Father Michael Pfleger said he is not for sale after visit by the Minister Louis Farrakhan in May
By Chinta Strausberg
Saying there are consequences when you stand up for what you believe, Father Michael L. Pfleger Sunday said to this day he is still suffering for taking a stand in allowing Minister Louis Farrakhan to speak at Saint Sabina last May.
“To this day I still get consequences for things that I stood up for, what is right,” Pfleger said, explaining that a person who has donated to the Saint Sabina ARK for 15 years has discontinued donating.
The donor, whose name was not identified, will no longer contribute because Minister Farrakhan was allowed to speak at Saint Sabina, where he reacted to Facebook shutting his page down days before he spoke. Pfleger said the donor usually gave $150,000 around Christmas.
“The consequences of his decision are real,” Pfleger said.
Pfleger said when he was a child in grammar school, he stood up against his uncle’s racist jokes. “He told me never to come to another family gathering again,” and noted his family calls him a “N… lover.”
“When you stand up for right, for justice, there are consequences…. I’ve been a priest for 44 years, and I’ve never been invited to give a wedding, a baptismal to my family….”
Referring to the donor who will no longer give to the ARK where there are several after school programs, Pfleger said their cancellation of funds is “crazy” and that “it points to the real character of the person.”
“It shows you the realness of people. They say they believe in your programs…your ministry, your children…in the things you are doing, but the reality is when you do something they don’t like they ain’t even thinking about the program…. They don’t care about Pfleger. You just showed your true butt. You just showed how phony you are,” Pfleger told his congregation.
He said that particular donor and others who are withholding donations because of his position on Farrakhan, who has been a friend for a very long time, want to control him.
“You didn’t believe in Pfleger. You can’t control me. He who the Son sets free is free indeed. You can’t buy me. I’ve been bought once on Calvary. Can’t nobody else buy me,” he bellowed.
“That’s why I’m so hard on this church about getting your tithes and offerings together, and they’ve been down. They’ve been struggling. I refuse to be a whore. I’m not selling myself to keep this church open. I’m not compromising my views,” he said.
“I’m not compromising for what I stand for. If you want a whore as a pastor, you got the wrong one. I’m a one-person lover,” Pfleger said, pointing to the mural of Christ.
“I’m in a covenant. I made a marriage to this Jesus. I refuse to be the devil’s whore. I am not going to sell myself to keep Saint Sabina open; so, if you won’t do it, we’ll close this thing down,” Pfleger said.
“God didn’t call me to be a whore. He called me to be righteous. I refuse to sell myself to get money,” Pfleger said.
Pfleger said many people have come to him offering money if he would do what they say.
“Keep your damn money,” he said. “I’d rather be broke on a park bench to be owned by anyone but Him,” he said, referring to Jesus Christ. “It’s hard to stand up against wickedness,” Pfleger added, “but I am not for sale.”
