Saturday, April 14, 2007
Aren’t holy men suppost to keep their mouth shut?
I promise that I’m not going to permanently blog about the Don Imus “nappy-headed ho” controversy, but I tend to write about things that interest me. Sometimes I write about funny books. Sometimes I write about politics. Like I said, I blog about things that I find interesting.
Right now, I’m finding the Imus story interesting.
Yesterday’s New York Daily News ran a story about one of the ministers that was calling for Imus to be fired. The man’s name is Reverend DeForest Soaries and he hails from New Jersey. He claims to be one of the first to call for Imus to be fired. I’m not sure if this entitles him to print up t-shirts and trucker hats stating this fact, but I guess only time will tell.
He tells of being asked to act as a liaison between the Rutgers basketball team and Imus by Rutgers coach Vivian Stringer, a member of his flock. Not that I really understand why a liaison was needed. Soaries tells the New York Daily News of meeting with Imus in New York to discuss meeting with the team. As it turns out, the meeting took place minutes if not seconds after Imus found out he was fired from MSNBC.
“I became more of a pastor to him than the facilitator of the meeting,” he said.
“We didn’t even talk about what I was supposed to be there for. I needed to be with him spiritually. This was a man who’d just got big, bad news and he needed me to listen to him.
“He didn’t cry, but I could see he was in pain. He tried to joke, but it was a mask for that pain. He seemed hurt by what had happened to him.
“He felt somewhat betrayed by certain people. He didn’t name anybody, but he thought certain people could have given him more time.
“He thinks he should have been given the chance to meet the team first, that if those people could see he was truly repentant, then CBS and MSNBC would see it that way, too.
“I had words of consolation for him, even though I was one of those asking for him to be fired.”
I’m glad that Reverend Soaries could console and act as a paster to Imus. The last time I checked, that is what our holy men are supposed to do. They aren’t supposed to demand that people be fired from their jobs. They are supposed to act as spiritual counselors.
They are supposed to be advocates for forgiveness. At least the Christian ones. Forgiveness is what the Christian faith is based on. It’s what Jesus preached about. It’s what he commanded us to do to each other. To forgive. Something not a lot of the reverends involved in the Imus controversy have been doing.
Forgiveness means that you don’t demand somebody to be fired.
Shouldn’t Reverend Soaries have kept silent about ministering to Imus? Doesn’t he have some sort of ethical obligation to keep quiet about consoling Imus?
I’m sure Reverend DeForest Soaries did nothing wrong by speaking to the New York Daily News about the meeting. I can tell by looking at his photo that Reverend DeForest Soaries is a very honorable man. Did you notice the way he sits with his chin resting in the palm of his hand? He looks to be very thoughtful and insightful. Plus, I see from his photo that he fancies shirts with French cuffs. Nothing speaks integrity more then fancy French shirts.
Imus on the other hand wears cowboy clothes.
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I can not agree more with you.
always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them more.
if jesus can forgive why can not reverend al forgive.
the coach on the team should try to smile a little,
it would not hurt.
tell everybody else to sweep behind there own back door
and they will have enough to do.
amen
marietta crites
luray va
Did you see the article on Imus? http://www.michaelellenbogen.com/Frames/tips.html
Who does this person think he is? Talking about us like that. I hope someone puts this on U Tube and MySpace. The book looks good…..
In response to your opening question/statement, the answer is NO!
Ministers are not suppose to keep their mouths shut!
By first confronting and speaking to Imus with the love of God, is Pastor Soaries first responsibility, which he did meet.
Secondly, asking for Imus to be fired, is the responsibility not only of Reverend Soaries, but also of his employer, as well as anyone who witnessed or heard about this unfortunate incident.
Reverend Soaries did follow God’s direction by speaking to Imus about his situation, listening to him, counseling him, and having others present to witness this.
After Imus personally goes through the realization that he has done something very wrong, he would be more likely to acknowledge his wrongdoing, repent, and in this case, sincerely apologize and ask those he offended for forgiveness.
However, his repentence and apology, still do not excuse or exempt him from facing severe consequences for his actions.
If we compare this incident to let’s say… a mother removing her son off a team, after hearing her child call his opponents nappy headed whores or pimps in public. Wouldn’t we as adults expect a responsible parent to punish this child?
The child might not think that removal from the team was fair, but the magnitude and impact of what he said in public, was wrong, hateful and unacceptable!
God instructs us in His Word, to teach lesson to those who have sinned, through acts of love.
I thought Reverend Soaries handled this situation correctly. He handled it correctly as a christian, a minister, a spokesperson and a father who has children of his own!
All people are worth and need God’s salvation
II Peter 3:9… not wanting any to perish!!!
John 3:16-21 / I John 3:16
“We know love because Jesus laid down
His life for us and we are to lay
down our lives for our brothers”.
God Bless Everyone!
SEW
I was referring to the fact that the good Reverend DeForest Soaries spoke to a newspaper about ministering to Imus and conveyed to the reporter things that transpired during their time together. This obviously should have remained private.
Thank you for responding to my comment.
I do think that a person who is in the position such as Reverend Soaries, would know the ramifications of divulging confidential information that may have been discussed in private with an individual.
Perhaps, Mr. Imus wanted the contents of thier discussion to be made public. This is truly what I would think.
For the life of me, I do not believe that Reverend Soaries would talk about what happened between he and Imus, unless they both agreed. He is by far, no idiot!
This information would not and did not hurt Mr. Imus any further, it only helped him at that point.
Think about it!
Angered, disgusted and concerned people,wanted and demanded action by any means necessary.
Imus knows that the public wants to hear what goes on, in front of and behind the camera. After all, he was a successful radio host forever!!