Preaching & Prayer Will Stop The Violence!

No. It won’t. It won’t do a thing.

Ministers asked to pray, preach against city violence

Well darn, that’s the answer to all of our problems. Who knew that preaching to your church’s congregation on Sunday mornings would help stop the violence?

Hello? Boing! The church members who will be listening to those sermons AREN’T THE PEOPLE THAT ARE DOING THE VIOLENCE IN THE FIRST PLACE! ARGH! GAH! The last time that I checked the statistics, the thugs with guns don’t quite fit the profile of devoutly religious church members.

The Southern Christian Leadership Conference and the Minister’s Alliance could do a lot more if their churches and the church members got out of the churches and actually put boots on the ground in the streets of Danville where all the problems are actually taking place. Preaching to a captive audience of church members may rock the sound system with a booming AMEN at 11AM Sunday morning, but those heavenly approvals of joy are quickly drowned out by the sound of gunfire at night.

Instead of sitting behind a table in a church sanctuary talking about ideas that have already led nowhere, how about talking about some real ideas of how to get The Word out to the people who are thugs or are doomed because of their lifestyle to become thugs? Here’s an idea… how about directly confronting the “Don’t Snitch” school of thought? Why don’t these groups partner with law enforcement and preach the idea that it’s time to say something when you see something? That would make the community stand up and take notice because they’d be actually taking a stand on an issue that directly contributes to crime in the city. Yep, I know. It’ll be the proverbial cold day in hell before these groups actually do something that could make their followers uncomfortable and realize where the problem actually is coming from.

As for the annual “Stop The Killing” march that’s coming? It’s accomplished nothing so far and this edition will keep that streak going. The street thugs that need to participate in an event like this aren’t going to do it and we all know that. If you want to add some credibility to this year’s edition of the march, do it in the thug-prone areas of the city in the middle of the night when the human predators are truly out so that they can see it. Let’s see a real “Stop The Killing” march on Washington St. at midnight.

Hey, Southern Christian Leadership Conference? Hey, Minister’s Alliance? Get out of your fancy suits and into a pair of jeans. Get out of your luxury cars and get into the streets on foot. Do something that will really Stop The Killing.