Wright visits Trinity pulpit, lashes media
Chicago Tribune
by Manya A. Brachear
Sunday
December 7, 2008
For the first time since his retirement last spring, Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr. returned to the pulpit of Trinity United Church of Christ this morning with two goals: glorifying God and vilifying the media.
In honor of Trinity’s 47th anniversary, Wright preached Sunday worship services in place of Rev. Otis Moss III, who was attending his father’s farewell from the pulpit of Olivet Institutional Baptist Church in Cleveland.
Citing the revelation to Mary by the angel Gabriel that she would conceive a child to be born the Son of God, Wright said Mary’s disbelief was similar to the doubts some faithful shared about the future of Trinity after Wright’s retirement and the possibility of a black man being elected president.
“Our legitimate questions tend to be asked from the vantage point of limited horizons,” said Wright during the 7:30 a.m. service. “Mary had a limited horizon. She couldn’t see how it was possible.”
“In almost every instance where I have encountered this phenomenon, what I have discovered is that the limited horizons are caused by the tendency to look for a person to provide you with answers for your legitimate questions,” Wright continued. “I really should say our legitimate questions, not your legitimate questions, because God knows I’ve got some questions myself.”
Wright, Trinity’s former pastor, gained prominence when President-elect Barack Obama in his memoirs cited the pastor’s inspirational sermons.
But shortly after Wright’s final appearance in the pulpit at Trinity last February, he became the center of controversy when segments of past sermons surfaced on the Internet and replayed on cable news programs. Pundits questioned his patriotism based on sound bites, including one where he shouted “God damn America!”
The resulting media onslaught fueled tension around an already sensitive transition and prompted Moss, Wright’s hand-picked successor, to implement strict guidelines for the media, banning cameras and recording devices and instructing members not to grant interviews.
On Sunday, church officials turned reporters away from the worship service. But services were streamed live on the Internet, and audio and video recordings were sold in the church bookstore.
Wright said no amount of media coverage could dampen Trinity spirit.
“Jesus said upon this rock I will build–listen to the promise–my church,” he said. “And the gates of Hell–listen to the promise–the gates of Hell–neither ABC nor CNN–the gates of Hell–neither Hannity nor O’Reilly–the gates of Hell–neither Time, Time magazine, Chicago Sun Times, Chicago Tribune … the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it. Nothing will be impossible with God.”
At the 11 a.m. service, Wright belittled “baby milk believers,” who, he said, suffer a delusion that politics don’t belong in the pulpit. He pointed out that “Luke the evangelist, not Wright the radical” lambasted the oppressive policies of the Roman government in the Gospel story that recounts Jesus’ life.
“Any preacher who dares to point out the simple ugly facts found in every field imaginable is demonized as volatile, controversial, incendiary, inflammatory, anti-American and radical,” Wright said, taking time out to note the thousands of Japanese civilians who died 67 years to the day when American warplane dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima. (Actually, Dec. 7 marks the day when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor.)
He implied that his previous use of derogatory language to describe Italians in a past sermon referred to the Roman oppression Luke condemned.
“Emperor Augustus in Rome–that’s in Italy, dizzy blond on the View,” Wright said, presumably referring to conservative television personality Elisabeth Hasselback, who has railed about Wright on the ABC daytime talk show.
Wright also thanked an employee at Fox News–“a saint in Caesar’s household”–who advised him to cancel his October speaking engagements because the network had an advance copy of his schedule.
Wright, who has delivered two sermons at Trinity so far today, is scheduled to give a third sermon at 6 p.m.
Wild Thing’s comment………
“Any preacher who dares to point out the simple ugly facts found in every field imaginable is demonized as volatile, controversial, incendiary, inflammatory, anti-American and radical,” Wright said, taking time out to note the thousands of Japanese civilians who died 67 years to the day when American warplane dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima.”
He only cares about what we did to our enemy at the time and not about our soldiers and sailors that were killed on Dec. 7th. What a horrible person Wright is in all ways.
This jerk cannot open his mouth without showing how he hates America and our Heroes.
I looked for the video but it is not available…….yet.
“Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravaging wolves.” – Matthew 7:15
Supposed ‘Reverand’ Wright is the WRONG STUFF patriots!
Golly. Let’s see where this work of art could have gone astray from the Decalogue.
ONE: ‘You shall have no other gods before Me.’
TWO: ‘You shall not make for yourself a carved image–any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.’
THREE: ‘You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain.’
FOUR: ‘Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.’
FIVE: ‘Honor your father and your mother.’
SIX: ‘You shall not murder.’
SEVEN: ‘You shall not commit adultery.’
EIGHT: ‘You shall not steal.’
NINE: ‘You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.’
TEN: ‘You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.’
Being products of our environments it seems quite clear that tenet number 3 is universal amongst the Judeao-Christian faiths, yet Jeremiah Wright, Sr. a Baptist minister who pastored Grace Baptist Church in Germantown, Philadelphia for 42 years failed to instill those tenets in Junior.
Could Junior’s real belief system have been instilled at the University of Chicago Divinity School where he earned a master’s degree in theology? Maybe he got the message from the United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio where he received his Doctor of Ministry degree. Or was it indoctrination from his mentor Samuel DeWitt Proctor.
Wait, he says “He doesn’t fit the mold. He ain’t white, he ain’t rich and he ain’t privileged”. How many of us were as under privileged? It takes outside funds to attend colleges and universities, that had to come from somewhere. How many of us aren’t rich? Personally not, but if Mom, Dad or the home town parishoners are the revenue source it really doesn’t matter does it? Wright is ungrateful for his financial aid.
How many of us have spent a lifetime of being colorblind to avert racial hatred and discrimination? Certainly not Reverand Wright, from his outbursts, race dominates his sphere.
Somewhere along the line he became as radicalized as his fellow religious leaders in the Mohammedan faith. He not only hates, he fails to measure up to tenet number 10 also and quite possibly tenet number 9.
The right Reverand Wright bears false witness when he deceives his flock and preaches hatred for everything the white community has achieved by his open hatred toward them and the country. A country that gives him the freedom to tear down all that is around him . He and his devout followers covet what the rest have achieved with the same available opportunities yet reject joining society to the point of outright racial hatred for the nation and all it stands for.
Seems that Reverand Wright has ‘survived’ quite well and has managed to retire in comfort.
So much for preaching about love, kindness and togetherness. His protégé’ Obama shows the same respect as Wright in his mannerisms and behavior.
I’ve attended ceremonies given by the Chaplains of several denominations, even Jewish, all hardened men, to a man, once they put down the tools of the trade and donned the cloth they never spoke of anything but God’s grace, Love and Salvation, never the vile blasphemous spew of Reverand Jerimiah Wright. Reverand Jerimiah Wright is the poster child for Christian’s to not go to Church.
Wright’s ideology is “let’s blame somebody but ourselves, and let’s hate them at the same time”.
Wright’s preaching is not the concept of Christianity. It is more like the hateful concept of radical islam.
So, he doesn’t want the public to witness his sermons anymore. Does anyone know a clergyman who hasn’t wished for a larger audience? Yet, Wright still sells tapes and videos to his own congregation. Gotta keep that money flowing to pay expenses at that big new home.
He says Luke lambasted the oppressive polices of the Roman government. I sure wish he would have given chapter and verse on that. There’s no worse snake slithering out of Hell than some preacher who says the bible says something but won’t give chapter and verse and back it up with context.
I wonder if Wright has even the faintest of ideas of how many Japanese would have died in a conventional invasion? More than a million American killed is circulated but the other side of fifteen to twnety million Japanese killed is often left off. Those Nuclear bombs may have saved more Japanese than any other two days in history. I do not ever expect the Japanese to be greatful, but Americans should be aware.
Darth, yes he should be called Wrong not wright.
Jack, DITTO.
That should be a poster or even a graphic I think.
“Wright is the poster child for Christian’s to not go to Church.”
Tom, your right, no preacher wants to keep people from hearing what he says. All except for Wright. Maybe he will say it is ok after Obama is sworn in or something.
BobF, thanks for pointing that out. I agree that is really horrible oh my gosh.
Avitar, I agree, thanks you. Americans should be very clear on what could have been the end result had we not done what we did.