It's a shame that they have judges like that in courtrooms. It is obvious that the cops were wrong. do he need someone to spell it out to him

As always Lila, I thankyou for your professional courtesy to us.

Unable to upload photos, pending from afternoon

Hi smokey, looks like your uploads are getting through again. Are you still having trouble?

Dear CNN:

I find several things that Reverend Wright has said to be irresponsible. But his irresponsibility pales in comparison to the irresponsibility of the media. The recent segment, in which Joe Klein criticized Reverend Wright, mimicked the soundbite that started this furor when Reverend Wright spoke of "chickens coming home to roost" and "God damn America." More about tjis below. I would estimate that both his NAACP address and his press club address lasted about 30 minutes. Yet, what you have done is to take out of context a few excerpts, without giving the public any awareness of the basic theme of both addresses.

In each address, Reverend Wright focused upon the fact that difference is not deficiency and that there is a need for reconciliation. In the press club address, he responded to a question as to whether Muslims can be saved by quoting Jesus who said "other sheep have I that are not of this flock" and, with respect to a question as to whether God loves racist whites as well as oppressed blacks, he referenced John 3:16 where Jesus said that "God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son" and stated that racists are in the world as well as those that they oppress. In other words, God loves all people. Why don't these comments get replayed. And why don't you play the closing remarks from either his NAACP address or his press club address, which have very positive messages, instead of always focusing upon the negative.

The thirty second sound bite that the media has replayed over and over combines out of context excerpts from two sermons, one and 2001 and the other in 2003. In the 2001 sermon, Reverend Wright was actually quoting Ambassador Peck, a white man, who made the statement with respect to 9/11 on Fox news that the chickens are coming home to roost. If anyone read the entire sermon, Reverend Wright was criticizing what he called the insanity of intolerance and hatred. He referenced Psalm 137, which speaks of smashing babies heads against the rocks, and stated that we should not take out our anger against government by killing the innocent. He stated that revenge was a dangerous place to be in 551 B.C. as well as 2001 A.D.

In his 2003 sermon, he stated that God does not lie but that governments lie and followed by pointing out that the Roman government failed, the British government failed, the German government failed, the Russian government failed, the Japanese government failed ,and the American government failed when it put the Indians on reservations and the Japanese in internment camps, and when it permitted blacks to be put in slavery, in inferior schools and substandard housing, and in the lowest paying jobs and outside the equal protection of the law. When he said God damn America, he was referring to American policies and not the American people.

Reverend Wright observed that, in Deuteronomy, God has both blessed his people and cursed those who do wrong. He observed that damn comes from condemn, and that there is much that God condemns, rather then blesses. He went onto say that God does not bless gang-bangers or dope dealers or young thugs that hit old women beside the head and snatch their purse. Nor does he bless the killing of babies or the killing of enemies.

In context, it is a sermon against revenge and getting even.

While there is material to criticize in Reverend Wright's sermons and speeches, there is much to applaud and take to heart. He is calling for a dialogue, for our recognition of the things in the past that do not honor our country, and for changing hearts and minds -- always to move towards reconciliation. He may not always do it artfully, but his basic message is one that the media should applaud rather than denigrate.

What appears to be his most outrageous claim is that the American government introduced the aids virus to black men, a position supported by Dr. Len Horowitz. It does appear that 200 black men in New York, and other blacks in Africa, were given a hepatitis B vaccine in 1974 that contained the aids virus and which was made from chimpanzees imported from Africa. However, there is no question about the Tuskegee experiment in which 399 blacks in prison from 1932 to 1972 who had syphilis were left untreated so that their bodies could be studied upon their death.

With respect to those who question why Senator Obama has not left is church, listen to the words of Martin Marty, a white man who is one of the most highly regarded theologians:

Trinity focuses on biblical teaching and preaching. It is a church where music stuns and uplifts, a church given to hospitality and promoting physical and spiritual healing, devoted to education, active in Chicago life, and one that keeps the world church in mind, with a special accent on African Christianity. The four S's charged against Wright - segregation, separatism, sectarianism, and superiority - don't stand up, as countless visitors can attest. I wish those whose vision has been distorted by sermon clips could have experienced what we and our white guests did when we worshiped there: feeling instantly at home.

Please try to provide some balance in your coverage of Reverend Wright.

Charles W. Murdock
Professor of Law and Former Dean
Loyola University Chicago