Black pastors make pitches Sunday
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and her daughter, Chelsea Clinton, stopped by the Greater Mount Carmel Missionary Baptist Church on Sunday to address the congregants, virtually all of whom are African-American.
The Rev. Earl Nance Jr. praised Clinton and introduced her as “the next president.” Sitting next to Nance was another prominent area pastor, the Rev. B. T. Rice. Both pastors had attended Clinton’s rally in Florissant a couple weeks ago.
Later Sunday, a dozen other area African-American pastors held a press conference to emphasize their personal support for Obama.
All the pastors, whether for Clinton or Obama, have made a point of saying that they aren’t making political endorsements from the pulpit.
The Rev. Anthony Witherspoon, of the Washington Metropolitan AME Zion Church, was among several pro-Obama pastors who said that their Sunday pitches to their congregations focused solely on the general importance of voting on Tuesday.
The Rev. James Morris, of Lane Tabernacle CME, said that his message was simply, “It’s time for our communities to put up or shut up.”
Americans, black or white, who are unhappy with the Bush adminstration’s policies need to register their dissatisfaction at the polls, instead of just complaining, Morris said.
Morris predicted “a massive turnout” of area African-American voters on Tuesday.
When asked, Morris said there was no tensions between the pastors backing Obama and those supporting Clinton. “This is the democratic process, democracy at its finest,” he said. “There is no schism.”
Addressing her as Senator Clinton would have been fine. But addressing her as “the next President” is clearly a campaign pitch. Nance’s church should finally have its tax exempt status revoked. He’s been preaching politics for years now.