Fear-mongering over Meeks' preaching smacks of double standard
Daley rested on Sundays and then some
John KassOctober 10, 2010
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The screaming headline in the Sun-Times the other day — along with a photograph of a black man in religious robes — offered what some probably consider a dire warning of things to come in the Chicago mayoral campaign.
"Minister MAYOR?"
It was about a potential Chicago mayoral candidate, state Sen. James T. Meeks, pictured with his arms raised dramatically (or was that ominously?) in prayer from the pulpit of the Salem Baptist Church on the South Side, where he is the head pastor.
And the gist of the shocking story?
That if elected mayor, Meeks will not abandon his faith or his church, and will continue to preach on Sundays. This surely must upset some voters. But I'm sure the story gave rapture to other mayoral hopefuls.
Many fair-minded people must feel that the job of mayor is a seven-days-a-week obligation. I guess that means no mayor or other public official can set aside a couple of hours on Sunday.
Meeks says he has four full-time pastors and other administrators at his church, running day-to-day operations. His thing is preaching on Sundays. So I called him to find out what he thought of the story.
"If I understand the gist of the story, if I'm elected mayor, then I can't go to church?" Meeks asked. "I mean, isn't that what they're saying? That Meeks shouldn't go to church? That I shouldn't take time to pray or give a sermon? I find that to be quite odd. Don't you?"
Yes, I do.
The same reasoning wasn't applied to the guy who's held the office for the past two decades. His name is Richard Daley. I hate to mention it for fear of being condemned as a race monger, but he's a white guy.
If some Chicagoans are terrified that Meeks might miss 52 Sunday mornings a year at City Hall, they sure weren't panicked when Daley missed weeks at a time, globe-trotting to Switzerland, India, Greece, Italy, Russia, China, France, Mexico and on and on.
Daley has been on so many luxurious vacations — excuse me, grueling "fact-finding" missions — that his crackerjack staff can't keep up with all the paperwork, or who paid for what. A while back, I asked City Hall whether his good buddy, real estate developer Michael Marchese, ever paid for any accommodations or villas in Mexico. But the mayor's people sniffed that they had no records.
Perhaps I missed it, but there wasn't the sense around here that Daley couldn't take the trips and still do his job. Perhaps because he had magical technology at his fingertips — a telephone.
And when he wasn't traveling across the globe, Daley traveled to his Grand Beach, Mich., estate for three- and four-day weekends. Ask City Hall reporters. They'll tell you.
Often Daley would leave for Grand Beach on Thursday evenings, and his bodyguards would drive him back for a Saturday morning photo-op, then they'd drive him back to Grand Beach, where he'd stay sometimes until Tuesday morning. He'd ride his bike, mile after magnificent country mile, and the city still functioned. And I don't remember any terrifying headlines like "Missing MAYOR!"
Clearly, the political subtext of the "Minister MAYOR?" story is not merely about Meeks spending a couple of hours in church on Sunday, is it?
It's about whether Christianity can co-exist with policy at City Hall. And that, as a Baptist minister, Meeks does not support gay marriage.
Gay activists consider him anti-gay. He responds by saying that he supports human rights for all. By the way, President Barack Obama doesn't support gay marriage, either.
And after Rahm Emanuel or Tom Dart or other mayoral hopefuls campaign for votes in black churches, will they be asked by reporters why they didn't spend a lot of time on the gay marriage issue? Of course not. According to the strict media dogma, such questions might be grounds for heresy.
"I preach on Sunday. That's what I do. I preach on Sunday," Meeks said. "And the mayor's practice has been — for 21 years — he's off on Sunday. The way my church structure is set up, I don't run the day-to-day, they don't need me there day-to-day, and my parishioners are still taken care of. That's why I hired a staff around me."
Meeks surely knows that reporters and opposition researchers will comb through any city real estate or other contracts involving Salem Baptist Church. That's fair game. And questions about his position on gay marriage and his criticism of the gay lifestyle are also fair.
But what's fascinating about the "Minister Mayor" business is that it reveals not only the secular fear of mixing religion and government, but also something else:
In the strict catechism of American media, African-Americans and other racial minorities may invoke Christianity without any hint of sarcasm or backlash. They can thank Jesus as long as they're professional athletes celebrating a touchdown in the big game, or if they're political actors playing identity/victim politics while genuflecting before big government programs.
But if they reach for power — like the fifth floor of City Hall — then sometimes faith is treated with suspicion, almost as if it were a sin.
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Comments (20)
Add / View comments | Discussion FAQDrBill at 12:44 AM October 11, 2010the only fear mongering is being done by Kass attempting to put his real feelings on others--the typical trick of a loser!!!
caching60098 at 2:28 PM October 10, 2010Oh john kass (R - I ain't no Royko!), you had to bring Obama up, didn't ya?!?!? I'm don't believe in abortion, yet I will not take that decision away from women. I don't believe in gay marriage, yet I won't stand in the way for them to do so, and I won't judge them for it, as I believe Obama would....
So, knock off, jk....
When is the Trib going to give you your walking papers? I look forward to Roeper replacing you! If Royko were around, he'd take you behind the woodshed!!!!
caching60098 at 2:15 PM October 10, 2010You bring up a good point, john kass (R - I ain't no Royko!). As long as Meeks keeps "church and state" separate, and doesn't bring ANY politics into his sermons, I have no problem with him at all.
My best to you, Rev. Meeks. It's up to the people now....
Copyright © 2010, Chicago Tribune
Monday, October 11, 2010
Kass: Is it a sin for the Rev. James Meeks to run Chicago and preach on Sunday?
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