More problematic pastors for Obama

The New York Times published an article  on the pastors to whom Barack Obama has reached out. Having thrown his longtime pastor Jeremiah Wright, Junior under the bus during the campaign, when his radical views became a political problem, he is in need of spiritual counsel or a least cover.

The disturbing point is that of the 5 pastors listed,  Jim Wallis is the only one credited with influencing Obama on policy issues.

Why might this be a cause of concern? The New York Times reports:

The pastor in the circle who has known Mr. Obama the longest is Mr. Wallis, president and chief executive of Sojourners, a liberal magazine and movement based in Washington. In contrast to the other four, his contact with the president has been focused more on policy than prayer.

I have written about Wallis in the past:

He and Sojourners have an anti-Israel animus -- just as did Pastor Wright. The magazine and church bulletins published under the aegis of Pastor Wright carried manifestos from a Hamas leader    ; Sojourners magazine has also carried pro-Hamas pieces.

But Pastor Wright and Jim Wallis share much more: a stark anti-Americanism and a radicalism sharply at odds with the vast majority of religious figures in America.

Investors Business Daily has been running a superb series of editorials on Barack Obama. The paper continues its insightful series by examining the ties between Barack Obama and Jim Wallis:

Like Wright and Obama, Wallis believes that biblical faith compels radical social action. Their political ministry is called the "social gospel," but it's really just socialism dressed up in a cheap tunic. They refuse to separate personal faith from political activism, whether at home or abroad.

In the '80s, for example, Wallis and Wright rallied to the cause of the communist regime in Nicaragua, and protested the U.S. arming of the Contra rebels. Wallis, in fact, marshaled thousands of "Witnesses for Peace" and joined them in Nicaragua, making it known they were willing to take a bullet to stop the anti-communist insurgency.

Wallis is more eloquent than Wright, but he preaches the same anti-American message. According to discoverthenetworks.org, he once called the U.S. "the great power, the great seducer, the great captor and destroyer of human life, the great master of humanity and history in its totalitarian claims and designs."

Like Obama, Wallis got his start in Chicago, where he too was involved in community organizing. He forged ties with black gang leaders, including at least one known cop-killer. [....]

Wallis agrees with Obama that American racism and capitalism are to blame for inner-city poverty, and echoes his oft-repeated call for "economic justice." They share a spread-the-wealth vision, including subsidizing the working poor beyond expanded tax credits and minimum-wage hikes. [....]

Wallis may couch his Bolshevist views today. But in 1979, he was quoted in the journal "Mission Tracks" saying he hoped that "more Christians will come to view the world through Marxist eyes." [....]

Wallis says Obama is the kind of leader he's been searching for, one who's "responsive to social movements." "Barack Obama talks about 'being our brother's keeper' and how he finds a faith that does justice to be compelling to him," he said in a recent interview.

Americans should ask themselves why Barack Obama seeks out "religious" leaders who are more radical than religious and who share a disdainful attitude towards America.

Also I wrote about Wallis and Sojourners here:

Presidential candidate Barack Obama has established ties with Sojourners: a liberal Christian group (with the emphasis on liberal) as a way to burnish his religious credentials and gain political strength. This very same group is supportive of Hamas, a vicious Palestinian terror group responsible for the deaths of many innocent people and a group that indoctrinates its youth to hate. Not to mention dedicated to the destruction of Israel and the murder of Jews. What gives, Barack?

Obama spoke at their forum in Washington, D.C. last month ; he also spoke at the Sojourners Pentecost conference last year where he received an award.

One of the other five listed, Otis Moss, Junior also has expressed problematic views.
If you experience technical problems, please write to helpdesk@americanthinker.com