Pfleger to pols: ‘I will not be bought by any politician’
Protest plan for Tuesday
By Chinta Strausberg
Saying the world we live in has been compromised and one that is “making deals with the devil,” Father Michael L. Pfleger Sunday said he will “not be bought” and though initially angry that Gov. Bruce Rauner canceled his nearly $1 million anti-violence contracts, he is now in a fight back mode.
Pfleger is holding a protest rally Tuesday, February 2nd, in front of the James R. Thompson Center to demand the restoration of the funds signed by outgoing Gov. Pat Quinn.
“I’m 65-years old, and I’ve never in my life seen a day when pastors are being bought out by politicians so publicly. I’ve never seen this,” Pfleger told his congregation during “Unity” worship services.
“You can vote for whomever you want to vote for. I don’t care…, but don’t say you’re voting because they give you money,” Pfleger said. “I’ve had pastors tell me, ‘Hey, he gave me money for my program. He paid my rent. He paid my mortgage for two…. I got to support him.’ No you don’t,” Pfleger said.
“You can call me loud. You can call me crazy. You can call me a whole lot of things, but you will never call me bought out. I will not be bought by any politician. I was bought once on Calvary by the blood of Jesus, and you can’t buy me again,” he bellowed. “I’m already bought.
“I’ve never lived in a day like this, and you wonder why people on the street say, ‘See, that’s why that church stuff is all phony…. I ache when I see what’s going on in the world like that.”
Pfleger said, “We are walking in a world today where so many folks who call themselves people of faith, manipulating God and his word to support their own agenda, to support their on dysfunctional, perverted beliefs….:
Pfleger said when he posted the announcement of his 12:30 p.m. Tuesday rally to protest Rauner’s cuts, “people e-mailed and Facebooked me saying, ‘You better not do that. He’s the governor. He can do a lot more.’” Pfleger bellowed, “I don’t care. I’m not afraid of who he is. I was not afraid to confront Barack Obama, George Bush or Bill Clinton. Why would I be afraid to confront to criticize Bruce Rauner.
“You don’t take the food out of poor people. You don’t cut day care. You don’t cut jobs. You don’t cut youth employment. You don’t cut Earn Fare. You don’t cut off the poor and balance your budget on the backs of black people and the brown people of this state. I will not be still. I am not ashamed. I am not ashamed of the gospel. I am not ashamed of the truth, and I will fight with every breath I got,” vowed Pfleger.
“I see so many people compromised…. When you compromise yourself and sell your self out to the world, the world doesn’t love you…. The world will use you and spit you out…. We cannot be compromise just to be accepted by people…sell out souls. We have to get to a point where we are at peace with God and ourselves and the hell with the rest of the world.”
Referring to all of his haters on the Internet who can hear and see his service, Pfleger said, “At the end of the day, he will judge us, not them. Thank God.” “You cannot serve two masters….”
Pfleger said Rauner’s budget cuts come at a time when “9 out of 10 of his staff members received huge raises…one with a 53 percent raise another with a 90 percent race, and his wife is getting a chief of staff at a cost of $100,000 a year. That’s never happened before, but he can cut after school programs and anti-violence programs….”
Pfleger said he learned of the cuts just a few minutes before state government closed last week. He was shocked. Pfleger asked all of those who would be affected by the cuts to come to the altar. He announced if anyone needs a ride to call the church office at 773.483.4300 if they need a ride to Tuesday’s protest. Busses leave Saint Sabina at 11:30 a.m.
“What God wants to know is will you stand for me even if it cost you…politically correctness, even if it cost you a job or a promotion, even if it cost you some persecution, even if it cost some people coming against you? Paul said we must stand for the righteousness of God not self-righteousness because when you’re self-righteous, you look down on other people. Do not look down on other people….”
“When you really know God and make a choice of God, plant your feet on the solid ground of the rock of Jesus Christ in your life, you will no longer cut deals with the world or with the devil,” he told the church. “When you stand up for truth, you will be persecuted.” Pfleger said he’s past the anger of having his youth jobs and anti-violence programs cut. “I’m ready to fight,” he said.
Tuesday, February 3rd at 11 a.m., Father Pfleger will be on Windy City Live and will talk about the impact these cuts will have on youth and his nationally-acclaimed anti-violence program.
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