Obama Quits

From NYT:

Senator Barack Obama is ending his membership at Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, a congregation he has belonged to for about two decades and one that had become a lightning rod in his Democratic presidential bid.

First Rev. Wright, then Father Pfleger.  Too much for Barack Obama it appears.  I guess he figures if he dumps his church now, people will have forgotten about it by the time November rolls around.  Not I.

I’m not into religion myself and I wish people would pretty much keep their religious views to themselves unless asked.  I find the ways that fundamentalist Christianity has influenced American politics particularly odious.  Nevertheless, dumping a community and a set of beliefs for reasons of political expediency is a less than impressive testament to character.  Obama belonged to this church for twenty years.  He was married in this church, by Rev. Wright.  His children were baptized in this church.  In his book, “The Audacity of Hope”, Obama cited Rev. Wright as a mentor.  In fact, the name of the book came from Rev. Wright.

It seems unlikely that Trinity United Church of Christ has changed a great deal in the last six months.  It’s difficult to see Obama’s choice to quit the church as anything other than rather cynical political expediency.  That should surprise no one.  Obama is a consummate politician.  And no different than many others.  What pisses me off is his constant claim to be something new and better.  But it doesn’t surprise me.