Here is a news item from the Philadelphia Inquirer, Feb 4, 2006
Philadelphia has a big crime problem, especially murder, and most especially murder among Blacks. What to do?
Mayor John Street and Police Comissioner Sylvester Johnson have concocted a plan to attempt to deal with the problem and part of that solution is for the City to interact with churches and the clergy to combat crime.
Personally I have no objection to the idea as it seems like a practical approach and is just one tool tdo deal with the problem. Why should religous institutions not be enlisted by the local government to be a part of the solution?
What do FreeThinkers think about this plan?
It is however a very direct involvement of Church and State, or more precisely Church and City but I have yet to hear any screaming from First Amendment Purists on the matter. Why not? Are they reluctant to challenge what might appear to be a working relationship between the City and mainly Black Churches and Pastors? Could that be it? Where is the ACLU on this?
Check out the listing of churches involved. They are all primarily black congregations in primarily Black neighborhoods. In my view that is the way it should be since that is where the problem is greatest. I hope this plan succeeds.
Street touts his anticrime initiative
He is calling upon church communities to "play an active role" in curbing the culture of violence.
By Julie Shaw and Robert Moran
Inquirer Staff Writers
Calling on leaders of all faiths to encourage people not to resort to guns to settle arguments, Mayor Street last night announced a new initiative to tackle the upswing of violence in the city. He is calling the effort "Operation Safer Streets."
"We will challenge the community to get more actively involved," Street said during a City Hall news conference attended by clergy, police brass and other leaders, including local NAACP chief J. Whyatt Mondesire.
To that end, the mayor and Police Commissioner Sylvester M. Johnson will go to six churches tomorrow in some of the city's crime "hot spots" to gather momentum for his effort.
"The faith-based community must play an active role" in curbing the culture of violence, Street said.
"Two hundred fifteen of the 380 homicides resulted from, in many cases, incidental contact in American society," Street said of last year's killings, many of them from "arguments."
Minister Rodney Muhammad of the Nation of Islam, one of the religious leaders present, backed the mayor. He said his role would be to speak to people in his community and to get parents involved.
"I'm not going after the gun, but the kind of life that feels like it needs a gun," Muhammad said.
Johnson said police would "identify six hot spots" and increase street patrols and strike forces.
Much of the policing aspect of Operation Safer Streets has been under way for weeks, and the mayor, in effect, put his stamp of approval on the plan last night.
Since late last year, police officials have been talking about what they are doing, but they have been waiting for Street to make a formal announcement about the efforts.
Already, police have been concentrated in the central and eastern sections of North Philadelphia and Kensington, Point Breeze, West Philadelphia, the Lower Northeast, and part of Northwest Philadelphia.
While Johnson has said he was not planning to rely on overtime pay to accomplish his plans, the mayor surprised the department by proposing an additional $10 million in overtime for police in his budget address last month. The extra overtime is expected to help pay for the new police efforts.
Officers from the citywide Highway Patrol and Narcotics Strike Force have been concentrated in the hot spots, as have officers from traffic control and civil affairs, and detectives will ride along with patrol officers to gather intelligence and aid officers.
The police will be working with court warrant officers to apprehend murder defendants and others who fail to show up for court.
The police are using an $800,000 state grant to have a detective in each of the department's six divisions focus solely on illegal gun trafficking. They will be trained by federal firearms agents and will work with a prosecutor dedicated to the cases they generate.
Police have said that, so far, there have received positive feedback in the targeted communities.
Street also said that Operation Safe Streets, an initiative that began in mid-2002 to crack down on open-air drug markets and put officers on high-crime corners, "did not end" but was "modified."
Getting Churches Involved
Mayor Street and Police Commissioner Sylvester Johnson will visit six churches tomorrow to solicit community help.
Amendment I
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or
prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or
of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition
the Government for a redress of grievances.
So? That is the First Amendment to the Constitution. What is your point?
Amendment I
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or
prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or
of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition
the Government for a redress of grievances.
I Just thought it would help to put the actual text up.
Many people have not a clue what the constitution actually says.
It was written in plain English so that an average person would be able to understand it.
I personally do not see any problem with government and religions working together like this.
The text does not prevent Government from interacting or dialoging with religions.
This amendment was placed there by the founding fathers to prevent the federal government from creating a state established or sanctioned religion.
Amendment I
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or
prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or
of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition
the Government for a redress of grievances
That lone statement should not prevent government and religion from cooperating on soem matters. Court intrepretations and some wild extrapolations of the statement have prevented a lot of things however.
I have not heard of any complaints about Mayor Street's plan along those lines so far. I hope that there are no organized complaints to derail the plan. First Amendment purism can be as lethal as religous purism and is just as subject to gross misinterpretation as Bible Thumping Fundamentalism.