June 3, 2008

Church leaders and members cheered Pfleger’s racial hate speech, sanctioned blood libels of U.S. and Israel
by Bill Levinson

In one of George Macdonald Fraser’s “Flashman” books, Harry Flashman–the school bully from “Tom Brown’s School Days”–is watching a public hanging. The man next to him suggests that, instead of watching the actual hanging, he watch his fellow Britons’ reaction to it because it will be far more entertaining and enlightening. It is similarly far more enlightening to watch the reaction of Barack and Michelle Obama’s fellow churchgoers to Father Michael Pfleger’s hate speech, even though Pfleger’s obvious feigned outrage and overacting is the center of attention.

The overwhelmingly positive reception not only of Pfleger’s “There were a whole lot of white people crying” but also of his previous support for Louis Farrakhan suggests that the Obamas’ church is, quite frankly, a racist hate organization. Pfleger’s and Wright’s hate speech, and Wright’s loathsome church bulletins, did not happen in isolation. They took place with the complete knowledge, and the at least tacit if not overt approval of the church’s officers and the Obamas’ fellow parishioners. This, as opposed to the bad behavior of a couple of individuals, is what makes the Trinity United Church of Christ racist.

Barack and Michelle Obama’s membership in a racist organization is entirely consistent with Barack Obama’s courtship of Black Nationalism in “Dreams From My Father” and with Michelle Obama’s senior thesis, in which she says her principal commitment is to the Black community while describing the “problems” that come from racial integration. They joined an organization that they knew to be racist, and they remained in that organization despite its promotion not only of racism but hatred of the United States, hatred of Israel, and promotion of actual terrorists.

Let’s begin with the question as to who is responsable for the governance of the Trinity United Church of Christ. Here is what its official bulletin says.

The United Church of Christ has more than 5,700 churches throughout the United States. Rooted in the Christian traditions of congregational governance and covenantal relationships, each UCC setting speaks only for itself and not on behalf of every UCC congregation. UCC members and churches are free to differ on important social issues, even as the UCC remains principally committed to unity in the midst of our diversity.

In the case of the Trinity United Church of Christ, “congregational governance”–and Barack and Michelle Obama were until a few days ago part of this congregation–consists of cheering racist hate speech and at least sanctioning blood libels of the United States and Israel along with guest commentary by militant Islamic terrorists.

(1) The Obamas joined the Trinity United Church of Christ about twenty years ago. This was after its pastor, Jeremiah Wright, had accompanied the prominent racist, anti-Semite, and Catholic-hating bigot Louis Farrakhan to Libya to meet with Moammar Khadafy. In other words, Wright’s support of Farrakhan did not come as any surprise to the Obamas, who probably agreed with it.

(2) The Obamas remained in the Trinity United Church of Christ when
* Its official bulletin published a blood libel that accused Israel of developing an “ethnic bomb” to kill Negroes and Arabs.
* Its pastor blood libeled the United States by accusing it of developing the AIDS virus
* Its official bulletin published a guest opinion piece from a Hamas terrorist named Marzook
* Its pastor published a “War in Iraq IQ Test” that equated the United States to Iraq under Saddam Hussein
* Its pastor wrote “state” of Israel in the church’s official bulletin, as in “so-called state of Israel.”
* Its pastor said that the United States got a wake up call after 9/11, with the context suggesting that the United States deserved 9/11
* Its pastor arranged a Trumpet Award to Louis Farrakhan
* The church invited Father Michael Pfleger to give a guest speech in which he openly praised and defended Louis Farrakhan

This is not just about Jeremiah Wright. Suppose that your church or synagogue published blood libels along with opinion pieces from Islamic supremacist terrorists, questioned the right of Israel to exist, and gave awards to racist, anti-Semitic (or, if a synagogue, anti-Christian) and Catholic-hating bigots. Would you not express outrage, and then quit the church or synagogue if this behavior continued? If you were in a position of responsibility or authority at this institution, would you tolerate it for an instant? If you couldn’t change this outrageous behavior, would you continue to allow your name to be associated with the institution in question? The bottom line is that at least a majority, if not an overwhelming majority, of the Trinity United Church of Christ’s leaders and members agreed with the church’s blood libels of the United States and Israel, its endorsement of Louis Farrakhan, its promotion of the Hamas terrorist organization, and Jeremiah Wright’s hate speech. This is the church to which Barack and Michelle Obama belonged for twenty years.

(3) The Obamas resigned from the church only when Michael Pfleger arguably misused the church’s tax exempt resources (just as Obama himself misused the United Church of Christ’s tax exempt resources by giving a campaign speech at its national synod in June 2007) by berating Obama’s Caucasian opponent from the pulpit.

* The Obamas’ NEW pastor, Otis Moss, introduced Pfleger as a “prophetic, powerful pulpiteer.”
* Pfleger then made a speech about “white entitlement” and said, with regard to Obama’s lead over Hillary Clinton, “There were a whole lot of white people crying.” This drew unanimous applause from the audience, and a standing ovation from many. These are the same people with whom Barack and Michelle Obama have gone to church for the past twenty years.
* Otis Moss, the Obamas’ new pastor, showed no embarrassment whatsoever about Pfleger’s hate speech or the likely misuse of the church’s tax exempt resources for electioneering. Moss said, “Thank God for the message, and thank God for the messenger.”

Pay attention not to Pfleger but to the reaction of Barack and Michelle Obama’s fellow congregants.

A strong argument can be made that a church whose congregation and leaders cheer wildly for a remark like “There were a whole lot of white people crying” is racist, just like a church that would applaud “There were were a whole lot of Negroes crying” (with “Negroes” perhaps not being exactly the word the speaker used). Add to this the church’s support for a known racist, anti-Semite, and anti-Catholic bigot (Farrakhan) to get a very ugly picture, and Barack and Michelle Obama are ugly and central features of this very ugly picture.

We actually agree with “Thank God for the message, and thank God for the messenger” because Pfleger’s message, and more importantly the Trinity United Church of Christ’s enthusiastic reception of this message, demonstrates that Barack and Michelle Obama have belonged to a racist organization that welcomes and cheers hate speech.