Church People (From MySpace)

December 26, 2008 - Friday
(YOU HAVE TO READ THE NEXT ONE TOO!)

Current mood: cynical
Category: Religion and Philosophy


At the time of the 2004 indictment, Cross was teaching at DePaul University in Chicago.[7] On May 1, 2006, Cross pled guilty to fraud by embezzling millions of dollars in federal funds from the government and students.[8] She agreed to pay $11,000 to the Department of Education in restitution. Singh also pleaded guilty to one count of embezzlement.

The prosecutor, U.S. Attorney David Nahmias, made a somewhat exculpatory statement at their sentencing: "When the defendants arrived at Morris Brown, the college was already in serious financial condition. Thereafter, these defendants misappropriated ... money in fairly complicated ways in what appears to have been a misguided and ultimately criminal attempt to keep Morris Brown afloat."[3]





They (CBS 46, Atlanta) interviewed the wrong people. I had been struggling with missing the last few weeks of church and even on the recent weeks I did go, not being able to provide you all with an adequate blog.

As I was passing the TV in the living room, the news had an article about Morris Brown College closing down. I had to check it out. It turns out they had suffered from a recent loss of accreditation and embezzlement scandals. The enrollment was actually down to 107 students. Having gone to large and small schools – I CAN'T EVEN IMAGINE THAT. They owe an over $300K water bill! WTF

And who did they interview – Church People.

In a city FULL of mega-churches with billions of dollars at their disposal, a school (the only, ONLY originally black college in Atlanta) founded by and affiliated with the A.M.E. church is not only having problems, IT"S CLOSING! It owes SO many people SO much money. It has NO students. You mean to tell me I pay tithes so these "prophets" (or is it "profits") can have bigger buildings, bigger cars, and bigger jets and historic institutions can just fade away like dust in the wind.

So, speaking of all that, I was asking myself why I was so hesitant to make it to church lately. I like my church. I want to be more active in it. But then, when it is time to sign my name on the "Time and Talent" form, I freeze up. This past month has made my phobia clear.

I don't want to become a "church person"

Let me tell you about church people-



Everywhere I've ever worked the concurrent idiom has been – do not serve church people. Since I was 14, church people don't tip. They want the most for the least. And they are not liable for anything. AND THEN, I moved to Atlanta. The buckle of the Bible belt.

Let's disregard the plethora of whores, cocksuckers and, to use my step-mother's favorite word growing up, hoochies who I've encountered since moving here. I want to get to the essence of church people.

It starts with a pastor who works where I work. I had just gotten here and respected the title when my cousin told me one of the mechanics at my job was a preacher…



…to hell with that.

What I encountered was nothing less than an African pimp hustling men and women (MAINLY women) out of their money. This married man of God obviously only has eyes for the demons between the legs of the congregation. This is the only man I encountered this past year who did not so much hear the words coming out of the Obama camp as he did notice the "fitting" dresses Michelle Obama was wearing. Some how where I notice only men fix cars and men bring in their daughters and wives' and sisters' cars, his only clientele is only women. AND they are all his "sisters" who look nothing like him. I don't know who you've been around but Africans have strong features and princes and princesses carry their parents features proudly.

But let me leave the "Pimp in the Pulpit" for now (I could go on forever on that demon) and focus on the congregation.

I have lost count of "favors" we've done for various church members. They have all turned out bad. And a few do stick out:

* There was "The Pimp in The Pulpit's" member who left her car on the lot for months while we searched for a reasonable priced differential. I initially thought we were just trying to save the lady money. Come to find out, the active church member had been filing insurance claims from an accident that happened two years ago. And The Pimp was helping her defraud the insurance company AGAIN. I only found out because The Pimp and the customer had filed the claim without our knowledge and the insurance company called the office to inform me the claim was denied AGAIN. - To date, The Pimp is still trying to get the money from the insurance company because, of course, the customer hasn't paid him or us anything.
* There is another church member who has abandoned their car here for the ENTIRE three years I have worked here.

And then –

* A member of my boss' church, who had bought a car from us before, had a great job, all her paperwork, all the Is dotted all the Ts crossed. Traded in a car, gave us the title plus the full down payment (which most customers never do). We set her up to pay monthly (which WE never do). She paid three out of her five payments and fell off the face of the earth. All of our calls went to voicemail. That is until we sent her to Repo. Mere seconds after the Repo Company received out fax, the Repo man calls excited. He has been looking for our customer for over a year. She owed a title pawn company for the very car she traded in to us. They were more than happy to take our car back from her. Suddenly, she called us. She "intended on paying us off tomorrow. Why did we send her to repo?" Of course, we got the car. She actually came and paid it off the next day. But not before bringing two other church members to tell me how bad a person I was. And of course, they promised to tell the pastor about my boss.

In all these cases, these aren't just people who go to the church. These are board members, Sunday school teachers, nursery helpers, office workers…really, really involved members of different churches. I could go on and on with stories but I just wanted to use a few examples to show why I am confused about what it means to be a church person. And this is not to say ALL church people are bad. My mom is a faithful member of her church and a true Christian person. My step-mom is another true Christian. My brother's mom is an excellent Muslim woman. Speaking of which, I have noticed people of religions and sects misrepresenting their churches.

So the question is how do I become more active in my church and avoid all the BS of being a "Church Member"? Or better yet, how do I stand being around all the other "Church Members" once I do become more active in the church?
By the way, Morris Brown has alumni. However, if my Black College experiences are any indication, I know why these successful men and women have turned their back on their alma mater.

The college's alumni include military officers, actors, authors and civil rights leaders such as the late Hosea Williams. (AJC)