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Yeah...and he did it at a very opportunistic time...so this news would be downplayed by results in Puerto Rico, Clinton's failing campaign and the news coming out of the Rules Committee...ahh...I can never get enough of these two-faced politicians - I think I would have more respect for Obama if he had kept his church affiliation and spoken out against the offending clergy men.

Sometimes it takes time to pry oneself from that which is familiar. It is real easy to say "Well he should have just threw them into the gutter immediately". Anyone who is a devout parishoner, especially for 20 years (going to the neighborhood church) will find it hard to do. Try it. Could you throw 20 years of your life, the person who married you and baptised your kids etc. into the gutter carelessly as if they didn't matter? Maybe you could but for most people it is not that easy. Anyway, whether he should have done it earlier or doing it now it seems to be the right decision.

Perhaps this congregation/community was looking to him to help them get beyond the possible fallout of this devisive campaign and the negative media attention his church and these speakers have drawn - again, he should have seen this affiliation through, given his deep and long standing ties with this church and its surrounding community - he bailed and at the most opportunistic time.

From an article at Fox: "Obama’s pastor problems were compounded this week by the Rev. Michael Pfleger, whose videotaped guest sermon at the church Sunday showed him taunting Hillary Clinton..
Obama said he was deeply disappointed by the remarks and Pfleger apologized....

“It’s not fair to the other members of the church who seek to worship in peace,..."

I maintain that that congregation will never "worship in peace" because peace is not what they are hearing/preaching. The message is hate-filled. No matter how someone might want to phrase or explain it, this *church* does not promote the message of it's Founder so it can not claim the name "church" in the traditional Christian sense. Call itself something else.

glimpses into obama's and his wife's attitude toward America would suggest he agrees with his pastor, his church etc..... and only resigned in hopes that it would help him win the nomination and possibly the presidency, not for any noble reason or because he disagrees with what was preached at his church.

I agree with eagle ask what kind of relationship do you have with your place of worship and religious spiritual leader.It was vwey diffficult for me to leave the temple my entire family belonged to. the rabbi was close to all of us. was there in illness as ewll as during celebrations. I have not for over 20 years found a place that has offered the same sense of closeness. something i regret. Pastor wright jusy look what he has done in the neighborgood and i for one have great respect for his work. Ok he is angry oh that hurts only those that are unable to see the biger picture or just make decisions based on TV the other minister is way to liberal for my taste yet i could not stop laughing at some of his message. i believe life is too complex to just gudge on surgsce information without getting context of the message.
yichel

Why is it so hard for some to believe that most politicians put the best spin possible to their actions when campaigning, side with the prevailing sentiment of the day (hour?) and pander to the media - it sickens me - keep to the strength of your personal convictions - this was not the time for Obama to dump his association with his church and its community - he would have done them and his constituency a far better service by decrying these hate mongers from within the confines of this church's walls - showing the rest of the nation what he thinks of clergy who use the pulpit to promote deviseness/derision and that spread separatist messages.

I guess its time to leave!
Barack Obama has resigned his 20-year membership in the Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago in the wake of remarks by his pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, and recently by a visiting priest Fr. Pfleger. "This is not a decision I come to lightly ... and it is one I make with some sadness," Obama said at a news conference after campaign officials released a letter of resignation he sent to the church. Why now the damage is done he exposed himself and his family to this angry hate speech for 20 years?
He said, that the new pastor at Trinity and "the church have been suffering from the attention my campaign has focused on them." Any organization that develops and moulds an individual or group of individuals will come under the magnifying glass of public opinion but most certianly if they have a member who is running for the highest office in the land!
Obama said he and his wife have been discussing the issue since Wright's appearance at the National Press Club in Washington last month, which reignited the furor over remarks Wright had made in various sermons at the church. This man has been speaking this stuff for more than 20 years, but now it is expeidiant to leave!
"I suspect we'll find another church home for our family," Obama said.
Gee does he think that the scrutiniy will be any less? Now how does this speak to his ability to make judgementsfor the nation when he struggles with important family and career judgements?

Those who condemn Obama for leaving for political reasons are the same ones who condemned him for staying when the issue first broke. While I won't be voting for him, he gets damned if does and damned if he doesn't.

I can relate to the difficulty of the decision. Sometimes one can initiate change by staying in a church. Trust me, It's far too easy to leave when things aren't to your liking and very difficult to stay. There does come a time when one has to acknowledge defeat. In Obama's case, others ended up using his candidacy for their own agenda. Whoever heard of Wright prior to Obama?

I wouldn't condemn Obama for staying, I would like to hear and know the truth, of course. But I wouldn't elect someone that believe in and follows that line of thinking connected with that church.