Sliming Obama
Dueling chain e-mails claim he's a radical Muslim or a 'racist' Christian. Both can't be right. We find both are false.
Dueling chain e-mails claim he's a radical Muslim or a 'racist' Christian. Both can't be right. We find both are false.
Summary
If these two nasty e-mail messages are any indication, the 2008 presidential campaign is becoming a very dirty one.
One claims that Obama is "certainly a racist" by virtue of belonging to Chicago's Trinity United Church of Christ, which it says "will accept only black parishoners" and espouses a commitment to Africa. Actually, a white theology professor says he's been "welcomed enthusiastically" at the church, as have other non-blacks.
Another e-mail claims that Obama "is a Muslim," attended a "Wahabi" school in Indonesia, took his Senate oath on the Koran, refuses to recite the Pledge of Allegiance and is part of an Islamic plot to take over the U.S. Each of these statements is false.
These false appeals to bigotry and fear remind us of the infamous whispering campaign of eight years ago, when anonymous messages just before the South Carolina primary falsely accused Republican candidate John McCain of fathering an illegitimate child by a black woman.
Analysis
We turn first to the most recent of these Internet whispering campaigns: a widely forwarded e-mail that says Barack Obama's church, the Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, is anti-American, will only accept black parishioners and tilts toward Africa at the expense of the United States. The e-mail claims Obama is therefore "certainly a racist" and "desires to rule over America while his loyalty is totally vested in a Black Africa."
We've had scores of queries about the accuracy of this one. It's bunk. For one thing, the church welcomes whites, according to a University of Chicago professor of divinity who says he has attended. And while its controversial pastor is a fiery advocate for blacks and liberal causes and a fierce critic of anti-black discrimination, we've seen no evidence that he preaches hatred of or discrimination against whites.
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Member Comments
Posted By: Bruce&tennis @ 05/07/2008 12:51:04 AM
Comment: Kind of makes you wonder how "investigative" these reporters are...wouldn't you say? Especially since, "...we've seen no evidence that he preaches hatred..." hum, maybe Newsweek needs to spend more time checking their information.
Posted By: marinabreeze @ 04/04/2008 10:56:54 AM
Comment: But isn't that the problem right there? Too many Americans thinking the world should revolve around them? Isn't that hateful? The bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki may have saved American lives (which is to some degree debatable since the war was winding down even without the bombs), but it killed many Japanese civilians and made more sick with glowing radiation for decades to come. Just because they did not have the fortune of being born American means that their lives are worth squat? And, even if YOU believe so, Christianity was not designed to be pro-American and anti-everyone else, so the fact that Rev. Wright, a Christian pastor, preached about the wrong of the atomic bomb might not be pro-American, but it does recognize the CHRISTIAN principle that EVERY life is sacred, not just the lives of those who look like ourselves.
Posted By: marinabreeze @ 04/04/2008 10:48:59 AM
Comment: It kills me when someone tells the truth about the racial divide in the US and they're labeled a "racist." Rev. Wright is not the only one who mentioned America's culpability in 9/11...the late Jerry Falwell anyone? But Falwell wasn't considered to be anything less than a patriot, but Wright is? And about AIDS, it might seem ridiculous, but considering the Tuskegee experiments from a number of decades ago in which blacks were deliberately left untreated for illnesses so they could be monitored (but told they were in fact being treated), it's not that much of a leap. America is my country and I'm loyal to it, but loyalty does not mean pretending that everything we do is right and bashing those who disagree. Besides, as a church leader, Wright's job is not to wrap himself in the American flag or make white people (or anyone) feel better. His loyalty is to the word of God...period.