Does Cornel West Harbor Racist Attitudes Towards Black People?

Beneath the Spin * Eric L. Wattree



Does Cornel West Harbor Racist Attitudes Towards Black People?

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Dr. Cornel West seems to have gone on a shameless mission to disparage anyone in the Black community who tends to overshadow him. Now he’s after music mogul and entrepreneur, Jay-Z, regarding his business holdings. West seems to be bound and determined to demonstrate to the world that Jay-Z's business holdings aren't as impressive as he's increasingly being given credit.

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But what Jay-Z owns or doesn't own is not the point of this piece. The bigger issue is the pettiness of a mind that can become so fixated on such a trivial issue. Considering West's, fading, yet substantial influence in the Black community, the possible impact of such a petty mind during a time when we are fighting for our very existence is indeed frightening.

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During a time in this nation's history when powerful forces in this country are hell-bent on establishing an era of corporate feudalism, how does Cornel West's attack on Jay-Z show "love" for the Black community? How does it help to reinforce the Black community and abolish poverty, as West insists to any and everyone who will listen, is his primary goal? In short, it doesn't - and that, is the point of this piece.

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Cornel West's petty fixation on such issues as the extent and source of Jay-Z's wealth, why a baggage handler could get inauguration tickets over his own illustrious personage, and why the President of the United States failed to return his personal phone call, clearly demonstrates that poverty and suffering within the Black community, and America as a whole, is not only less than his primary concern, but is, in fact, merely being used as a tool to gain personal attention and to promote his own self-aggrandizing agenda.

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In addition, West's all consuming penchant for attacking high-profile Black people - and in racially drenched terms - suggests far more than what many attribute to West's exaggerated sense of self-importance. It more clearly suggests a form of black-on-Black racism - an intense disdain and condescending attitude toward his own people. Black people tend not to look closely enough at this syndrome, but we should, because it's one of the most toxic maladies in the Black community. It's been killing us for over 400 years, and it's past time to bring it to an end.

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I was discussing this issue with a friend the other day, and she insisted, "No, it's not racism; it's a form of self-hatred." But I beg to differ. People like Cornel West, Tavis Smiley, Larry Elder (who Smiley just recently had on his show), Clarence Thomas, and Herman Cain, don't hate themselves at all - it's not themselves, but the Black community that they look down their noses at. During the Republican primaries Herman Cain said that Black people weren't supporting him because we were brainwashed. That's politispeak for stupid. But as things turned out, stupidity notwithstanding, with respect to Cain, it seems that the Black community was way ahead of the Republican Party. We saw right through Herman Cain from day one, so who's stupid?
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But we're not quite as practiced at seeing through people like Tavis Smiley and Cornel West, because Tavis and West have put a different spin on their game through the use of reverse psychology. Herman Cain tried to use the direct approach - using our ignorance to bamboozle us into supporting Republicans. Tavis and West, on the other hand, knew that wouldn't work, so they tried to accomplish the same goal, but through the back door - using our anger to hornswoggle us into NOT supporting the president. But in the end, it amounts to the same thing - our being flimflammed into cutting our own throats.   

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The Black community needs to start wrapping it's head around the fact that you don't have to be White to have racist attitudes towards Black people. Clear evidence of that fact can be had by simply asking yourself when was the last time you heard of a drive-by being perpetrated by a shooter wearing a sheet?
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One Black man responded to the above assertion with the following comment:
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 "I don’t hate myself. I'm dark and a handsome man, but niggas I can’t stand. I love my lineage enough to not put it with a group I see going downhill real fast. Black people have become a scab that will not heal as a collective. I’m doing like my Moorish/Kemetic ancestors and exploring the world. Blacks have shown to me that they can’t/won’t defend themselves because they don’t love each other. Blacks just have lost the luster they once had."

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You see, I know a little something about Black racism. It's not a new concept to me. I've been observing Black racists plying their trade for most of my adult life. I worked for the United States Postal Service for 28 years, and for 12 of those years I was a union representative who specialized in EEO claims. And during that time I witnessed Black managers and supervisors engage in some of the most vicious forms of racism against other Black employees that I've ever seen - in fact, a White manager wouldn't have been able to get away with it.

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Personally, I believe the postal service incorporates that fact into its business model. You see, it's next to impossible for a Black employee to file a successful claim of discrimination against another Black person, so part of the postal service's business model is to elevate Black people to rob, steal, intimidate, harass, and fire other Black people. As a direct result, I have a friend who's an Asian woman with a Master's degree who's been passed over for promotion for over 10 years in lieu of an endless parade of Black racists who barely made it through high school. The reason for that is the primary qualification for promotion is their willingness to abuse other Black people. That's a huge part of the postal service's rapid downhill slide in both competence, and customer service.
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The following is an eye witness account of a Black bigot at work:

Customer Statement

"Atten: Miss Stanley, Station Manager
To Whom It May Concern:

“My name is Elizabeth Crawford. I along with my wife Michelle Lo, own [address withheld].  On August 13, 2011 we were landscaping our front yard and witnessed an altercation between our mail carrier, Sylvester Burton and a woman whom I later learned was Juanita, his supervisor.

“At first I only heard a woman (Juanita) shouting and cursing. Since my back was to them I did not see who was yelling. Then I saw our letter carrier Mr. Burton drive by in his mail truck and pull over to the curb just past our driveway. A black woman raced over to the now parked mail truck cursing and shouting at Mr. Burton saying “you tried to run me over” and that she was going to “call the police”. As I watched I became very very alarmed because I could not tell at first from the casual attire she was clothed in that she was a postal employee. All I could see was an extremely unhinged woman going ballistic and attacking our mailman. I watched Juanita as she reached inside the mail truck and shook her hand in Mr. Burton’s face as she shouted ‘I don’t give a fuck about you and by the way I think your ass is GAY!’ Then she shouted ‘you take your ass back to the station right now…this is MY ROUTE, MY ROUTE…and you take your ass back to the station right now...’ She then shouted ‘I’m calling the postal police on your ass you take your ass back to the station right now.’

“Mr. Burton drove away in the mail truck. I don’t know what Mr. Burton was saying in response to all this as he NEVER raised his voice or shouted back during the entire episode.

“My entire family including my seven year-old niece had to witness this entirely unprofessional vulgar outburst. The cursing and swearing peppered with the f-word and the homophobic remarks was nothing less than shocking and completely inappropriate. I was extremely offended by her homophobic remarks and I am myself gay, not to mention the cursing and swearing in front of our child.

“Don’t know and I really don’t care what prompted Juanita’s tirade. I was shocked to see someone in a so-called “supervisory position” treating someone who works for her so brutally. Needless to say law in the state of California the law prohibits the attack on Mr. Burton based on his sexual identification in the workplace! You should take note of this.

“You need to DO SOMETHING ABOUT THIS WOMAN. While representing the USPS no one should be able to behave that badly and make that big of a scene in public plus publicly attacking a subordinates sexual orientation and be allowed to keep their job.

“If Mr. Burton sues for harassment I will gladly be a witness on his behalf.

Signed,
M. Elizabeth J. Crawford"
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The postal service lost the case and gave the supervisor involved a tap on the wrist (sensitivity training). Now it's back to business as usual. All of the above took place because the carrier was rushed out of the office, and as a result inadvertently left some of the mail at the station. And by the way, once the supervisor found out there was a witness, she never again mentioned her allegation that the carrier tried to run over her.
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So with respect to Cornel West, just take a minute to ask yourself the following questions. First, with everything the Republican Party is trying to do to Black people - obstructing our right to vote, trying to destroy our educational system, attempting to take away our parents' and grandparents' access to Medicare and Social Security, and trying to destroy our future by making higher education beyond our children's reach - why is West focused on something as unimportant to our welfare as what Jay-Z is doing?  In addition, West is as quiet as a church mouse regarding the role that his buddy, Tavis Smiley, played in helping Wells Fargo Bank swindle Black homeowners - at least, former Black homeowners. All of a sudden, "accountability" doesn't apply in that case.  http://washingtonindependent.com/59633/suit-alleges-trusted-black-figures-drew-minorities-to-high-rate-loans

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And secondly, since the most direct road out of poverty is to ensure that our young people obtain a quality education, why is it that Dr. Cornel West has failed to teach at any school that more than 1% of Black students can even afford to get into in his entire career? Wouldn't you think that one who is renowned as an educator, and who claims to "love" his people so passionately that he was "forced" to publicly attack the first Black President of the United States, would at the very least, apply his skills to educating Black youth? Come on, people. Connect the dots.   

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What we have to begin to understand regarding people like Cornel West and others of his ilk is, Black people are the product of the very same racist environment as White people. And as a result, many of us are just as racist and condescending towards other Black people as any racist Hillbilly. So what West is clearly demonstrating is, in spite of everything that's coming together to destroy the Black community, it all has to take a backseat to America's favorite pastime - dragging a successful Black man through the mud. And West’s attack on Jay-Z is not just an aberration - he’s done the exact same thing to President Obama, Dr. Melissa Harris-Perry, Dr. Michael Eric Dyson, and Rev. Al Sharpton. Yet, he seems to be fine with Walmart, and the others who are trying to cut the Black community's throat.

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No other group of people in the world think that way about their own, and for that reason, Black people are at the very bottom of the social and economic ladder. New arrivals to this country all but stumble over us as they move forward and leave us behind. So we need to wake up, and stop tolerating this sort of thing, regardless to how we might feel about Jay-Z's wealth. We shouldn't be doggin' Jay-Z. We should take pride in what he's accomplished, because whether you're a hip hop fan or not, the brother has demonstrated the intellect to rise to the top - and without Walmart.

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Finally, it's easy to understand why West is so popular among many - he's the most prolific champion of intellectual masturbation in the Black community - bar none. He's an entertainer. But don't be bamboozled by a wooly head and hardcore rhetoric. While Cornel West has been hyped by the establishment as one of the Black community’s premier intellectuals, he’s been repeatedly demonstrating the very worst in Black behavior for over twelve years now. So while it’s both understandable, and appropriate, for the Black community to despair over this public embarrassment, we should use it as a teaching moment: Always look beneath the hype, and never allow others to define our heroes.

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It’s Time to Boycott Tavis,West, and All Black-on-Black Racists

 

Eric L. Wattree
Http://wattree.blogspot.com
Ewattree@Gmail.com

Citizens Against Reckless Middle-Class Abuse (CARMA)

Religious bigotry: It's not that I hate everyone who doesn't look, think, and act like me - it's just that God does.

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Tavis, West, and Malcolm

Beneath the Spin * Eric L. Wattree

Tavis, West, and Malcolm



While browsing the web this morning I came across an article written by Dr. Boyce Watkins blaring, "Cornel West Says that Sharpton, Dyson are “Up for Sale”: Let’s Talk about That One, Shall We?" My first reaction was, "Hmmmm, Dr. Dyson must have gotten a new job."
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The reason that's the first thing that came to mind was because Cornel West is rapidly building a reputation for attacking anyone in the Black community who tends to overshadow him. This tendency, and the reckless and petty way in which he pursues it, has become so pronounced in West that it's beginning to betray his primary agenda as a whole. He's not interested in the Black community at all. All Cornel West is interested in is keeping Cornel West in the media spotlight.

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West is quick to drag out any shortcomings that he can conjure up regarding anyone black that tends to step into his spotlight. Take President Obama, for example. I don't recall West ever being so disrespectful to George W. Bush. That speaks volumes about his mentality and both he and Tavis' lack of respect for Black people in general. But they always try to claim that their critics are simply "trying to kill the messenger."  Well, in a sense they're right, because with respect to President Obama, their true message is, "How dare that spook try to con us into believing that he's good enough to do a White man's job?"  And that's a message worth killing.
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And West's hatred and envy continue with his disrespectful remarks about Dr. Melissa Harris-Perry. Just like with Obama, West was fine with Dr. Perry at first. He recruited her to come to Princeton and they were colleagues. But once it became clear that Dr. Perry had a mind of her own, and that she wasn't prone to hero worship, West began to undermine her at Princeton, so she quietly left.
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That should have been the end of it, but once West found out that she had been given a show on MSNBC, all hell broke lose. Instead of this good brother - who only lives to serve his people - being gratified that another intelligent Black voice gained access to the national media - as anyone who is genuinely concerned about the Black community should be - he caved in to his petty personal sentiments and publicly insulted Dr. Perry by calling her “a fake and a fraud.”  That’s not the behavior of either an intellectual, a mature adult, or even an intelligent Black man, at least, one who has even an iota of respect for the very womb of his culture.
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So again, it seems that Cornel West is always prepared to preach a much better sermon on black love and respect than he's willing to live. His comments were extremely disrespectful toward both Black women, and the Black community as a whole. A true brother - a true man - wouldn't even speak to a lady like that in private, much less, badmouth her like that publicly.

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Whatever happen to the concept of cherishing our women?  No one should have to teach Cornel about that. As a so-called Black intellectual, that's exactly what he should be teaching our young people - that it's impossible for them to have any respect for themselves, if they don't respect the very womb of their culture. How can anyone profess to be an intellectual and fail to understand that very fundamental concept?  West also betrayed his elitist sense of entitlement, as well as his disdain for the poor and working class, when he complained about a mere baggage handler getting tickets to the Presidential Inauguration while he couldn't.

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And it doesn't end there. West has also seen fit to go after Jay-Z. Obviously Jay-Z was getting a little too much publicity over his part ownership of the Brooklyn Nets and the Barclay Center. So West took it upon himself to set the record straight. In essence, he said, "Wait a minute, world! That pickaninny don't own nothing. TheWhite man owns it! So you see, I'm still the man!" Okay West, but what does fronting off Jay-Z have to do with moving Black people forward?
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So Cornel West is not only a demagogue, but he's a demagogue of the very worst kind. Just before he sticks a knife in your back, he starts talking about "how much he loves his brother, however . . ."  That may be so, but with "good brothers" like Cornel West, we'd all be better off orphans. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_E6lS0gLH18

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Now he's also badmouthing Rev. Al Sharpton and Dr.Michael Eric Dyson, saying they're "up for sale." What's wrong with this guy? What evidence does he have of that? If he has evidence to substantiate what he's saying, he should produce it.  If he doesn't, he should shut up.   How does it benefit the Black community by his running all over the country slandering every high-profile Black person who doesn't see things his way? He seems to have something to say about everybody but his buddy, Tavis, who's one of the most prolific corporate shills in the Black community. Tavis also have close associations with several corporations, including Walmart, that are, or have been, a member of ALEC, an organization that's left no stone unturned to deprive Black people of their right to vote - and we've got evidence of that.

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DO YOU BELIEVE NATIONWIDE
IS ON YOUR SIDE?

So the fact is, many in the Black community have allowed themselves to be hornswoggled by both the media, and Cornel West. The bottom line is,West is nothing more than a self-absorbed, egomaniacal fraud who hasn’t had an original thought in 35 years, and it looks like the Black community is the last to recognize that.

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Some of us have allowed ourselves to be bedazzled by two words - Harvard and Princeton. The establishment has effectively used those two words to convince many of us to accept, without examination, that Cornel West has more sense than we do. That's what accounts for the rabid defense of him in some quarters. These people need to step out of their media-constructed bubble, open their eyes, ears, and minds, and stop letting others dictate who they listen to.
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The White establishment has been propping West up with their very special kind of hype for all of his 35 years in the public eye. Yet, I have never met one person who can tell me one profound sentence he’s uttered in the three-and-a-half decades that he’s been on the public stage - and a stage is exactly what it's been, because West is more of an entertainer than an intellectual.
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Tavis and West are exactly like Herman Cain, but with one exception - at least Herman Cain is honest about supporting the GOP. But Tavis and West are using a technique used by the FBI during COINTELPRO, when J. Edgar Hoover was trying to bring down the civil rights movement in the sixties. During that time Hoover sent in a bunch of "undercover brothers" just like Tavis and West. They were so radically militant that they turned off the American people, and they were so divisive that they caused the movement to turn on itself. That’s exactly what Tavis and West are doing today.
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These two turncoats are trying to place Obama in an untenable position. They’re using militant rhetoric to insist that President Obama play Blackjack at a poker table, knowing damn well that he can’t do that. If he tries, he'll turn the American people against him - in which case, he becomes impotent and can't get anything done for anyone. But if he doesn’t, Tavis and West are going to try to turn Black people against him, which would also serve to destroy his presidency.
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That’s exactly the same thing the FBI did in the sixties. In the end, they had young Black people (who supported the harder line of Malcolm) calling Martin Luther King, "Martin Luther Coon" - including myself, I’m ashamed to admit. That’s exactly what Tavis and West are doing today. I saw the parallel immediately, and that’s why I’m dead on their asses. Maybe I can make up, just a little bit, for the stupidity of my youth.
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Malcolm saw through the problem back in the sixties and tried to instruct his followers not to allow the establishment to divide us among ourselves. He’s said that it didn’t matter whether or not we saw eye-to-eye with Martin's approach on every issue. Our goal was the same, therefore, we were allies. He then made it a point to join with Martin, but they took him out before he could complete the process.
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So while Tavis and West are always talking about, "Brother Malcolm," Malcolm would have long since seen through their game, and he would be absolutely disgusted with both of them, just as I am.

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It's Time to Boycott Tavis, West, and All Black on Black Racists

http://wattree.blogspot.com/2012/09/its-time-to-boycott-tavis-west-and-all.html

Eric L. Wattree
Http://wattree.blogspot.com
Ewattree@Gmail.com

Religious bigotry: It's not that I hate everyone who doesn't look, think, and act like me - it's just that God does.

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Bishop Joe Simon Sings the Blues Over Rappers and Ministry

BENEATH THE SPIN • ERIC L. WATTREE

Bishop Joe Simon Sings the Blues Over Rappers and Ministry.
I call this column "Beneath the Spin" because it's dedicated to an honest search for truth, an attempt to stimulate thought, and an earnest effort to clear up the trough of pure bullshit served up to us on a daily basis. I generally deal with political demagogues in this context, but due to our current economic crisis I'm going to expand my attention to anything that doesn't smell quite right–and the fumes emanating from my current focus, seriously suggests that demagoguery is far from exclusive to Washington D.C.

While I'm normally not one to defend the rap industry, I have several problems with a claim being levied against it by former rhythm and blues singer, and now ordained bishop, Joe Simon. Bishop Simon is complaining that rappers are destroying his ministry by sampling his material.

In the article, "Bishop Joe Simon Says Rappers Damaging Ministry," in Frost Illustrated, Simon alleged that as a result of rappers sampling his music without his permission, "he started noticing that certain once seemingly open churches were starting to baulk at inviting him to bring his crusade to their pulpits. Some even rescinded speaking invitations they earlier had issued to the bishop." Simon went on to say, "Many churches want no part of preachers whom they feel are straddling the fence between secular and sacred worlds." That seems somewhat disingenuous since one would think that any misunderstanding within the church could easily be cleared up with a simple memo or statement.

The article also points out that "Since near the beginning of the year, Simon said he has sent the record company a series of letters asking that someone talk to him and to work out an agreement." What kind of agreement? You can't un-cook an egg. What kind of 'agreement,' could he come to with the record companies that would un-release music that's already on the market? The only agreement that he can possibly come to is a financial one–and how would a financial agreement help his standing in the church any more than a simple memo or statement that his previous material was being used without his permission?

This is not about his ministry–what needs to be addressed is whether or not this is actually his material. If Simon has legal ownership of the material, why is he trying to chase down record executives instead of hiring an attorney? The obvious conclusion is, he's trying to use God to be compensated for something that he has no legal right to.

The article goes on to point out that "In the wake of more and more folks hearing his voice on rap records, Bishop Simon said some folks seem to be shying away from supporting the ministry financially." Yet, Dr. Mark H. Sandilands, the presiding Bishop of the Mission Consortium of Churches International indicated that "When Bishop Simon was ordained as a part of this organization, he was placed right next to me. If something were to happened to me, he becomes presiding bishop overnight."

Oh really? I find it quite curious that a religious organization that is so disdainful of "worldly music" that it would withdraw support and speaking engagements, would place a "worldly musician" who is newly ordained into the organization into the second to the top slot in the organization's hierarchy. Thus, the church must find something of value in worldly music.

I can fully understand Bishop Simon being frustrated by people making millions of dollars while using his material and then thumbing their nose at him. But if that's the case, he should just say so, and stop trying to use his collar to drag God into what is essentially a personal and legal matter. The congregation of his church looks up to him and have vested in him a solemn trust, so he shouldn't be abusing that trust by trying to make the very God that they worship his private lap dog, utilized to address his personal issues. That's the kind of thinking that led to hundreds of thousands of people dying in Iraq, and what the facts seem to suggests, to a much lesser degree, but just as insidiously, is happening in this case.

That's the primary reason this issue is even worth our attention. It provides us with a bite size example of the mindset and kind of rhetoric in which people of faith should always remain vigilant. It clearly demonstrates how some so-called "men of God" often use the Lord's name to promote their own interests. It also shows why the many selfless men and women of God who are out struggling everyday to uphold God's name, are gradually beginning to lose credibility with the public.

In addition, Bishop Simon's actions in this matter are in direct contradiction to everything a man of God, and a Christian, is supposed to believe. Instead of trying to chase down record executives, why doesn't he do what they always tell their flock do about their problems–"take it to the Lord in prayer?"

Even though in many of the churches throughout America there are children sitting in the pews next to their parents with their stomachs growling, many of these professed men of God will unhesitatingly take the very funds needed to feed those children away from the family in the collection plate. Then, when it comes to the family's needs, they tell the family to have faith, and pray to God for help to feed their children. What has always perplexed me, however, is when the preacher needs money to pay the church's light bill, or for airfare and hotel expenses to fly across the country to go preach in another state, or "spread the word"–in states that are already literally overflowing with preachers–they don't pray for God to provide the airfare, or pay the light bill, they pass the collection plate.

Well, Bishop Simon, you're a man of God. Maybe it's about time to test your faith. Instead of wasting your time trying to chase down Jay-Z with your problems, maybe you should look to Jay-C, and pray on it.

As Rev. E. V. Hill used to say when I was a kid–"If you have the faith, God has the power"–but you also have to be right.

Eric L. Wattree
wattree.blogspot.com
A moderate is one who embraces truth over ideology, and reason over conflict.

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