Well the new police chief in Winnipeg committed the unpardonable sin. He expressed a religious opinion. He implied that prayer could reduce crime in the city. He said “I think if we have a community that's consistently praying for one another, hopefully we'll now see the physical reduction of crime and violence in our city." Heaven forbid.
“What would happen if we all just truly — I’m talking about all religious stripes here — started praying for the peace of this city and then actually started putting some action behind that? I believe something phenomenal is going to happen in our city. I truly believe it’s coming. I don’t think I’ve arrived at this position just by chance.”
OK so let’s make a list of special interest groups that he offended with his insensitive remark. Muslims? Nope. Muslims believe in Prayer. Sikhs? Nope Sikhs believe in prayer. Jews? Nope Jews believe in prayer. Christians? Nope Christians believe in prayer. So just who did his offensive comment offend? Atheists? Why would they care? They don’t believe in God so praying to nobody wouldn’t hurt anyone.
However, psychologist will agree that if the community is praying for each other then they just might be more tolerant of each other. In fact, if they are praying for a reduction in violent crime, that just might wake up their senses to take ownership of the problem and report crime to the police. Imagine that. Unfortunately, I guess everyone is so freaked out about him committing the unpardonable sin, Canada doesn’t have a prayer after all.
NDP MP Pat Martin, who represents crime-plagued Winnipeg North, said the power of prayer alone will not prevent crime any more than it will help to levitate the Public Safety Building. Having said that, Martin found the new chief’s words to be “interesting and refreshing.”
“Prayer is reflection, and there is a role for thoughtful reflection of one’s actions,” said Martin, over the phone from his office in Ottawa. “Personally, I like the guy.” So do I. I'll tell ya what's not good for building public goodwill, refusing to consult with the public or let them know what's really going on. That burns bridges more than a prayer does. It's called arrogance.
If this was Gandhi, Mother Teresa or Martin Luther King and they said pray for peace, no one would care. But because he’s the chief of police we‘re going to lynch him? That is absurd. What if Martin Luther King held office? Would we lynch him for saying the same thing? Not likely. Are we offended by Martin Luther King and his I have a dream speech? He quoted a hymn and talked about a time when Protestants and Catholics as well as black and white children could join hands and sing free at last free at last thank God almighty we are free at last. Was his reference to God forbidden and offensive? I think not.
Is the president of the United States not allowed to say God bless the United States of America because he holds office and needs to support the separation of church and state? That’s ridiculous. The police chief is allowed to say pray for peace. Banning him from doing so is absurd.
I don't care what he thinks about how and when people should be praying, I only care about him doing the job he is hired and paid to do, and publically discussing what he thinks about how and when people should be praying is not what he is hired and paid to do. He is using his position to orate his own personal opinions, and I don't like that one bit.
ReplyDeleteIndeed but I think getting all freaked out about it diminishes us. We are quickly becoming a communist country. We're not allowed to pray. We have commercials telling us how to vote. Our freedom of the press is being diminished by ridiculous publications bans that don't expire when they are supposed to. The police don't tell us what they know about violent crimes in our community, yet they want more power to follow people who haven't been accused of committing a crime. We already have warrantless surveillance and secret prison camps where prisoners are tortured without a trial and the public is not allowed to know who's in them.
ReplyDeleteWhy we're even giving a communist country our oil rights and control of our economic market. Stalin would be proud. The police chief is simply saying to people of all religions persuasions to pray for peace. Objecting to that makes us look childish and petty. Let's face it, we are diminished. We're losing our rights, we're losing our freedoms and when push comes to shove nobody really cares any more. Times have sure changed. Pray for peace while we still can.