Anita Srikameswaran of the P-G gets to announce that yes, Virginia, there is a smoking ban. James G. Mitchell of Mitchell's Restaurant goes into history-onics:"We faced the Prohibition, the Great Depression, the Great Flood and now we're facing another possible threat to the survival of the oldest restaurant in Pittsburgh."
The new most popular resource on the blurghsophere can be found HERE.
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The P-G's Mark Belko previews the showdown at the Planning Commission today, and reveals what the Steelers may be getting at:
He added that if some accommodation can't be reached, one solution could be to close the casino during major events while a more in-depth traffic study is done. The science center now closes during Steelers game days.
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The P-G editorial board endorses Ricky Burgess in District 9, calling him "head and shoulders above the rest of the field" because of his attention to our "massive debt and pension obligations."
Meanwhile, the TRIB editorial board mercilessly cheers on the Port Authortity cutbacks.
What has Rev. Ricky done about the "massive debt and pension obligations."?
ReplyDeleteThe only reason Rev. Ricky is getting endorsements is because he is the second string endorsed candidate and the party wants him to get some attention, remember orginally he was in FOURTH place in the first endorsement. He has not gotten any better yet.
The question will be if Rev. Ricky wins the election then what happens to the church folks hearing the word of God and what happens to the church's nonprofit 5C's program.
Ricky's platform is what is needed to be done, he never directly answer's what can he himself can or will do.
He states that he has a plan for a city wide strategic plan. Would that intell Ricky doing all the planning for all the districts? (why would we then need 8 other city council persons)
Sounds like Rev. Ricky is running for MAYOR. Luke watch out!!!
Pastor Burgess is the best candidate in the field. His platform indicates the realization that in order to rebuild our ninth district, the vested community leaders need to come together in order to "take back our community" from the nefarious forces that impair our quality of life. In order to create change in this city, we can not operate in silos; instead our leaders and concerned citizens must together take strategic and systematic steps to improve the lives of the people, both in the ninth district and throughout the city. I believe that Rev. Burgess has the vision and the abilities to make this a reality and thus I second the post gazette in strongly endorsing Rev. Ricky Van Burgess for City Council, District 9.
ReplyDeleteQuestion still not answered ---What about the church folks????
ReplyDeleteThere is a long precedent for pastors serving in political positions and still serving there parishoners, both in this district, this city, and this country. I do not believe that the member of Nazarene Baptist Church will be negatively affect by pastor Burgess' upcoming election to City Council.
ReplyDeleteWe respectfully disagree...it is a matterof opinion...A man of the cloth is called to serve the people of GOD.. not the government.
ReplyDeleteAlthough, it has been a past practice it has not meet with much success. As the minister cried along with the other ministers-- that they have failed the community.. now you want us to believe that a minister can save the community..
I tend on agreeing with the other ministers and accept their apology and pray that as ministers they will do God's work only.
There was a theological movement called liberation theology that was codified in Latin America during the 1980's. In this movement, theologians argued that it is the role of the church to help address the secular issues that faced its parishoners. In latin america, this bore itself out in the participation of a number of Catholic Bishops in populist movement labor movements that occurred during 1980's. For certain other ministers, this has occurred through election to Congress and other political positions. But the idea that addressing issues of social justice and improving the lives of people though through variety of means, including the political process, has long been accepted in the majority of theological circles. Christians must be about God's business, and assisting humanity, whether in the statehouse or in the pulpit, is the business of God. A man of the cloth has a special assignment to serve his congregation, but all Christians are called to serve humanity. It this dual calling that I believe Rev. Ricky Burgess is seeking to fulfill.
ReplyDeletePS. And there are a number of examples of pastors going beyond the walls of the church and effecting change, but I'm sure you are familiar with at least of few of these instances.
Yet this dual calling would be best address with experience in helping the people. As I said earlier most of the Christian ministers have already admitted that they failed the communnity at large. Church has become a business instead of a blessing. It was the ministers themselves that confessed that they failed the community in regards to addressing crime and other social ills. Do your reasearch and you will see that the Rev. Ricky V. Burgess was one of the outspoken ones claiming he failed ... I didn't say it ... he did. We as a community need an experienced community leader not an experienced community preacher.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately my friend, it is you who needs to do his/her research. Rev. Burgess has long been active in developing programing for members of the ninth district, both inside the church and with a number of other hats. Rev. Burgess claim of failure is correct; he realizes that the church has not asserted itself as the change agent to the level that it should be. But if you look at Rev. Burgess' record, you will see that he has spent his entire career helping people, specifically in the criminal justice and educational systems. While i'm not sure if this is his intention, it is my hope that Rev. Burgess could help bring the religious community to the forefront a community empowerment, a strategy that has worked in a number of other urban areas and a strategy that makes sense for the 9th district, especially given that the church is one of the communities strongest institution. On another note, as a parishioner of a ninth district church and a ninth district resident, I take umbrage to the assertion that churches have become a buisness. I attending Nazarene Baptist Church and through my church I have been able to do countless hours of volunteer work, from serving dinners to the Homewood high-rises to hosting a Halloween alternative festival, Harvestfest, to keep children in my community from having to walk the streets at night, among countless other things. You are right, we need an experience community leader who has spent his entire life serving the 9th district, Rev. Ricky Burgess!
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry if this is unclear, but by hats, I meant in other roles.
ReplyDeleteRev. Burgess claim of failure is correct; he realizes that the church has not asserted itself as the change agent to the level that it should be.
ReplyDeletemy point exactly.. regarding the churches...
"spent his entire life serving the 9th district" ....
The same claim that some of the other candidates can make....
therefore an invaild basis on which to claim greatness
I am not claiming that Rev. Burgess is great (although personally I admire him greatly), I am simply refuting the claim that he is not "an experienced community leader" as well as bringing light to the fact that he has made structural changes to improve the lives of people on a magnitude that few, if any, of the other candidates in the 9th district have made. Regarding the role of the churches, Rev. Burgess administrates a program which instruct church leaders on how to operate community serving non-profit organizations, so Rev. Burgess is taking steps to ensure that the church starts becoming the change agent it should be. While Rev. Burgess honestly declared the churches failures, he is tirelessly working to ensure that these deficiencies no longer exist!
ReplyDeleteWhile Rev. Burgess honestly declared the churches failures, he is tirelessly working to ensure that these deficiencies no longer exist!
ReplyDeleteAnd that's why city council is not the place to do church work.
But we must go back to the idea of the dual calling. Saying that Rev. Burgess is unable to serve the church community as well as the city is like saying that an individual can not serve his or her family as well as his or her sorority or fraternity. Additionally, the majority of Christians believe in the concept of the priesthood of all believers, in which all Christians are called to serve the Lord and do his work; by extension following your logic, the city council position would be closed to all believers in Jesus Christ, because their belief would cause them to “do the work of the church”, which is the work of the Lord. As a Christian, Christ is supposed to influence all of one’s decisions, and I would hope that any Christian City Council candidate would use the office to do the work of Christ. If not, then I earnestly pray for their salvation.
ReplyDelete