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Mar 16, 2008 1:04 a.m.

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Obama, Wright and What Really Matters: Tibet

Source: http://foxtvbroadcastlive.net/?p=1308

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Spare me.

Show me the follower of any faith who agrees with everything they hear in the church, synagogue, mosque or temple and I will show you Mike Huckabee.

Americans know that pastors, rabbis, imams and other spiritual leaders go places that their congregations are unwilling to follow. Just as it is silly to suggest that John McCain shares all the beliefs of the whack-jobs with whom he has appeared and from whom he has received warm endorsements — a subject this columnist has studiously avoided — so it is absurd to get overly excited about the pronouncements of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright.

When he served his Chicago congregation — which for two decades included Obama — Wright was an outspoken and entertaining pastor. I had an opportunity to hear him preach on a number of occasions and I was impressed. He’s deeply spiritual, learned when it comes to Biblical matters and about as politicized as I would hope for a pastor to be. Did I agree with his every pronouncement? No. Did I think that his ideas about race relations, the neglect of the poor or misguided U.S. foreign policies was as extreme as many of the conservative pastors I have listened to over the years? Heavens no.

Obama says he disagrees with some of Wright’s more radical statements.

Fair enough.

What is far more interesting to me is what Obama has to say about religious matters that actually matter?

As it happens, he has a statement out today on just such an issue.

“I am deeply disturbed by reports of a crackdown and arrests ordered by Chinese authorities in the wake of peaceful protests by Tibetan Buddhist monks. I condemn the use of violence to put down peaceful protests, and call on the Chinese government to respect the basic human rights of the people of Tibet, and to account for the whereabouts of detained Buddhist monks,” declared the Illinois senator.

“These events come on the 49th anniversary of the exile of the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhists, the Dalai Lama. They demonstrate the continuing frustration of the Tibetan people at the way in which Beijing has ruled Tibet. There has been an informal dialogue between Chinese leaders and the Dalai Lama’s representatives over the past six years. It is good that they have been talking, but China has thus far shown no flexibility on the substance of those discussions. Indeed, it has delayed in scheduling the latest round, despite the willingness of the Tibetans to continue dialogue.

“If Tibetans are to live in harmony with the rest of China’s people, their religion and culture must be respected and protected. Tibet should enjoy genuine and meaningful autonomy. The Dalai Lama should be invited to visit China, as part of a process leading to his return.

“This is the year of the Beijing Olympics. It represents an opportunity for China to show the world what it has accomplished in the last several decades. Those accomplishments have been extraordinary and China’s people have a right to be proud of them, but the events in Tibet these last few days unfortunately show a different face of China. Now is the time for Beijing to take steps that would change the image people have of China later this year by changing the reality of how they treat Tibet and Tibetans. Now is the time to respect the human rights and religious freedom of the people of Tibet.”

Lord knows it is too much to ask that U.S. media care about the oppression and dislocation of millions of Tibetans when there is a retired preacher from Chicago to obsess about.

But it is good to see that — against intense pressure from a ridiculous media and a malignant chattering class — Barack Obama is paying attention to what’s happening in the world, and that he is responding appropriately

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