St. Louis pastors have come up with an ingenious new way to fight violent crime in America’s sixth most crime-ridden city. Their simple-minded idea: signage. “Violence Free Zone” signs to be more specific. No one ever told them that magic spells and wishful thinking in the face of a threat can be hazardous to your health.
Neighborhood Scout scores the city of St. Louis a “one” on a scale of 100 in terms of a crime index. On their scale, 100 means the least crime and greatest safety. So it’s not like golf, where the low score wins. Unless you’re a criminal, that is.
But that doesn’t stop well-meaning pastors from enchanting the mainstream media with their “revolutionary” idea to stop violent criminal actors.
The Joshua Transformation Project has launched a new initiative designed to help prevent gun violence. The non-profit organization is placing “Violence-Free Zone” signs in a St. Louis community to help keep residents safe.
Who is the Joshua Transformation Project? From their website:
The Joshua Partnership Project is “neighborhood specific project”. That is, we organize and train churches in the “same neighborhood” or same demographic area of their city, how to develop a united front against violence, drugs, gangs, and criminal activity. Churches in partnership with each other, and the neighborhood community, is the catalyst for change to stop the killing and reduce violence. We are losing too many of our young people to gun violence. The result of this church based neighborhood organizing and training is a reduction in loss of life, less violence, less crime, and safer communities.
Let’s face it, if “no guns” and “no violence” signs like this worked, criminals would have to find a new line of work.
But why stop with guns?
We could post “No Chinese Virus Here” signs at our homes and workplaces to remain healthy and uninfected.
A silly sign will do nothing more to repel violent crime than a No Chinese Viruses sign will repel the COVID19.