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.Barack wasintrigued by Wright's message of black empowerment; the pastor's rantings against the 'white power' structure inWashington and the state of Israel--not to mention his defense of Communists in Nicaragua and the Castroregime in Cuba--were met with a chorus of amens every week, and fel ow churchgoers remember that Barackchimed in with the rest."It is safe to say that Jeremiah Wright, the man that Barack Obama identified as his "spiritual father," had more influence over the future president and his thinking than anyone in his life.Once Obama determined that heneeded a law degree to realize his political ambitions, Wright, and an array of radical Muslims and Alinskyacolytes, lobbied to get him into Harvard Law School.But even at Harvard, the guiding hand of Jeremiah Wrightwas never far away.For twenty years, Barack Obama not only bathed in the thought and perverse theology of Jeremiah Wright, butthe cadence, the sound, the pulse of his oratory became part of Obama's DNA.As the New York Timesreported: "When Mr.Obama arrived at Harvard Law School.where he fortified himself with recordings of Mr.Wright's sermons, he was delivering stirring speeches as a student leader in the classic oratorical style of theblack church."When you hear Obama on the stump, when he goes into campaign mode, a strange metamorphosis occurs.The measured, staccato Obama of the exclusive interviews vanishes, and out pops Obama the pastor.What youare hearing is the ghost of Jeremiah Wright.After Harvard, Barack Obama returned to Chicago.He was married by Reverend Wright, and later the pastorbaptized his two daughters.Though Obama was forced to distance himself from his spiritual mentor in 2008 andrepudiate his message for political reasons, the influence of Wright remains.As president, Barack Obama can easily identify with the social face of Christianity--its care for the communityand the good works it can do in the world.Divorced from fixed moral requirements, Obama sees religion as aforce to enact social change.What the president seems to lack is a transcendent faith.There is no heaven andhel in his conception, no final judgment, no destination beyond this fleeting life:"I thought of Sasha asking me once what happened when we die-- 'I don't want to die, Daddy, ' she had addedmatter-of-factly--and I had hugged her and said, 'You've got a long, long way before you have to worry about that,' which had seemed to satisfy her," Obama wrote in Time magazine."I wondered whether I should have told her the truth, that I wasn't sure what happens when we die, any more than I was sure of where the soul resides orwhat existed before the Big Bang."THE DIARY OF FIRST LADY MICHELLE OBAMATHE WHITE HOUSEApril 6, 2010I may call him Smokey, but I'll never have to call him Holy Smokey.Barack and I held an Easter breakfastfor Christian leaders here at the house this morning.(Don't ask me why we are having an Easter breakfast twodays after Easter--it's another one of those Christian mysteries, I guess.) Anyway, this being an election year,Axe wants us to build bridges to the religious types.So we had to go to church last weekend (boring!) andBarack has been working on this Christian breakfast speech for weeks.All these ministers and pastors havebeen traipsing through the house, adding Bible quotes and prayers to the talk.It's just too long, if you ask me.Last night, Barack even tried to act out parts of his speech at dinner.I could see that all that talk of blood anddying on the cross was making Mama sick to her stomach.She finally threw her napkin down and stormedout of the dining room in frustration.I wish I could have joined her.So this morning we go down to the East Room, and Smokey gets up to welcome the religious fanatics.Theteleprompters slide in and he's about to launch into his big speech when one of the pastors asks, "Excuseme, Mr.President, could you lead us in grace?" I had to put my coffee cup in front of my mouth so theywouldn't see me laughing.The only time I've ever heard Barack say grace is when it was preceded by "Will &." He mumbled and stuttered and ummmed for at least two minutes.In desperation, I got up and said,"Pastor, Barack and I are so moved by your request.But you really should say grace.We're not worthy.Can Iget an amen?" The whole room said "Amen" and the Pastor happily said grace.Smokey owes me big-time.I told him when we got upstairs: this is what happens when you let the holy rollers get too close.He agreed,and out of the blue, promised that we won't be putting that Jerusalem Barbie Nativity display up in the EastRoom this Christmas.It gives the girls and the public weird ideas about the holidays."Why don't we set outthose snowmen you bought last Christmas instead?" Barack suggested."We really won't have to worry aboutreligious displays again until at least 2011.And then 2012 will be 'O come let us adore him' time!"Incidental y, the president did final y decide on a place of worship in June 2009: the Evergreen Chapel atCamp David.In a careful y worded statement, the White House said, "The President and First Family continue tolook for a church home.They have enjoyed worshipping at Camp David and several other congregations overthe months, and wil choose a church at the time that is best for their family." According to Time magazine, Robert Gibbs made sure to add that the First Family was not "joining" the Evergreen Chapel, as it was not opento membership.That's a good thing because one doesn't get the feeling that the president is al that interestedanyway.Nine months later, in March 2010, NBC's Matt Lauer asked President Obama why the First Family stil hadnot selected a hometown church.The president's excuse put them, of course, in the best possible light:Michelle and I have realized we are very disruptive to services.And in the meantime, what we've done, there was a prayer circle of pastors from across the country who, during the campaign, would say a prayer for me or send a devotional.And we've kept that habit up and, and it's a wonderful group because it's a mix of some very conservative pastors, some very liberal pastors, but all who, you know, pray for me and Michelle and, and the girls and, and I get a daily devotional on my BlackBerry which is a, is a wonderful thing.Let us take his points in chronological order.First, his reason for not choosing a church had nothing to do withconcern for fel ow parishioners, and everything to do with politics.Choosing any individual black church in theDistrict of Columbia would immediately upset the other black congregations and possibly cause hard feelings.This is the same sort of political calculation that drove Obama to choose Trinity al those years ago: hismembership offended no one in his orbit and helped propel him into politics.Second, the fact that other people are praying for him is nice but fails to answer the question.Indeed, mil ionsof Americans pray for their president regardless of political party, every night.And how exactly is it relevant that adaily devotional is sent to his BlackBerry? One can only imagine the type of liberation theology action itemslanding in his inbox
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