With all that is going on not just in our community, but communities in inner cities across this country, we do not need anymore preachers, but we do need teachers.

While there are a few preachers that are going all out, there are those that stay away and just tend to their flock and involve themselves in politics for the limited benefits, whatever they are. They know who they are. The term “faith-based” denotes a political correctness coined by the Bush administration that many religious organizations use to access governmental funds. Some churches have even allowed favored politicians to hold town meetings to discuss their agendas.

With all the bombs and killings going on in Iraq that have taken most of the monies from solid domestic programs, there has been very little organized protest from the preachers. They can’t yell or organize too well or too loud because they have taken the money from the government. Our children’s legacy is being compromised just so these men of the cloth can shake a hand dripping in blood from the Iraq war.

The late, great Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. went to jail several times and rallied against a government that implemented unjust laws and waged the Vietnam War and sought no favor from the government. It was a case of “render unto Caesar that which is Caesar’s, and render unto God that which is God’s.”

It was not unusual for one to see a picture of now-President Bush standing in the midst of a group of ministers suggesting that the church supported him as president. Many think that the “faith-based” positioning is an attempt to buy silence on unfair government policies and laws by negating opposition through the distribution of government monies.

Church and government is not a good mix. People should not be told by their religious leaders who to vote for or against. Religious leaders should speak out more on the moral corruption of the Big Dig, community needs for justice, less abusive police officers, more jobs and housing, as well as making more beds and treatment available for substance abuse.

The churches and our religious leaders should guide the people and instill moral values. They should instruct us how to be our brothers’ and sisters’ keepers, not buy into a failing system such as the government is today, a government that has historically failed people of color. Teach us. Don’t preach at us.

Haywood Fennell Sr.
Fellow, Stanley Jones Clean Slate Project