Barack Obama's pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr., is an anti-American kook. Days after the 9/11 attacks, he said that America had brought them on itself. In another sermon he said that we should say "God damn America" instead of "God bless America."
It's not fair to attribute Wright's views to Obama. But it's not good enough for Obama to say that Wright is "like an old uncle who says things I don't always agree with." If my uncle blamed America for 9/11, I wouldn't borrow the title of my book from something he said. I wouldn't say that he keeps me morally centered. I wouldn't give him more than $20,000 to help him spread his views. If my uncle led a church and said this sort of thing, I wouldn't deny that said church was "particularly controversial." And we don't choose our uncles, whereas Obama chose his church.
It's one thing for a candidate to be endorsed by a supporter who has noxious views. In this case, however, the candidate has repeatedly endorsed the supporter.
A lot of people are hearing about the Rev. Wright for the first time, and wondering who he is. But the real question is, Who is Barack Obama? And how he addresses the controversy about his pastor will go a long way to answering that question.
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(c) 2010 Maya Chilam Foundation