Link to AP story about Fr. Pfleger

Barack Obama’s friends of the cloth seem to constantly make things complicated for him. We all know that ministers are not supposed to preach politics from the pulpit. One might, by extension, argue that they shouldn’t involve themselves in public politics – in any way. Obama can’t be responsible for every goofy thing a minister says. No more responsible, anyway, than John McCain can be responsible for what Rev. Hagee says, yes?  What’s good for the goose…

In my opinion, which doesn’t count for much, good, well intentioned men, ministers, friends of Obama, who mean to help, just keep hurting him more than they’re helping. Perhaps it’s the innate tendency of ministers to assert themselves into the forefront.

I don’t believe that Fr. Pfleger and Rev. Wright are bad men. Fr. Pfleger, like Rev. Wright, has done a tremendous amount of good work with the poor in Chicago. Any enemy of Jerry Springer’s is a friend of mine. Pfleger does tend toward the dramatic. He has often employed unconventional methods to make his point. Still, his recent antics in church bordered on goofy. Way over the top.

Fr. Pfleger and Rev. Wright should just stop talking about, stop preaching about, stop in any way insinuating themselves into this election. It’s not their place. Again, my opinion. By the way, Archbishop Francis George has apparently given Fr. Pfleger the not-so-subtle “quiet down” sign. No more of that, he told him. When the Archbishop speaks, people listen. Trust me. Good for him. I’d be very surprised if we hear another peep from the good Father. Again, I’m not picking on him. He’s done too much good work for that. I’m pretty confident that the archbishop is not going to have one of his own making a national scene in this election. Here’s a link to an informative piece by the AP.

Peace

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/O/OBAMA_PFLEGER?SITE=MALOW&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

Raccoon picture, post notes on graduates story and next week’s feature

Greetings religious friends.

I finally got up the pic of my friend, the raccoon. I want to do an experiment here and see if anybody is actually reading my blog. The raccoon is from my column about six weeks ago. If anybody reading this has a good name for the raccoon, please let me know. I should add that the beast and I have since made friends. As a matter of fact, against my wife’s advice, I fed the beast a Little Debbie snack cake from my own palm last Sunday. He’s quite unafraid of me, I assure you. He approaches me on the porch as I sit reading and expects food.

I really enjoyed talking with graduates and their parents this week. Cara Depew, who will attend the University of North Alabama, really has an international perspective. She’s a real seeker, curious about world religions and cultures. Anna Lunceford had great things to say about every church having its own character. She said that the recent turn-over in Calvary Baptist’s pastoral staff has helped her ease into the idea of change. Another neat thing Anna’s doing, that didn’t make it into the article, is participating in a Bible study with some of her fellow Tupelo High students who also plan to attend MS State. She said they’ll touch on scriptures about change, growth, and new experiences. Daniel Hoing said that the public transportation system in Taiwan is pretty good. He anticipates no problems getting to Mass. He said a lot of very poetic things about the harmony between science and faith that I didn’t have room to include. Daniel’s graduating class at Ole Miss’s Honors College was a pretty diverse group. He’s ready to travel to the other side of the world, I can tell.

I had a great conversation today with Dr. Ed Holiday and Rev. Anthony Hatch. If you were in McCalister’s Deli around 12:30 Friday, you probably got a good laugh at how many eavesdroppers were listening in. The topic: Faith healing and the big revival taking place in Lakeland, FL. My two friends first alerted me to the goings-on in Florida as we stood in front of City Hall on the National Day of Prayer. I got busy with other things and haven’t watched Lakeland as closely as I should have. Exciting, interesting stuff. To summarize, the Rev. Todd Bentley has been spearheading a huge revival there since April 2. The thing just keeps picking up speed, graduating into larger and larger arenas. I want to do an article about faith healing, using the Lakeland revival as a backdrop. Rev. Hatch just got back from there. He had lots of exciting things to say. I won’t give away all my stuff before the article, though. Maybe next week.

Thanks for your letters and emails. I love to hear from readers. God bless you all.

Peace,

Galen

This is a YouTube video of the Lakeland event ..

Raccoon pictures …

Critters, executions, and future plans

I’m posting a picture of the raccoon from one of my previous columns. It never ceases to amaze me what columns get responses. Sometimes the ones I think are the dumbest are the ones that people most enjoy. The raccoon column is a good example. It ran about a month ago. This is the actual beast, himself.

I had some very interesting interviews this week for the execution story. I was, frankly, surprised at how many ministers supported the death penalty. A few asked me, at the beginning, “What’s going to be your angle?” I assured them that I had no angle, only wanted to reflect the opinions of area ministers. I appreciate their candor and I respect all of their sentiments. I recorded them all accurately, now matter how much I agreed or disagreed with them.

I enjoyed meeting Brother Sammy Little. He’s a neighbor of mine in the Endville/Belden area and the pastor of a few of my neighbors. Good man. Very sincere.

I orginally volunteered to cover the Berry execution with Eerol Castens. I chickened out. Danza Johnson, our criminal reporter, assured me that I’d do fine. He did his best to encourage me. However, I just became convinced that it would overwhelm me. After having interviewed Berry’s parents a few months ago, I felt I would crumble emotionally if I actually saw him die.

Justice is thorny concept for Christians. Certinaly one could make the case, as some of the ministers in the piece did, that God’s justice is sometimes harsh. I do wonder, however, how effectively man can be the arbiter of that justice.

The postion of the Catholic Church is one of a “consistent ethic of life,” meaning that all life is sacred: from the proverbial womb to the tomb. If we oppose abortion, the reasoning  goes, we must also oppose the death penatly.

Rev. Gary Long, who is also featured in the piece, said, “There’s a big difference there. The unborn child hasn’t murdered anybody.”

That, of course, is true. Still, as Fr. Bob Dalton said in comments that I didn’t have room to include, “When we execute someone, we take away all hope of reform. We put ourselves on the level of the murderer.”

Fr. Dalton also said that the U.S. Catholic bishops in the South recently issued a series of pastoral letters titled “The Criminal Justice System and a Gospel Response” criticizing the for-profit prison system.

I didn’t have room for all his comments about the poor dying in inordinate numbers on death row. Rev. Ray Morton and Rev. Gary Long also had good comments that wouldn’t fit into the story. I always feel I’m doing my interview subjects a diservice by editing things out. But, I’m only given so many inches each week. Oh well.

I leave my readers with this question: If our ultimate goal as Christians is to bring people to Christ, is executing a person the best way to achieve that? How does that further the cause?

Next week: Graduates from families of faith.

Thank you all for reading. God bless and keep you.

Galen

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Upcoming features

Final notes on the New Beginnings adoption article:

At the Wednesday night reception at Harvey’s, a number of local leaders offered their welcome to the Nepali delegation.

Mississippi House Representatives member Brian Aldridge of Tupelo called Mississippi “the safest state in the nation for unborn children.” He said that Mississippi values and protects children in all stages of life and welcomed the Nepali delegation, adding that he hoped for a healthy and fruitful relationship between the Nepali government and New Beginnings.

Gayle Wicker also addressed the delegation on behalf of her husband, Senator Roger Wicker.

Tupelo Mayor Ed Neelly was effusive in his commendation of New Beginnings’ good work and extended his official welcome to the gentlemen from Nepal.

Projects that are on my agenda for the coming weeks:

I’m working on a feature about graduates, people of faith, leaving home and staying in touch with their religious roots in other areas. I’ve talked with a couple of kids from the local area who will be attending schools such as Mississippi State – even one going to Taiwan! Good, good kids. The best. Their parents are bursting with pride for them – as they should be. Congratulations to all graduates this year.

I’m also working on a piece about the death penalty. E. Castens and I have been discussing coverage of the approaching execution of Earl Wesley Berry. Both Castens  and I have written on the story in past issues of the DJ and we don’t want to ignore the religious dimension of how people are feeling. I’ll be talking with local ministers in the coming days about thier opinions and church teachings.

If there was one (among many) stories that I “dropped” (should have localized) this week it was the 60th anniversary of Israel. I’m not sure how much mileage I could have gotten from it, but, I really should have included some comments from our friends at Temple B’Nai Israel. I hope they’ll excuse me.

Thanks for all your calls and emails, keeping me posted about goings-on among religious folk in the area. Nothing pleases me more than to hear from readers – even the ones that are critical. It all makes me better. God bless, my friends,

Galen 

Visit by Nepali delegation

On Friday I’ll have a story about a 5-person delegation from Nepal that visited Tupelo on Wednesday and Thursday. They were monitoring international adoption agencies in the U.S., considering which, if any, they will accept.

On Wednesday, New Beginnings, a Tupelo-based non-profit, hosted a reception for the delegation at Harvey’s Restaurant.  A number of notable civic leaders were on hand, including Tupelo Mayor Ed Neelly.

Check out my Slide Show!

Shepherd’s Center Appreciation Luncheon

On Tuesday I attended the Shepherd’s Center of Greater Tupelo’s annual appreciation luncheon. There were about 75 people there. Mr. Pickens and his staff at St. Luke United Methodist Church in Tupelo prepared a nice meal. Kathy Kriese, Director of the Shepherd’s Center in Hernando, was the guest speaker.

Shepherd’s Center is an organization of “Older adults, helping older adults.” People from 13 churches  in Lee County work together to provide services and resources for Shepherd’s Center, such as driving, visiting, food delivery and handy-man services.

For more information about Shepherd’s Center of Greater Tupelo, read my article in the Daily Journal archives. On the DJ homepage, choose the link “Search past articles,” (in orange print). Type in “Shepherd My People” as a keyword search and fill in the appropriate fields.

Enjoy the pictures.

Peace,

Galen

Check out my Slide Show!

Churches dealing with the storm

I talked today with Rev. Dennis Kizzire at Beech Springs Free Will Baptist Church. Those good folks are eager to help where they can. This is the brief that will run in Friday’s paper.

Beech Springs Free Will Baptist Church is offering possible help to people in the Tupelo area who might need assistance in the wake of yesterday’s storms. The Free Will Baptists have 51 churches state-wide, 34 of which are in North Mississippi. Several Free Will Baptist churches suffered damage from Hurricane Katrina. The Rev. Dennis Kizzire, pastor of the Beech Springs church, said that the denomination wants to give back to the state and its people. The church has an RV with a generator, power saws, and other tools for clearing debris. To inquire about assistance contact Kizzire at 844-0792 or Bob Birmingham at 397-6408.

Also talked to my friend Susan Gilbert at the Salvation Army, as well as Patty Tucker at the Red Cross. Here’s that brief:

Susan Gilbert, director of social services at the Salvation Army in Tupelo, said that the Army fed about 40 workers on Thursday at the Furniture Market and the Mississippi Department of Transportation. Gilbert said that the Salvation Army is ready with food, clothing, furniture, and financial aid for persons who suffered damage from Thursday’s storms. “Tupelo was very blessed,” said Gilbert, adding that the Salvation Army is “still on standby to feed and assist those working in the relief effort.” Persons wishing to inquire about aid should call Gilbert at 842-9222.
Patty Tucker, executive director of the Northeast Mississippi chapter of the American Red Cross, said that that nine Red Cross workers assessed damage in Lee, Itawamba, Pontotoc and Prentiss counties on Thursday. Tucker said that workers encountered no significant damage in Pontotoc or Prentiss counties, and only minor damage in Itawamba and Lee counties. “There was damage to some homes along Highway 371 in Itawamba County,” said Tucker. The Red Cross distributed about 30 tarps, donated by local Wal-Mart stores, to cover roofs in Itawamba County as well as in the Chesterville area of Lee County. Tucker said that the Red Cross is standing by with “plenty of tarps” as well as supplies and resources to meet the “immediate needs,” such as food and clothing, of those who suffered damage from the storm. Persons wishing to request aid should call 842-6101 between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.

Rev. Coker at Chesterville Baptist Church told me that, as far as he knew, the churches in his area were fine.

The folks at First Baptist Church in Saltillo said that they’re fine as well. About 20 people held up there this morning as the storm blew over.

Peace,

Galen