Talk Talk Talk Talk Talk Myself to Death: Obama Revealed (Somewhat)

Wednesday, March 21, 2007

Obama Revealed (Somewhat)

[UPDATED BELOW]

Chicago Public Radio had an insightful story today. You may have heard a bit of a blow-up a few weeks back about Barack Obama's church, Trinity United Church of Christ. Erik Rush decided that the Christians who worship in that church aren't like other Christians. He devised a column calling Obama and his congregation black supremacists, and then he was invited on Hannity & Colmes to spread his message of hate. That show later drew in Trinity Church's pastor and the man who Obama identifies as his spiritual advisor, Jeremiah Wright. He tried to defend himself and his church, but the Fox Network is a stacked deck. Wright later felt ambushed by The New York Times (the article is now only available for purchase or through Times Select), which was reporting that the situation had resulted in a rift between Obama and his pastor.

How Trinity Church was misrepresented and how it simply grew out of control was reviewed and examined by Chicago Public Radio. You can click through at the link to hear the story or to read a transcript. Check it out, it's quite interesting, and it's a good cautionary tale about why you should keep your eyes open when dealing with the press.

UPDATE--Here's the Website for Trinity United Church of Christ so you can check it out for yourself if you want. The About Us link explains the church's theology, and a link in the text of the page will take you to a further explanation by Dr. Wright on how the church addresses race.

2 Comments:

At 1:29 AM, March 22, 2007, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Well I studied the Trinity church's website, and by definition it is racist. Maybe you don't see anything wrong with that when the black church does it, and maybe I don't either, but you sure would see it if a white church did the same thing.

So, nobody has to 'devise' or 'misrepresent' anything when the website's right there for anyone who wants to take a look.

 
At 10:46 PM, March 22, 2007, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Actually, if you're talking definitions, the church's Webpage is not racist. Racism involves the assumption that one race is better than another or involves prejudice or discrimination based on race. As far as I can see, the Trinity Church Webpage fits neither of those definitions. Acknowledgment of race by itself is not racism. It would have to raise the issue of superiority or inferiority to cross that line. The church's Website talks about Black empowerment, but I could find no instance where that goal is promoted at the expense of any other race. Without that factor, although there's race awareness, I don't see what I can recognize as racism.

 

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