You don't need a weatherman to know which way Barack Obama's faith blows

Five days before he announced his candidacy for president, Barack Obama wrote the following letter describing his relationship with Rev. Jeremiah Wright.*

I constantly remember Rev. Wright as the shepherd who guided me to my commitment to Christ one Sunday morning at Trinity. I often consider, as I work in the Senate how he lives his life - a life of service to Trinity, Chicago and the nation; his activism on behalf of causes that few would champion and his dogged commitment to the first principles of love for God and fellow man.

And in my personal walk, I seek daily to imitate his faith.”

His faith? Which aspect of Wright's faith does Obama seek to emulate?

His faith in Hamas? After all, Wright published a letter from the terror group's "political director" in the church newsletter. Hamas has killed over 500 Israeli and American civilians and pride themselves on killing children.

His faith in despicable statements about the U.S. government? "The government gives them the drugs, builds bigger prisons, passes a three-strike law and then wants us to sing 'God Bless America.' No, no, no, G*d d**n America, that's in the Bible for killing innocent people... G*d d**n America for treating our citizens as less than human. G*d d**n America for as long as she acts like she is God and she is supreme."

His faith in the lie that the government invented the HIV virus to kill the man of color? "Wright has asserted that HIV and crack cocaine were government plots aimed at African-Americans."

His faith in despicable racist Louis Farrakhan? In 2007, Wright awarded the Church's Trumpeter award to Farrakhan, stating that "Farrakhan epitomizes greatness." Among Farrakhan's most famous quotes: "The Jews don't like Farrakhan, so they call me Hitler. Well, that's a good name. Hitler was a very great man..."; "They call them terrorists, I call them freedom fighters"; "The Jews helped Hitler get the Third Reich on the road"; "Many of the Jews who owned the homes, the apartments in the black community, we considered them bloodsuckers..."; "The Bush administration does not desire to see Islam practiced in its pristine purity...";

His faith in Muammar Gaddhafi, the man behind the Pan Am 103 explosion? Wright accompanied Farrakhan on a visit to Libya and its terror-supporting dictator Muammar Gaddhafi. Among Gaddhafi's crimes: organizing the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103, which shredded 270 people. Among them were 35 students from Syracuse University and many infants.

His faith in the evil represented by the U.S.? "We are deeply involved in the importing of drugs, the exporting of guns and the training of professional killers. ... We believe in white supremacy and black inferiority and believe it more than we believe in God...

His faith that America deserved 9/11? "America’s chickens are coming home... to roost!”

His faith that America is a racist state? "What's going on in white America -- U.S. of K.K.K. of A! ...Men turning on black men... that is fighting the wrong enemy!"

His faith in the lie that the U.S. government was behind Pearl Harbor? "The government lied about Pearl Harbor! They knew the Japanese were going to attack!"

His faith in moral equivalence? "What we are doing is the same thing Al Qaeda is doing under a different color flag!"

His faith in gated communities? While decrying materialism and "middleclass-ness", he built a 10,340-square-foot house in a gated, and almost exclusively Caucasian community.

* * *
Obama notes that none of these statements "detract from my affection for Reverend Wright or appreciation for the good works he has done."

Obama also claims that this "...is what happens when you just cherry-pick statements from a guy who had a 40-year career as a pastor."

And he asserts he never heard or read any of these incendiary statements in person, even though "most of Dr. Wright's controversial quotes are from a sermon he has delivered many times, including once in Dallas."

When it comes to Wright's church, Obama certainly put his money where his mouth is.


He donated $22,500 to the church in 2006 alone.

Faith. It's all about faith.

Update: Wright is on his 'they took it out of context' tour, visiting friendly hard-core progressive Bill Moyers. Problem is, as Larwyn reminds us: Wright sold the DVDs through his church!

* Bob McCarty and Ironic Surrealism II made the discovery in a Louisiana Weely article (via Gateway Pundit).