Today is Easter Sunday, when Christians celebrate Jesus Christ's message of forgiveness, hope and love.

One of those celebrations takes place at Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, home parish of Barack Obama and his 20-year friend, the now-retired firebrand pastor, Jeremiah Wright.

Watching video clips of Wright's preaching on YouTube, you might wonder if Jesus' message got lost in the translation: God damn America. 9/11 as America's "chickens coming home to roost." AIDS as a U.S. tool to reduce the black population.

These extreme views, selectively clipped from his long years of ministry, have been rightly disavowed by Obama. They have no place in serious discussions of our nation's problems and history.

But Obama, arguably reflecting the Christian spirit of forgiveness, did not disavow the man. "I can no more disown him than I can disown the black community" or his white grandmother, he said.

In doing so, Obama remains stuck with a guilt-by-association issue: Should we worry that part of him believes in Wright's extreme ideas?

The answer is no. There's no good reason not to take Obama at his word, which came in an eloquent speech last week that was far removed from the simplistic screeds of TV talk-show hosts.

Obama pointed out that Wright's polemics reflected, to some degree, the longsimmering and unresolved anger fueled by America's racial divisions. And he made the case that we face pressing issues that go beyond race: "two wars, a terrorist threat, a falling economy, a chronic healthcare crisis and potentially devastating climate change."

In this crucial presidential campaign, Obama is right: We would be better served if we looked to the future, rather than to a preacher's past.