VOA常速英语2008年-Obama's Outspoken Former Pastor Takes Aim at Me

By Cindy Saine
Washington
28 April 2008

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama's former pastor¹, the Reverend Jeremiah Wright, is accusing the media of unfairly attacking him and taking controversial remarks he made years ago out of context. Speaking at the National Press Club in Washington, Reverend Wright said public criticism of him is actually an attack on the black church in the United States. VOA Correspondent Cindy Saine reports from Washington.

Efforts by Senator Obama's campaign to shift public attention away from his fiery² former pastor to issues such as the economy and the Iraq war have suffered a blow with several recent high-profile appearances by Reverend Wright.

Speaking to a friendly audience of religious leaders at the National Press Club Monday, the retired³ Chicago pastor said news coverage⁴ of him and his sermons reflects a deep misunderstanding of the black church in America, which has been shaped by hundred of years of slavery and oppression. He accused the media of playing only a few isolated⁵ snippets of his sermons over and over again, taken from 30 years of his ministry⁶.

"As I said, this is not an attack on Jeremiah Wright, it has nothing to do with Senator Obama, it is an attack on the black church launched by people who know nothing about the African American religious tradition," said Reverend Wright.

Video-excerpts from Reverend Wright's sermons over the years surfaced in March. Wright asserted that the September 11th, 2001 terrorist attacks may have been in retaliation⁷ for U.S. foreign policy. In one of his sermons he said God should "damn" America for its treatment of African Americans. Wright also suggested the U.S. government created the HIV/AIDS virus to kill black people.

Senator Obama has repeatedly condemned⁸ the comments, and called his pastor's view of the United States "profoundly distorted." But Obama said he could not disown the man who has been his pastor for 20 years, officiated his marriage ceremony and baptized his two young daughters.

Asked Monday about Obama's distancing himself from his remarks, Wright said Obama is a politician, and that he had to do that to win the election.

Reverend Wright also strongly rejected assertions that he is unpatriotic and hates America. He pointed¹⁰ out that he served his country as a U.S. Marine¹¹, and lashed¹² out at Vice¹³ President Dick Cheney, who received student deferments to keep him out of the military during the Vietnam War.

"I served six years in the military, does that make me patriotic⁹? How many years did Cheney serve," he asked.

A handful of protesters gathered in the rain outside the press club to show their disapproval¹⁴ of Reverend Wright's message, including Coby Dillard.

"He's casting America in a light where it is blacks on one side, whites on one side, and as a black man, I feel that is wrong," said Dillard. "And also, if you saw my sign, it says 'The United States is not the enemy.' As a veteran myself, and with Reverend Wright being a former Marine, he should understand that everything that our country has done to liberate¹⁵ other countries and even to better our situation here at home."

A recent Newsweek poll indicates that more than 40 percent of Americans say Reverend Wright has hurt their opinion of Senator Obama. Senator Obama has a lead in pledged delegates in the long race for the Democratic nomination¹⁶ with Senator Hillary Clinton. The next primary contests are on May 6 in North Carolina and Indiana.

1 pastor   

n.牧师，牧人

参考例句：

• He was the son of a poor pastor.他是一个穷牧师的儿子。
• We have no pastor at present:the church is run by five deacons.我们目前没有牧师：教会的事是由五位执事管理的。

2 fiery   

adj.燃烧着的，火红的；暴躁的；激烈的

参考例句：

• She has fiery red hair.她有一头火红的头发。
• His fiery speech agitated the crowd.他热情洋溢的讲话激动了群众。

3 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

4 coverage   

n.报导，保险范围，保险额，范围，覆盖

参考例句：

• There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
• This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。

5 isolated   

adj.与世隔绝的

参考例句：

• His bad behaviour was just an isolated incident. 他的不良行为只是个别事件。
• Patients with the disease should be isolated. 这种病的患者应予以隔离。

6 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

7 retaliation   

n.报复，反击

参考例句：

• retaliation against UN workers 对联合国工作人员的报复
• He never said a single word in retaliation. 他从未说过一句反击的话。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 condemned   

adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He condemned the hypocrisy of those politicians who do one thing and say another. 他谴责了那些说一套做一套的政客的虚伪。
• The policy has been condemned as a regressive step. 这项政策被认为是一种倒退而受到谴责。

9 patriotic   

adj.爱国的，有爱国心的

参考例句：

• His speech was full of patriotic sentiments.他的演说充满了爱国之情。
• The old man is a patriotic overseas Chinese.这位老人是一位爱国华侨。

10 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

11 marine   

adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵

参考例句：

• Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

12 lashed   

adj.具睫毛的v.鞭打( lash的过去式和过去分词 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥

参考例句：

• The rain lashed at the windows. 雨点猛烈地打在窗户上。
• The cleverly designed speech lashed the audience into a frenzy. 这篇精心设计的演说煽动听众使他们发狂。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

14 disapproval   

n.反对，不赞成

参考例句：

• The teacher made an outward show of disapproval.老师表面上表示不同意。
• They shouted their disapproval.他们喊叫表示反对。

15 liberate   

v.解放，使获得自由，释出，放出；vt.解放，使获自由

参考例句：

• They did their best to liberate slaves.他们尽最大能力去解放奴隶。
• This will liberate him from economic worry.这将消除他经济上的忧虑。

16 nomination   

n.提名，任命，提名权

参考例句：

• John is favourite to get the nomination for club president.约翰最有希望被提名为俱乐部主席。
• Few people pronounced for his nomination.很少人表示赞成他的提名。