Father Michael Pfleger, loath to be out of the media spotlight for too long, is now flying the American flag upside down outside of his Church St. Sabina Church in Chicago.
According to Chicago Breaking News:
Pfleger said he decided to fly the flag upside down outside St. Sabina Church on the South Side as a “distress signal” to raise awareness of how many children are being killed by gun violence.
Pfleger referred to Wednesday’s fatal shooting of 16-year-old Ramone Morris on the West Side and the slaying of 15-year-old Alex Arellano, who was found beaten, shot and burned over the weekend.
Some people have complained to him that it’s inappropriate to use the flag as an act of protest.
The U.S. Flag Code, passed by Congress, states the flag should not be flown upside down “except as a signal of dire distress in instances of extreme danger to life or property.”
Pfleger said the recent killings of children demand such a signal of distress.
I understand that the issue of youths being murdered on the streets of Chicago hits home for Fr. Pfleger as he was a foster father to a young man who was killed by stray gunfire in 1998.
But I think his ostentatious actions don’t really focus people on the violence. I think it turns the focus on Fr. Pfleger. Remember, this is the same Pfleger that had Al Sharpton speak during Mass from the altar while he was running for President.
This is the same Pfleger that threatened to “snuff out” a gun shop owner.
This is the same Pfleger who bombastically mocked Hillary Clinton saying, “I really believe that she just always thought, ‘This is mine. I’m Bill’s wife. I’m white, and this is mine. I just gotta get up and step into the plate.’ Then out of nowhere came, ‘Hey, I’m Barack Obama,’ and she said, ‘Oh, damn! Where did you come from? I’m white! I’m entitled! There’s a black man stealing my show!'” He then pretended to wipe tears from his face, a reference to Clinton’s emotional speech before the New Hampshire primary, and added, “She wasn’t the only one crying. There was a whole lot of white people crying.”
Starting to see a pattern here?
The Rev. Pfleger said recently, “There’s more attention being given to the flag than to children dying.”
Something tells me that was the point. Because if you go to St. Sabina’s website you’ll see right on the front page a press release:
PRESS RELEASE: AMERICA IS IN DISTRESS!!
Tonight at 7:00 pm, Rev. Michael Pfleger, Pastor of Saint Sabina Church, will raise the American Flag upside down on the flagpole in front of Saint Sabina Church and School…
Hmmm. Are you really allowed to act shocked that you’re getting press attention after you send out a press release?
May 8, 2009 at 4:01 am
There have been a large number of kids in Chicago killed by gang violence in the past few years — and the local news outlets have been reporting on it. People are concerned. I really don’t think it’s being ignored.
So, yeah, announcing a publicity stunt and then b*tching that you scored some publicity is cheap.
What concerns me about Fr Pfleger is that I’m afraid he’s encouraging reverse racism, or paranoia, or something – encouraging his congregation to be Black first, and Catholic provisionally — I hope St Sabina’s isn’t full of people who think that the Irish, Italian, Polish, Croatian, Czech, etc Catholics out in the suburbs, or in the next neighborhood over, hate them, y’know? Or that the Philipino, Mexican, Cuban, Puerto Rican, Indian, Chinese etc, etc, folks with whom they share a city and a Church are rivals or enemies. I’m sure at least the latter isn’t Fr Pfleger’s intent, and I’m not sure what the non-Black population of St Sabina’s is, but his rhetoric, that I’ve seen quoted… I dunno. People have a right to be proud of their ethnic group; and the parish (from its website) seems to be trying to do a lot of good in the neighborhood – and maybe even succeeding. I just wonder if his grandstanding – and possible encouraging of ethnic grudges – makes it harder than it is.
Similar (maybe) kind of thing – ethnicity over everything else: the Irish American Heritage Center celebrates a Mass every Easter. It’s not a parish, but they have an Easter Mass. I went twice, and both times… well, it seemed it was a lot more about the 1916 Easter Rising than about the Resurrection of Christ. I don’t begrudge Irish nationalism – we have a right to our ethnic pride, too! But the time and place? The emphasis?
S. Murphy
(grew up in St Zachary’s Parish in Des Plaines)
May 8, 2009 at 4:01 am
There have been a large number of kids in Chicago killed by gang violence in the past few years — and the local news outlets have been reporting on it. People are concerned. I really don’t think it’s being ignored.
So, yeah, announcing a publicity stunt and then b*tching that you scored some publicity is cheap.
What concerns me about Fr Pfleger is that I’m afraid he’s encouraging reverse racism, or paranoia, or something – encouraging his congregation to be Black first, and Catholic provisionally — I hope St Sabina’s isn’t full of people who think that the Irish, Italian, Polish, Croatian, Czech, etc Catholics out in the suburbs, or in the next neighborhood over, hate them, y’know? Or that the Philipino, Mexican, Cuban, Puerto Rican, Indian, Chinese etc, etc, folks with whom they share a city and a Church are rivals or enemies. I’m sure at least the latter isn’t Fr Pfleger’s intent, and I’m not sure what the non-Black population of St Sabina’s is, but his rhetoric, that I’ve seen quoted… I dunno. People have a right to be proud of their ethnic group; and the parish (from its website) seems to be trying to do a lot of good in the neighborhood – and maybe even succeeding. I just wonder if his grandstanding – and possible encouraging of ethnic grudges – makes it harder than it is.
Similar (maybe) kind of thing – ethnicity over everything else: the Irish American Heritage Center celebrates a Mass every Easter. It’s not a parish, but they have an Easter Mass. I went twice, and both times… well, it seemed it was a lot more about the 1916 Easter Rising than about the Resurrection of Christ. I don’t begrudge Irish nationalism – we have a right to our ethnic pride, too! But the time and place? The emphasis?
S. Murphy
(grew up in St Zachary’s Parish in Des Plaines)
May 8, 2009 at 4:15 am
How noble of Father Pfleger to call attention to a fact of daily life that we in the area are all more than aware of. It hits us in face every time we turn on the television or walk by a newspaper box.
But where is the good Padre when it comes to the genocide of the Black community through massive abortion over the last forty years…infanticide that he and the black liberals, including his adored messiah in the White House, support in a a zealously lockstep manner. Why isn’t Pfleger praying outside of Planned Parenthood or protesting with Ambassador Keyes when Obama receives his honorary degree and addresses Notre Dame as the man who voted for the heinous partial birth abortion in Illinois?
How many anti-abortion sermons have been preached at Saint Sabina’s?
May 8, 2009 at 9:58 am
Let’s pface it, pflying the pflag pflipped confirms that poor Fr. Pfleger has pflipped his lid. Though, he will probably continue un-pfazed, pflattered by all the pflack.
Time for a good old pfashioned de-pfrocking.
May 8, 2009 at 1:20 pm
How about flying the flag upside down to signal dire distress at the number of babies killed by abortion?
May 8, 2009 at 2:03 pm
“Father Michael Pfleger, loath to be out of the media spotlight for too long”
Exactly, my 17-yr old son saw the story on the news and remarked, “He has Attention Deficit Disorder – I’m not getting the attention I need, so I’ll have a tantrum.”
KC and John H are right about his priorities. It was very clear when pro-life champion Henry Hyde passed away and Fr. Pfleger felt the need to appear in the news stating that he had never agreed with Hyde on any position.
May 8, 2009 at 6:56 pm
The most important person in Fr. Michael Pfleger’s life is Fr. Michael Pfleger.
Nothing new here.
May 8, 2009 at 8:11 pm
How about spending your time with bringing the Word of God to the comunity instead of your moronic words to the media. POS!
May 8, 2009 at 8:44 pm
Black youth are continuously gunned down in Chicago and nothing has been done about it. If that is not distress, then I don’t know what is. Of course the issue of abortion, I believe, is much more pressing, but there remains a terrible problem surrounding black youth today, where their lives are so cheap they are murdered on a very regular basis, and people are more concerned about a flag or some remarks that Pfleger made about Hilary Clinton than the deaths of these children. The black community is IN DISTRESS. Something is very wrong with our country when these atrocities are allowed to happen, and his protest in no way cheapens our responsibility to end abortion.
May 8, 2009 at 9:36 pm
As a liberal, he will get all the press attention he wants.
May 8, 2009 at 9:38 pm
Sarah,
Black children being murdered on such a scale is a SYMPTOM of something.
It is SYMPTOMATIC that there is an attitude that human life has no value, and can easily be thrown away for some small personal gain.
Wonder what activity, that takes place overwhelmingly in the black community, could cause such an attitude?
May 9, 2009 at 12:22 am
For half a century, Chicago has been a one-party town in a one-party county that even Mao would envy. And it has an amazing number of black political leaders, celebrities, and prominent citizens. But during this time, gang wars and shooting have always been commonplace in spite of–or because of–highly restictive gun ownership laws.
Every year, a Pfleger or a Daley, or a Jackson gets on the gang shooting soap box, makes the news on CNN, and goes back to promoting (or procuring as one might say)for THE PARTY.
Tune in again for the coming installment of “What Will Bill Pfleger Do Next?” One thing for sure, it won’t be orthodox.
May 10, 2009 at 4:04 am
Ok. I’m going to post the ugly truth.
black people are being gunned down because black people are in the front lines on abortion/contraception. The young black men HAVE TOO FEW DADS.
After the breakdown of their families, they have little regard for their own lives because they ARE HOPELESS.
Whites have more hope because they have more MONEY, and, for now, more dads. As we know from the Bible, money can distract you from your lack of hope and lead you straight to hell without even knowing where you’re heading….
In the end, money will fail, and fewer loving DADS WILL catch up to whites as well as blacks because we are all in this sin thing together.
PC pastors do us all a disservice by not focusing on the issue: contraception=abortion=sin=death.
Jesus=self-giving love=healthy families=pro-life=life.
It’s not about race; it’s about sin. Our black brothers/sisters may die first, but they won’t die last.
And God brings good out of evil: Black Africans are rejecting the Culture of Death more sincerely than White Europeans. Africa will be blessed, while we’ll see more destruction in North America if we don’t turn back.
Now, if these PC pastors could diagnose things correctly, maybe those who have eyes to see and ears to hear might at least turn things around.
May 10, 2009 at 11:30 pm
In all the reporting it is interesting how the press and Fr Pfleger use the passive voice in describing the incidents,e.g. “another black child was gunned down…” as if there were no actors in this tragedy. The question of Who is doing the killing is ignored. No one is responsible for the killings. The solution is presented as “getting the guns off the street”. There are no guns on the street. People pick up guns and choose to shoot them at other people. These shooters are usually young blacks or hispanics. These are the ones doing the killings.
May 11, 2009 at 2:03 am
Sorry for the double-posting at the top.
Anonymous at 6:30 PM makes a valid point – although it’d be a long discussion – involves how we talk about race and victimhood and crime… frustrating stuff.
Anonymous@ 4:38 May 8, and KC – I’m inclined to agree with the diagnosis. Just wanted to sort of give a thumbs up to Sarah – it IS horrible. I don’t think anybody’s missing that; but it was worth reminding.
The thing is, if Fr Pfleger’s biggest fault is his narcissism — maybe — if God works with all our faults, or works his will through us, flawed or not; maybe Pfleger’s hot-dogging at least reminds Chicagoans of African descent that the Church does give a damn. Cause priests who are out there ministering and not running up upside down flags are not gonna get their names in the paper unless someone accuses them of feeling a kid up.
The other thing is, even if his ego does need it’s own zip code, and even if he’s so besotted with the liberal agenda that he doesn’t even GET the damage abortion is doing to the culture and the community he’s taken on as his own — it doesn’t mean that he doesn’t really care about the insanity that’s rampant in the streets of Chicago. so remember Fr Pfleger, and more so, the kids of the Chicago Public Schools in your rosaries. Please.
S. Murphy