An influential group of black megachurch pastors has called on President Joe Biden to call for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip as the war between Israel and Hamas continues.
“Black faith leaders are very disappointed in the Biden administration on this issue,” the Rev. Timothy McDonald, senior pastor of Atlanta’s 1,500-member First Iconium Baptist Church, said recently. Ta. new york times.
McDonald was one of the first pastors of more than 200 black clergy in Georgia to sign an open letter calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.
“We are afraid,” the pastor continued. “And we’ve been talking about it. It’s going to be very difficult to convince people to go back to the polls and vote for Biden.”
including other groups, black church packhave called In the lead-up to a cease-fire shortly after the war began last year.
Pastor Jamal Bryant, who heads New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Stonecrest and is one of the founding members of the Black Church Pack, argues that the war could threaten Biden’s re-election chances this November. did.
“I think Mr. Biden is threatening his own success,” he said.
He said Democrats “seem to be almost in cruise control, feeling like, ‘Oh, the black people are going to come.'” They will be tolerant and willing to cooperate with us. ”
according to christian post, The pastors also called for the release of hostages held by Hamas as an end to Israel’s occupation of the West Bank, noting that this resonates with the suffering of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
“We consider them part of us,” the Rev. Cynthia Hale, founder and senior pastor of Ray of Hope Church of Christ in Decatur, told the Times. “They are an oppressed people. We are an oppressed people.”
“Black clergy have seen that war, militarism, poverty and racism are all connected,” said the National African American Clergy Network, whose membership includes about 15 million black church members. added Barbara Williams Skinner, co-convener. “The Israel-Gaza war, unlike Iran or Afghanistan, has aroused deep-rooted anxieties among blacks of a kind not seen since the civil rights movement.”
a recent research carried out by Carnegie Endowment for International Peace It found that about 43% of black Americans support some kind of ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, and 24% think the United States should not be involved in the war.
On CNN’s program,union status” On Sunday, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) insisted that the call for a ceasefire was a message from Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“Putin’s message is to ask them for a ceasefire,” she told CNN political commentator Dana Bash. “Don’t get me wrong, this is directly related to what he wants. It’s the same in Ukraine. This is about President Putin’s message. Some of these protesters are spontaneous and organic. I think there are some sincere people, and I think some of them have ties to Russia.” And, you know, I say that because I’ve been watching this for a long time. ”
Pelosi said she does not believe those protesting the war are “Russian plants,” but argued that organizations calling for a ceasefire may be influenced by Russian funding.
“I think some loans should be investigated,” she said. “And I would like to ask the FBI to look into that.”
Image credit: ©Getty Images/Christopher Furlong / Staff
Milton Quintanilla is a freelance writer and content creator. He is a contributor to Christian Headlines and host of the For Your Soul Podcast, a podcast dedicated to sound doctrine and Biblical truth. He holds a Master of Divinity degree from Alliance Theological Seminary.
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