Related question. I’ve read often that Oprah used to belong there, and quietly left the church, probably because of Wright’s comments. Anyone know about when that occured. Possibly after 9/11..so even if she wasn’t in attendance, she obviously heard about it, thus belying Obama’s silly claim.
If Oprah left the church, quietly or not, it shows she has more sense than Barack. Think about that for a minute. (Yes, I know her empire is worth billions—he’s still aspiring to one).
http://blithespirit.wordpress.com/2008/03/17/oprah-bailed-out-of-obamas-church/The plot thickens in the matter of Oprah Winfreys belonging to or attending Trinity United Church of Christ on 95th St. in Chicago, as mentioned in various places, including in a Chi Trib piece in January 2007:
At least one member of Rev. Wrights church apparently had her fill of [his] rhetoric. Oprah Winfrey, a staunch backer of Mr. Obama, began attending the church in 1984. But sometime in the mid-1990s, Christianity Today reports the superstar abruptly stopped going.
Thats John Fund in the subscription-only Political Diary of the Wall St. Journal. Hes referring to Christianity Todays 4/1/02 piece, The Religion of O, which quotes a Black Collegian magazine column in which Wright shows himself irked by Winfreys departure and indulges in some unseemly backbiting:
Wright mentioned Oprah as an example of African Americans who forget their roots in the church after finding success. A lot of us do not even like the word faith anymore, he wrote [in the column]. We prefer the more chic-sounding word, spirituality! We are caught up in an Oprah-generated mentality and a 12-step vocabulary that prevents us from using the very words and the very bridge that brought us over!
He makes her out to be a cheapskate in his comments to the CT writer:
I think it is hard for most very wealthy people to be a part of the church, he says. Somebody who makes $100 a week has no problem tithing. But start making $35 million a year, and youll want to renegotiate the contract. You dont want to be a part of organized religion at that point. Thats a generalized statement, but thats what Ive found across the years. The wealthier somebody gets, the more they pull away from the church.
In any case, she had not attended the church for eight years, Wright said in 2002, presenting her as a backslider:
She has broken with the [traditional faith], he says. She now has this sort of God is everywhere, God is in me, I dont need to go to church, I dont need to be a part of a body of believers, I can meditate, I can do positive thinking spirituality. Its a strange gospel. It has nothing to do with the church Jesus Christ founded.
Fund speculates that she wanted to distance herself from [Wrights] fiery speech and notes that Obama took a different path, remaining in the church.
This just keeps getting better and better. I can't wait until some enterprising young reporter or reporterett corners Oprah and wrestles her to the ground to answer some pointed and oh so uncomfortable questions about the Wright Reverend and her attendance at some of these little hate fests. I can't seem to get this silly grin off my face today. I really need to stock up on the popcorn on the way home tonight.