PASTOR DEMERS' WIFE SPEAKS OUT; AS A LOVING MOTHER would, SHE SCOLDS THE CITY

SHAME ON YOU, MERIDIAN

(Originally presented by Patti Demers to the Meridian, Mississippi City Council on 4/21/09)

Yes, shame, shame on you, Meridian.

Meridian:  It is time to recognize that we’ve lost our way…

         Following the path of hypocrisy, selfishness, and greed.

It is time to find the way out…of the apathy and selfishness and materialistic way.

Yes—find the Way…His name is Jesus

NOT just saying the name and singing songs…and dressing nice on Sunday… But…

         Walking humbly in Him…in Jesus. Yes, walking humbly with our God.

Meridian…you stand by and watch hate crimes and say and do nothing…

SHAME ON YOU.

You consider it more important to discuss potholes than the systematic destruction of property and human lives…shame on you.

You watch an old lady be attacked and slandered, and you fail to act.

SHAME ON YOU.

You watch a 61 year old woman, who has had her children destroyed, her husband threatened and beaten in front of her home, and her heart constantly being torn out—you watch as this woman is threatened, intimidated, and rudely treated by her mayor, CAO, and city council members, and it means nothing to you.

SHAME ON YOU.

You find out about an arson, a media blackout called for by city fathers, and you ignore the victims’ pain and loss.

SHAME ON YOU.

You hear of destruction of children in the church, as mean-spirited men and women exercise their viciousness against that church, and it is nothing to you.

SHAME ON YOU.

Your silence is allowing the mayor, the chief of police, Detective Havard, and so many others who are involved in the deprivation of rights under color of law in the covering up of the arson, the media blackout leading to the ongoing discrimination against the victims and anyone who tries to help the victims—to walk away, laughing, after having gotten away with these terrible hate crimes.  Yes, your silence is allowing them to walk away laughing, after having gotten away with these terrible hate crimes.*

SHAME ON YOU.

Yes, Meridian, and your silence is enabling them* to set a precedent for subsequent administrations to believe they can get away with any kind of crime, and none of you will ever say anything…and in doing so, you are missing an incredible opportunity to send a message to those coming in the upcoming elections that this type of nonsense will no longer be tolerated by the citizens of Meridian, Mississippi.

Yes, by your silence and your apathy and your prejudice, you are enabling and continuing the corruption in our city.

Again, I say: SHAME… SHAME… SHAME ON YOU, MERIDIAN.

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See also: 

DEMERS SPEAKS OUT ON MERIDIAN'S UNDERLYING PROBLEMS AND THE CAUSE OF THE EXODUS OF MERIDIAN'S OFFSPRING (below)

DEMERS SPEAKS OUT ON MERIDIAN’S UNDERLYING PROBLEMS AND

THE CAUSE OF THE EXODUS OF MERIDIAN’S OFFSPRING

(Originally presented by Pastor Wade Demers to the Meridian City Council on 4/21/09)

Meridian, Mississippi has gone from a population of 48,000 (in the 60’s) to about 38,000 recently…

Our children and others are leaving…why?

A small group of greedy, self-centered, materialistic, vicious, wealthy, and socially and politically powerful individuals are holding this town back from its natural growth and development. They are manipulating the system, controlling the government and law enforcement, sustaining the criminals, and in some cases enriching themselves and others, preserving their idea of “we’ve always done it this way.”

These people are spurred on and controlled by a spineless and spiritually bankrupt clergy who refuse to speak out to these people in order to preserve their own tithes, offerings, and endowments.

In summary, the insiders, “money people,” and clergy work in concert to preserve/enhance their own lifestyles and feather their own beds, to the detriment of the majority, and in doing so, stymie any substantial changes, thus creating and sustaining the environment that our children abandon.

Our young people sense the resulting stifling milieu, and move on to places where their potential can be realized.

Remember, when good people are silent, evil rules.

These are the tactics the “bad guys” have used to silence those who, if they spoke out, could do something. They use slander, fear and violence to keep everybody silent and to discredit anyone who tries to tell the truth, and they give rewards and promotions to any one of the insiders who is getting “antsy.” They accuse a whistle-blower of division or ill motives, when in reality the whistleblower is risking his life to expose the corruption. This is a heinous technique. Evil has always been used to preserve itself.

So, who’s to blame?

It is time for the silent but knowing majority to unite and speak out our cry, in united voice, and say, “ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!”

Our children are our future, and they should stay here.

For the populace to stand by silently in fear, apathy and/or worse, in the conscious decision to keep quiet to get along, is hypocritical and the best tool the “bad guys” have to keep themselves in power.

You, the public, are the solution…if your piece of the pie is more important to you than your offspring being able to enjoy a growing, prosperous, and safe Meridian, then you have only yourselves to blame for the dwindling of our population. 

Most of us call ourselves Christians…

This is the Bible belt…Jesus is Lord. We are saved by faith in Him…Jesus wants us to obey and imitate Him. His word says:

"Accordingly, whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in the inner rooms will be proclaimed upon the housetops.” (Luke 12:3)

“Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.” (1 Corinthians 16:13)  And…

“Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them.” (Ephesians 5:11)

I know also that many of you in this city are not Christians. I know some of you in this city are Jews, Muslims, pagans, Buddhists, Hindus, atheists, agnostics, and others.

But remember, this is a free country where we can all agree that all should seek the common goal.

I think that all of us citizens of Meridian can agree that corruption and the inertia of selfishly motivated stagnation are evil. And, more important, I’m sure we all believe these words and thoughts of Jesus Christ:

“Treat others the same way you want them to treat you.” (Luke 6:31)

“This is My commandment, that you love one another just as I have loved you.” (John 15:12)

“Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15:13) 

I’m sure that you would agree that these words and commands of Jesus are common ground to us.

I love you, Meridian…

May I humbly suggest that we unite in our common ground?

And, a comment for those of you who know your WWII history:

Can you imagine Himmler and Goehring telling people in Berlin that the people criticizing Hitler’s treatment of Jews and others whom he didn’t like were “divisive?” Or that the king of Denmark was evil?

We need to be tolerant of all faiths and beliefs, and not single out those who differ from us for isolation or elimination.

My wife and I are and have been actively involved in promoting downtown. My wife and I are financial patrons of the Meridian Museum of Art (MMA), and are frequent participants at events at the Meridian Little Theater (MLT), MCC Theater (Arts and Letters series as well as other events held there), MSU Riley Center, religious/public/political functions, active in social welfare, and are involved in evangelism both locally and internationally, as well as the primary ministry of the restoration of God’s church. So, in being involved in all of this, we have met and come to know many of you and your thoughts. We all want the same thing.

Our children should want to stay here and never leave, thus making the city stronger and more unified than ever.

We have wonderful assets…Bonita Lakes, nearby Okatibbee, Highland Park, the country clubs, unique and charming old and developing infrastructure…old solid ideals wrought through generations of struggle and triumph…an “old-timey” work ethic and family orientation.

It is a shame to allow the few to thwart the full potential of the blessing in which we are all privileged to live—Meridian, Mississippi.

You might ask:

Why am I, Wade Demers, personally being attacked by these?

What am I doing that they want to stop? The answer is:

·        Preaching righteousness and the judgment to come (Acts 24: 25);

·        Preaching for the restoration of God’s church (Acts 3:21);

·        Turning the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous (Luke 1:17);

·        I’m not afraid to tell the truth in the pulpit or on the public square.

I guess, what it all boils down to is, what I preach (although it is what God says and is directly from the Bible) is “bad for business.” By that I mean bad for the crime and corruption business. 

The same stifling milieu and stagnation which I referred to earlier is in the churches of Meridian, because of the clergy who think they’re right and don’t want to listen to anybody. Have you not read, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge?” (Hosea 4:6) Also, God says:    “… the shepherds (pastors) have become stupid and have not sought the LORD…” (Jeremiah 10:21) And…

            “His watchmen are blind, all of them know nothing.
            All of them are mute dogs unable to bark,
             Dreamers lying down, who love to slumber;
             And the dogs are greedy, they are not satisfied
             And they are shepherds (pastors) who have no understanding;
           They have all turned to their own way, each one to his unjust gain, to the last one.”  (Isaiah 56:10, 11)

Does anybody out there know that we have a serious problem in Meridian with illegal drugs, not just with the young people, but with adults?

There is also illegal gambling, and illicit sex, along with the rampant illegal drugs. We are having problems that there is no need to have if we were to have honest government. We need to speak out, or it will only get worse for our children.

We can’t stop everything, but we can stop the apathy of ourselves. THE BAD GUYS ARE NEVER LEAVING IF WE LOOK THE OTHER WAY. I DON’T CARE HOW MANY NEW PEOPLE YOU VOTE INTO OFFICE. IF THEY SEE THAT THE OTHERS WHO LEFT OFFICE GOT AWAY WITH IT, THERE WILL JUST BE MORE OF THE SAME—I DON’T CARE HOW MANY CAMPAIGN PROMISES THEY MAKE.

But if you speak out with the light of truth, the darkness of evil will be shattered.

IF YOU LOOK AT WHISTLEBLOWERS AS “PESTS,” THE BAD GUYS WIN. This just lets the new candidates know that they can be the same way and nobody will do anything. The time to do it is BEFORE the election, so they will be warned that they cannot be like their predecessors.

The fear of God will come upon them, IF the people speak out…so then, they will “JUST SAY NO” when approached behind the scenes by the corrupt when the corrupt try to get them to act corruptly.

 YES, AS SOON AS YOU SPEAK UP, IT’S OVER!

(For more insight on this, see "THE MAYOR'S SIDESHOW" or "JOHN ROBERT (and his cronies) BEHIND THE SCENES" and QUOTE(S) OF THE WEEK! (Click on each quote title to see entire quote) at: www.armofjustice.webnode.com )

(I apologize for the incompleteness of the thoughts contained herein, but this is not my primary mission in life, and I was dictating this to my executive assistant as my wife and I were getting ready to go out the door to the Big Band Bash in Meridian.)

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* See Berachot Chastises Center of Influence Meridianite for ENABLING the Criminals to Get Away with their crimes: Is it YOU?