The American Spectator

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Wright and Wrong

3.18.08 @ 12:01AM

RESIST... JOKE...ABOUT...GRAHAM...CRACKERS...
Re: George Neumary's Wrighting Dirty:

Let's have President Obama with his spiritual mentor, Mr. Wright in the White House. Sure would be a change from Billy Graham.
-- Marlene Buchhalter
Southampton, Pennsylvania

Well said, Mr. Neumayr.

I concluded a decades long correspondence and a life long friendship recently over this issue of the racist, hate mongering "pastor" and his affirmative action protege Mr. Obama. This supposed intellectual has spent a life time decrying the influence of the Christian Right emoting the standard polemics and painting anyone (on the right) who associated with or promulgated Christian values as theocrats out to hijack the constitution for their evil Christian ends. In fact, in a correspondence last year this pseudo intellectual admitted what I had observed for some time, he had more fear of the so called Christian Right than the Islamofascists who have openly declared war on our society, way of life, and oh yes our faith.

I nearly ended our give and take at that time but held out hope that I could convince him otherwise. And now this same liberal-fascist has the temerity to tell me it's "No big deal" and throws Parsley or Hagee at me (note: I have expressed the same revulsion at their inflammatory rhetoric as I have Uncle Jeremiah's) as some sort of "gotcha"; after all the mighty agent of change Barack said so! Well it must be true! It must be the right wing noise machine at the behest of VRWC attempting to smear he who must not be criticized.

What a stinking pile of gooey hypocritical, intellectual dishonesty! It's difficult, nay impossible to carry on a substantive discussion of ideas with individual or groups who, at their basest, are unwilling and apparently unable to be honest even with themselves. Why am I surprised and so disappointed with this life long friend's hypocrisy? After all, isn't this the modus operandi of the left?
-- Stuart Reed
Grosse Pointe Woods, Michigan

When pastor Fr. Davey of St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Newton, New Jersey, followed the gospel on Judgment Day with a sermon suggesting that Republicans of the Gingrich Congress, who sought to privatize some functions of government, might find themselves on the left side of God on Judgment Day, I sent Fr. Davey a letter, suggesting that his comments were mistaken. When I did not receive an acknowledgement or reply, I sent next month's donation envelopes back to him, empty, with a copy of my original letter. I then received an "everyone is entitled to his own opinion" letter.

When Fr. Davey's successor as pastor, Fr. Filipkowski, preached that the Church had "always referred to the Holy Spirit in the female gender," I sent Fr. Filipkowski a letter, asking for one example of a papal encyclical, a Vatican council, or a Biblical verse, that even once, never mind "always," referred to the Holy Spirit in the female gender. Fr. Filipkowski's reply was "point taken."

After additional examples of homilies that appeared to have nothing to do with Catholicism, I stopped attending St. Joseph's.

One year later, I began attending Mass at Our Lady Queen of Peace Church in Branchville, New Jersey. Pastor Fr. Stober was a straight shooter, but pinch hitter Fr. O'Rourke followed the same gospel as Davey and Filipkowski. When Fr. O'Rourke identified a list of left-wing radicals as "latter day John the Baptists," I sent Fr. Stober a letter, indicating that Fr. O'Rourke's comments were intolerable. I received no acknowledgement or reply, and stopped attending Our Lady Queen of Peace.

The above incidents, together with comments in the Diocese of Paterson's "Beacon" newspaper, approved by Bishop Rodimer and later Bishop Serratelli, condemning Wal-Mart and actions of the U.S. military, are "small potatoes" compared to Rev. Jeremiah Wright's tirades. Nevertheless, where are the letters from Senator Obama to Reverend Wright? Where is the evidence that Senator Obama concluded that continued attendance at Trinity United Church of Christ was fundamentally incompatible with his own conscience? There are no letters. There is no evidence. For countless centuries, common law has held that silence implies consent.

Senator Obama's silence speaks consent to Reverend Wright's homilies.
-- Frank Natoli
Newton, New Jersey

Several things come to mind about Obama's pastor disaster.

One, anyone of any skin pigmentation who belongs to or leads a so-called Christian church in which racist and/or anti-Semitic views or ideologies issue even once from the pulpit -- or who supports those views inside or outside any such church -- has no understanding of Him for whom Christianity is named.

Two, opportunistic Obama and honesty appear to have little association, if any at all.

Letter to the Editor

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