In a recently resurfaced television interview from 1995, Barack
Obama describes Rev. Jeremiah Wright as a "wonderful man" who
"represents the best of what the black Church has to offer."
The pro-Obama blog Old Man McCain posted a three part
video interview of Obama, in which he was discussing his memoir,
Dreams From My Father.
At one point the interviewer, Connie Martinson says, "wonderful
man there, Rev. Wright."
To which Obama responded:
"Wright, who is my pastor, and
he is a wonderful man…He's a pastor of a large congregation
in Chicago, and one of the interesting things that I discover in my
journey to discover what my identity is and who my father is, is
also discovering my own faith, which is not necessarily a
traditional faith. I don't come out of an institutionalized
religious setting, but what becomes important to me as I work with
churches in the South Side of Chicago and low income neighborhoods
is to realize that all of the stories and songs of the Church, the
hope that is embodied in the Church, the sense of liberation that
is embodied in the historically African American Church, is really
something that moves me deeply, and I think is probably the main
pillar around which a lot of inner city communities are going to be
built, and Rev. Wright, my pastor who I speak about in the chapter
in the book, I think represents the best of what the black Church
has to offer."
What's
also interesting is that here, Obama talks about his faith in terms
of its ability to help build black communities, but these days
(most recently in the Saddleback Church forum), his discussions of
faith are much more religious, and rooted in biblical
quotations.
Video below (the excerpted portion around the 2:40 mark):
topics:
Television, Africa
