Protesting Prayer in Detroit

Once again a group of “Interfaith Leaders” is upset that Christians are praying for their community. That “thousands from across America will gather to Ford Field (Home of the Detroit Lions) to fast, pray and cry out to God,” is too much for the Religious Left in Detroit. According to the organizers of the event known as The Call, on November 11-12, 2011 people “will gather to this city that has become a microcosm of our national crisis—economic collapse, racial tension, and the shedding of innocent blood of our children in the streets and of our unborn.” This 24-hour prayer meeting contrasts with the Religious Left’s emphasis on Big Government, abortion rights, and exacerbating racial tensions.

The recent census and a plethora of news reports show why Detroit is the perfect city to host this rally.  According to the US Census, in the last decade Detroit has lost 25% of its population. The exodus of many skilled and upwardly mobile workers has left Detroit with a blight of empty houses, failing schools, and corrupt government. A recent report appearing The Economist on the city noted that, “Only 11% of Detroiters aged between 25 and 34 has a college degree; in Seattle, the equivalent figure in 63%.  Around 50% of the city’s adult black males are unemployed, and 38% of all Detroiters live below the poverty line.” The political and economic failures have left the community ready to seek God for answers to the city’s woes and yet a handful of Religious Leftists remain committed to affirm a statist agenda over a biblical one.

This small band of disgruntled “faith leaders” gathered on Wednesday at the Occupy Detroit camp in Grand Circus Park to announce an “alternative event for people of faith to pray for Detroit in an inclusive, non-political way.” According to their press release, “Leaders from Detroit’s Christian and Muslim communities have expressed concern about ‘The Call: Detroit,’ whose leaders frequently demonize Islam and promote ‘dominionist’ theology, which advocates a takeover of government, media and business by conservative Christians.”

In attendance at Wednesday’s press conference were Rev. Charles Williams II, who is the Pastor of the historic King Solomon Baptist Church and leader for the extremely liberal People For the American Way’s African American Ministers in Action; Rev. D. Alexander Bullock, who is Pastor of the Greater St. Matthews Baptist Church, President of the Highland Park NAACP, and President of the Detroit Chapter of Rainbow PUSH; Rev. Bill Wylie-Kellerman, Pastor of St. Peter’s Episcopal Church who once called Chase Bank the home foreclosure Prince of Darkness; and Imam Dawud Walid, Executive Director, CAIR (Council on American-Islamic Relations), Michigan, who warned local mosques to beef up security and cautioned local Muslims from getting too close to The Call’s prayer event. 

Fortunately for the struggling people of Detroit, the organizers of The Call Detroit are local Christian leaders from across denominational and racial lines. Bishop Ben Gilbert from Detroit World Outreach celebrated the unity of Christian leaders saying, “This is the first time, probably in Detroit’s history, that we have come together like this. Major denomination lines have been crossed, major schools of thought have been crossed, racial lines have been crossed, county lines have been crossed and we have truly accomplished unity in the name of Jesus.” And another local leader, Bishop Edgar Vann, noting the systemic failures in Detroit that have highlighted the need for this event, said, “At a time when everything is broken, every system is broken, educational system is broken, the political system is broken, government is broken, the financial system is broken, the real estate system is broken, the social system is broken, the family system is broken and we are at a point where we know that prayer is the only thing.” 

The religious advocates for the statist ideology that has destroyed Detroit have run out of options and allies. Rather than stand in Ford Field with their faithful brothers and sisters who are crying out for God to heal the city and the nation by bringing righteousness and justice back into government, bringing hope and truth back into education, and bringing ethics and generosity back into business, these few pastors chose to stand in an politically occupied park and offer a prayer for the calamitous status quo. Where will the rest of Detroit stand?