[Marxism] CNN: Rev. Jeremiah Wrightâs 9/11 sermon

[Walter Lippmann <walterlx@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I've just finished listening to Rev. Jeremiah Wright's
sermon. It's been a long time since I've been in a Black
church and hear a sermon like this. Taking the opportunity
to listen to the entire thing, and I'm planning to listen
to it a second time, I must tell you that I stood up and
rocked to and fro as I heard this man TEACH! 

Furthermore, when you consider how Obama differentiated
himself from his (former) pastor - very carefully and
politely, Obama shows even greater political skill then
one might think based on his already quite good remarks
on race in the United States. I cannot recomment that
you listen to this speech, in full, more highly. Do it!


Walter Lippmann
Los Angeles
=========================================================

March 21, 2008
The full story behind Rev. Jeremiah Wrightâs 9/11 sermon
Posted: 10:09 AM ET


Editorâs note: CNN Contributor Roland Martin has listened to several
of the sermons of Rev. Jeremiah Wright from Trinity United Church of
Christ in Chicago. Portions of the sermons have been excerpted in
recent stories.

As this whole sordid episode regarding the sermons of the Rev.
Jeremiah Wright has played out over the last week, I wanted to
understand what he ACTUALLY said in this speech. Iâve been saying all
week on CNN that context is important, and I just wanted to know what
the heck is going on.

I have now actually listened to the sermon Rev. Wright gave after
September 11 titled, âThe Day of Jerusalemâs Fall.â It was delivered
on Sept. 16, 2001.

One of the most controversial statements in this sermon was when he
mentioned âchickens coming home to roost.â He was actually quoting
Edward Peck, former U.S. Ambassador to Iraq and deputy director of
President Reaganâs terrorism task force, who was speaking on FOX
News. Thatâs what he told the congregation.

He was quoting Peck as saying that Americaâs foreign policy has put
the nation in peril:

âI heard Ambassador Peck on an interview yesterday did anybody else
see or hear him? He was on FOX News, this is a white man, and he was
upsetting the FOX News commentators to no end, he pointed out, a
white man, an ambassador, he pointed out that what Malcolm X said
when he was silenced by Elijah Mohammad was in fact true, he said
Americas chickens, are coming home to roost.â

âWe took this country by terror away from the Sioux, the Apache,
Arikara, the Comanche, the Arapaho, the Navajo. Terrorism.

âWe took Africans away from their country to build our way of ease
and kept them enslaved and living in fear. Terrorism.

âWe bombed Grenada and killed innocent civilians, babies,
non-military personnel.

âWe bombed the black civilian community of Panama with stealth
bombers and killed unarmed teenage and toddlers, pregnant mothers and
hard working fathers.

âWe bombed Qaddafiâs home, and killed his child. Blessed are they who
bash your childrenâs head against the rock.

âWe bombed Iraq. We killed unarmed civilians trying to make a living.
We bombed a plant in Sudan to pay back for the attack on our embassy,
killed hundreds of hard working people, mothers and fathers who left
home to go that day not knowing that theyâd never get back home.

âWe bombed Hiroshima. We bombed Nagasaki, and we nuked far more than
the thousands in New York and the Pentagon and we never batted an
eye.

âKids playing in the playground. Mothers picking up children after
school. Civilians, not soldiers, people just trying to make it day by
day.

âWe have supported state terrorism against the Palestinians and black
South Africans, and now we are indignant because the stuff that we
have done overseas is now brought right back into our own front
yards. Americaâs chickens are coming home to roost.

âViolence begets violence. Hatred begets hatred. And terrorism begets
terrorism. A white ambassador said that yâall, not a black militant.
Not a reverend who preaches about racism. An ambassador whose eyes
are wide open and who is trying to get us to wake up and move away
from this dangerous precipice upon which we are now poised. The
ambassador said the people we have wounded donât have the military
capability we have. But they do have individuals who are willing to
die and take thousands with them. And we need to come to grips with
that.â

He went on to describe seeing the photos of the aftermath of 9/11
because he was in Newark, N.J., when the planes struck. After turning
on the TV and seeing the second plane slam into one of the twin
towers, he spoke passionately about what if you never got a chance to
say hello to your family again.

âWhat is the state of your family?â he asked.

And then he told his congregation that he loved them and asked the
church to tell each other they loved themselves.

His sermon thesis:

1. This is a time for self-examination of ourselves and our families.

2. This is a time for social transformation (then he went on to say
they wonât put me on PBS or national cable for what Iâm about to say.
Talk about prophetic!)

âWe have got to change the way we have been doing things as a
society,â he said.

Wright then said we canât stop messing over people and thinking they
canât touch us. He said we may need to declare war on racism,
injustice, and greed, instead of war on other countries.

âMaybe we need to declare war on AIDS. In five minutes the Congress
found $40 billion to rebuild New York and the families that died in
sudden death, do you think we can find the money to make medicine
available for people who are dying a slow death? Maybe we need to
declare war on the nationâs healthcare system that leaves the
nationâs poor with no health coverage? Maybe we need to declare war
on the mishandled educational system and provide quality education
for everybody, every citizen, based on their ability to learn, not
their ability to pay. This is a time for social transformation.â

3. This is time to tell God thank you for all that he has provided
and that he gave him and others another chance to do His will.

By the way, nowhere in this sermon did he said âGod damn America.â
Iâm not sure which sermon that came from.

This doesnât explain anything away, nor does it absolve Wright of
using the N-word, but what it does do is add an accurate perspective
to this conversation.

The point that I have always made as a journalist is that our job is
to seek the truth, and not the partial truth.

I am also listening to the other sermons delivered by Rev. Wright
that have been the subject of controversy.

And let me be clear: Where I believe he was wrong and not justified
in what he said based upon the facts, I will say so. But where the
facts support his argument, that will also be said.

So stay tuned.

(35 minutes)
http://ac360.blogs.cnn.com/2008/03/21/the-full-story-behind-rev-jeremiah-wrights-911-sermon/

=========================================
     WALTER LIPPMANN
     Los Angeles, California
     Editor-in-Chief, CubaNews
     http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CubaNews/
     "Cuba - Un ParaÃso bajo el bloqueo"
=========================================

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