OK. Enough of my friends are freaking out about Fox News’ continual playing of sound bites from Rev. Wrights’ sermons … and how can I possibly continue to support a candidate who goes to a “church like THAT” … so I suppose I should say something publicly about it.

To begin with, I was not at all freaked out or offended by those sound bites upon first hearing them for two reasons: all ranty ministers say insanely strange things and context is everything (you can’t judge a minister by a 5 second sound bite). In fact, I would go so far as to say that all ministers, no matter their flavor, say some amazingly crazy things during sermons. Also, I didn’t find even those short clips to really sound all that crazy, which I believe puts me in a very tiny minority. With that said…

“America’s chickens are coming home to roost!” — Context provided at YouTube. The relevant bit starts at 3:00 in the video, for those of you who can’t tolerate listening to religion, though listening to the whole thing wouldn’t kill anyone.

“God damn America!” — Context provided at YouTube. The relevant bit starts at 4:10, though, again, listening to the whole thing wouldn’t kill anyone either.

And as far as his comments about HIV being created by the US government, it’s not like he’s the only one who has tossed that theory around. It was a pretty popular theory of the origins of HIV among homosexuals as well in the 80’s, and currently some 25% of African-Americans still believe it might be true (and likely some homosexuals as well). Also, it isn’t as if there aren’t prior experiences in the black and minority communities throughout history that might lead them to think the government could be out to get them medically. For anyone who doubts that, I suggest reading Medical Apartheid: The Dark History of Medical Experimentation on Black Americans from Colonial Times to the Present … or at least read the Amazon page I linked to or this excellent review. It’ll give you some idea of why an entire ethnic group might be a little leery. So, somewhat crazy to say? Yes. A damnable offense to say it? No, just a little ignorant. He gets a pass, because I have personally heard crazier stuff than that from ministers in all-white churches.

The fact that Obama belonged to a Church of Christ at all was originally one of the reasons I didn’t even bother looking into him too closely at first. I have had dealings with that particular branch of Christianity, and none of them went well. But now, having actually listened to several of Wright’s sermons, I have to say … he is less crazy than the Church of Christ ministers (and members) I have known in the past, and actually, Obama’s faith is now no longer any issue at all for me. Funny how something I initially saw as a negative I now see as a neutral (if not positive) thing, just as the rest of America seems to be losing its head about it and insisting it’s the worth thing ever.

And that’s all I have to say about that.

Medical Apartheid really is an excellent book, though it is very, very depressing.