crossposted at Street Prophets
After the Reverend Wright controversy broke, Many people here at Big Orange rejoiced to watch this video of Father Michael Pfleger "pwn" a Fox reporter:
Although Fr. Pfleger is incredibly articulate and I agreed with him, I had one of those "icky" feelings...so I googled Fr. Pfleger.
More, if you dare--
this is what I found:
Min. Louis Farrakhan visits Father Michael Pfleger and St. Sabina
Last week the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan spoke at The Faith Community of St. Sabina, which is pastored by Father Michael Pfleger. ...
dallassouthblog.com/2007/05/30/min-louis-farrakhan-visits-father-michael-pfleger-and-st-sabina/ - 46k -
Uh oh....the dreaded Louis Farrakhan speaks at St. Sabina, Fr. Pfleger's church.....
and this:
Michael Pfleger - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"Chicago's renegade priest - Father Michael Pfleger tackles booze, drugs and violence in an effort to clean up the South Side". The Toronto Star. ...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Pfleger
and
Catholic Priest Has Only Glowing Praise for Pro-Abortion, Pro ...
Jan 18, 2007 ... CHICAGO, January 18, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Catholic priest Father Michael Pfleger of the Archdiocese of Chicago wants people to know ...
www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/jan/07011804.html - 29k - Cached - Similar pages
Chicago priest supports Obama
Jan 17, 2007 ... Chicago's liberal activist priest, Father Michael Pfleger, pastor of St. Sabina, an "African-American Catholic Church," is warning people ...
www.renewamerica.us/columns/abbott/070117 - 35k
well, you get the idea. So I posted a comment which stated that Fr. Pfleger could be problematic for Obama and I wish the person defending Wright was less controversial. Of course I got slapped down being told that "any good minister must be controversial" or something like that.
So, tonight lookie what our favorite news (loosely defined) organization has on it's website front page--"Problem Preacher". Britt Hume led his show with this as a "breaking story". (Could they be avoiding Scott McClelland?) In a recent sermon at Trinity UCC, Fr. Pfleger spoke:
Since this won't embed, please click here
From a story on Worldnetdaily.com:
Pfleger, who practices black liberation theology, is a regular guest speaker at Trinity church. He was introduced at Sunday's sermon by Obama's new pastor, Rev. Otis Moss III, who called Pfleger a "brother beloved, he is a preacher par-excellence, he is a prophetic powerful pulpiteer."
After Pfleger's remarks about Clinton, Moss thanked Pfleger repeatedly.
I'm sure this will give the Right wingnuts enough fodder to begin to pick on Rev. Moss as well. The Right is salivating at the thought of bringing the issue of Obama's Pastor again (but he's Muslim--right?) This seems as though it should be a non-issue, but since Fr. Pfleger was on the board of a group, "Catholics for Obama", I am sure they will make as much as they possibly can about the people Obama associates with. This relationship is already being investigated by Fox as they have reported here:
Pfleger’s support of Obama is well known in Chicago, and an Obama aide confirmed Pfleger contributed to Obama’s state Senate campaign during his years in the Illinois legislature.
The aide told FOX News that when Obama was a state Senator in 2000, he secured a $100,000 earmark for the ARK Community Center, a center attached to Pfleger’s St. Sabina church. The aide said the initiative was awarded to help keep at risk kids off the streets by giving them a place to play.
Pfleger was also once a member of the Catholics for Obama Committee, which is a voluntary advisory committee to the Obama campaign, the aide said. But the aide said Pfleger decided to step down a few weeks ago from this committee, though the campaign did not request the resignation.
Obama has already issued a response:
"As I have traveled this country, I’ve been impressed not by what divides us, but by all that that unites us," the statement said. "That is why I am deeply disappointed in Father Pfleger’s divisive, backward-looking rhetoric, which doesn’t reflect the country I see or the desire of people across America to come together in common cause."
and Fr. Pfleger has also apologized:
"I regret the words I chose on Sunday. These words are inconsistent with Senator Obama’s life and message, and I am deeply sorry if they offended Senator Clinton or anyone else who saw them," Pfleger said.
I think there is a whole lot of truth in what Wright and Pfleger have had to say, but this becomes raw meat for the neo-cons. I am sure all of the typical suspects, Limbaugh, Coulter, Ingram, Malkim etc. will have a field day. It is a real shame they don't listen to all of the clips of right wing preachers--there are a lot more out there than just Haggee and Parsley. I can distinctly remember listening to Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell speaking about how we deserved 9/11 as well--of course, they blamed it on Feminists, gays, abortionists, liberals and so on. Their hatred is palpable--but no one makes a fuss about them. Why is hate from their side acceptable? Are Wright and Pfleger being hateful?
One thought strikes me--I have not seen any reports from the people who belong to St, Sabina or to Trinity UCC and who really know these men--and know what they have accomplished. Perhaps in the neighborhoods in which they preach, you need to shake things up to get results--perhaps you need to be more controversial than those churches in wealthy white areas.
Update I just checked several right wing sites, they have all picked up on this story, it isn't just Fox. I need to take a shower now.