Robert Jeffress Wants UN Abolished Amid Demands Americans Pay Reparations for Slavery
Pastor Robert Jeffress of First Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas, said he is ready to see the United Nations abolished, following demands by a U.N. panel that Americans pay reparations for the history of slavery and oppression.
"I would like some reparations from the British people for what King George did to my forefathers. Let's just go ahead and start paying out to everybody," Jeffress responded to the news in an interview with Stuart Varney on Fox Business.
The Washington Post reported earlier this week that the U.N.'s working group of experts on people of African descent presented findings to the U.N. Human Rights Council on Monday, asking for the U.S. government to start repaying for the injustices that black Americans suffered through.
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"In particular, the legacy of colonial history, enslavement, racial subordination and segregation, racial terrorism and racial inequality in the United States remains a serious challenge, as there has been no real commitment to reparations and to truth and reconciliation for people of African descent," the report stated.
"Contemporary police killings and the trauma that they create are reminiscent of the past racial terror of lynching."
Jeffress said that America has indeed suffered from a history of racial injustice, and pointed out that the Southern Baptist Convention issued an apology for its role in segregation and slavery in the past.
"But how do you calculate the financial penalty for injustices that my great-grandfather committed against somebody else's great-grandfather?" the pastor asked, arguing that the suggested reparations are in reality more of a "shake down."
He added that he would be ready to see the U.N. abolished "in a heart beat."
"We actually have liberals in our country who think we need to be more subservient to the United Nations," Jeffress added, noting that this might be one of the questions on people's minds when they vote in the presidential elections in November.
As for the spate of police shootings in America that have sparked racial tensions this year, Jeffress emphasized that five officers were assassinated in Dallas alone, which should prompt a change in people's attitude toward law enforcement.
Other evangelical leaders, including the Rev. Franklin Graham, have also warned that America is on the edge of anarchy due to the shootings and protests that have flared up in several cities.
Speaking against the violence perpetrated by some of the protesters in Charlotte, North Carolina, last week following the police shooting death of Keith Lamont Scott last Tuesday, Graham called for calm in the midst of unfolding chaos.
Writing on his Facebook page last Thursday, Graham said, "Another young man was shot and killed by someone in the hostile crowd. Looting, vandalism, random violence, mayhem prevailed. ... all under the guise of a demonstration."
Protester Justin Carr was shot during Wednesday night's protests, and according to CNN, "because the crowd was too thick for paramedics to access the scene, he had to be evacuated by a SWAT armored personnel carrier."
"That's not a demonstration — that's a riot. What does it help? Haven't people learned by now that this doesn't accomplish any good for anyone?" Graham asked.
"What does work is prayer," he continued. "And I encourage individuals, pastors, and churches of all denominations across the city of Charlotte, the state, and across the country to pray. Our nation is in trouble not just politically and economically — it's in trouble racially, and only God can fix it."
