Jill Stanek: When Obama chose his church over his state

WorldNetDaily ^ | 1/17/07 | Jill Stanek

[wagglebee]

The fix may have been in on Barack Obama's opposition as state senator to Illinois' Born Alive Infant Protection Act, aka support of infanticide.

I've always wondered what compelled Obama not to just vote against Born Alive but attempt single-handedly to thwart its passage, not once, not twice, but three times.

In 2001 and 2002, Obama was the lone senator speaking against Born Alive on the Senate floor. In 2003, Obama killed the bill altogether by burying it alive in a committee he chaired.

I asked former state Sen. Patrick O'Malley why he thought Obama went so far. O'Malley introduced Born Alive and served with Obama on the Judiciary Committee both years the bill was argued there.

"I think he was internally struggling with it," said O'Malley. "His dilemma was obvious. On one hand he holds himself out to be a constitutional scholar, and, of course, our Constitution makes clear that persons born are entitled to all the rights and privileges of full citizens. He consistently characterized the issue before us as being about abortion, but the legislation had nothing to do with Roe v. Wade. It focused on persons born alive. It was so easy to be on the right side of the angels here, but he wasn't."

He was on the wrong side of politics, too. By the third time Obama tried to snuff Born Alive, he was running for the U.S. Senate. The federal version had passed the year before unanimously in the Senate and almost unanimously in the House. Even NARAL went neutral. Pro-aborts agreed to let it pass without a fight lest they appear extreme.

Except Obama. He decided to battle alone further left than any other senator – Boxer, Clinton, Kennedy, Kerry, et al. Risky. Odd.

I might have agreed with O'Malley that Obama fought his internal battle externally, realizing to accept preterm live aborted babies as legal persons weakened his private justification of abortion.

But something in this scenario smelled. The first Mayor Daley once said, "There is nothing so wholesome as a fish," which was his way of defending Chicago politicians, who always smell fishy. Obama is one.

So with the new information out about Obama these days, I re-examined the evidence and found some interesting facts:

• Obama has been a member of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago since 1988;

• TUCC is a member of the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice;

• TUCC's pastor is Dr. Jeremiah Wright Jr., whom Obama calls a spiritual adviser and whom Obama thanked in his 2004 U.S. Senate victory speech, along with "fellow Trinitarians," before his wife;

• From 1986 to 1989, Wright served on the Board of Directors of Evangelical Health Systems;

• In 1995, EHS merged with another health system to create Advocate Health Care, controlled jointly by the United Church of Christ and Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, both pro-abortion;

• One Advocate property is Christ Hospital, where in 1999 I discovered babies were being aborted alive;

• One prominent Advocate board member is the Rev. Dr. Ozzie Smith Jr., a former associate pastor at TUCC under Wright;

• Another Advocate board member, Melbalenia Evans, is TUCC's former executive minister;

• TUCC is the United States' largest UCC church. Ebony listed Wright as one of the 15 greatest black preachers. Advocate is the largest nonprofit healthcare provider in Chicago. Talk about crossroads of power and money. Speaking of crossroads, TUCC is located five miles from Christ Hospital.

So, which explanation makes more sense, that the fire rose in Obama's belly to fight for what he nobly but foolishly thought was the sacred right to infanticide, that he decided, by golly, this was why he was elected, and even if he stood alone, looking like a left-wing extremist, he was going to protect that right?

Or that Advocate got to Obama through its UCC contacts?

Am I inferring faith has no place in legislative decision-making? No. To assert laws should be written, passed or failed in a moral vacuum is to assert the impossible, since laws are expressions of morality.

No, the question Obama must answer is whether his church or Advocate influenced him. Obama has a shady history. Was there quid pro quo?

Advocate recently fell from grace with Obama, Wright and TUCC. They believe Advocate is ignoring their community's poor.

I'm surprised they are surprised Advocate might be mistreating the least of these.

I also think they have a lot of nerve.

[wagglebee]

And this is the guy that the left wants to hold out as a moderate and a "uniter."

[wagglebee]

Pro-Life Ping.

[wagglebee]

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[Peach]

FNC just reported that Barack Hussein Obama is a smoker!!!!

Oh, and there's a thread on FR today with his voting record. He voted against medical care for babies that survive abortion. Nice, huh? Sounds moderate to me. /sarcasm

[JCEccles]

One Advocate property is Christ Hospital, where in 1999 I discovered babies were being aborted alive

In Christ Hospital? That is so profoundly wrong and disturbing, I struggle to even read it let alone contemplate it.

[wagglebee]

This editorial deals with him voting AGAINST protecting babies who are born alive.

Not only is he a smoker, but he used cocaine.

[Kuksool]

Don't let the name fool you. The hospital is run by the United Church of Christ, a liberal Protestant denomination.

[Spok]

"When Obama chose his church over his state"

Aren't Muslim's opposed to abortion, except when the mother's life is at risk, or she's Jewish? /sarc

[2harddrive]

Help stop Osama Obama! America doesn't need another Hussein.

[Kuksool]

But these don't matter at all to Rick Warren. The Purpose Driven Pastor praised Obama's personal character on CNN. He said Obama would make a great President.

[Southside_Chicago_Republican]

They also run Bethany, Good Samaritan, Good Shepherd, Lutheran General and Trinity hospitals in the Chicago area.

[JCEccles]

It didn't fool me. It horrified me.

[tioga]

Obama commits the greatest sin of the left -- smoking??? Where are the photos....why hasn't Hillary jumped on this yet? LOL -what a conundrum for the dems.

[Beckwith]

From the Trinity United Church website:

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:

Commitment to God
Commitment to the Black Community
Commitment to the Black Family
Dedication to the Pursuit of Education
Dedication to the Pursuit of Excellence
Adherence to the Black Work Ethic
Commitment to Self-Discipline and Self-Respect
Disavowal of the Pursuit of "Middleclassness"
Pledge to make the fruits of all developing and acquired skills available to the Black Community
Pledge to Allocate Regularly, a Portion of Personal Resources for Strengthening and Supporting Black Institutions
Pledge allegiance to all Black leadership who espouse and embrace the Black Value System
Personal commitment to embracement of the Black Value System.

To appreciate the racism in these precepts, substitute the word "white" for "black."

And the Disavowal of the Pursuit of "Middleclassness" is kind of an interesting concept.

[wagglebee]

Where are the photos....why hasn't Hillary jumped on this yet?

Because there are photos out there of Chelsea smoking. Smoking is one of those things that the left frowns on publicly but will do privately.

[JCEccles]

Oh, my.

From "suffer the children" to "let the children suffer." Murder of the innocents carried out in the name of Jesus Christ. Unspeakably appalling.

[Peach]

Isn't that what I said? That Obama Hussein voted against providing medical care abortions where the baby lives? I could swear that's what I said.

[ChiTownBearFan]

Someone very close to me works for Advocate and they are an unpstanding company, and very generous in the community, and Ive never heard of the companies stance on abortion, the people I know their are pro-life.

[wagglebee]

It is, I just misread what you wrote.

[Peach]

Okay; I was thinking I must be missing something.