When to Walk Away
The current events continue to highlight the friendship and mentoring relationship between Barack Hussein Obama and Pastor Jeremiah Wright. One man tells us (the younger one) he wants us to live together in peace. His mentor tells us to divide ourselves and continue to remind each other of a struggle that has gone from horrific to uncomfortable, but to keep in mind the horrific of past centuries, as though it may re-occur at any minute.
I have had mentors in my life, at various stages, and for both professional and personal matters. I was in such relationships because their experience and their counsel had common ground with my life views and philosophies. most of those still in the immature stages of development in my life (which was why I was seeking assistance to grow). Yes, their words and direction have become part of me, and I have been blessed with opportunities to use their wisdom and help others as a result. The end game? Their ideas, logic and morals have guided me.
That’s the upside. In one particular case a few years back, a situation arose and it became clear that the common life view we had in common was tossed aside by my mentor and his help in making a decision ran counter to the teaching we had both accepted on faith. In my readings, he and his group were wrong, and, essentially admitted it, but…the bottom line was about a money issue, and therefore, they said the decision had to stand. I politely listened and since that day, have not revisited my relationship with that man. He also happened to be one of the organizations top leaders. Not only do I not meet with him, or correspond, I found another place to invest in relations in, but not before spending time to find out what the new organizations leadership subscribes to, to assure myself I wasn’t associating with others who did not read the same documents throughly and understood the philosophy contained therein.
The issues I left one group over pale in comparison to the hate filled sermons of Pastor Wright, yet to me, putting aside the Bible for money was sufficient to have me make my decision. Why? It was wrong, and there is specific scripture to point out the danger of placing monetary decisions ahead of all other factors, let alone the plethora of teachings, from the Old and New Testaments that would also indicate it was a bad decision. When man begins to limit access to spiritual growth, to keep the money in the building, I cannot understand how the leadership will profit in the larger world view they are directly charged with keeping true to.
For Barack Obama to continue a relationship, at any level with a man who would ask God to damn this nation, let alone speak the things he did about Hillary Clinton, indicates only one thing to me: He agrees with viewpoints presented at some significant level. Barack not repudiating Pastor Wright speaks more extensively of Barack’s “buy in” to the hate mongering of Jeremiah Wright. The word defined (from Dictionary.com: Colour Me Kubrick: A True…ish Story film :
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
re·pu·di·ate /rɪˈpyudiËŒeɪt/ Pronunciation Key – Show Spelled Pronunciation[ri-pyoo-dee-eyt] Pronunciation Key – Show IPA Pronunciation
–verb (used with object), -at·ed, -at·ing.
1. to reject as having no authority or binding force: to repudiate a claim.
2. to cast off or disown: to repudiate a son.
3. to reject with disapproval or condemnation: to repudiate a new doctrine.
4. to reject with denial: to repudiate a charge as untrue.
5. to refuse to acknowledge and pay (a debt), as a state, municipality, etc.
[Origin: 1535–45; < L repudiÄtus (ptp. of repudiÄre to reject, refuse), equiv. to repudi(um) a casting off, divorce (re- re- + pud(ere) to make ashamed, feel shame (see pudendum) + -ium -ium) + -Ätus -ate1]
I see definitions 2,3 and 4 would all help Barack understand why he must do so, or, if not, he is telling us he does not reject the teachings of Pastor Wright.
This case also helps me understand why Barack Obama does not place his hand over his heart at eh playing of the National Anthem, nor will he wear an American Flag lapel pin and he tells us why himself:
“The truth is that right after 9/11 I had a pin,†Obama said. “Shortly after 9/11, particularly because as we’re talking about the Iraq war, that became a substitute for I think true patriotism, which is speaking out on issues that are of importance to our national security.
“I decided I won’t wear that pin on my chest,†he said in the interview. “Instead, I’m going to try to tell the American people what I believe will make this country great, and hopefully that will be a testament to my patriotism.†(Fox News)
In reading those words from his own mouth, and putting in context of the present uproar, one might easily make the logical conclusion that Barack’s idea for America is to be punished and we should no longer be “patriotic” in the way we have. I suspect, after 20 years of close association with Pastor Wright, with no denouncement on record, Barack agrees all too much with the espouse positions.
Interesting, when we had a former governor in the race, who happened to have over a decade ago, had been a Baptist pastor, the left was unhinged and predicting a complete Christian theocracy if Governor Huckabee was elected. The media also continually reminded us that Governor Romney was a Mormon, strongly suggesting he would do the same as the Baptist Preacher he was running against. According to others, President Bush has let the “Right Wing Christians Conservatives” take over the country. Ron Paul was connected to Neo-Nazi groups, but that actually got very little play outside the conservative talk show circuit. No other candidates for office can come close to Obama’s supporters divisive viewpoints.
Here we have a Senator who has remained connected (and, as we all know, if there is a celebrity in the Church, they get some degree of special attention from “leadership,” whether they ask for it or not – they are known and they know the leadership well enough to know what underlying philosophy they hold), to a man who hates America. If Barack is so gullible as to have missed that message all these years, he had better be able to produce attendance records indicating he only set foot in the Church 3 times (a marriage and two baptisms), and only otherwise mailed in his checks for his offerings. He wants us to accept that he is smarter than GWB, yet, like Hillary’s “forgetfulness” spells over the Rose Law Firm, missing and Whitewater issues, that he honestly can’t recall such significant interactions with Pastor Wright.
I say it’s time to declare defeat in the war for social justice. The forces of integration have lost, the forces of division are alive and well, but this time, on the opposite end of the spectrum. The Black Supremacists are being given a pass, because “change” is important to have. As long as Pastor Wright is involved in Barack’s life, he will be accepting those views.
Free advice to Barack: Walk away now and tell us what you think in counterpoint, otherwise, prepare to become relegated to a label as a left wing divider. Sir, you are no John F. Kennedy and Paster Wright is no Dr. King. Move forward now, knowing that.
It’s time to abandon the dream of Dr. Martin Luther King, and return to another time, but with an upending of the social order. I recall, many years ago, reading a scholarly study of the the Soviet Union and the quote something like “All the Russian Revolution did was put the top people on the bottom and the bottom people on the top.” Pastor Wright would most likely like to see that phenomena here…and it would be all about the money. How about Obama? Ah, the love of money is…..you fill in the blank.
Update: It looks as if I was writing this, <a href=”http://therealrevo.com/blog/?p=596″>Barack Obama has done the politically expedient thing,</a> putting distance between himself and Pastor Wright…and claims he never heard him say any of these things. See my note above about attendance records. I’d love to cross reference them with the recorded sermons, you know…just to validate Senator Obama’s assertion. Still, as the link asks: Why did it take so long? Momentum, it’s a real force in physics, and a “realer” one in politics. Yep, I want that guy for my President…he sleeps through “meetings” and can’t read people, and then freezes when it’s decision time….
Categories: Stream of Consciousness