Posted on 05/03/2008 10:05:43 AM PDT by knighthawk
The fiery African-American pastor whose incendiary outbursts on race have dented the prospects of Barack Obama becoming the first black US president is to retire to an upmarket suburb where almost all of the residents are white.
Grateful parishioners of Rev Jeremiah Wright, 66, are building him a $1 million, 10,400 sq ft mansion, next to a country club and golf course in the prosperous Chicago suburb of Tinley Park. In the 2000 census, just two per cent of Tinley Parks 48,400 residents were black and 93 per cent were white.
Rev Wright built up his Chicago mega-church over 36 years on the principles of black liberation theology under the bold slogan, Unashamedly Black and Unapologetically Christian, and Mr Obama was among his most enthusiastic parishioners - until he was forced to disavow him completely last week.
The Trinity United Church of Christ is located in the heart of the citys rundown and predominantly African-American South Side, and worshippers are instructed to live by its self-proclaimed Black Value System. Among the tenets is Disavowal of the Pursuit of 'Middleclassness.
But Rev Wright will not be living among his flock following his recent retirement. Instead, he is leaving them in pursuit of distinctly middle class - indeed upper-middle class - environs.
According to building plans reviewed by Chicago newspapers, Mr Wright and his wife Ramah will not be the poor relations in their new and overwhelmingly white neighbourhood. The property will boast four bedrooms, a whirlpool, butlers pantry, elevator, exercise room, circular driveway and four-car garage.
Real estate records show that Rev Wright bought the empty land in 2004 and sold it two years later to Trinity, the current owner, which later took out a $1.6 million mortgage on the property.
During his 36 years at its helm, Rev Wright built up Trinity from a church with 87 members to a congregation of 10,000 that includes many of the most influential figures in black Chicago. By joining its ranks, Mr Obama overcame some of the local doubts he faced as the Harvard-educated son of a white woman and Kenyan man who had been brought up in Hawaii.
But his former spiritual mentors rants against white America are dogging his campaign. Video clips of Rev Wright bellowing God Damn America are expected to feature prominently in Republican attack ads if, as expected, Mr Obama secures the Democratic nomination.
Rev Wright turned Trinity into one of the most powerful and well-funded institutions in Chicagos South Side with the help of contributions from adherents such as the Obamas who gave the church $26,000, according to their 2007 tax returns.
And in America, it is not unusual for pastors of such financially successful churches to be rewarded for their accomplishments with rather more than a carriage clock or wristwatch at retirement. It is the ethnic/racial breakdown of Rev Wrights preferred home for his retirement years that has caused surprise.
Trinity did not respond to a request for comment by The Sunday Telegraph. The national United Church of Christ has said that it is for local congregations to decide how to spend their funds and that it is appropriate for local churches to provide housing for long-time pastors when they retire.
I guess the good reverend is not worried about running into any of those angry, bible thumping, gun toting white hicks in his new stomping grounds. On the other hand, I can't help but notice that he is also not moving to the South Side of Chicago where he would most likely meet some angry, crack dealing, gun toting, gang banging black folks either. What a hypocrite!
bump
I may be crazy,but I’m not stupid!
As a Christian I am baffled also. Also, I have never known a pastor that has the largest house in the congregation. They usually have modest homes. This is getting to be sickening.
Oxymoron? I've heard very little Love, Hope or Charity from him or an assortment of the other Black Popes running around.
His parishioners should have chipped in to by him a super huge cuisinart,just so he can take his camel to heaven with him.
Wright may be “unapologetically Christian”, but his definition of Christian is not the traditional definition. My guess is that Wright doesn’t believe in a Jewish Christ. His Jesus is closer to the Islamic Jesus. Wright never says that Jesus wasn’t Jewish, but he does state that Jesus was a Black man. Now, I know that there are African Jews, but I don’t think that is what Wright is talking about.
Wright retire! LOL Yeah right! He will be the Jimmy Carter of the preachers in the coming years. People like that can’t shut up. And worst of all he will make millions on his speaking engagements. You won’t be seeing him down at the car wash. And for all of this you can thank the MSM.
As of the 2000 census[4], there were 48,401 people, 17,478 households, and 12,793 families residing in the village. The population density was 3,236.9 people per square mile (1,250.0/km²). There were 18,037 housing units at an average density of 1,206.2/sq mi (465.8/km²). The racial makeup of the village was 93.16% White, 1.92% African American, 0.13% Native American, 2.38% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 1.11% from other races, and 1.27% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 4.13% of the population. The top five ancentries reported in Tinley Park as of the 2000 census were Irish (25.5%), German (23.1%), Polish (19.7%), Italian (14.3%) and Dutch (5.3%).
Long way from the South Side.
Movin' on up...
There were photos of the house posted on a thread a few weeks ago. If anyone has them, it’d be nice to have them here!
Such as a swimming pool, tennis court, etc.
Who would loan this church $10M? And for what? Don’t they have some subprime homeowners they could bail out instead?
Waitaminute.
He sold the lot to his church? For how much and did he pay taxes on the gain? And the church presently owns the land on which he is building a home? And the church is presently liable for the mortgage on Wright's house?
Is this dude and this church going to get audited soon?
I really wonder how “grateful” those parishners truly are.
I wonder if they even actually knew this deal had gone down and where their money was going and how MUCH was going there.
I wonder if the church had any procedures for making decisions such as this and whether they were followed.
I wonder if Obama knew that his money was going to help buy a house in a TWP neighborhood for Wright to live a luxurious retirement.
So if the church owns the land is it tax free?
Good deal! White neighborhood too.
Yeah, all the while the MSM is wailing about how unfair it is that Wright has been made the story, they are setting him up for a high-flying life for the rest of his life.
Someday, though, I think he might just hear someone Very Important say, “Nope. You got yours already, Wright.”
From this Link
The four- bedroom, 10,000-plus square foot home that Trinity United Church of Christ is building for Reverend Jeremiah Wright. (FNC Photo)
Thanks!
I tell you, there is something fishy about this deal.
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