Pale Rider
02-28-2007, 10:10 PM
What Obama’s black church believes
As readers know, I think that Christianity properly understood is compatible with the expression and preservation of distinct peoples, nations, and cultures. Therefore I am not necessarily hostile to a Christian church which defines itself as black. The Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, to which Barak Obama belongs, defines itself as black. Fine, no problem. However, the racial component of this church, as laid out in its About Us page, doesn’t stop with an acknowledgement of blackness. TUCC is drenched in an exclusivist, anti-American, black racial consciousness. Literally everything it cares about, it defines in terms of an all-embracing blackness. It defines ethics in terms of a “Black” ethics. It identifies itself solely and exclusively with Africa, which it calls the “cradle of civilization.” It places itself effectively outside America, which it speaks of only in negative terms of “the days of slavery, the days of segregation, and the long night of racism.” It even promotes a “Black Work Ethic,” while simultaneously disavowing “the Pursuit of ‘Middleclassness.’” It would be interesting to know more about a work ethic in America that does not lead to middleclassness. Perhaps TUCC is talking about how to, uh, “work” the system?
The fact that the apparently non-racial Obama belongs to an extreme racialist black church puts his presidential candidacy in a decidedly less pleasant light. Its’ a phenomenon we keep running into over and over again. All too often, when you look more closely at the “good” minorities (Obama), the “pro-Western” minorities (Hirsi Ali), you find something this is incompatible with or hostile to our society.
http://www.amnation.com/vfr/archives/007292.html
Take out the word "black" everywhere you see it below, and insert "white", then ask yourself, what would happen to a "white" presidential candidate if HE belonged to a church with that doctrine?
TRINITY United Church of Christ
About Us
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.
Trinity United Church of Christ adopted the Black Value System written by the Manford Byrd Recognition Committee chaired by Vallmer Jordan in 1981. We believe in the following 12 precepts and covenantal statements. These Black Ethics must be taught and exemplified in homes, churches, nurseries and schools, wherever Blacks are gathered. They must reflect on the following concepts:
1). Commitment to God
2). Commitment to the Black Community
3). Commitment to the Black Family
4). Dedication to the Pursuit of Education
5). Dedication to the Pursuit of Excellence
6). Adherence to the Black Work Ethic
7). Commitment to Self-Discipline and Self-Respect
8). Disavowal of the Pursuit of "Middleclassness"
9). Pledge to make the fruits of all developing and acquired skills available to the Black Community
10).Pledge to Allocate Regularly, a Portion of Personal Resources for Strengthening and Supporting Black Institutions
11).Pledge allegiance to all Black leadership who espouse and embrace the Black Value System
12).Personal commitment to embracement of the Black Value System.
http://www.tucc.org/about.htm
*And they also pledge their commitment to 'Africa'.
As readers know, I think that Christianity properly understood is compatible with the expression and preservation of distinct peoples, nations, and cultures. Therefore I am not necessarily hostile to a Christian church which defines itself as black. The Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, to which Barak Obama belongs, defines itself as black. Fine, no problem. However, the racial component of this church, as laid out in its About Us page, doesn’t stop with an acknowledgement of blackness. TUCC is drenched in an exclusivist, anti-American, black racial consciousness. Literally everything it cares about, it defines in terms of an all-embracing blackness. It defines ethics in terms of a “Black” ethics. It identifies itself solely and exclusively with Africa, which it calls the “cradle of civilization.” It places itself effectively outside America, which it speaks of only in negative terms of “the days of slavery, the days of segregation, and the long night of racism.” It even promotes a “Black Work Ethic,” while simultaneously disavowing “the Pursuit of ‘Middleclassness.’” It would be interesting to know more about a work ethic in America that does not lead to middleclassness. Perhaps TUCC is talking about how to, uh, “work” the system?
The fact that the apparently non-racial Obama belongs to an extreme racialist black church puts his presidential candidacy in a decidedly less pleasant light. Its’ a phenomenon we keep running into over and over again. All too often, when you look more closely at the “good” minorities (Obama), the “pro-Western” minorities (Hirsi Ali), you find something this is incompatible with or hostile to our society.
http://www.amnation.com/vfr/archives/007292.html
Take out the word "black" everywhere you see it below, and insert "white", then ask yourself, what would happen to a "white" presidential candidate if HE belonged to a church with that doctrine?
TRINITY United Church of Christ
About Us
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.
Trinity United Church of Christ adopted the Black Value System written by the Manford Byrd Recognition Committee chaired by Vallmer Jordan in 1981. We believe in the following 12 precepts and covenantal statements. These Black Ethics must be taught and exemplified in homes, churches, nurseries and schools, wherever Blacks are gathered. They must reflect on the following concepts:
1). Commitment to God
2). Commitment to the Black Community
3). Commitment to the Black Family
4). Dedication to the Pursuit of Education
5). Dedication to the Pursuit of Excellence
6). Adherence to the Black Work Ethic
7). Commitment to Self-Discipline and Self-Respect
8). Disavowal of the Pursuit of "Middleclassness"
9). Pledge to make the fruits of all developing and acquired skills available to the Black Community
10).Pledge to Allocate Regularly, a Portion of Personal Resources for Strengthening and Supporting Black Institutions
11).Pledge allegiance to all Black leadership who espouse and embrace the Black Value System
12).Personal commitment to embracement of the Black Value System.
http://www.tucc.org/about.htm
*And they also pledge their commitment to 'Africa'.