Obama’s ties to Farrakhan
Posted on February 7th, 2008 by Jackie Danicki
Jeez, I was sort of starting to like one of the candidates, despite his despicable politics. That’ll learn me.
Hat tip: Seraphic Secret
Filed under: Life
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C'est moi
VP of Marketing & Communications for Rackup, but nothing here reflects what my employer or colleagues think. In fact, they probably think it's all cray-cray.
I’m surprised at you, Jackie. Just because someone attends a church where their minister has controversial views, it doesn’t automatically mean that the person supports those views. It’s like saying that just because I became a Canadian citizen, I support the policies of the Conservative Party.
Articles like the one you posted are little more than scurrilous propaganda driven by fear and xenophobia. Obama’s done nothing (that I’ve seen) to indicate that he’s a supporter of Farrakhan or the NOI; in fact, I’m more concerned about his allegiance with anti-gay ministers than any tenuous associations he has with the NOI.
My church leaders have done much worse than this and I have not left them. I think you really have to look at the candidate, and his actions and words are opposite of Farrakan’s.
http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/factcheckactioncenter/
Don’t know why I’m writing in so much today. Fired up, I guess.
“I decry racism and anti-Semitism in every form and strongly condemn the anti-Semitic statements made by Minister Farrakhan. I assume that Trumpet Magazine made its own decision to honor Farrakhan based on his efforts to rehabilitate ex-offenders, but it is not a decisions with which I agree.”
-BHO
Cecily, a church and a country are two very different things, as you well know. Someone embraced by the mainstream who belongs to an organization which heralds the “greatness” of an anti-Semite is vastly troubling to me. In my view, continuing to support that organization is tantamount to approval with its causes. How can it not be?
Come on, now: If Mike Huckabee belonged to a church which honored the “greatness” of David Duke, would you - or anyone with good sense - really claim it was no biggie?
Of course, I’m still befuddled at how any gay person can support Hillary Clinton, considering her views on gay rights.
Mike, I’m waiting for Obama to withdraw support for the magazine and the church which publishes it. (You’re also welcome to comment as much as you wish! Glad to have your input.)
Rolling Stone has more on the degree of influence this preacher has with Obama.
I’m glad you highlight bigotry the way you do- why so many people think being liberal makes people racism-proof is beyond me. Liberal racism is more covert than the pitchfork-wielding comedy right-wing sort, but that hardly makes it less bad! Genuinely enlightened tolerance really hasn’t happened yet, and isn’t going to come from any political wing as far as I can see.
I have to agree with the first comments. I used to go to a church where a priest would pray for the victory of Islamic fundamentalism and Communism over Christianity (well he probably didn’t think that’s what supporting Northern Chad puppets of Libya and the Sandinista regime in Nicaragua meant, but the road to Hell etc.).
In fact, I’d like to know how come this 1982 information came out now. It has the stench of Hillary Clinton’s FBI files and goon squad smeared all over it.
I see the FBI arrested a few Mafia suspects today. If they’d done it last week, I reckon Obama might have won New Jersey.
Antoine, I think the operative words in your second sentence are “used to”!
On the subject of evil people, Hillary Clinton’s $5 million loan to her campaign.
Apart from illegal campaign donations from the Saudi royal family and from the Chinese government, does anyone know where Mrs Clinton has made $5 million in spare cash recently? New Jersey businessmen with exotic nicknames perhaps?
If I buy a campaign pin from the John Edwards campaign, I would be making an illegal campaign donation. The House of Saud pays Bill $1 million, he sticks it in a joint account. Mrs C gives the money to her campaign and that’s OK?
They tried the “don’t vote for the hired help, them racists in South Carolina won’t” now the CLINTONS are playing the ETHICS card?! The pot really is calling the kettle black. Next someone’ll try and kill him. I reckon if Obama wins Texas, they’ll try to Vince Foster him.
Disclosure: I disagree with almost every policy position Senator Obama has taken since his election in 2004.
Church and citizenship are not *vastly* different things. I’ve not joined a church (but most people in my family have) and I know that they had to promise to uphold certain church bylaws and regulations in order to become a members. When I took the oath of Canadian Citizenship, I had to swear to “be faithful to and bear true allegiance to Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth.” Me, a person who thinks the monarchy is fundamentally silly and out of place in modern society is now one of the Queen’s loyal subjects. My brother was once a deacon in one of the most virulently homophobic churches in Atlanta - meanwhile, he was kicking up his heels in gay clubs on Saturday nights.
A church, country, or organization can ask its citizens to adhere to certain regulations, but those members do still have free will to decide whether they will internalize those messages. I think Obama is smart enough to make the distinction between what his minister believes and what he believes for himself. I think that’s evident in that Obama has not asked his minister to campaign on his behalf, and has distanced himself from this person since announcing his candidacy.
People make choices like Obama’s every day. For example, I can — and do — love the idea of America while vigorously condemning many of its foreign and domestic policies. I do it every day without a blink of an eye. Why should we ask more of political candidates? I don’t feel that this Obama situation is as cut and dried as you and the original post are making it out to be.
Oh, and if Huckabee turned out to be the member of a church where the minister was honoring the greatness of David Duke, I would wait to hear Huckabee’s opinion and give him the benefit of the doubt. Until someone showed me a picture of Huckabee in klansman’s robes with a noose in his right hand and a burning cross in his left, I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt.
Cecily, if we can’t agree on the rather basic premise that churches and countries are vastly different things, I’m not surprised that we disagree on the larger issue of one of Obama’s most influential advisers and mentors being an anti-Israeli fan of Louis Farrakhan.