On Tuesday Mayor Larry Langford told city councilors that he ordered 2,000 burlap sacks for community leaders to wear at the next Plan 10/30 summit. Donning harsh sackcloth is a recurring Bible motif that indicates the wearer’s humility, mourning, and repentance.
“When cities in the early part of … the world’s history, when they had gotten so far from God—
doing idol worship and all kinds of crazy stuff we’re even doing today—that community came to its senses,” said Langford “The Bible tells us that they put on sackcloth and ashes on their face and prayed, and God heard their prayer.”
“So I have ordered, this morning, 2000 burlap bags,” he said.
City Council meetings are rarely short on religious fervor. Local ministers come to request city funding for their faith-based initiatives, and they often use fiery language to garner support from the crowd.
Though the Council is occasionally dismissive of these funding requests, they sometimes invite religious leaders to praise their work. Last week Langford honored Bishop Calvin Woods. This week the Mayor and Council welcomed newly ordained Archbishop Joseph Marino. The Mayor honored the Birmingham native by presenting him with the first of the 2000 sack cloths.
A city official told Birmingham Weekly that the burlap sacks are being paid for with private funds, not taxpayer money
If anyone feels that Langford uses the council dais like a pulpit, the mayor doesn’t seem concerned.
“The Constitution of the United States calls for a separation of church and state—it never said anything about a separation of church from state,” Langford said during the council meeting. “You don’t wanna pray? Fine. Just get your evil self away from me.”
The date of the burlap sack summit is yet to be announced. It will be the fourth of a series of community initiatives collectively called Plan 10/30. The meetings are part of the Mayor’s plan to discourage crime and inspire local youths and community leaders to participate in Birmingham’s growth and revitalization.
“I got a call from someone saying I need to quit mentioning God’s name so much, and so I politely asked him what in hell did they want?” Langford said. “Because there must be something in hell we want because a lot of us are working so hard to get there.”
A few relevant Bible verses …
Jeremiah 6:26:
O my people, put on sackcloth
and roll in ashes;
mourn with bitter wailing
as for an only son,
for suddenly the destroyer
will come upon us.
Isaiah 15:3:
In the streets they wear sackcloth;
on the roofs and in the public squares
they all wail,
prostrate with weeping.
Popularity: 28% [?]
April 9th, 2008 at 5:14 pm
The money for the burlap sacks would be better spent on the mayor’s obvious need for mental health care.
April 10th, 2008 at 1:38 pm
I sure hope it is fair-trade burlap.
Maybe they could get some old fair-trade coffee bean bags.
April 11th, 2008 at 7:26 pm
Politicians will always do or say things that rub some the wrong way but to call those who don’t pray evil is going a bit too far. It makes him no better than the Muslims who believe Christians are evil. Our histoy is full of atheists who contributed greatly to the lifestyle we all enjoy. This of course would be known if a real history class were ever taught in this country.
April 14th, 2008 at 11:10 am
I am so thankful I live in Tampa instead of Birmingham. I grew up there and it is a tragedy to see what Birmingham has become. For any group of citizens to elect someone like Larry Langford it makes one wonder what led to that process. Everyone both white and black know he is mentally unstable and at the best semi literate. A UAB degree is now a good degree, however when he got his it was no better than a JC degree. The instructors were High School teachers picking up extra cash so until the mid 80’s it was a joke. It is now on par with Alabama and Auburn. There is enough evidence to put him in jail for life so what I do not understand ; why the different DAs and Federal Attorneys do not arrest him. He is a crook and a bad liar. His prayers are a joke and he is a joke. He is mentally deranged and does not need help except from the other side of some bars.
April 14th, 2008 at 7:17 pm
Another relevant Bible verse…
Matthew 5:6 (NIV)
And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full.
April 16th, 2008 at 5:10 am
I sure hope Langford didn’t get the sack cloths at the same place he gets his $275 shirts.
April 18th, 2008 at 1:26 pm
Adam - close, but it’s Matthew 6:5 — I sometimes get dyslexic too. I would also reference Matthew 6:1 “Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven.”
There are so many comments to this story, but I would also like to point out -Most of our country’s leading founding fathers were predominantly DEISTS (look it up) try wikipedia DEISM. So when people talk about this country being founded upon the judeo-christian values, that’s only a part of it. Can you imagine if Langford had ANY say in the drafting of the U.S. Constitution, much less Pat Robertson?
At any rate, I really try not to judge other people, but I have to say Langford is the ultimate Pharisee…
BTW, I hear Gus Mayer is offering a new line of sack cloth for the fall line up.