A veteran Maryland legislator who is also a Baptist pastor defended the hateful, racist and inflammatory tirades delivered by Barack Obama’s longtime spiritual advisor during his own weekend sermon.

Democrat Emmett Burns, who represents Baltimore County in the state House, even invited the media to hear him advocate for Obama’s pastor, the Reverend Jeremiah Wright, during an Easter speech at his Rising Sun First Baptist Church in Woodland.

Burns said that the Reverend Jeremiah Wright “spoke the truth” when he blamed the U.S. for causing the 2001 terrorist attacks with its own terrorism and when he damned America for treating blacks less than human and giving them drugs. The lawmaker said that Wright’s major infraction and infringement on the American ideals were the harsh words he used.

Burns added that Wright’s comments may have been profane, but they were providential because they gave America the opportunity to examine its race relations. He also said white churches have a “priestly tradition,” in which ministers deal with everyday needs of their congregation, while black churches have a “prophetic” tradition of prompting preachers to speak out against racism and war.

While the Maryland lawmaker defended Wright’s incendiary comments, even Obama condemned them, calling them “divisive”, “racially charged” and “views that denigrate both the greatness and the goodness of our nation.” The Illinois senator had named his close friend and pastor of two decades to a presidential campaign advisory body yet was willing to criticize his outrageous comments.