According to a recent Chicago Tribune article, Rev. Michael Pfleger is a man on a mission. An ill-fated one, but a mission, nonetheless.
The good reverend seems to think tougher gun laws are going to stop people from shooting one another like it’s possum-hunting-season in Chi-town. Even though a more than 20-year gun ban couldn’t do the trick.
And since no one is going to listen to a bunch of poor, black people from the south and west side of Chicago (areas hit hardest by gun violence), Pfleger has asked the good, rich, (mostly white) folk on Michigan Ave. for their help.
| "They may not be listening to … me and some of the folks on the South Side and the West Side. But when Michigan Avenue stands up, it's a different story," said Rev. Pfleger, as he appealed to the members of the Fourth Presbyterian Church. |
Pfleger's pleas were framed in the usual, obligatory display of pseudo-activism; which is dusted off and trotted out, every time a senseless act of violence occurs in the black community: placards, hand-holding, singing, and prayers. Which I might add, is always, too little, too late.
Among those in Pfleger's pitiful parade of paradoxes (Say that 3 times - fast!), was Joseph Walker, the grandfather of slain teenager, Derrion Albert. Which left me nonplussed. The reverend’s sermon was all about gun violence, and Derrion Albert was beaten to death with a wooden board. So, unless Pfleger was also championing stricter laws governing wooden boards - I failed to see the connection.
I know I am probably stepping on a few toes with this article, but I don’t respond well to nonsense. When people’s lives are at stake, you have to bring your A-game. If you have a message, make it clear. If you are going to preach, pick the right audience. And if you are going to speak, know what the hell you are talking about.
Remember, it does a man no good, if his heart is in the right place, but he's lost his head.
That means you - Father Pfleger.
"Pfleger has asked the good, rich, (mostly white) folk on Michigan Ave. for their help."
ReplyDeleteI wasn't aware that Pfleger is supposed to stay south of Madison Street.
The people on Mich. Ave. aren't killing one another over drug turf and bubblegum. If the mostly black folk on the south and west side don't care enough about gun violence, to register and actually vote, why should the people on Mich. Ave. fight their battles for them?!!!
ReplyDelete"I wasn't aware that Pfleger is supposed to stay south of Madison Street."
ReplyDeleteNeither was I, that's why I never said he was. My problem is that he is preaching to the wrong audience and he is blurring the lines between what is relevant and what is not.
Stricter gun laws can't make a homicidal sociopath value human life. If you take away his gun (which will never happen), he'll use a board.