Black Community News News and Commentary for Christians
The Christian Post reported on the Center for Urban Renewal and Education‘s (CURE) clergy council press conference held on Monday.
Star Parker, founder and president of CURE, gathered with several black pastors and others to publicly support President Donald Trump’s agenda.
Organized by The Center of Urban Renewal and Education (CURE), a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit think tank founded by conservative political commentator and activist Star Parker, the press conference was originally scheduled for the purpose of praising the Trump administration’s plan to revitalize inner cities. But given the events of last weekend — where clashes between white supremacists and counter-protesters became deadly — Charlottesville and the related issue of racial conflict dominated much of the talk in the news conference.
Star and the various African-American leaders standing with her at the podium were asked whether it is “disingenuous to pretend that President Trump is not the driver for a lot of the division we see now in this country.”
The Rev. Derek McCoy, CURE’s executive vice president who also directs the CURE National Clergy Network, was the first to respond to the question.
“One thing you need to understand — you are saying that the president is the instigator and I think that is absolutely wrong. No, it is not disingenuous,” McCoy asserted. “The president made his comments and we are not standing up here to say that we are best friends with everything the president does but he is in an office that we all respect. … If we are looking about how we can move our country forward, we are trying to make sure that we do that collectively together.”
Corrogan Vaughn, who ran against Rep. Elijah Cummings last year, called out leftist media.
“Don’t make our commander in chief a villain when in actuality it is more the villainess of the media in terms of making something where nothing is.”
Star said Americans have a hard choice to make.
“We are either going to be biblical and free or we are going to be secular [and statist]. That is the cultural war. There is no need in us denying that we are not in one. It has been intensifying over time and now it is coming to a culmination that can drag each and every one of us into another civil war. We don’t want that and the clergy will stand up and support the president in his effort to make sure that we have this discussion and we have it civilly.”
McCoy condemned the violation of free speech and the lack of open debate on these issues.
“We are saying, ‘You can only have one thought process and that is the only thing that can be allowed within the spectrum of our country.’ I think that is wrong. So you do have this ‘alt-left,’ ‘alt-right’ and these factions in society that are happening. But you gotta understand, debate is being shut down and debate is something that has always been on the foundational principles of America, where we can foster, flourish and grow together and learn from each other.”
