Bulletins at Obama's Church Carry Own Controversy
Friday, May 9, 2008 8:25 AM
By: Fred Lucas
http://www.newsmax.com/insidecover/Bulletins_Obama_church/2008/05/09/94694.html
Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) recently said his relation****p with his
long-time
pastor and friend Rev. Jeremiah Wright "changed" after what Obama called
the
clergyman's "divisive and destructive" remarks at the National Press Club.
Later, however, Obama stressed his loyalty to the Trinity United Church of
Christ in Chicago, where he has been a member for many years.
Articles published in the Trinity United Church of Christ bulletin in 2007
carried controversial comments written by people other than Jeremiah
Wright.
Those comments included the claim that Israel worked with South Africa to
build an "ethnic bomb" that would kill blacks and Arabs, that the Pentagon
was training Latin Americans to be terrorists, and that the TV networks
are
run by right-wing racists.
On Sunday, May 4, Obama told NBC's Tim Russert, on "Meet the Press," that
he
was still a member of Trinity United Church of Christ and said of the
Wright
controversy, "I think that the American people understand that when I
joined
Trinity United Church of Christ, I was committing not to Pastor Wright. I
was committing to a church and I was committing to Christ. And it is a
wonderful church."
The pastor of Trinity United is Rev. Otis Moss III and the senior pastor
is
Rev. Wright. At the end of May, Wright will go on sabbatical and Moss will
assume the title of senior pastor.
The first few pages of the church's weekly bulletin carry scripture
passages, hymns, and announcements. Deeper into the bulletin, however,
there
are political and opinion articles. A Trinity United staff member, who
asked
not to be named, told Cybercast News Service that the political articles
are
there to inform congregants about world affairs. The staff member likened
these articles to commentary pieces in a newspaper, where the opinions
expressed are those of the writers, not necessarily the church.
Moss was listed as pastor of the church in the 2007 bulletins, the same
title he now bears at the church.
In a column in the April 15, 2007 bulletin, the Rev. Reginald Williams,
the
associate pastor for social justice at Trinity United, said he was not
surprised by the racially charged remarks that talk-radio host Don Imus
made
about the Rutgers University women's basketball team because "the major
networks are run by right-winged conservatives who still see black people
as
subhuman and ****tray black people as such."
In the April 22, 2007 bulletin, Williams called for shutting down the
Pentagon's WHINSEC School of the Americas, saying the school "in no
uncertain terms trains Latin American soldiers in counterinsurgency,
sniper
training, commando and psychological warfare, military intelligence and
interrogation. In short, the United States Army trains students at this
school of terrorism."
The two bulletins in which these columns were printed had been posted on
the
church Web site, and Cybercast News Service sent copies of them to the
church, where an official authenticated them.
When contacted by Cybercast News Service , Williams said he was "not
interested" in being interviewed.
Another politically charged piece published in the June 10, 2007 bulletin,
as previously re****ted by The Wa****ngton Times and CNN, was written by a
person who is not a member of the church.
The piece was an open letter by Ali Baghdadi to TV talk-show host Oprah
Winfrey, who was planning a trip to Israel. Baghdadi is editor of the Arab
Journal and who, according to the bulletin, acted as a Middle East advisor
to Elijah Muhammad, and later with Louis Farrakhan, both with the Nation
of
Islam.
In this letter to Winfrey, Baghdadi wrote: "I must tell you that Israel
was
the closest ally to the White Supremacists of South Africa. In fact, South
Africa allowed Israel to test its nuclear weapons in the ocean off South
Africa. The Israelis were given a blank check: They could test whenever
they
desired and did not even have to ask permission. Both worked on an ethnic
bomb that kills Blacks and Arabs."
Sen. Obama's presidential campaign declined to comment for this article,
despite numerous requests from CNSNews.com.
© 2008 CNSNews.com. All Rights Reserved.
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