Anybody see Rev. Jeremiah Wright on Moyer?

[Dennis S]

[quote cbelt3]Dennis- how about this one ?


I ran through one of his biographies recently. An impressive gentleman who has NOT made it his mission to personally prosper from God.

Or this lady, who lives quite simply in a Nun's cell:


Religious people aren't all Jimmy and Tammy Lee, you know. Some of them really get it, and really mean it.
I agree.

[Lux Interior]

We lived in a very nice neighborhood in Virginia. THere were two preachers on the block when we moved in. They had 3 & 4 bedroom, 2500+ sqft homes. They both moved out after "upgrading".

[RgrF]

[quote cbelt3]Dennis- how about this one ?


I ran through one of his biographies recently. An impressive gentleman who has NOT made it his mission to personally prosper from God.

Or this lady, who lives quite simply in a Nun's cell:


Religious people aren't all Jimmy and Tammy Lee, you know. Some of them really get it, and really mean it.
The residence of the Boston Cardinal: (later sold to pay abuse lawsuits)






The Chicago Cardinal still has his:

[guitarist]

Oh, if we start counting Catholics, we'll have call in a team of accountants and investment brokers to untangle their fortunes.

Where I come from, the preachers are Baptists, and all they own are a few dark suits, a pair of dress shoes, an Oldsmobile, and a ranch-style house, and maybe a cabin or fishing boat.

Maybe I went to the wrong churches. Or just lived in a modest, low-ambition community. I wanna be a Catholic! They have prettier churches and a more affluent congregation!

[$tevie]

[quote guitarist]From Slate Magazine:

"Rev. Jeremiah Wright, the recently retired pastor of Barack Obama's church in Chicago. Here is the form that the reverend's "retirement" will take: a $1.6 million home, purchased in the name of his church and consisting of more than 10,000 square feet, in a gated community in Tinley Park, a prosperous white section of the city. There used to be a secularist line about fat shepherds and thin sheep, but the joke here is not just at the expense of a man who never pretended to be much more than a hustler. The joke is on those of the "flock" who tithed themselves to achieve this level of comfort for a man who must be pinching himself when he wakes up every day."
I don't understand why the "joke is on...the 'flock'"? There are 8,000 members of that church, surely if they didn't want this to occur they could have stopped it? I don't believe this was any sort of secret or surreptitious purchase. This is the way the church has chosen to honor the man who grew the parish from 87 members to 8,000. I don't think it's anybody's business how they chose to handle his retirement, it's their money not ours.

[edgarbc1]

[quote Black Landlord][quote Hibidder]I allowed him his defense that he was "taken out of context" so I downloaded the entire sermon(s) in podcast form.......
The "context" was worse than even the little bits I have heard. There was naked race-hatred, hatred of the
US and its Laws and the Constitution, blame whitey for everything, all the time. And, oh, yeah, we are owed!
No amount of context can justify shouting "G__ D___ America!" - particularly with such joy and enthusiasm.
Pay up, sucka. Reparations Now!
I think this post offers good food for thought. It's exemplary of the mindset of those who will never vote for Obama. And also of those who Obama thinks he can appease by distancing himself from Wright. And as such, evidence that distancing himself is the wrong approach.

Initially I thought the "Race" speech was sort of a score, and that BO was standing up for himself, but I'm reminded of the extent to which I've been allowing myself to embrace milquetoast and mediocrity, and feeling like BO's not got the spine to win my support.

every once in awhile i see a word i never have heard or used in context...
thanks for the vocab lesson BL!
"milquetoast"
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/milquetoast

[OWC Jamie]

those baptists churches would appear to have some minor miracles going on

[kj]

>>>I don't think it's anybody's business how they chose to handle his retirement, it's their money not ours.

There's always been a lot of debate regarding the pay of pastors, etc. It's not fair to expect them to take a vow of poverty, but I don't think extravagance is a good example for clergy to present either. I know of churches that pay pastors the average of the congregation members' incomes, which sounds fair, but I can see not working well. Mormons don't pay their bishops at all, which has it's advantages and disadvantages also. There's no perfect answer, but all the pastors I've known had a very modest income. kj.

[$tevie]

This isn't about a salary, this is about what is essentially a present, so to speak, from the congregation.

[guitarist]

[quote $tevie] I don't understand why the "joke is on...the 'flock'"? There are 8,000 members of that church, surely if they didn't want this to occur they could have stopped it? I don't believe this was any sort of secret or surreptitious purchase. This is the way the church has chosen to honor the man who grew the parish from 87 members to 8,000. I don't think it's anybody's business how they chose to handle his retirement, it's their money not ours.
No one suggested his flock was "tricked" into buying him a 10,000 sq ft. house in a rich community, or that it was done without the congregation's knowledge or consent. But to claim that Wright's habits or lifestyle is not anybody's business in naive. Wright is not a private citizen or little-known minister in some average American community, he's a high-profile civil rights activist and outspoken public figure on the National stage. We're free to think whatever we want.

The larger point here is that guys like Wright pale in comparison to the leaders who's torch they claim to carry, figures like Martin Luther King. Compared to King's legacy, Wright is a self-aggrandizing pretender. A midget.

In order for an up-and-coming African-American political figure to be accepted in the community he wants to represent, it's necessary to win the acceptance of key members of the Official Black Leadership (Wright being one example, Jackson and Al Sharpton being others) in order to gain access and be taken seriously. To believe that Obama chose this church and Wright's guidance for purely spiritual reasons, to "find Jesus" (there are many who actually believe this) is also naive. It's part of the political process, it was done for purely practical reasons. Obama could never have succeeded politically in Chicago's black community without Wright's blessing and support.

It's ironic that the more conservative media figures like Sean Hannity attack Wright, in an effort to discredit Obama, the more it strengthens their resolve and sense of purpose. If Wright was a polarizing figure before, now he's a figure of unity, galvanizing and fortifying the community. It's hard not to enjoy the fact that Sean Hannity is getting the opposite of what he's aiming for, he's actually helping Obama's base become stronger and more unified. I think that's great, Hannity's actually working for their team now, without even realizing it. Which is part of why Obama can't risk distancing himself too much from Wright. To do so would risk alienating a critical part of his base of support.