{"id":35129,"date":"2024-05-03T11:33:50","date_gmt":"2024-05-03T15:33:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/?p=35129"},"modified":"2024-05-03T11:33:50","modified_gmt":"2024-05-03T15:33:50","slug":"you-are-using-the-word-of-god-radio-host-calls-on-pastor-to-repent-after-praying-over-the-chicago-bears","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/2024\/05\/you-are-using-the-word-of-god-radio-host-calls-on-pastor-to-repent-after-praying-over-the-chicago-bears.html","title":{"rendered":"\u201cYou are using the Word of God\u2026\u201d Radio Host Calls on Pastor to Repent After Praying Over the Chicago Bears"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Chicago Bears \/ YouTube<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Chicago Bears announced their intentions to build a new stadium on the Chicago lakefront on Wednesday. The project will cost $4.6 billion, and the Bears are requesting $2.3 billion in public funds. There had been rumors going for years that the Bears planned to move to Arlington Heights after the team spent $200 million on land there, but a debate over taxes<\/a> seems to have quashed that plan. Prior to the announcement, Pastor Charlie Dates of Salem Baptist Church of Chicago led the press conference<\/a> in a word of prayer. \u201cWe thank you for all the people who will benefit from the Bears staying in Chicago,\u201d Pastor Dates began, noting the concerns of Chicagoans of the potential loss to the city had the team moved to Arlington Heights.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know that you play football,\u201d continued Dates, \u201cbut I am asking you to help us. Help us to win some games, help us to get a Super Bowl here, help us to play in the Super Bowl, and bring back the 1985 roaring, cheering fans we had for your glory and for our good.\u201d The pastor\u2019s comments did earn him some chuckles as he went on. \u201cAnd on a more serious note, for all the people who will work here, who will thrive here, who will come to experience significant family memories here, we give You glory and thanks. And if I’ve asked You for too little, I pray You do something even bigger than what I’ve asked You for in your precious name,\u201d he finished.<\/p>\n

Despite the goodwill from the crowd at the press conference, Dates\u2019s prayer earned him criticism<\/a> from WSCR AM-670 radio host Lawrence Holmes. \u201cThe neighborhood where his church resides is the neighborhood I grew up in. There are plenty of people in that neighborhood and around Chicago that need prayer,\u201d Holmes insisted. \u201cYou chose to ask for God\u2019s grace, today, for a stadium. You should be ashamed, Pastor. And your congregation should be ashamed, too, that they follow you,\u201d he said, turning his comments directly towards Dates. \u201cI\u2019m offended as a citizen of Chicago. I am offended for people who try to serve and worship a God that you\u2019re hoping shares his grace on the poor and the downtrodden,\u201d he added, saying that Dates didn\u2019t need to be surrounding himself with billionaires instead of the poor. \u201cI am so tired of people using God to put their hands in someone\u2019s pocket. This is the worst possible example of this. You are using the word of God to try and fleece the flock for billionaires!\u201d Dates has not responded to the criticism, but Holmes is not alone in being cynical towards the big price tag required for the stadium. Friends of the Parks, which has advocated for protection of the Chicago lakefront, called the plan rushed and criticized it for a lack of transparency. \u201cChicago has a long history of closed-door planning and rushed decision-making that does not end well for taxpayers,\u201d said the group. Illinois governor, JB Pritzker, voiced his skepticism as well. \u201cI remain skeptical about this proposal, and I wonder whether it\u2019s a good deal for the taxpayers,\u201d he said. \u201cThere are a lot of priorities that the state has, and I\u2019m not sure that this is among the highest priorities for taxpayers.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Chicago Bears announced their intentions to build a new stadium on the Chicago lakefront on Wednesday. The project will cost $4.6 billion, and the Bears are requesting $2.3 billion in public funds. There had been rumors going for years that the Bears planned to move to Arlington Heights after the team spent $200 million…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":462,"featured_media":35135,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-35129","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-television"],"yoast_head":"\n\u201cYou are using the Word of God\u2026\u201d Radio Host Calls on Pastor to Repent After Praying Over the Chicago Bears<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/2024\/05\/you-are-using-the-word-of-god-radio-host-calls-on-pastor-to-repent-after-praying-over-the-chicago-bears.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"\u201cYou are using the Word of God\u2026\u201d Radio Host Calls on Pastor to Repent After Praying Over the Chicago Bears\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Chicago Bears announced their intentions to build a new stadium on the Chicago lakefront on Wednesday. The project will cost $4.6 billion, and the Bears are requesting $2.3 billion in public funds. 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The project will cost $4.6 billion, and the Bears are requesting $2.3 billion in public funds. 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