Pastor Calls For Fast In Response To Overtown Birthday Shooting

This post is not about fast food it's about a food fast. Yesterday, at the YWCA in Overtown, Commissioner Michelle Spence-Jones and members of local faith-based, and anti-violence organizations along with community members came together for a press conference in response to a recent Overtown birthday shooting.Pastor Richard P. Dunn...

By Jacob Katel

July 9, 2009

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This post is not about fast food it's about a food fast. Yesterday, at the YWCA in Overtown, Commissioner Michelle Spence-Jones and members of local faith-based, and anti-violence organizations along with community members came together for a press conference in response to a recent Overtown birthday shooting.

Pastor Richard P. Dunn II of Faith Community Baptist Church called for a 7-day fast along with prayer and guaranteed that within that time, the shooters will be caught. Dunn encourages fasters to pick at least one thing to give up, "a sweet, meat, some starches, something, and during that time period, to pray."

According to Wikipedia, fasting has been in existence "since before written history," though if nobody wrote it down, it's not clear how they know that. Fasting has religious, health, medical and political histories. Some say it can lead to a higher state of consciousness, science says it can lead to hallucination. In any case, if fasting leads to pistol-packing, assault-rifling, goons who are willing shoot into the crowd at a birthday party being apprehended, then pass the water, I'm in.

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