CALL FOR FURLOUGHED WORKER STRIKE ON VALENTINE’S DAY

PASTOR OF HISTORIC LONG ISLAND CHURCH CALLS FOR FURLOUGHED WORKERS STRIKE ON VALENTINES DAY
With Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on my mind, and inspired, in part, by President Trump’s grounding of a military plane in retaliation for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s grounding of the President’s State of the Union speech in the House of Representatives ~ it is time for the grownups of our country ~ the American people ~ to end the government shutdown by grounding the daily functions of affected parts of our country such as the IRS and the TSA.

There is historical precedence for this. While sermons, speeches, petitions and rallies helped ~ it was such things as the Bus Boycott in Montgomery, Alabama; the sanitation workers strike in Memphis, Tennessee; and Rosa Park’s heroic and courageous disruption of business as usual that forced the eye, hand, heart and attention of the government and the country to the inhumanity being tolerated by significant numbers of the American people.
It is amazing that, even to this day, Christians and other persons of conscience and, perhaps, faith; are willing to accept such treatment of government workers and others, even though it is in complete, obvious and flagrant opposition to the teachings of Jesus the Christ. Being forced to work without pay (and the promise of eventual pay is not pay) is akin to forced labor and servitude. Our government needs our intervention to help treat its addiction to pain (inflicted on others) and drama.

Our church, and many others, are running out of food, toiletries, grocery store gift cards and other items we continue to offer to furloughed workers and others whose livelihoods are impacted by the government shutdown. We are running out of fuel to feed the denial of the severity of our madness.

Between Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and Valentine’s Day, let us take the toys and games of our elected leaders out of their hands and make them walk to work. The fresh air will be good for them, and it will give them time to think about how their actions are inflicting such tremendous pain on their constituents. And it will give them time to remember that cried of “Let My People go (to work)” and “Free at Last!!” still live in the heart of America.