Otis Moss

Barack Obama's church, Trinity United Church of Christ, has a new pastor. Out with Jeremiah Wright and in with Otis Moss.

Yesterday on Meet the Press, Obama talked about Wright and Moss:

MR. RUSSERT: You're done with [Wright]? If you're elected president, you won't seek his counsel?

SEN. OBAMA: Absolutely not. Now, I think it's important to keep in mind, Tim, that I never sought his counsel when it came to politics. And I--you know, some, some of the reporting that implies that somehow he's my spiritual advisor or mentor, as he himself said, overstated things. He was my pastor, and he built a terrific church. I'm proud of that church. We've got a wonderful young pastor who's there who's doing--continuing the terrific work that the church does. And that's my commitment. My commitments are to the values of that church, my commitment is to Christ; it's not to Reverend Wright.

I don't know what Obama's standards are when it comes to being a "wonderful" pastor, but they're nothing like mine. He's right about that "wonderful young pastor... continuing the terrific work that the church does." Moss echoes Wright in his sermons.

There's no change. The message from the pulpit is the same as it has been for the past 20 years.

At WorldNetDaily, Aaron Klein writes:

Otis Moss, the man slated to become the new chief pastor at the Trinity United Church of Christ, referenced a rap song during one of his recent sermons that includes among its lyrics "F--- America" and states the U.S. is "still with triple K" – referring to the white supremacist Ku Klux Klan.

Moss was lauded last week by Sen. Barack Obama as a "wonderful young pastor," and an acceptable choice to replace retiring pastor Rev. Jeremiah Wright, whose controversial remarks landed the presidential candidate in hot water.

...Following a series of national media interviews given by Wright last week, Obama strongly denounced some of Wright's statements as "divisive and destructive."

OK. Wright spews divisive and destructive statements and Obama has condemned him. Obama says Moss is different. He's "wonderful."

Really?

The 37-year-old Moss, nicknamed the "hip-hop pastor" by congregants, will become the head of Trinity Christ in next month.

In an interview in March with National Public Radio, Moss said he welcomes media scrutiny of his future sermons, calling the expected publicity "exciting."

"I'm excited because I'm hoping some people will get saved in the process," he said.

But his recorded March sermons are already revealing some controversial rhetoric.

In his Easter sermon, Moss spoke at length about the media attention received by Wright. Moss claimed Wright was "lynched" by the international media.

"No one should start a ministry with lynching, no one should end their ministry with lynching," Moss said.

In a section of the sermon being circulated on You Tube Moss went on to quote a song by the rap artist Ice Cube:

"Do you know who's got our back? If I was Ice Cube, I would say it a little differently – you picked the wrong folk to mess with," Moss exclaimed.

The song Moss was referring to is actually titled "Wrong N-gga to f--- with." It includes the lyrics "F--- America, still with the triple K" and it uses the spelling "AmeriKKKa."

The full lyrics provided in the album:

"Down wit the niggaz that I bail out
I'm platinum b-tch and I didn't have to sell out
F--- you Ice Cube, that's what the people say
F--- AmeriKKKa, still with the triple K
Cause you know when my nine goes buck
it'll bust your head like a watermelon dropped from 12 stories up
Now let's see who'll drop"

The cover image of Ice Cube's album, titled "Death Certificate," features a dead man identified as "Uncle Sam" who is covered by an American flag.

Moss compares the "public lynching" of Wright to the "public lynching" of Jesus.

He calls being black comparable to being a leper and having a "skin disease."

"You see they still are lepers. They still have a skin disease. They had a skin disease. They had a skin disease. Based on their skin condition, they were considered to be second-class citizens. They had a skin issue. They had a skin disease.

"And the lepers lived in a leper project. The lepers had bad health care. The lepers were disrespected. They had funny names for lepers. The lepers were considered inferior. They had an inferior school system. The lepers lived in a ghetto leper colony. The lepers were segregated from everybody else," he continued.

Moss went on to imply those who segregated blacks are the "enemy."

"But they (blacks) refused to give up. They decided to leave the city. They said that's not going to stop me from my destiny. Once they left the particular area, they then find out God has cooked things up. The camp of the enemy ... nobody is there. So they go into the enemy's camp. They find food. They find shelter. They find gold. They find silver. They even find some drink. In the enemy's camp. They find gin and juice. In the enemy's camp."

Obama thinks Moss is a "wonderful young pastor"?

This guy is out of the same mold as Wright.

I don't know why Obama keeps stepping in the same pile.