But, But, Mr. Butts: Divine Comedy or Dramatic Irony?

This week Abyssinian Baptist Church is celebrating it’s independence from segregation. Two hundred years ago, they broke free from a Lower Manhattan church that confined blacks to the balcony. Eighty-five years ago, they moved from Midtown to Harlem and have outlasted the Savoy and Cotton Clubs as the hottest tourist attraction there.

Forty years ago, Martin Luther King was killed marching for civil rights and on the anniversary of his birthday (January 15th), Calvin O. Butts, pastor of Abyssinian Baptist Church, endorsed a white woman for president over a black man with impeccable credentials. Wow!!! Is the congregation just a flock of mindless sheep to accept this absurdity? How does he get away with that?

But, but, Mr. Butts, don’t you know that feet are made for standing tall and butts are made for stooping small, and marching shoes with well-worn holes means so much more than saving soles?

But, but, Mr. Butts, the final irony is that Martin Luther (1483-1546) was an original thinker who sparked the Reformation as opposed to John Calvin (1509-1564) who was essentially a calculating conformist famous for betraying his friend (Michael Servetus, burned at the stake).