Some truths about Jeremiah Wright . . .

[EffieBlack]

I found these articles, written years ago, about Rev. Jeremiah Wright in about 40 seconds on Lexis-Nexis. It's unfortunate that the MSM and others who are vilifying Rev. Wright have not bothered to make the effort to find out a little about the man before judging his entire life and career based upon three 15-second soundbytes.

I can't help wondering what the reaction to Rev. Wright would have been - especially here on DU - if people had first learned a little more about him. Among other things, they would have known that Rev. Wright has been fighting against injustice for years, believes that the church must push for tolerance and social justice, and not foist its view of religious morality on others, spoke up against the Iraq War from the beginning, and, long before it was popular to do so in his community, stepped up to speak out against homophobia and used his church to teach AIDS/HIV awareness and to offer comfort, compassion and support for those who suffer from it.

This man is hardly a racist demagogue. He is a compassionate, committed man who is doing just what we say ministers SHOULD do. Yes, he's angry - we all are, or at least should be. As Bill Clinton said during his troubles, "No person wants to be judged based upon his worst day."

Rev. Wright has stepped up and put himself on the line to fight for what he believes in and does not deserve the vitriol, slander, attacks and vicious mischaracterization he has been subjected to. And I sincerely doubt that, if people had taken the time to learn a little something about him before blindly and mindlessly joining into the Right Wing onslaught against him, this whole situation would not have gotten so out of hand - at the expense of a man who does not deserve to be treated this way.

Sen. Barack Obama's Pastor Frames Progressive Issues Through Lens of Faith
Religion News Service
March 10, 2005

Sen. Barack Obama's pastor sounds frustrated. Although his sermons are passionate, even fiery at times, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, a man with soft gray eyes and skin the color of latte, is normally even tempered. But when talking about how religious conservatives have pushed issues such as gay rights and stem cell research into the forefront, his voice becomes taut and his rebuke direct. Those who focus on these issues are building themselves up at the expense of others and, while the Bible has many references to right and wrong, Jesus only spoke against people who judged others, Wright says.
. . .
The fact that Obama chose Trinity is no accident. In a sea of conservative black churches, Trinity stands out in that it has welcomed in gay members, done outreach to people living with AIDS and advocated progressive positions on many social issues . . . Today, Wright is quick to call those who voted for President Bush "stupid" and chastise the public for letting issues like housing for the poor "fall off the radar screen."
. . .
The fact that the church and Wright himself bridge both worlds is one of the things that impressed Obama the most. "He hasn't lost the common touch," Obama says. "He can read Hebrew and Greek, yet he can also stand on the street corner and talk to the guys there."

Obama says one of the things he has learned from Wright is that the Bible is full of references to poor people and how they should be treated. This, Obama says, is one of the points he would like Democrats to point out when Republicans try to take the religious high ground with talk of moral values . . . On a broader level, Wright says the discussion needs to move away from subjects that should be between individuals and God, such as people's sexual orientation. Instead, Wright would like to see Obama and the Democrats point out the immorality of decisions made by Bush and his neoconservative advisers.

"Where is the morality in millions of people having no insurance, and millions of people being jobless?" Wright asks. "Where is the morality of lying about a link between Sadaam Husein and 9/11 and then leading us into an unjust, immoral war? Where is the morality of saying that you are not building up troops when you are? Clinton lied, but no one died. I think we need to bring up the immorality of these issues and harp on them. We need to keep pushing them."

BLACKS IN AGONIZING FIGHT AGAINST HIDDEN HOMOPHOBIA, AIDS
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

October 18, 1998

Stepping into the pulpit on Chicago's Southside, a man dressed in an African robe announces, “I have AIDS, and I got it from having sex with a man." . . . Anthony Hollins, 32, who is black, gay and a pillar of the Trinity United Church of Christ as leader of its dance ministry, has just disclosed his illness and his homosexuality to 1,500 members of his church. A few people clap, then more, until the whole congregation and choir stand and applaud while Hollins weeps.

Hollins was bringing home two issues many in the African-American community find hard to confront - AIDS and homosexuality - in one of the most prominent places in black communities, the church . . . Yet most black churches, unlike Trinity, are themselves conflicted about homosexuality, with the result that they often fail to reach one of the most disenfranchised groups of African-American society. Studies have found that homophobia and a lack of preventative AIDS education make black gays highly risk-prone in their practice of sex.

By this summer, and with the support of his pastor, he made a presentation called, "A Time for Healing: An African-American Man Living With HIV-AIDS . . . The head of the church's AIDS ministry and the church's minister, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr., speaks about how "homophobia, myopia and utopia (belief in a perfect world)," sustain fear and ignorance of the disease. Wright has dealt with AIDS and homosexuality openly, preaching compassion since the late 1970s. He has talked of 'myself as a recovering homophobic' and sanctioned programs in which AIDS patients told their stories within the church. An AIDS ministry, formed in 1992, gives its members a 20-hour training course and has had up to 100 members.

The national denomination of the United Church of Christ takes an “open and affirming” stance on homosexuality, Wright said. However, when Trinity began its public discussion of AIDS and homosexuality, ignorance and contempt was rife. Wright said he heard “Lord, straighten out these homosexuals” from within the congregation during open prayer. Homophobia may be stronger among African Americans than the population as a whole because of a “rabid macho mind-set,” Wright said


BLACK CHURCHES SHOULD LEAD THE FIGHT FOR AIDS AWARENESS

Greensboro News & Record
November 28, 1998

President Clinton recently earmarked $ 156 million for a comprehensive federal minority AIDS effort. This comes amid reports that black people, who account for more than half of new HIV infections, are more than eight times more likely than white people to contract the virus. AIDS is the leading killer of black people under age 35.

“The AIDS crisis in our communities of color is a national one,” Clinton said.
. . .
Chicago's Trinity United Church of Christ started its AIDS ministry in 1992. In 1995, Pastor Jeremiah Wright asked his parishioners to stand if they knew someone who had died of AIDS. One-third of the 2,000 member congregation stood up.