LITTLE ROCK, Ark. The Rev. Jeremiah Wright, President Barack Obamas controversial former pastor, referred to people who wrongly believe Obama is Muslim as "psychopaths" during a fiery sermon Sunday in Arkansas.
In his sermon at New Millennium Church in Little Rock, Wright criticized supporters of the Iraq war and defended former state Court of Appeals Judge Wendell Griffen for speaking out against it. Griffen serves as the churchs pastor.
Wrights only reference to Obama came when he compared Griffens opponents to those who incorrectly think Obama is Muslim. The president, whose full name is Barack Hussein Obama, is Christian.
"Go after the military mindset ... and the enemy will come after you with everything," Wright told the packed church.
"He will surround you with psychopaths who will criticize you and ostracize you and put you beyond the pale of hope and say you aint really a Baptist and say the president aint really a Christian, hes a Muslim. There aint no American Christian with a name like Barack Hussein," he added.
A poll released this month found that nearly one in five people, or 18 percent, said they thought Obama was Muslim, up from the 11 percent in March 2009. The proportion who correctly said he was Christian was 34 percent, down from 48 percent in March of last year. The poll, conducted by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center and its affiliated Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, surveyed 3,003 people.
Obama cut ties with Wright in 2008, after Wrights more incendiary remarks hit the Internet during the presidential election. At a National Press Club appearance in April 2008, Wright claimed the U.S. government could plant AIDS in the black community, praised Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrahkan and suggested Obama was putting his pastor at arms length for political purposes while privately agreeing with him.
Obama denounced Wright as "divisive and destructive" and left Wrights church in Chicago.
Griffen lost a re-election bid for the Arkansas Court of Appeals in 2008, after high profile battles with a state judicial panel over the rights of judges to speak out on political issues. Griffen was elected in May to a judicial post in Pulaski County, the states most populous county that includes Little Rock.
Griffen said he invited Wright to speak at his church as part of a monthlong focus on the relationship between faith and the community.
Wright defended Griffens outspokenness on political issues, saying it showed he was willing to speak out even if it would cost him politically.
Wrights sermon focused on the Old Testament story of the prophet Elisha thwarting an attack by the Aramean Army. Wright repeatedly made references to the war in Iraq and suggested parallels with the Biblical story.
"What was his motivation? Elisha had embarrassed him, like Saddam had embarrassed George Herbert Walker," Wright said, referring to the former president.
Wright spoke as Arkansas Republicans hope to capitalize on Obamas unpopularity in the fall election. Obama has not visited the state since 2006, and lost its six electoral votes in the 2008 election.
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