Which Is Worse?

I was talking to a friend recently and the issue of the Reverend Wright came up. (He mentioned it, not me.) My friend had all the Obama talking points internalized--that Republicans support religious nuts who are just as bad, that I don't understand how the discourse in black church's works, that it makes sense that blacks view America with suspicion, etc.

I could have said a lot of things, but I replied no one denies the problem of racism, and that America has its flaws, but this goes much deeper. We're talking about an ugly, false worldview that hurts anyone who believes it. Furthermore, most of Wright's contemporaries, many of whom had it tougher than him, don't share his views.

I mean, we're not just talking about blacks viewing America a bit differently. I noted this is a guy who believes in nutty conspiracies by rich whites against poor blacks (and others)--for example, he says that AIDS was created by white scientists to kill blacks. (He also believes Israel and South Africa worked on a bomb that would only kill dark-skinned people.) My friend said he doesn't really believe in that stuff.

I was taken aback. Why would he say these things in his sermons if he didn't believe them. But I said, okay, let's assume he doesn't really mean these things. In other words, he knowingly lied to his flock, hoping thousands would believe these stories and learn to hate whites (and America and Israel and the rich). This is better?