April 25 (Bloomberg) -- Barack Obama's former pastor, the Reverend Jeremiah Wright, said passages of his sermons that caused an uproar were taken out of context and the Illinois senator's denunciation of those statements doesn't bother him because he understands it's politics.

``He says what he has to say as a politician. I say what I have to say as a pastor,'' Wright said in an interview with PBS's ``Bill Moyers Journal'' scheduled to air tonight. ``They are two different worlds.''

Wright, in his first interview since portions of some of his sermons began playing widely on television and over the Internet, said as an activist he's accustomed to being ``at odds with the establishment.'' He said the portrayal of his teachings is unfair, unjust and has made him the target of hatred. It's ``very, very unsettling,'' Wright said.

Obama, who is battling New York Senator Hillary Clinton for the Democratic presidential nomination, is repeatedly being forced to explain his 20-year association with Wright, who is retiring in June as pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago. Sermons in which Wright makes comments such as ``God damn America'' have provided ammunition to Obama's political opponents.

The Illinois senator said in a speech in Philadelphia last month that portions of Wright's sermons condemning the U.S. were ``not only wrong but divisive'' and presented a ``profoundly distorted view'' of the nation.

`As a Politician'

``He responded as a politician,'' Wright, 66, said about the speech, in which Obama also addressed the country's history of race relations.

Wright said in the interview, excerpts of which were released by PBS, that he has never heard Obama repeat or endorse any of the remarks that have sparked the controversy.

``Absolutely not,'' Wright said. ``I don't talk to him about politics.''

In the sermons being circulated, Wright suggested the U.S. brought the Sept. 11 attacks on itself and that the government had a role in spreading the AIDS virus in the black community. His remarks include ``U.S. of KKKA.''

Wright said his words were taken out of context for political purposes and ``very devious reasons.''

``They wanted to communicate that I am unpatriotic, that I am un-American, that I am filled with hate speech, that I have a cult at Trinity United Church of Christ. And by the way, guess who goes to his church, hint, hint, hint? That's what they wanted to communicate,'' Wright said. ``They know nothing about the church.''

Obama said earlier this month that he hadn't heard the sermons at issue and only became aware of them when be began his run for president.

Wright's Church

Wright, a former Marine, has headed the Chicago church for 36 years. Under him, the Chicago South Side church -- whose motto is ``Unashamedly Black and Unapologetically Christian''-- grew from fewer than 90 members to 8,000. He also has overseen the establishment of about 70 ministries, including many with international reach.

The pastor referred to by some parishioners as ``Uncle J'' is also credited with ushering in Trinity's black liberation theology, which marries the struggle against slavery and other forms of oppression with Christian teachings.

``He's a courageous, prophetic voice in the world,'' Cornel West, an author and a professor of religion and African-American studies at Princeton University said in February during a retirement tribute for Wright.

Influence

Obama writes in his first book, ``Dreams From My Father,'' about how Trinity and Wright brought him to Christianity and enabled him to get more in touch with his black roots.

Wright officiated at the wedding of Obama and his wife, Michelle, and baptized their two daughters.

Wright's words continue to dog Obama.

North Carolina's Republican Party has produced an advertisement featuring Wright and Obama ahead of the state's May 6 primary, saying Obama is ``just too extreme for North Carolina.''

Arizona Senator John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee, has asked the state party not to run the ad, saying yesterday that ``there's no place for that kind of campaigning.''

In addition to the PBS interview, Wright is scheduled to speak and answer questions April 28 at the National Press Club in Washington.

To contact the reporter on this story: Kim Chipman at kchipman@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: April 25, 2008 00:01 EDT