to RESTORATION.
- A congregation working towards ECONOMIC PARITY.
The idea of “economic parity” refers to Pastor Wright’s belief that America’s capitalistic system results in what he calls “economic mal-distribution.” This is basically a Marxist viewpoint that seeks to “take from the haves, and give to the have nots.” Wright clearly favors a socialist welfare state. As Dr. James Cone has written in For My People: “…the Christian faith does not possess in its nature the means for analyzing the structure of capitalism. Marxism as a tool of social analysis can disclose the gap between appearance and reality, and thereby help Christians to see how things really are.”
The newly sanitized version has an obvious anti-Capitalistic and anti-white viewpoint. Under “Disavowal of the Pursuit of ‘Middleclassness,” it describes the relationship between capitalism and blacks. It refers to blacks as “captives” and capitalism or whites as “captors” who train blacks to serve the capitalistic system.
The Black Value System criticizes those blacks who wish to achieve economic success in America and says that once they earn more money, they think they are better than others who are not seeking wealth. The statement warns against “the psychological entrapment of Black ‘middleclassness.’”
The Black Value System should be of great concern to most voters who are being asked to choose between Senator Barack Obama and Senator John McCain to become the next President of the United States.
The Black Value System, the writings of James Cone and the sermons preached by Pastor Jeremiah Wright have clearly influenced the thinking of Sen. Obama.
Marxist Connections?
Black Liberation Theology is an admittedly Marxist worldview and one that has shaped the thinking of Sen. Obama.
However, there are more Marxist connections to Obama that must be taken into account.
In an earlier TVC report, we discussed the relationship between Obama and a member of the Communist Party, USA named Frank Marshall Davis.
Davis became a key mentor to Obama during his high school years in Hawaii. According to Marxist Professor Gerald Horne, Davis had a profound influence on Obama’s sense of identity and career moves. In fact, it was Davis who convinced Obama to move from Hawaii to Chicago, where he became a political community organizer for a Saul Alinsky-inspired group.
Chicago has been a hotbed of radical black and white Marxist organizing since the 1930s. In fact, TVC’s report on David Axelrod, Obama’s key strategist and speech writer, details the existence of Black Power radicalism in Chicago over the decades. (Axelrod’s own mother was involved in Marxist publishing back in the 1940s.)
Investigative journalist Cliff Kincaid and his associates recently published lengthy exposes on Obama’s Marxist ties both in Hawaii and in Chicago: Communism in Hawaii and the Obama Connection; Communism in Chicago and the Obama Connection.
What Are We Getting This November?
Liberal pundits routinely defend Obama when critics bring up Pastor Jeremiah Wright. They claim that Obama isn’t responsible for Wright’s comments any more than John McCain is responsible for any inflammatory statements made by TV evangelists who have openly supported his candidacy.
This is a bogus comparison. Sen. Obama, his wife Michelle attended Trinity for 20 years sitting under the teachings of a blatantly anti-American, anti-capitalist and racist pastor. If McCain had attended an anti-black church for 20 years, the comparison would be valid. He did not.
Intelligent voters must carefully consider the records and philosophies of McCain and Obama when they go to the polls in November. We must be well-informed about the choices we have for President of the United States and the Commander-in-Chief of our Armed Forces.
References: “Obama’s Real Faith,” Investor’s Business Daily, January 23, 2007
“Obama’s Church,” Investor’s Business Daily, January 16, 2008
“Revisiting Obama’s Church,” Investor’s Business Daily, March 10, 2008
“Obama: Stealth Socialist?” Investor’s Business Daily, May 19, 2008
6 comments:
This statement:
Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) has the most liberal voting record in the U.S. Senate
Reminds me of the following headline:
Kerry rated most liberal member of Senate
http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0204/022704nj1.htm
Of course, the latter headline was from 2004, when John Kerry was running for president.
I think someone is taking creative license here. Hard to believe this is a coincidence? Unless running for president makes you liberal?
I would like for you to take a look at Bernie Sanders. Here's an independenent socialist and probably the most liberal senator out there.
Although he's not running for president...
"To understand Obama’s legislative agenda, it is essential to understand the ideology espoused by his former Pastor Jeremiah Wright."
What a silly thing to say. You might as well say that my priest's political views must necessarily reflect mine. Why would they?
This post is based on a very flimsy premise.
Jus -- If, as your reference to your priest suggests, you are a Catholic, then you know that most Catholics attend the nearest Catholic Church. The political views of the priest usually don't enter into the decision as to where one goes to church. However, many Protestants shop around for a church and make a selection based on many factors, not least of which is the identity of the pastor. Trinity United is not the closest church to where Obama lives, and having found his way to it, he stayed for over twenty years; long enough to know that hatred, racism, and marxism were/are being preached.
Sir, This is a horrible argument with many false theories.
First, Black Liberation Theology is not limited to James Cone. Dr. Cone was attempting to explain a multitude of ideas in his book back in the 60's but these are being taken out of context. The quotes you use are extreme.. But not meant to be taken Literally. Cone is not telling us to hate God anymore than Jesus was telling us to HATE our parents or cut our eyes out. He is using an extreme idea to prove a point.
Second, This book was written in the 60s and is referring to the WHITE CHURCH AT THE TIME!!! There is a passage in the bible that says the lord abhors dishonest scales. Meaning if you are going to judge somehting you much judge everything by the same standard.. Example. John Mccain attends a Southern Baptist church. I am sure you are aware of why the SOUTHERN Baptists came about it in the first place. (in case you dont it was because of their support for slavery and segregation) I am sure that in no way do you think that John Mccain or the southen baptists hold the exact same view that their theologians and apologists wrote about in the late 60s and if that is so then you should also not hold Barack Obama to the standard of believing everything that DR. Cone wrote in the late 60s either.
thirdly,
Black Liberation Theology is never meant to be a religion it is a prospective from which one interpets the bible. yes obama attended TUCC for 20 years but your false impression of TUCC is that for 20 years Trinity preached "hate whitey" sermons and that is simply not true.. There are 8500 members.... doctors, lawyers, educators .. This is not a cult sir and four 20 second soundbytes is not reflective of what a church is all about. I dont blame Barack for leaving Trinity. He is called by God to be a public servant and not a apologist for THEOLOGY ... But that being said it simply is a false idea that Obamas whole religious belief can be attached to a soundbyte given by someone else or a passage of a book written by a theologian writing in the 60s.
Some of the comments posted have merit in pointing out that you cannot judge Obama to be a bigoted socialist on account of his pastor of twenty years. However, when considered in conjunction with the background of his family, a spouse ashamed of the U.S., his voting record, and the many relationships to secular, liberal, or anti-American intellectuals or activists that journalists have traced to Sen. Obama....you start to wonder. Reminds you of when mold and mildew starts to seep through whitewash applied to a damp basement wall. The whitewash covers a multitude of concerns for a time, but does not resolve them.
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