Jeremiah Wright & Guilt by Association

Who is Naipaul?

"For example, to see September 11 as a punishment for American foreign policy is as theologically obnoxious as seeing it as a punishment for abortion and gays, something that some conservative white preachers said."

Theologically, maybe. Geopolitically, not so much. It's different to claim that 'God' wanted people to oppress gays and Pagans and for failing to do so, caused 9/11 to happen, than to be of the opinion that American foreign policy since the Cold war and before has had a hand in cultivating a climate where terrorist elements thrived in places like Saudi Arabia and elsewhere. Of course, the distinction may fade somewhat if it's claimed that 'God' disapproved of the foreign policy and therefore supernaturally smote all those victims.

The situation's too complex to encapsulate so simply, but in a sense, 9/11 did have *something* very non-supernatural to do with how we dealt with the Middle East in a post-colonialist time.

One can't *supernaturally* shift the blame off the actual perpetrators, but I'm more worried about the types that want to hurt me here in *this* country to maybe get back their 'veil of righteous protection' than about those who read a lot of Naipaul.

Maybe Wright is God's punishment to Obama.

The phrase "guilt by association" is supposed to be a show-stopper, as if such a thing is impossible. Guilt by association is perfectly legitimate in this instance.

Obama is not facing criminal charges; if he were, mere association would not convict him. Instead, he's running for president, and people can choose not to vote for him because he associates with a racist nut.

Besides, the "association" in this case is more like "immersion." Obama attended Wright's sermons for 20 years, got married there, had his children baptized there.

Sorry, Obama's actions are an endorsement of Wright's words. His evasions make it even worse. I'm not voting for Obama. He's guilty by association, he really is.

I'm sorry, but when you sit in the pews for twenty years listening to a hateful, bigoted crackpot spew insane conspiracy theories and race hatred and never object, you ARE guilty.

The Rev. Wright has been spewing bigotry, hate, and anti-American diatribes for decades. Obama chose him and sat through it for 20 years. Couple that voluntary association along with his wife's America hating comments and Obama's long and close relationship with the terrorist William Ayers and I don't see how anyone can see any good in him. Obama is not a good man.

Nonsense. 9/11 wasn't any sort of payback. It was the action of a delusional madman who has as his great goal the establishment of the entire world under Sharia Law and everyone bowing to Mecca five times a day. The left continues to ignore this simply because they themselves do not wish to accept the possibility that there really are dangerous madmen on the lose that aren't named Dick Chaney.

when you suggest prayer than God forgives America, forgive America for what, its foreign policies. the attack of 9/11 was not punishment, but response to the foreign policies of this country in the middle east

Father Reese is being disingenuous in the extreme. If a presidential candidate had spent 20 years as a member of a church led by a Klansman, he would be first in line to denounce that candidate. It isn't a matter of "guilt by association"; it's a question of what that church membership says about you. I wouldn't begin to suggest that Obama agrees with everything that Wright says, but to date he hasn't indicated what he specifically objected to. And even if he does, he still has to answer the question: what reason could one have to subject oneself to the kind of racist, hare-brained preaching that Wright indulged in so often in the course of those 20 years?

Sorry about misspelling Rev. Wright's name.

I'm proud that Rev. Write has come out to defend himself. No one can see the complete sermon and see as anything other than a loving, expressive, outspoken minister. People who want to corrupt Rev. Writes sermons and then use it as a justification for nor voting for Obama, or use it as a justification to disparage Obama, were not going to vote for him under any circumstance and they would have found something else to disparage Obama.

Any one who cares to know the truth can view the videos. Critics are using this issue as a proxy for their own racial, cultural and religious bigotry. Nothing said or done in this campaign will change their minds.

However, the enlightened among us can raise our voices and shout them down.

To: Jeremiah Wright, I received my degree in Public Administration 1979; and still learning today. You and the world knows the type of relationship between Blacks and Whites in America. You know whatever comes out of thy mouth can defile man...guess what? You currently are fired-up at the wrong time. If you cared about the outcome of this 2008 election, you need to standdown. There is a factor that will not jive whit Church and State. Please allow God to do his thing and you need to glorify god and permit the government to complete thier process mimus your harsh demeaning committs to your self.