Posted by
OnceAlwaysaMarine on Sunday, June 08, 2008 4:00:00 PM
In their electing to become active members of Chicago's Trinity United Church of Christ, Barack & Michelle (Robinson) Obama purposefully and willingly joined and remained members of a church that espouses and adheres to the "Black Liberation Theology". They were not only married there, but also saw fit to have each of their two daughters baptized by its now infamous pastor, Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright. One is, therefore, left to wonder a) How this "theology" will affect his ability to equally represent non-black citizens of the United States? b) How Obama's committment to the "black community" will affect his performance in the White House? c) What are white, and for that matter, black citizens to make of this racially polarizing philosophy?
In my church, which is under the Missionary Baptist tradition, we, as a congregation, recite on Communion Sundays our church covenant. But in the covenant we recite there is no mention of race in its precepts. For the sake of providing a point of reference, I print our church covenant in full:
MY CHURCH COVENANT
(The Preamble)
Having been led, as we believe, by the Spirit of God to receive the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior; and on the profession of our faith, having been baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, we do now in the presence of God and this assembly, most solemnly and joyfully ENTER INTO COVENANT WITH ONE ANOTHER as one body in Christ.
(Section I)
We engage, therefore, by the aid of the Holy Spirit to walk together in Christian love; to strive for the advancement of this church, in knowledge, holiness, and comfort; to promote its prosperity and spirituality; to sustain its worship, ordinances, discipline, and doctrines; to contribute cheerfully and regularly to the support of the ministry, the expenses of the church, the relief of the poor, and the spread of the gospel through all nations.
(Section II)
We also engage to maintain family and secret devotions; to religiously educate our children; to seek the salvation of our kindred and aquaintances; to walk circumspectly in the world; to be just in our dealing, faithful in our engagements, and exemplary in our deportment; to avoid all tattling, backbiting, and excessive anger; to abstain from the sale of, and use of destructive drugs or intoxicating drinks as a beverage; to shun pornography; to be zealous in our efforts to advance the kingdom of our Savior.
(Section III)
We further engage to watch over one another in brotherly love; to remember one another in prayer; to aid one another in sickness and distress; to cultivate Christian sympathy in feeling and Christian courtesy in speech; to be slow to take offense, but always ready for reconciliation and mindful of the rules of our Savior to secure it without delay.
(Section IV)
We moreover engage that, when we remove from this place we will, as soon as possible, unite with some other church where we can carry out the spirit of this covenant and the principles of God's Word.
This type of convenantal statement is typically recited in mainstream African-American churches all throughout the country.
The church in which Barack and Michelle (Robinson) Obama were active members for 20 years is rooted in "Black Liberation Theology". When asked about the meaning of this philosophy on Sean Hannity's Fox News television show, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Barack and Michelle Obama's pastor, repeatedly asked Mr. Hannity had he ever read the books of one James H. Cone, by way of explanation for the principles around which his church was organized. The following quotation is from one of Cone's books on the subject of "Black Liberation Theology":
"The coming of Christ means a denial of what we thought we were. It means destroy the white devil in us. Reconciliation to God means that white people are prepared to deny themselves (whiteness), take up the cross (blackness) and follow Christ (black ghetto)." [parentheses are Cone's]
-James H. Cone, Black Theology & Black Power
Trinity United Church of Christ has a motto which proclaims its members to be, "Unashamedly Black and Unapologetically Christian." This seems innocuous enough on its face. However, upon a reading of the church's 12-precepts and covenantal statements, a more insidious message seems to begin to reveal itself.
Below are the church's 12-precepts and covenantal statements called the "Black Value System."
- Commitment to God
- Commitment to the Black Community
- Commitment to the Black Family
- Dedication to the Pursuit of Education
- Dedication to the Pursuit of Excellence
- Adherence to the Black Work Ethic
- Commitment to Self-Discipline and Self-Respect
- Disavowal of the Pursuit of "Middleclassness"
- Pledge to make the fruits of all developing and aquired skills available to the Black Community
- Pledge to Allocate Regularly, a Portion of Personal Resources for Strengthening and Supporting Black Institutions
- Pledge allegiance to all Black leadership who espouse and embrace the Black Value System
- Personal commitment to embracement of the Black Value System.
Firstly, I find puzzling the concept of a "black work ethic" which is somehow related to a "disavowal of the pursuit of "Middleclassness." In trying to gain some understanding of the concept of "Middleclassness" in the sense it is implied here, I did a little research of my own. I refer you to an article at the following link for a better understanding of the Marxist origination of this phrase.
http://ambivablog.typepad.com/ambivablog/2008/02/is-the-obamas-c.html
If this is not enough cause for concern as to the ramifications of an adherent of the "Black Value System" being elected to the Presidency of the United States, precept number 11 is even more troubling, "Pledge allegiance to all Black leadership who espouse and embrace the Black Value System."
Perhaps this clarifies Barack Obama's reluctance or refusal (take your pick) to participate in the pledge of allegiance to the flag of the United States of America www.youtube.com/watch?v=hU9iCANi02o or even to wear a flag pin on his lapel; posing a conflict with his pledge, already having been made, not to the flag of the United States, but to Black leadership who espouse and embrace the Black Value System. To coin a phrase made famous by his former rival turned enthusiastic supporter, Hillary Clinton, "it would take a willing suspension of disbelief" to believe that our Stars and Stripes holds any place of honor with Jeremiah Wright and his followers.
Additionally, I am curious as to whether or not Minister Louis Farrakhan of the Chicago-based Nation of Islam is an adherent to the "Black Value System." After all, Farrakhan's close and cordial relationship with Barack and Michelle's pastor is well-documented. Violating a ban invoked by President Reagan in 1986, Farrakhan, Wright, and Jesse Jackson, Sr. travelled together to Libya to meet with Col. Muammar Qadhafi, and although they succeeded in negotiating the release of a captured American pilot, it was viewed around the world as an attempt to embarrass President Reagan and portray Qadhafi as the victim of American injustice. Jeremiah Wright and Father Michael Phfleger as well, another 20 year friend of Obama's who adheres to this philosophy and although white himself doesn't seem to hold white people in the highest regard, are both quite complimentary of the outspoken Muslim Minister. In December 2007 Barack Obama's church bestowed upon Louis Farrakhan its highest social achievement award, the "Dr. Jeremiah A. Wright, Jr. Trumpet" Award. Farrakhan's views on white Americans are well known, "It is an act of mercy to white people that we end your world...We must end your world and bring in a new world."
If you are not fimiliar with how Farrakhan feels about America, I'll provide you with a "snippet" from one of his "sermons": "There is no wicked nation in the past that approaches the evil that is practiced in America on a daily basis." and "A decree of death has been passed on America. The judgment of God has been rendered and she must be destroyed."
Farrakhan, in October 1995, along with other so-called black leaders such as Barack Obama and Al Sharpton, helped lead the Million Man March on Washington, D.C. Obama had taken time off from attending campaign coffees to attend. Obama's own take on the March:
"What I saw there was a powerful demonstration of an impulse and need for African-American men to come together to recognize each other and affirm our rightful place in society...These are mean, cruel times, exemplified by a 'lock 'em up, take no prisoners' mentality that dominates the Republican-led Congress. Historically, African-Americans have turned inward and towards black nationalism whenever they have a sense, as we do now, that the mainstream has rebuffed us, and that white Americans couldn't care less about the profound problems African-Americans are facing."
I am a black man, but I am an American first. I am a descendant of Africans and find no undue sense of either pride or shame in that fact. My allegiance is to the United States of America. I am a firm believer that united we stand, and divided we fall! Though we may not have reached Utopian status in our society, as a realist and a patriot, I know that we have, and continue to make significant gains in providing opportunity for success to anyone who is willing to work diligently to achieve it. This is why I have no brief for the continued insistence of some that we persist in harboring grievances against each other that should have long since been put to rest. The only way healing and lasting unity will ever come about in our country is when we put aside our petty grievances and grudges, knowing that we are engaged in a war against a determined enemy that is Islamic Facism that will not rest until it has either been defeated or America has been brought to its knees. No society has come close to evolving into a Republic like ours that allows such individual liberty and opportunity to the individual to be the master of his own destiny. Here is the only place in the world where a man or woman can start with nothing and reach the highest heights of success through his labors.
I do not trust Barack Hussein Obama to represent the best interests of these United States of America. I believe in my heart that he still is a loyal disciple of these radicals and their causes. He has been thoroughly indoctrinated by the teachings of one Marxist radical "spiritual advisor" or professor after another. "Black Liberation Theology" and the "Black Value System" do not represent the kind of unity amongst all members of this society that we will need to meet the challenges that lie ahead. Only by standing together and transcending this silly, destructive, and nonsensical obsession with race will this country and its common values of Faith, Family, and Community survive.
With his half-hearted resignation, we are to believe that Barack Hussein Obama and his angry wife Michelle have disavowed the teachings of Reverend Wright's Trinity United Church of Christ. We don't need a President of the United States who represents the hopes of those who would subvert its institutions and disarm its citizens while practicing their own version of racism in response to some long played-out sense of victimhood. We certainly don't need a President who rather than pledging allegiance to our flag, pledges allegiance to the likes of Minister Farrakhan and Rev. Jeremiah Wright!! Let's take our country back in November by doing what we must do to continue to expose the farce of what this radical Marxist/Socialist anti-American candidate stands to unleash against it!