Posted on 03/22/2008 10:36:59 AM PDT by Mr. Silverback
One of the most despicable of Rev. Wright's comments is his assertion that the 9/11 attacks were America's "chickens coming home to roost," delivered on the Sunday after they occurred. Wright says that we deserved it because we were involved in the Middle East and because we had engaged in terrorism when we nuked Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
This assessment of history reveals a couple of things about Wright. Let's take a look:
1. Like an all-white segregation-era jury, Wright doesn't need facts to deliver a verdict.
For a rundown of some reasons you may not have heard that the bombings were not only justified, but necessary, click here. The thing is, to believe that they were terror attacks, you have to go far beyond believing that Truman made a bad call, or that he chose to kill Japanese civilians so he could save hundreds of thousands of American troops. Instead, you have to believe that Truman ordered the bombs dropped because he liked the idea of killing Japanese children for its own sake.
Does Wright have any evidence that Truman felt that way that overpowers the mountain of evidence that he made a wise strategic decision? Heck, does he have any evidence at all? No, and he doesn't need any, any more than an all-white jury needed to consider the evidence when they let the murderers of Emmett Till go free. After all, hate doesn't need facts, whether it's hate of Blacks, Jews, Whites or even your own entire country.
2. Wright believes that God has different moral standards based on skin color
Wright claims to speak for the Almighty and his job was to transmit the Almighty's teachings to a flock of 4,500 people. So, here's the standard that he put before those congregants:
If you are a nation run by "rich, white people" and you are involved in the business of other countries (specifically those in the Middle East) and drop A-Bombs on two cities, you are wicked and should reap what you sow and suffer terror attacks.
If you are a nation run by rich Asian people, help start a war that kills tens of millions, invade and conquer a number of other countries, kill millions of civilians for racial motives, commit two genocides in China (the Rape of Nanking and the revenge killings following the Doolittle Raid) that each killed more civilians than died in Hiroshima and Nagasaki and treat captured Americans in ways that it's hard to find a bad enough word for, you are not reaping what you sowed when someone drops A-Bombs on your cities. Those bombs are instead terrorism perpetrated by racists.
Put aside for a moment that this man is making excuses for people who delivered a kiloton of combat power into someone's workplace on a Tuesday morning. Wright's standard would be racist even if America was wrong to drop the bomb and wrong to support Israel and Kuwait when they were under attack. Whether he realizes it or not, he literally is saying that whether you're a genocidal terrorist depends completely on what color the finger pulling the trigger--or releasing the bombs--is.
Are we really suposed to believe that a man who thinks like this only said hateful things a few times, when Barack Obama was conveniently out of the building?
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Thanks! I have a lot of time to think about this stuff when I’m on the tire swing at the zoo. :-)
Hehheh...that’s funny!
I disagree with you here. Terrorism is the deliberate use of violence against civilians to achieve political objectives.
It's a matter of ends and means.
The means is: intentionally targeting civilians, or choosing to cause indiscriminate desrtuction.
The end is: to achieve something politically: to sow fear, to paralyze the political structure, to destabilize the ruling party or the incumbents in government, to win surrender or concessions based on the implicit threat that if the concession aren't forthcoming, the flambeau of civilians will be repeated.
In other words, it's not just sadism per se. It is a tool to achieve certain political ends.
It is always wrong and must never be condoned.
But on a different note: Christ is risen!
Read the article I link to in the post (yes, I wrote it) and then tell me Truman was wrong and shouuldn’t have done it.
But I guess we’ll talk about this Monday. Happy Easter!
Christ is risen!
You’re in fine form, Mr. S. And a very blessed (though late here in the day) Easter to you, sir!
Wright’s preaching is EXACTLY what the Bible spoke of when it talked about “calling evil good and good evil.” FWIW, Wright’s successor is the son of a minister right here in Cleveland (Otis Moss) and he’s very political and has a lot of press credentials here. There have been several columns and articles published on this.
You won’t believe this but people here have actually likened Wright to Christ himself, as if his hateful rhetoric is similar to Jesus talking about his presence as causing division in families. (Why don’t people get the real understanding of these verses, do you think?)
Peace to you. He is Risen!!
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