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Wright’s Comments Show That the Stain of Antisemitism Remains

Posted by MARK DANIELS in Uncategorized.
Mar 27th, 2008 | Comments

Heretofore unrevealed antisemitic and racist comments from former Obama pastor Jeremiah Wright received prominent play on Thursday night. This was the straw that broke the camel’s back for me, convincing me that tonight, I needed to react and analyze Wright’s various pronouncements from one Christian’s perspective:

[Antisemitic] talk like this has no place in Christian discourse. In the most famous passage in the New Testament, Jesus told Nicodemus that God so “love the world,” that’s everybody. (The universality of God’s love does not mean that God accepts all human behaviors. God calls us to repent for our sin, to turn from it. If we want to hold onto our sin, with no intention of turning from it and embracing dependence on Christ alone, we cannot enter Christ’s kingdom…)

Furthermore, I’ve never understood how Christians could be antisemitic. The Savior we follow, Who we believe was both God and human, was Jewish. The Jewish people were the womb and cradle of our Lord. The first Christians were all Jews.

In the past, a disturbing lie developed among Christians, one embodied in certain Roman Catholic liturgies and in the antisemitic rhetoric of the founder of the Lutheran movement of which I am a part, Martin Luther, blaming Jews for the crucifixion of Jesus…But anyone who looks at the New Testament accounts of Jesus’ execution and the early Church’s reflections on this event will conclude that the entire known world of Jesus’ day–Jewish, through its leaders, and Gentile, through the Roman Empire–repudiated Jesus and called for His death. We all are responsible for Jesus’ crucifixion. We all are culpable. The sins of us all are the reason that Jesus died. This point is well-underscored in the words of the hymn, Ah, Holy Jesus, which our congregation sang one week ago, on Good Friday:

Who was the guilty? Who brought this upon Thee?
Alas, my treason, Jesus, hath undone Thee.
’Twas I, Lord, Jesus, I it was denied Thee!
I crucified Thee.

Just a few weeks ago, in an adult Sunday School class at the congregation I’m privileged to pastor, Saint Matthew Lutheran Church, I was asked why so much hatred has been directed at the Jews through the centuries. There can be no rational explanation except to say that human beings never tire of finding scapegoats. It’s pathetic and tragic, but even in 2008, the stain of Antisemitism remains.

Pyronite

Wait a minute -- Barack Obama's pastor didn't actually say anything.

"Heretofore unrevealed antisemitic and racist comments from former Obama pastor Jeremiah Wright received prominent play on Thursday night."

Racist, perhaps -- if you accept the "garlic nose" comment as legitimate, though I have yet to see documentation beyond a right-wing news organization (CNSNews), who has not sourced the comment.

But the quote above is flat-out inaccurate. The entire context of this post suggests that anti-semitic remarks from Jeremiah Wright have surfaced. They haven't.

While a weekly newsletter in Wright's church published an editorial by a pro-Palestinian/anti-Israeli writer, you cannot convince me that these qualify as "Wright's comments," and doing so seems an incredible leap in judgment.

I was wondering why none of the anti-Semitic comments that Wright made were being quoted, and this is presumably why. While I agree with your stance on on anti-Semitism, I cannot agree with an article whose foundation is so egregiously inaccurate.

Pyronite

Again:
"Wright’s Comments Show That the Stain of Antisemitism Remains"
"I needed to react and analyze Wright’s various pronouncements..."
"Heretofore unrevealed antisemitic and racist comments from former Obama pastor Jeremiah Wright..."
"Wright's comments are bound to cause Senator Obama further grief as..."

MJDaniels53

Pyronite:
Thanks for the comments. Look here: http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idU...

Wright was the author of some of the incendiary stuff being talked about on Thursday, the publisher of others of it.

Thanks again.

Mark Daniels

Pete Abel

The Reuters article you linked to does not provide any additional or new information. Wright (directly or indirectly) re-published the Hamas leader piece, which was originally published (as I understand it) in the LA Times -- and that news (of the republication) was reported last week, not this week. In terms of Wright's article referencing Italians, that's clearly not anti-Semitic; it's offensive perhaps to Italians, but last I checked, Italians aren't synonymous with Jews. Am I missing something here?

mikkel

Even if Wright did sympathize with the Hamas thing, that doesn't mean that he is anti-Semitic, he could just think that they have apartheid and would connect with that. Now it is extremely stupid to empathize with a group that is plainly antisemitic and terrorists that are completely ruining things for all people instead of South Africa's more uplifting and most peaceful resistance, but that's a different topic. I've often found that people show preference to groups based on extremely superficial reasoning of similarities rather than agreeing with their core ideology.

Idiosyncrat

Jeremiah Wright... The gift that keeps on giving!

Holly_in_Cincinnati

You may have missed this news item:

http://elections.jta.org/2008/03/27/wright-isra...

Wright: Israel worked on building an ethnic bomb

By Ami Eden on Mar 27, 2008 in Barack Obama, Presidential Race |

In this column in the church newsletter, Rev. Jeremiah Wright said that South Africa and Israel both “worked on an ethnic bomb that kills Blacks and Arabs.”

http://tucc.org/upload/tuccbulletin_june10.pdf

Pyronite

Holly, from the church bulletin you linked to, page 10:
"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." - Ali Baghdadi

Again, Wright said nothing of the sort. He's made his share of harebrained comments, but this is not one of them.

And while it wasn't true, Ali Baghdadi may have believed it to be so; in the late 90s the London Sunday Times published a report, which was picked up by other publications such as Wired Magazine and The Village Voice, stating that Israel was working on an "ethnic weapon" against Arabs:
http://www.wired.com/politics/law/news/1998/11/...
http://www.villagevoice.com/news/9904,ridgeway,...

Also reported in the Village Voice:
"According to the usually reliable Foreign Report, a Jane's publication which provides reports and analysis of international defense issues, Israeli scientists may have employed research conducted by South Africa during the apartheid era. During the 1980s, scientists from that nation were ordered to develop a weapon to target black people— based on pigmentation— that could be spread in beer, maize, or even by vaccination. But they were not successful."
http://www.villagevoice.com/news/9904,ridgeway,...

I do not know about the South Africa claim, but I do know that Israel's "ethnic bomb" has been debunked. Such is the nature of bias that Ali Baghdadi still believes it, but to those who read such articles and were not around for any follow-up, they may appear quite credible.

Holly_in_Cincinnati

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Holly_in_Cincinnati

I have skimmed the letter from Bagdadi in the bulletin which is on what is prominently labeled "Pastor's Page. " Mr. Bagdadi may have said it but Pastor Wright would not have printed it in his own newsletter on his own page if he didn't whole-heartedly agree with it. I hope that Oprah Winfrey wasn't stupid enough to believe it too.

==========================================================

From One Issue of Jeremiah Wright's Trinity UCC Newsletter

http://tucc.org/upload/tuccbulletin_june10.pdf

Pages 8-11: Grossly-ignorant and slanderous description of the creation of the State of Israel in 1948 - the "ethnic bomb" canard is on p. 10 and reads as follows:

"PASTOR’S PAGE

Open Letter to Oprah from Ali Baghdadi on Her Visit to Palestine

I must tell you that Israel was the closest allyto 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."

I'm almost afraid to read the rest of Wright's newsletter. Either he is grossly naive or else maliciously anti-Semitic. The UCC should defrock Pastor Wright, not praise him. If he is just naive and ill-informed then his judgment is questionable and so is that of his congregants, including Sen. Obama.

Pyronite

"I have skimmed the letter from Bagdadi in the bulletin which is on what is prominently labeled "Pastor's Page. " Mr. Bagdadi may have said it but Pastor Wright would not have printed it in his own newsletter on his own page if he didn't whole-heartedly agree with it."

Okay, now I know that you are operating with some sort of bias as well.

If you cannot understand why he would print something in his newsletter "on his own page" that he doesn't wholeheartedly agree with, you're also likely to believe that Obama supports all of his Pastor's assertions.

Your best bet would be to go back in "Pastor's Pages" and see what else has been printed. I guarantee that there will be opinions from "the other side" at some point.

Holly_in_Cincinnati

We Jews believe in diversity of opinion while most Christian pastors do not.

Holly_in_Cincinnati

No, I don't believe Sen. Obama believes all of Pastor Wright's ridiculous assertions, but I also don't believe that Sen. Obama is qualified to be President.

Pyronite

And that belief seems to be clouding your comments in this thread, allowing you to jump to conclusions that are unfounded. You did not bother checking the link to Wright's bulletin to determine whether or not he actually stated what you were saying he did.

I don't care what side of the coin you're on, that's not the way to do things.

Holly_in_Cincinnati

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AshenShard

What do you base that assertion on? I for one think that is quite false. I would think the split of religious leaders as to who have more diverse views is mostly equal across religious lines. Usually though the extremists to one side or the other get the most press, or in Wright's case, a few out of context comments are blown out of proportion, or meanings placed where there is none.

Of course, there is always the point that many who believe one group or another have more diversity of opinion are the most narrow of mind.

Holly_in_Cincinnati

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Holly_in_Cincinnati

Pyronite: As you can see from my above comment, I went to the TUCC newsletter in question, downloaded it, searched it, and read the entire letter from Mr. Bagdadi.

AshenShard: I should have said "many" rather than "most." I have been told by Christians and ex-Christians that asking questions or disputation was not welcome in their churches and schools.

Holly_in_Cincinnati

In my opinion, Sen. Obama has multiple other and far worse albatrosses than Pastor Wright.

Whocares

No, I don't believe Sen. Obama believes all of Pastor Wright's ridiculous assertions, but I also don't believe that Sen. Obama is qualified to be President.

I still keep waiting for him to resign for the good of the party.

Holly_in_Cincinnati

JTA has posted a correction:

http://elections.jta.org/2008/03/27/wright-isra...

Wright published column claiming Israel worked on ethnic bomb
By Ami Eden on Mar 27, 2008 in Barack Obama, Presidential Race |

[Corrected] In a column published by Rev. Jeremiah Wright in his church’s newsletter, Ali Baghdadi, an Arab-American activist, claimed that South Africa and Israel together “worked on an ethnic bomb that kills Blacks and Arabs.”

MJDaniels53

Several points...

As a pastor, I can tell you that no comments would appear on "the pastor's page" of our church's newsletter with which I was not in full accord. Wright's inclusion of antisemitic articles on his page constitutes and endorsement of antisemitism, as does the recognition of Louis Farrakhan with a "lifetime achievement award." To those who say that the award came from Trinity UCC, I would point out that it would not have been given to Farrakhan without Wright's active support. I stand by my belief that Wright has, more than once, expressed antisemitic sentiments.

As to most pastors being closed-minded, Holly, I can only say that this has not been my experience. I think it's fair to expect that pastors will have fixed opinions on core matters they believe to have been addressed by God, in other words, on matters relating to salvation. These are called salvific. On all other such matters--what the theologians call adiaphora, most pastors I know not only accept, but express, diverse opinions. I will grant that the pastors with the biggest mouths and the largest audiences tend to be legalists who accept no dissension. Easy answers always more adherents.

Finally, though I think that the condemnations of Israel embraced by Wright reflect antisemitism, I don't believe that criticisms of Israel are necessarily antisemitic. Israel is a state with which the US has relations. It has a right to exist within secure borders. It is an ally of the US. It isn't perfect. US and Israeli policy must not mesh on every question, any more than the US and Canada or the US and the UK need to always agree. As a Christian, I do not equate modern Israel with Biblical Israel. I share this simply by way of giving some context to what I say. I am, then, not a knee-jerk supporter of Israel's policies and, in some instances, am quite critical of Israel. But, as I said in my original post, there is no place for antisemitism in Christian discourse. Period.

God bless all our commenters.

Moderately Yours,
Mark

Holly_in_Cincinnati

Thanks Mark, that is my attitude on criticism of Israel. Criticism of only Israel, however, for things done by many other countries which pass unremarked is a big problem.

runasim

I'm sorry to see, whenever it happens, a rivalry emerge between wounded groups about who is the more victimized and more aggrieved.

There should be a bar of 'unacceptable' beyond which we need not parse out gradations.

I agree with Holly, that in some areas, Jews are disproportionally criticized. That follows a period where Israel was never criticized, not even seriously examined.
It enjoyed tremendous, unquesitoning support on the basis of faith in their need for a homeland,, pure and simple. They were the heroes in American consciousness.

People are incredibly ficklle and can turn on a dime from idolaization to unreasobale attacks.

The situation with racism is different in that blacks never enjoyed a period in the sunshine of being seen as heroes. Every advance was achieved in the face of tremendous opposition and attacks. No black man can claim a grandmother who imigrated here and could blend in by virue of her skin color.

Rather than seeing this a a competition, I would hope that we can simply see the two groups as being different, with a different historical experience. Their emotions also arise from different experiences.

I would also hope that we can denounce both racism and anti-semitsim without needing to choose favorites.

ChrisWWW

Wow. The trumped up controversy continues!

And this quote from Holly continues to amaze me: "Mr. Bagdadi may have said it but Pastor Wright would not have printed it in his own newsletter on his own page if he didn't whole-heartedly agree with it."

It's stunning what politics can do to people.

martial

Why is it that opponents of Israel never worry about slavery? The reason for the opposition to Israel is principally that its religion celebrates a holiday called Passover that today condemns slavery ('twas not always so). By destroying Israel, the passage through the Suez so vital to providing the Indian Ocean with slaves produced from North Africa would be unimpeded. Presumably, Pastor Wright wishes to own a few female slaves himself.

martial

Another thing about this guy is how well he is named: Reverend Jeremiah Wright delivers jeremaids based on a jerry-built theology. Try to find texts of the sermons; they do not appear to exist. When one is told to listen to those sermons in their entirety, one is given a humanly impossible task. Five minutes of Jeremiah Wright is all a normal human being can stand; the tortures of Hell can hardly be worse than fifteen minutes of Reverend Wright.

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