http://www.tompaine.com/articles/the_campaign_for_black_republicans.php

Here's a few excerpts:

"Hordes of formerly apolitical preachers lead their flocks into the temporal world swearing fealty to Caesar in the person of George W. Bush. Republicanism melds with charismatic materialism and raw gay-baiting at African American mega-churches, their congregations sold to the GOP by their own pastors.

A multimillion dollar ad campaign starring the black Democratic mayor of the nation's capital markets school vouchers as the salvation of inner-city education—despite the fact that at no time in history have African Americans ever marched for or otherwise demanded vouchers to attend private schools.

Nearly 50 wealthy African Americans, most of them nominal Democrats and including many of the best-known names in the black communications industry, sign a petition to abolish the Estate Tax , or "Death Tax"—the bane of the troglodyte right.

A high-profile black Democratic congressman with national ambitions steps to the very edge of apostasy, endorsing private Social Security accounts in principle. Young black aspirants for elected office ritually distance themselves from their elders, hoping to be included among the corporate media-designated, independent-minded, more "conservative"—or "practical"—"New Black Leadership."

And the "old" black leadership has little inkling of what is happening.

Black politics is in crisis, reeling under the Republicans' mega-million-dollar assault against the core values of the historical Black Political Consensus—an evolved social democratic compact with an emphasis on justice that is subscribed to by overwhelming majorities of African Americans. The rising tempo of GOP activity among blacks—with no crescendo in sight—is the product of a sea change in right-wing thinking that occurred only about a decade ago, centered at the headquarters of the Bradley Foundation, in Milwaukee."

-- Anonymous, March 09, 2005

Answers

Rev. Cager, Check your congregation and see how many black folk under 50 years old are members of your church? Where does your teenagers go after college? Look around at the next annual conference and see how old the attendees are? Where are our young preachers? The mandatory retirement age for preachers ought to be 65. Then the youg seminary trained preachers could see a future in the AME Church.

I don't pastor a mega-church, but it is growing slowly but surely in spite of the time I must devote to meeting outside the local church. This growth is a result of focus on Bible preaching and teaching.

We are losing our young folk at an alarming rate. In Texas, our meeting are a gathering of senior citizens. As they die off there is no one to replace them.

Last week, a youg preacher SOLD out the American Airlines Center in downtown Dallas (Home of the Dallas Mavericks). Tickets were being scalped at $100.00 on Ebay or a worship service. Our worship is FREE and we have difficulty getting a full house. This fellow can't preach his way out of a paper bag--if you use what we call preaching-- yet folk are paying $100.00 for what they can get free on any given Sunday. But he does stay in the Bible. I'm not suggesting we do what anyone else is doing, but we must get our heads out of the sand and stop doing the same thing and expecting different results. That is by definition, insanity.

I don't bash homosexuals but I teach that the practice of homosexuality is wrong; just as any sex outside marriage is wrong. And marriage can only be between a man and a woman. some call that gay-bashing. I do not.

Vouchers as proposed in Texas would benefit low income people by allowing them to send their children to private schols rather than the underperforming public schools. I support vouchers even though I am not able to benefit from them because my income is too high. When my kids go to college, it will cost me less to put them through college than it did in high school because I send them to private school at my expense and still pay property taxes to keep our public schools operating.

The Estate Tax - Since we are now able to accumulate wealth, we want to be able to pass it on to our children. The retiring baby-boomers, black folk among them do have estates in the taxable region also. If I manage to accumulate $1,000,000.00, why should my heirs have to pay taxes on that which I have already paid the taxes? My parents only gave me life and a good upbring. Money-wise I started at $0.00. Why should my children have to do the same?

that's enough Be Blessed

al paris

-- Anonymous, March 10, 2005