Other black churches defend Jeremiah Wright

In an article which reports that Barack Obama disavowed all knowledge of, or sympathy toward, Jeremiah Wright's comments about 9/11, it was reported that another church is defending him.

This one has the quote from John H. Thomas: Yahoo News

Also Friday, the United Church of Christ issued a 1,400-word statement defending Wright and his "flagship" congregation. John H. Thomas, United Church of Christ's president, lauded Wright's church for its community service and work to nurture youth. Other church leaders praised Wright for speaking out against homophobia and sexism in the black community.

"It's time for all of us to say no to these attacks and to declare that we will not allow anyone to undermine or destroy the ministries of any of our congregations in order to serve their own narrow political or ideological ends," Thomas said in the statement.

I wonder what Thompson meant.... "we will not allow anyone to undermine or destroy the ministries of any of our congregations in order to serve their own narrow political or ideological ends."

If any white pastor had said that blacks were the cause of all the crime in America and all the trouble overseas - who is doing all the killing in Somalia, in the Sudan, in Kenya, what has happened to Zimbabwe and South Africa since the natives took their countries back over - that white pastor would have been out on his ear so fast it would have made his head spin. Racist! the ACLU would have cried.

Yet Wright blames whites for everything ("rich whites" is the phrase he seems to constantly use. All whites are rich, eh?) and that's not racist?

I've looked at Wright's church site, and yes, they have almost a dozen ministries to help the disadvantaged - drug addicts, battered women, ex-cons getting out of jail, they provide computer education, etc.; and there's no anti-white rhetoric there that I could find, although a few of the books they have on offer are interesting in that regard. Unashamedly black and and they do keep referring to "God's people" and I kinda don't think they're including whites when they say that phrase....

There is a phrase on the site.... I paraphrase it.... "If you get a raise, do you think first of buying something for yourself, or do you think of increasing your tithe to the church?" which you probably find on church sites everywhere, admittedly. That tithing...I wonder how much of that goes to paying Wright's salary (or any pastor's salary in any church, of any color - I'm not too impressed with religion generally, let it be said) and how much goes to the programs they run?

And here's there explanation of who they are:

We are a congregation which is Unashamedly Black and Unapologetically Christian... Our roots in the Black religious experience and tradition are deep, lasting and permanent. We are an African people, and remain "true to our native land," the mother continent, the cradle of civilization. God has superintended our pilgrimage through the days of slavery, the days of segregation, and the long night of racism. It is God who gives us the strength and courage to continuously address injustice as a people, and as a congregation. We constantly affirm our trust in God through cultural expression of a Black worship service and ministries which address the Black Community.

The Pastor as well as the membership of Trinity United Church of Christ is committed to a 10-point Vision:

A congregation committed to ADORATION.
A congregation preaching SALVATION.
A congregation actively seeking RECONCILIATION.
A congregation with a non-negotiable COMMITMENT TO AFRICA.
A congregation committed to BIBLICAL EDUCATION.
A congregation committed to CULTURAL EDUCATION.
A congregation committed to the HISTORICAL EDUCATION OF AFRICAN PEOPLE IN DIASPORA.
A congregation committed to LIBERATION.
A congregation committed to RESTORATION.
A congregation working towards ECONOMIC PARITY.