more willing to accept this kind of thing as based on some comments

Who accept what?

Yes, I do. I watch Trinity Broadcast Network at least once a month (Pastor Hagee was on this afternoon and I saw his show), and read Pat Buchanan’s books. I also regularly have conversations about controversial issues with my white, conservative evangelical friends - and my black conservative friends. We disagree on things like abortion (unlike my one friend, I don’t believe “90% of women have them because they don’t want to get fat” but I know *why* she thinks that), homosexuality, separation of church and state, etc. Within my own family, we talk about political disagreements, too.

So I’m not cutting any slack for Rev Wright; I’m just more *familiar* with his kind of beliefs. It’s a lot easier for me to understand him than for me to understand Rev. Hagee, for example. But Rev Hagee isn’t alone in what he believes - he has thousands of followers in many countries. I could write him off, but that doesn’t change the reality.

One of my best friends wrote her master’s thesis on white supremacist Christian movements, and (essentially) religious cults in the US. I’ve read the thesis and agree with her that its important to comprehend where such folks are coming from, otherwise you end up with tragedies like Waco. I wish we could ignore or dismiss away someone like Bin Laden.

Yes. I think so.

Okay. As long as they’re not Fox News holding a debate, though, eh?

Do you seek to understand where the true racists (think KKK) are coming from? Do you really think that’s constructive? Should we seek to understand where Osama bin Laden is coming from?

Yes. I think so.

You can disagree with something - find it ludicrous even - but you should still try to understand why people say what they say.

Sure.
Take the case of abortion, for instance. There are people who think it pertains to “choice” and others who only think of it in terms of a baby. They’ll never reconcile their differences but as long as one side can articulate WHY they have their convictions, at least the two sides can ’see’ where the other is coming from.

That being said, I’m sorry, but I can’t see how an audience can applaud or agree with the hate put forth by Wright and it be based in anything other than, well, hate. And that has nothing at all to do with Barack Obama.

Questions: Do you seek to understand where the Randall Terry types are coming from? Do you seek to understand where the true racists (think KKK) are coming from? Do you really think that’s constructive? Should we seek to understand where Osama bin Laden is coming from?

I would never vote Rev. Wright into office.

Would you nod approvingly or applaud during his sermons when he emphasized some of the more anti-American themes? How about Falwell? Pat Robertson?

I was told years ago that it was wrong for Jerry Falwell to blame 9/11 on God’s retribution because of gays & lesbians. I agreed.
I was told that “hate speech” is to be condemned. I agreed.
I was told that making ugly statements about other races was unacceptable. I agreed.
I was told that being closed-minded was something to abhor. I agreed.

Little did I realize that those proclamations only applied in certain circumstances. That was THEN, you know.

The “United States of Amerikkka” has been around FOREVER (well probably as long as the KKK and maybe since our president Woodrow Wilson praised “Birth of a Nation” and the KKK). After the Tuskeegee experiments, Jim Crow, the Philadelphia bombings of 1985, the assassination of MLK, Dred Scott, and a million other things, it’s not difficult to imagine the lack of trust many AAs have for the American government. And surely, they aren’t the only ones who have good reason to be suspicious/paranoid, given that the government is on record for having lied to us all many times in the past.

But what does that *mean*? That they hate America? No, AAs are still over-represented in the Armed Forces, for example. And sixty percent of those eligible voted in the 2004 elections. I almost joined the military several times - but I didn’t trust my gov’t not to send me off to fight for the wrong reasons. (Ten years later, I’m glad I followed my instincts on that!)

Again, I haven’t heard Wright’s clips, but I’ve heard that kind of stuff from people who have served this country, who work hard, who pay their taxes, who don’t hate white people, etc. etc. Granted, some of these same people believe in REALLY crazy stuff (to me) like Armageddon, and hellfire, and a vengeful God, but I don’t hold it against them. Well, sometimes I do.

I guess I just don’t see it as such a big deal - except that white folks are shocked! It’s like when Peter Jennings announced many years ago on a nightly broadcast, “Strange as it may sound, many African Americans believe there is a conspiracy against black males in this country!” I saw that and thought, “And this is news?” Well, I guess it was to white folks!

In any case, what does this have to do with Obama?

Amen, brother…

“All I hope is that by the time the next President takes office there will be something left to destroy.”

Other than the smoldering ruins left by the past 20 years’ occupants of the White House, not much…