Right-Wing Exposed

I have chosen to dedicate this week’s “Right-Wing Thursday” segment to conservative, talk radio host, Michael Medved.  Mike has certainly earned the spotlight for this week based on the foolish, judgmental, biased remarks he made on his program today.  You can probably guess who his comments were about; who else, but Senator Obama and Pastor Jeremiah Wright.  Although right-wing talkers’ focus upon them is certainly nothing new, Mike decided to go even farther than he’s done in previous shows.

Today Medved revealed himself to be more than just an ordinary, arrogant, biased, right-wing broadcaster; today he made known that he is also a mind-reader.  Mike told his audience that Senator Obama was lying about being a sincere Christian; moreover, that he had only joined Pastor Wright’s church for political reasons.  I was astounded to hear this new talent that Mike possessed.  He had just read the thoughts, purposes and motives of Obama’s heart in a moment’s time.  Medved had told me things that I didn’t know.  In fact, he may have revealed things that Obama himself didn’t even know.  Senator Obama may have to contact Mike to thank him for making known these thoughts and motives of which he himself had not been aware.

Alright, I’ll lay off the sarcasm and get right to the point.  Mr. Medved, since when did you become God?  You claim to be a dedicated, religious Jew.  The Old Testament, which you espouse to believe and obey, states that man can only see the outward things of a person, and that God alone can see the heart.  So, why do you, a self-proclaimed religious Jew, ignore and disobey God’s Word by claiming to know the thoughts and intents of Senator Obama’s heart?  He could also accuse you of not being a sincere Jew based on your disobedience of the Old Testament.

Mike also stated that Obama belonged to a “crackpot” church.  What about Medved’s Evangelical friends who teach that their God is going to torture unconverted people throughout the trillions of years of eternity in a horrific inferno that causes them to wail and gnash their teeth?  If their torment was limited to one trillion years, based on a 75 year lifespan, it would equal two million years of agonizing torture for each and every hour they had lived on earth.  I’d say that Evangelicals who espouse and believe this sadistic teaching would also qualify as being a “crackpot” church.  What about it Mike, are you going to be fair and denounce them as crackpots also? 

The choice of topic seems easy this week for “Right-Wing Thursday”.  Everyone is talking about Obama and his pastor, Jeremiah Wright, especially conservative talk radio.  Are right-wing talkers, like Prager, Medved and Hannity, just sincerely searching for the truth for the good of our nation?  Or, are they “swiftboating” Obama?

Why would I, an Evangelical pastor, even suggest such a thing?  I’ll tell you why, because of the glaring double standard.  Obama is being attacked because of his continued friendship with Pastor Wright despite Wright’s hateful statements and his questionable associations with the likes of Louis Farrakhan.  Obama’s renunciation of Wright’s remarks is not good enough for Republicans.  They insist that Obama should ostracize and renounce Pastor Wright himself.

I have a question for my conservative friends.  What about Pat Robertson and John Hagee?  Have any of the Republican Party’s recent presidential candidates completely ostracized and renounced them, not just their inflammatory remarks?  If Pastor Wright is guilty of prejudiced and hateful speech, what about Robertson and Hagee?

John Hagee publicly states that Catholics, who actually believe in Jesus, are not truly Christians, which would mean that they could not go to heaven; notwithstanding, he states that Jews, who do not believe in Jesus, can  go to heaven without Him.  Moreover, in his book, “Jerusalem Countdown”, Hagee said: “Most readers will be shocked by the clear record of history linking Adolph Hitler and the Roman Catholic Church in a conspiracy to exterminate the Jews.”  Hagee is clearly pro-Jew and anti-Catholic, and his words are certainly prejudiced and hateful.  And, Hagee “milks the gospel” financially.  Information released in 2001 revealed that Hagee and his wife had a combined “gospel income” of nearly one and one-half million dollars.  I’ve got a feeling that he is probably paying himself several times more than Pastor Wright’s gospel wages.  If right-wing pundits want Obama to officially denounce Wright himself, they should also ask the Republican Party to denounce Hagee.

Then, there’s Pat Robertson.  If Pastor Wright’s speech is hateful, what about Pat Robertson?  He publicly advocated assassinating the President of Venezuela.  And, he referred to non-Christians as termites who needed to be fumigated.  I’d say that’s pretty hateful.  Oh yes, they say that Pastor Wright is also guilty of blaming our nation’s policies towards African Americans as being the cause of 9-11.  Well, I seem to remember that Pat Robertson did the same thing, by blaming America’s abortion and “gay” policies as also being the cause of 9-11.  Then, there’s that accusation that Pastor Wright kept company with “bad guys” like Louis Farrakhan.  I guess I need to jog the memories of my right-wing friends regarding Pat Robertson’s evil associations.  Robertson associated with, befriended and even entered into business relationships with brutal dictators such as Rios Montt of Guatemala, Mobuto Sese Seko of the former Zaire, and Charles Taylor of Liberia, who was indicted as a war criminal.  According to my scorecard, I’m pretty sure that Robertson has Pastor Wright beat when it comes to hanging around with “bad guys”.  And, when it comes to that “milking the gospel” thing again,  Pat Robertson lives in a huge mansion with a private airstrip on a Virginia mountain, and has a net worth of about $140 million.  I suspect that Pastor Wright hasn’t amassed a “gospel wealth” quite the size of Robertson’s.  Once again, if right-wing pundits want Obama to officially denounce Wright himself, they should also demand that the Republican Party denounce Robertson.  If not, can you say “hypocrisy” with a capital “H”?

For the third consecutive week my “Right-Wing Thursday” segment is dealing with conservative talk radio’s assault on Senator Obama.  Republicans would obviously much rather run against Hillary than him; furthermore, even if Hillary can’t beat him, right-wingers at least want to stretch out their in-party battle as long as possible.  So, conservative talkers continue to keep their “bulls-eye” fixed squarely upon Obama.

The Jeremiah Wright incident is still frequently mentioned on most right-wing shows, and is usually referred to as an example of “black racism”.  Moreover, Pastor Wright’s church is regularly labeled as a black racist church.  Why can’t these Republican pundits let this story go?  They’ve played Wright’s distasteful remarks to their listening audiences numerous times, and have examined, analyzed and discussed them to the point of redundancy.

If Pastor Wright’s statements exemplified racism, what about right-wing talk shows who repeatedly focus on his “racist remarks” for no other reason than to be able to continue to call him and his church black racists?  Wouldn’t people who intentionally try to find reasons that allow them to make ongoing accusations of racism against another race, also be guilty of racism themselves?  After all, if these white radio hosts get enjoyment from calling Wright and his black congregation “racists”, it would seem to indicate some racist tendencies within themselves.

However, the likes of Limbaugh, Hannity and Hewitt forge ahead with their “Obama Project”.  Sean Hannity continued full speed ahead this week with his investigations of Senator Obama’s life from the cradle till the last time he went to the bathroom.  Meanwhile, Hugh Hewitt was attacking Obama’s involvement with a so-called radically liberal, black lawyers group.  Notice the race thing again, a “black” lawyers group.  I wonder who has the racism issue.

What about Rush Limbaugh?  Well, among other things, he was busy attacking the Democratic, Michigan Senator’s husband who was caught with a prostitute.  He seemed to enjoy repeatedly calling this woman a “whore”.  I wonder if Rush would like us to permanently refer to him as the “druggie” because of his famous downfall.  And, I know that Rush claims to be a Christian, so I need to remind him that Jesus told the judgemental, right-wing, religious pharisees of His day that the whores would enter heaven before them.

I think we’ve probably had all that we can handle from these right-wing pillars of virtue for this week’s episode of “Right-Wing Thursday”.  I’m sure that they will once again provide us with ample material for next week’s post.