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Kola
Moderator
Username: Kola
Post Number: 2156
Registered: 02-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, October 17, 2005 - 10:37 pm: | 
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Somebody sent me this article.
Very interesting.
Pimpin' Ain't Easy: The New Face of the Black Church
Commentary, Jasmyne Cannick,
New America Media, Oct 11, 2005
Editor's Note: The new black church is marked by its superstar pastors,
multi-million dollar budgets and newfound affinity for the Republican
Party.
"We're not just a church, we're an international corporation. We're not
just a bumbling bunch of preachers who can't talk and all we're doing
is baptizing babies. I deal with the White House. I deal with Tony
Blair. I deal with presidents around this world. I pastor a
multimillion-dollar congregation. You've got to put me on a different
scale than the little black preacher sitting over there that's supposed
to be just getting by because the people are suffering."
--Bishop Eddie Long, New Birth Missionary Church, Lithonia, Ga., August
2005.
The sad thing is, he's right.
Today's New Black Church is the offspring of the civil rights era, but
can easily be identified by its debatable and sometimes laughable
theology, superficiality, greed, materialism, heavy involvement in
politics, tricked-out arena sized church, 10,000 or more member
congregation and of course its superstar pastor.
Plainly put, today's black church is not your grandma's church.
No longer content with selling baked goods and holding parking lot
sales that bring in few dollars, today's New Black Church hosts
revivals that cater to thousands and produces blockbuster movies that
bring in millions. From old-school nurses' boards to new-school
communications directors, the New Black Church now employs hundreds of
full-time professionals each year. It looks more like a Fortune 500
company than the little black church that is only "baptizing babies."
Refusing to be courted by politicians during the election season only,
the New Black Church has cut out the middleman and has become a force
to be reckoned with by dealing directly with the White House year-round.
Having descended from being the visionary voice and leader for millions
of black Christians, the New Black Church has reached out and made new
and bold alliances, most notably the newfound love between today's
black pastors and President George W. Bush.
After being cajoled by controversial conservative Lou Sheldon, dozens
of superstar black pastors declared their support for President Bush's
Faith-Based Initiative at a special summit of black religious leaders
in Los Angeles last February. At that meeting, they chose Lou Sheldon,
a white religious conservative leader to speak on their behalf, even
though they were black pastors who had assembled at a black church in
Los Angeles to talk about messaging to black people.
Understanding the weakness of today's superstar pastors -- that being
greed -- President Bush's Faith Based Initiative has successfully
solicited and co-opted black pastors. He has single-handedly paved the
way for the wooing of blacks over to the GOP camp under the guise of
protecting marriage, allowing prayer in schools and eliminating
abortions for women, creating a moral panic within black America.
Today's New Black Church has become a pimp for Bush's agenda for blacks.
Yet, however blatant Long's comments are, they, like many other
superstar pastors' comments and actions, continue to go unchallenged by
the rest of black America.
"But I do think that the vote is up for grabs in a way that it has not
been traditionally. And so, we have often suffered from the Democratic
Party, who assumed that they had our vote, and the Republican Party,
who assumed that they couldn't get our vote."
--Bishop T.D. Jakes on CNN's Paula Zahn Now, February 2005.
Obviously fearful of losing the support of the New Black Church, black
Democratic officials and civil rights leaders have offered no
opposition to the New Black Church.
Meanwhile, Bush continues to refuse to meet with black civil rights
leaders, but has met with the superstar pastors on more than one
occasion.
Having conquered the media, entertainment arena and now the White
House, superstar pastors are poising themselves for their greatest
challenge yet: running for political office. With the right support,
timing and enough money to back a successful campaign, it's not that
far-fetched to expect to see superstar pastors catapult themselves into
public office, on the GOP ticket.
In February, civil rights activist the Rev. Jesse Jackson, while
speaking at Tavis Smiley's "State of the Black Union" held at Bishop
Eddie Long's church in suburban Atlanta, cautioned black pastors to not
be distracted by "non-budget, private morality issues."
Millions of blacks were duped into voting for a president who used
"non-budget, private morality issues" to distract an entire community
from the issues that affect the lives of all blacks, like access to
health care, education, employment, eradicating HIV/AIDS and protecting
Social Security.
Black leaders need to return from their vacations and address this
issue head-on with the New Black Church, lest we see a repeat of the
2004 presidential election in 2008.
PNS contributor Jasmyne Cannick, 27, is a Los Angeles-based writer of
political and social commentary. She can be reached via her Web site,
www.jasmynecannick.com.
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Tonya
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Tonya
Post Number: 612
Registered: 07-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, October 18, 2005 - 01:17 am: |
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Black leaders need to return from their vacations and address this
issue head-on with the New Black Church, lest we see a repeat of the
2004 presidential election in 2008.
________________
That's a freakin nightmare! We CAN'T have another one of those. I was like P. Diddy on speed, trying to get every black/minority person in the city to vote, giving one on one speeches, guzzling coffee, passing out flyers in the fucking rain...... Okay we got him!... we got him!... Bush is gone!!!... we got him!...... Then baaaaaaam.......... where the fuck did all those Christians come from!!!!
So, he's right, we gotta do something about these super-star preachers... and seeing Bishop T.D. Jakes with President Bush during the Katrina aftermath didn't sit well with me, for more reasons than one.
Tonya
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Chrishayden
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Chrishayden
Post Number: 1539
Registered: 03-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, October 19, 2005 - 03:22 pm: |
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We may as well accept it--middle and upper class blacks are going for themselves and only talking about solidarity when they get in a jam.
Let 'em go for themselves. Soon the IRS will be slapping them in jail left and right |
Yvettep
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Yvettep
Post Number: 722
Registered: 01-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, October 19, 2005 - 09:22 pm: |
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Most of the "middle" and "upper class" Blacks I know are looking out for all sorts of folks besides themselves: their communities, the communities they hail from, extended family members who are not doing so well, their churches (not all "maga" congregations), voluntary organizations, college alma maters.
Scapegoating middle income folks is no more productive than scapegoating the poor.
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Medusa
Unregistered guest
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, November 14, 2005 - 04:48 pm: |
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That was really good but it dont reflect that most black churches are nothing like that and most fellowship is based on more integrity. Can I get an Amen somebody?
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