Senator Obama and Rev. Wright

Immediately after September 11th, Jerry Fallwell and Pat Robertson posited that we brought the September 11th attacks on ourselves with our decadence. Many comments posted on the web justify Senator Obama's failure to publicly disavow Rev. Wright's views and to distance Rev. Wright from his Presidential campaign by pointing to the Republican politicians who pander to Pat Roberston and his ilk and accept their endorsements while failing to publicly comment on their inflammatory political views.

I thoroughly believe that Senator Obama does not share the inflammatory views expressed by Rev. Wright. Senator Obama's statements about Rev. White lead me to surmise that Rev. Wright is far more than a man who holds inflammatory views.

Senator Obama believes and speaks of the need to rise above our divided past and present. There are children in the pews of Rev. Wright's church, including Senator Obama's children. How can we as a society rise above our divisions if community leaders do not stand up to other community leaders and publicly disavow wrongheaded political views? What distinguishes a leader from a follower is the internal courage and fortitude to stand up to others even at personal risk and even if the others are those he or she cares for. Senator Obama should explain how he rises to this challenge and explain those times when he believes he's failed to do so.