DALLAS – The controversial Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr. has “dared to unwrap the flag from around the cross” in his sermons – not because of a lack of patriotism, but out of concern, a Dallas preacher said Saturday at a panel discussion at the State of the Black Church Summit.

Wright, former pastor to presidential candidate Barack Obama, has been criticized by some as racist and by others as anti-American because of his provocative statements about U.S. policies.

But “we don’t love America uncritically; you don’t just tell the good things,” said the Rev. Frederick Haynes III to about 100 scholars, clergy and students gathered at Paul Quinn College.

“He (Wright) has dared to unwrap the flag from around the cross, and when you do that, you give the cross the power to tell the flag which way to wave.”

Haynes, pastor of Dallas’ Friendship West Baptist Church, and six panelists spoke and answered questions for three hours, switching from scholarly discourses to fervent sermons and back again as they focused on topics including patriotism, voting and making the black church better understood.

Several blasted the so-called “prosperity gospel” often preached by televangelists – the notion that God will reward the faithful with wealth and health.

Listeners at the summit, hosted by Fort Worth’s Brite Divinity School, frequently applauded and punctuated speakers’ comments with “Amen” and “That’s right.”

Wright was supposed to speak at the panel discussion and attend a banquet in his honor on Saturday night in Dallas, but he decided to cancel because of security concerns for his family, himself and attendees.

Part of the summit was originally scheduled to be at Texas Christian University, where Brite is located, but TCU and Brite officials agreed to move it for security reasons.

Obama denounced some of Wright’s statements during a recent speech on race relations in the United States. But panel speakers repeatedly praised Wright’s ministry and affirmed Brite officials’ decision to give him an award for his leadership.

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(c) 2008, Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

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AP-NY-03-29-08 2204EDT