Anti-Gun Chicago Priest Calls for Death of Gun Shop Owner - Media Silent

On May 29th a Catholic Priest from Chicago's St. Sabina Church joined a rally in front of a gun shop and called for the owner of the shop and all pro-gun legislators to be "snuffed out", yet, the media is strangely silent on the "Father's" extreme comments -- words one would think would be explosive enough to get media coverage. Father Michael Pfleger, known the city over for his overt political activism, made the obscene comments while demonstrating with Jesse Jackson and his Organization Operation Push in front of Chuck's Gun Shop in Riverdale, a Chicago suburb.

This from the Capitol Fax Blog (one of Illinois' best political sites):

Rev. Michael Pfleger, pastor of St. Sabina’s Church, went way over the top this week. During a protest against Chuck’s Gun Shop, Father Pfleger twice threatened to “snuff out” the shop’s owner and threatened the same fate for legislators who oppose his position on gun control.

“We’re gonna find you and snuff you out,” Fleger said about the gun shop owner, likening the man to a “rat.” He later repeated his threat to “snuff out” the owner.

“We’re gonna snuff out legislators who are voting [garbled] against our gun laws and we’re coming for you because we are not going to sit idly.”

That is some of the most vicious rhetoric one could imagine coming out of the mouth of a so-called Priest, but, the MSM had nothing to say about the comments. In fact, while several Chicago MSM sources mentioned the Jackson sponsored protest, none of them mention Pfleger's outrageous and inflammatory rhetoric.

NBC5 News (TV), with a story copyrighted by the Chicago Sun-Times, doesn't mention that Pflager was even at the rally.

ABC7 News (TV) similarly doesn't mention that Pfleger was at the rally. They do, however, recount Jackson's unfounded claim that "weapons sold at Chuck's Gun have ended up in the hands of criminals." There is no proof that Jackson's claim is true and ABC notes at the end of the piece that, "From time to time, protestors target Chuck's Gun Shop, but there have been any charges that the gun stores breaks the law." Still, and once again, Jackson gets away with making unfounded claims without any proof whatsoever to back it up with no one calling him to account.

The Chicago Tribune at least mentioned that Pfleger was at the rally, but does not report his comments at all. All the Trib said was that, "Michael Pfleger encouraged the crowd to push for stricter gun laws." And that he, "vowed that the rally was just the beginning and that civil disobedience was possible."

So, why the blackout of the "Father's" outrageous comments?

Could it be because they agree with the efforts at gun control and they don't want Pflager's idiotic rhetoric to tarnish that effort?

Or, perhaps, Pfleger has been a loose cannon for so long that his foolishness doesn't even rate comment anymore?

That last point is a shame if true, too. After all, don't we always hear that Bush is an evil, evil "extremist Christian" for wanting to have faith based charities being able to receive Federal funding? Don't we hear that this is some sort of violation of the so-called "separation of church and state"? Don't detractors always say that the Church should stay out of political fights? Additionally, don't leftists claim that Churches that get involved with right leaning political causes should have their tax exempt status threatened or removed?

Yet, here we have in Father Michael Pflager, a Catholic Church and it's Pastor getting directly involved in political fights and causes all the time. You can go right to the St. Sabina website and immediately see a graphic and a link to an overtly political message against Illinois gunrights legislation. The link takes you to a Church sponsored page featuring a listing of current Illinois gun bills that they are targeting for activism.

If THIS isn't a violation of Church and State... what is?

But, do we hear the left railing about this political activism by a church? Do we hear calls for St. Sabina's tax exempt status to be threatened?

Um, no. After all, it is an MSM approved brand of political activism, one that leans squarely against the Constitution and in a heavily leftward direction.

And, can we remind one and all of what kind of coverage Reverend Jerry Falwell got upon his passing? How often did the MSM rail against his political activism? It shouldn't have to be noted that Falwell's activism was scorned because it emanated from a distinctly right leaning direction.

In any case, the MSM's failure to report this incident is telling, indeed.

(For those interested, an MP3 audio file of Father Pfleger's comments can be downloaded from the Illinois State Rifle Association website)