"Reverend” Jackson? – Maybe not!
Dan Frisa
Thursday, Feb. 15, 2001
Is the "Reverend" Jackson really a reverend?
It’s not clear.
But NewsMax has undertaken an investigation to determine the legitimacy of Jesse "Who’s your daddy?” Jackson claiming the "Reverend” honorific.
For decades the mainstream media has referred to "Who’s your daddy?” as the Reverend Jackson.
The question remains, however, if he is in fact eligible to have adopted this appellation.
From what little information is publicly available, it appears as though Jesse has been cutting corners and playing fast and loose with more than his marriage vows.
He may also be improperly referring to himself as "reverend” when in reality he might be anything but.
Here is his "official” biography from the Rainbow/Push Coalition website:
"Born on October 8, 1941 in Greenville, South Carolina, Jesse Jackson attended the University of Illinois on a football scholarship and later transferred to North Carolina A&T State University. He attended Chicago Theological Seminary until he joined the Civil Rights Movement full time in 1965." (Emphasis added.)
Notice that his own organization discloses that Jackson merely "attended” the Chicago Theological Seminary.
He did not graduate, and was not, therefore, an accredited seminarian, according to the Rainbow/Push information.
Is he, then, qualified to be referred to as the "Reverend” Jackson?
Repeated NewsMax calls to the Rainbow/Push coalition headquarters in Chicago remain unanswered.
Whether or not Jesse L. Jackson is a bona fide "reverend” may seem an insignificant point not worthy of the effort necessary to make an actual determination.
However, that this particular title carries with it a certain aura of morality and religiosity which, by its very nature, confers an added degree of both "godliness” and credibility unlike any other such title, it is important to ascertain the validity of Jackson’s insistence on the use of the title.
When he ran for President in 1984, Jackson was invariably referred to as the "reverend” Jackson, granting him a more exalted status than would otherwise be the case.
Further, unlike the media treatment of the Rev. Pat Robertson, who was derisively referred to as a "reverend" though there was never a question raised about his credentials - Jackson was accorded a modicum of respect and dignity to which he may not, via his credentials, or lack of same, be entitled.
His failure to earn a degree from the Chicago Theological Seminary would seem to present a prima facie case of his having no business whatsoever employing the "reverend” title when he didn’t make the grade.
If he has been making use of the title in error, his reputation will have been even further severely diminished at his own hand and ego.
He has, of late, laid down a rather reprehensible marker, which ill serves the very people he takes great pains to imply he has the moral authority to lead.
Not to mention the rather lucrative and transparent con game he plays with American corporations, who regularly lay down and fall prey to his implied threats, which amount to: "pay up or be singled out for protest” in order that he might continue to feather his own nest to the tune of millions of dollars in blackmail.
And to be able continue to enjoy special kid-glove treatment by the I.R.S. and state authorities too timid to subject him to the same scrutiny applied to others.
Such thinly veiled threats amount to nothing more than a classic protection racket.
Whether he is a legitimate "reverend” or not remains to be seen.
What is sure is the fact that not even an ounce of credibility should be accorded such a shady and demagogic character.
Stay tuned as the NewsMax investigation continues, in order to shed light on the – ahem – "reverend” Jesse. |
