You Are Politicians, Not Preachers
James Dugan
SvadilfariIn two very different parts of the country, the use of religion was invoked to help guide Americans back to the true American way. In Texas, Rick Perry's Day of Prayer had 30,000 people come to a football stadium creating a national stage for his political maneuvering as a GOP candidate. In Philadelphia, Mayor Nutter Took to the Pulpit to reprimand black youths for senseless mob violence against law abiding Center City residents. These two very political moves were planned to use religion as counter forces to social problems and send a message that America needs God to save us from our wayward ways.
The two politicians are from different political parties and are worried about very different issues. Yet they were both willing to use the backdrop of the religious faith to bolster their positions and give credence to their beliefs. Most Americans believe that faith and religion is a private matter that should not impose itself in politics. Politics and Religion are two explosive devices that can cause division and pain in the populace. The separation of Church and state, although often misunderstood based on the Constitution, has been a tenant of acceptance for Americans and a point of pride for over 200 years. Why is it then that politicians retreat back to this tempestuous relationship when they are in trouble and does it do any good for American politics or unity?
Rick Perry’s Day of Prayer was more a political rally for his supporters than a genuine show of solidarity for his state. Always a politician to grandstand, he filled a stadium of his supporters and placed God in his corner. By making it a religious revival, he sends out the message that if you are not with him in his beliefs and his vision of America, then you are not with God. This sophomoric and irresponsible behavior damages the already fractured psyche of America. Rick Perry has the power to reconcile social problems through his position as Governor and by choosing only Christians for his message, he alienates most of Americans who believe that compromise and togetherness will continue to make for success.
Way across the country, Mayor Nutter used the pulpit to lambast teenagers as devils ruining his city. He played the part of a preacher and spoke to the choir as he blamed African American fathers for their failure to provide good example thus creating these flash mobs that has captured the fear of Center City residents. Instead of sticking to City Hall, he used religion to reach the sentiments of the black community and to gain their support for his ideas to curb the violence, which involve stopping all young people and installing a 9 PM curfew. By preaching in a black church, Mayor Nutter made it a morality problem instead of a city problem, and though the rest of the Philadelphia community may perceive it as such, he divided the city on racial lines. Religion and faith have nothing to do with flash mobs or discontented and troubled youths, and involving God and the church was wrong.
These two politicians have plenty of opportunity to express their opinions instead of using religious venues. These two politicians are using religion and faith as means to fixing social problems that have real social reasons for existing. We voted them in to fix things politically and not to guide us religiously. I just hope we can curtail this pattern in American politics before larger divisions separate us for good. And religion has the power to do just that.
Reader Comments (4)
Rick Perry is such a blody hypocrite that he should be nowhere near an elected office. My Aunt just visited from Dallas and was screaming about what a crook he was laundering money from his campaign into personal IRA's and money market accounts. Whatever, he fits right in with these other criminals looking for lottery payouts by becoming our elected officials.
I do not have an issue with what Nutter did. As as black politican, he may be the only one that escape the wrath of the PC by calling out these flash mobs as something is being perpetrated by predominantly black youth. If he was a caucasion mayor saying the same thing, you would not be able to blink before the media would blast him as a racist and Al Sharpton would be on the first, first class flight down to Philly to organize a protest. This is not just a Philly problem. Anyone else read about the mobs that attacked in Wisconsin during a state fair? Dominantly large black youths specifically targeting white people to attack. Not much about it said in the media outlets. However, were the roles reversed, this would be front page on every media site int he country being decried as a "Hate Crime." Nutter at least has the guts to see and call it what it is.
Good piece. Concise and dead on. Perry is batshit, so I'm honestly not going to waste my time discussing his views other than to remind everyone that he wanted to secede Texas from the U.S. a year ago. How ironic that he wants to run the entire country. What will he secede America from if eleceted, North America?
However, on a far more serious issue of the black youth violence in Philadelphia, Chicago, and elsewhere, being unquestionably targeted at white people, I agree with CJ that Nutter had to speak up, but I also agree with Dugan that it didn't have to be done in church, where he did alienate the different races of Philadelphia, as well as the different religions. He could have easily chosen a more appropriate audience and maintained a more appropriate tone when addressing the subject. He apparently made jokes about the Immaculate Conception and sperm banks, neither of which lend any value to the severity of this discussion.
It is important to realize that at the end of the day this is in fact a serious problem, predominantly affecting the black, urban community, but if it continues to worsen, it will hurt the entire city. The last thing small businesses need in these bad economic times is wary customers and wide-spread white flight in a city that has already experienced too much of it. And at the core of this problem is a lack of strong family continuity. Nutter is right to be speaking out against this, but he must maintain his composure and integrity, and he also must work hard with the police and communities to be proactive in preventing these incidents from happening. He should start first by encouraging some type of safe streets festival in the areas that have been effected, encouraging people, from all parts of the city to come eat, dance, drink, and have fun.
I think Nutter could utilize this growing problem and turn it into a real talking point, but he needs to be smart and starting at a church was the wrong first step.
Also, here's Bill Maher's take on Rick Perry's event, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvd5e9lMm_4
Very Funny!
Interesting contrast of two different politicians using similar venues. I agree that Rick Perry's prayer event was probably a bid to gain him some media exposure before he announces a presidential run. He is after the evangelical voter bloc that has been looking for a leader on the national politics stage since Huckabee left. I think Perry's move is a disturbing use of God to promote his own political career. It's also a miscalculation. I think Bachmann is going to get the evangelical vote anyway. Perry would've been better off having a meeting with business leaders or highlighting the economic success of Texas' low tax rates.
Like CJ and Pat, I think Nutter is saying all the right things. Sorry Dugan, but violent, racially motivated, unprovoked attacks against innocent bystanders is a moral problem. Yes it's a city issue, but it represents a breakdown in the moral fabric of society. A few outlaw gangs of roaming, bored teenagers is one thing, but these are coordinated events with kids as young as 11. They clearly could be prevented or at least reduced if parents were monitoring their kids' behaviors. Maybe that's an easy stereotype to fall back on as an explanation, but the members of Nutter's church seem to agree with it. Personally, I'd rather the mayor make a moral appeal to a friendly audience that will support him, then have to see the city turn into a police state. Doesn't it make more sense to encourage parents to intervene with misguided youth early and at home, then see them thrown into the prison system because they went to a flash mob they saw advertised on facebook?