November 21, 2003
Strange Words For A Pastor
Now, I don't have any particular opinion on the allegations of misconduct against the Reverend Roy L. Tate (see also this item from KGW), best known to Portland at large as one of the most vocal critics of the shooting of Kendra James.
Despite not having anything in particular to say about the charges against him, I do want to quote this part of the article:
"It's all unsubstantiated stuff," Tate said. "It's coming from a group of angry people, angry folk. It's just not true. These people have been on drugs. They're unreliable."
Is it just my ingrained cyncism, or that in fact a rather odd comment for a pastor to make? Even beyond being a pastor, it's important also to note that Tate was part of his church's drug and alcohol group-counseling ministry. Seems a strange attitude for a spiritual leader who was involved with drug and alcohol counseling to have towards drug and alcohol addicts.
To make it worse, critics of the James shooting contended that the City and the Police Bureau were attempting to misdirect attention by bringing up James' drug use. Doesn't seem fair, somehow, for Tate to be using the same sort of smear.