Church Leaders Want to ‘Saturate’ Detroit With This Biblical Message
Local church leaders in Detroit, Mich., last week held an emergency meeting to draft a plan for dealing with the violent murders that continue to occur in the cash-strapped city. To stop the widespread chaos, these pastors and faith leaders are hoping to “saturate” the city with positive and uplifting themes.
Will Infiltrating Detroit With This Powerful Biblical Message Help Stop Violent Murder? | Thou Shalt Not Kill
The main plan is to post “Thou Shalt Not Kill” banners and signs around Detroit in the hope that the sixth commandment will reach locals’ hearts and minds.
“We all have to do what we can do, and right now we don’t have a respect in our communities for life — we don’t have a respect for many things,” Minister Ovella Andreas, the founder of the crime-fighting group United Communities of America, told WWJ-TV.
She added, “But we still have to create a standard to hopefully have a consciousness about God … because even our people have become apathetic.”
Buses, billboards and churches will display the commandment. Andreas said the goal is to “infiltrate and saturate” Detroit with its central message.
“This is an emergency. This is a crisis, and we have to come together now to do what we can,” the pastor added. “I truly know if we do what we can, God will do what we cannot, but we’re not doing all that we can.”
Andreas explained the meaning of the sixth commandment and her goals on the United Communities of America website:
This message speaks to the act of murder. The scriptures instruct us that for mankind to murder one another is a violation to God, the creator of man. Therefore, the United Communities of America in our efforts to reduce crime declares that God said “Thou Shall Not Kill”. We publish this message by way of posters, tee shirts, wristbands and literature to help reach the consciousness of those who engage in violence. We aim to declare as well as warn those engaging in violence that to kill has eternal consequences. Not just incarceration or the danger of retaliation but God Himself has commanded that man shall not murder and violating His known word will not go unpunished.
Detroit earned the distinction last month of being named the most crime-ridden city in the country. Last week, three people died and multiple others injured at a barber shop shooting. On Friday, three people were killed in an apparent home invasion. In a separate incident, the body of a man was found in a trashcan, The Christian Post reported. TheBlaze