 The Rev. Jeremiah Wright, the embattled pastor of presidential candidate Barack Obama, gave a 45-minute sermon on Sunday that included a reference to his "public crucifixion" for past comments from the pulpit.
| "Yeah. It wuz a crucifixion, only with no nails. And there wasn't a cross. And I wuz wearing a dashiki. And Pontius Pilate wudn't there..." |
Wright received a standing ovation from the 4,000 worshippers at Friendship-West Baptist Church, the Dallas Morning News reported.
| "Yay! Hurray! [Clap!] [Clap!] [Clap!]" |
During the first of two Sunday sermons he was expected to deliver, Wright wove a Gospel message with commentary about social justice. He told the congregation to lean on God and stand up for themselves.
Security was tight, and no media cameras were allowed inside the church, the newspaper reported.
| "Brother Muggsy, bar the door! Noboady leaves this room!" |
Wright became an issue in the presidential race in March after the circulation of videos of old sermons in which he accused the U.S. government of racism and accused it of flooding black neighborhoods with drugs.
| On non-existent evidence... |
In a sermon days after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, Wright said, "America's chickens are coming home to roost" after it dropped atomic bombs on Japan and "supported state terrorism against the Palestinians and black South Africans."
| Tell 'em the part about "God damn America!" |
The videos, circulated widely on television and the Internet, knocked Obama's campaign off-stride. The Illinois Democrat distanced himself from the comments of Wright, whom he has known for 20 years.
| "Huh huh! Just my batty old uncle up there in the pulpit. Pay no attention to me. I'm safely not race-driven." |
Wright, who is leaving Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, said the videos were old snippets that were taken out of context.
| How do you take "God damn America" out of context? It carries its own context, doesn't it? |
In an interview aired Friday on PBS, Wright said publicizing portions of old sermons was unfair and "made me the target of hatred." He said he had received death threats.
"Didja keep any of them? Like, for evidence?"
"No, no! Too hateful! You wouldn't wanna see 'em!" |
Wright was scheduled to speak Monday at the National Press Club in Washington. He was invited to Friendship-West to honor the Rev. Freddie Haynes, the church's senior pastor. "We're going to hear the whole sermon," Haynes had promised his congregation. "Not just the clips in order to feed a right-wing agenda." |