Whirled Views with Dan Burrell

The 2004 elections brought a conservative sweep to much of the nation, but Mecklenburg County was not part of it. As a result, our County Commission came back under the control of liberal Democrats and the arrogant and extremist liberal Parks Helms re-assumed his position as chairman of the County Commission. It should be no surprise to any of us that in his first months back in his position, he has worked tirelessly to expand government and raise taxes.

But this week, he announced another item on his agenda — one that calls for economic and social conservatives to respond before its too late.

Mr. Helms has announced that he wants to see “Partner’s Benefits” extended to those involved in homosexual relationships. During a time when our community is dealing with the destructive consequences of the breakdown of the family and the stress of ever-rising local taxes, the best idea Mr. Helms can seem to come up with is to official recognize homosexual couples with benefits purchased by your and my tax dollars. This is an affront to every taxpayer and particularly those taxpayers who find homosexuality morally wrong.

Christian and Social Conservatives should voice their opposition as this is yet another attempt by the radical homosexual community to impose their unhealthy and immoral lifestyle on people of morality and faith. We must not sit idly by while liberals and social manipulators seek to “re-define” what constitutes a family.

Economic Conservatives should voice their opposition as this is yet another example of Big Brother expansion into areas that will lead to higher taxes and more spending. To subsidize these homosexual couples is not only legally questionable under North Carolina law, it is fiscally foolish due to the unhealthy nature of the relationship itself. This extension of benefits will cost our county millions over the next decade.

Make no mistake, with a solid majority of like-minded Democrats on the County Commission, there is a good chance that this initiative will pass unless the citizens of this region speak up soon and loudly.

That is why I am sending this email. We have a strategy in place that will “raise the volume” of protest against this action incrementally as the need arises. This email is a Call to Action which asks you to become personally involved in contacting the Mecklenburg County Commissioners to voice your opposition to extending benefits to homosexuals and unmarried partners of county employees.

Here’s what I am asking you to do:

1. Write a brief email to our county commissioners stating your opposition to extending benefits to the partners of unmarried and homosexual couples. This is very important: Please do not be rude, threatening or unkind. You don’t need to type in all capitals and you don’t need to quote the Scripture. What the Commissioners understand is VOTES. Every email equals a vote. They understand public pressure. Every email measures public sentiment.

Paste and clip this list of the email addresses of our county commissioners and put it in the address box of your email:

PHelms@helmshenderson.com, Bill@billjames.org, dan@votedanbishop.com, dumontclarke@mvalaw.com, 2woodard@bellsouth.net, normanam@aol.com, wirembert04@bellsouth.net, mroberts5@carolina.rr.com, jhpucket@bellsouth.net,

2. Please forward this email to everyone you can think of who might agree with our position. (Please do not violate your workplace policies on using company email lists or servers. It’s never right to do wrong to do right.) Suggestions would be political lists, church lists, friends, etc. If you have a local blog, post this email here. When forwarding the email, try to remove the “FW:FW:fw:….” from the Subject Line as it often marks your email as spam or causes people to automatically “junk” the email.

3. Watch your email box for an email entitled “A Call to Action - Part 2″. If it becomes necessary, we will offer another wave of protest against this initiative in a different form. Strategically, we are prepared to fight this as long as it takes. Sadly, this may end up costing the county commissioners who support this legislation politically and financially. It is really unnecessary for them to stir this up at this time when so many more important issues are at stake in our community. But if Mr. Helms is looking for a test of our strength and resolve, we need to make sure he gets a taste of it.

Thank you for standing for the values that keep our families and our community strong, safe and conservative!

NOTE: Some email servers require a comma between the names of multiple addresses and others permit a semi-colon. I have changed the semi-colons to comma’s in mine to insure that they arrive as more servers accept those.

My blog is largely a commentary. Part of the job of a commentator is to provoke thought. If you never disagree with a commentator, then it might be a sign that youre not thinking. And it is in the hope of provoking thought that I write these commentaries. It is in that vein that I broach the topic of politics and the church.

Recently, Tennessee Senator, Senate majority leader and possible 2008 Presidential contender, Bill Frist, made quite a few headlines when he appeared, via tape, at a rally arranged by the Family Research Council and hosted by a large Baptist church in Louisville, Kentucky. The purpose of the rally was to educate the Christian right and to encourage support for a rules change within the US Senate which would prevent Democrats from filibustering President Bushes nominees to federal courts. Sometimes referred to as the nuclear option, this rare though legal maneuver would limit an occasionally used parliamentary procedure that requires a super-majority of 60 votes to permit passage of a bill or nomination. The filibuster continues until 60 votes (requiring senators from both parties to participate as the Republicans only have 55 votes and not all of them are dependable) are cast to limit the debate and permit a vote which then only requires a simple majority to pass or fail.

The media and fringe religious groups with liberal agendas have decried the fact that Senator Frist is taking a political case to the church. In my opinion, Mr. Frist should have the right to speak anywhere and everywhere he so chooses and which is acceptable to him. I have no criticism whatsoever of his decision to address this significant legal and political issue publicly.

I do, however, have some concerns about using a church to become a political venue. By raising this topic, Im quite aware that I open the door to some personal criticism because Im not afraid at all to make some rather strong statements from my own pulpit on matters of politics and politicians. We have a policy that allows any politician from any political party to greet our congregation when they are running for elected office. I believe that part of being a good Christian is to be a good citizen and part of being a good citizen is being an informed voter. I also believe that is it the privilege and prerogative of the Pastor to take positions and make statements regarding political matters of moral and community concern.

But with all that said, I question the wisdom of turning the church into a political rally or a venue for politicians to come and make their case on a matter as fuzzy as Senate rules. While I am personally for the rules change as a last resort, this isnt a clear-cut moral issue like slavery or the definition of marriage. This is about little less than politics. Yes, I understand the importance of having conservative judges who promote Biblical, traditional and family-friendly values. Yes, I think the Democratic minority is abusing a procedure in order to block otherwise qualified and good men and women from the bench. Yes, I think our nation needs to be informed of the issues. I just question whether or not it should be done in the church.

I have two concerns regarding the use of churches as political centers for conservative causes. First, I dont believe it is the mission of the church to be a political force. We are called to evangelize the world, disciple believers in the Scripture, fellowship with the family of God, minister to those in need and to worship God. I dont believe we have to withdraw from the political process altogether, but it simply isnt in the Biblical mandate of what the church was founded to do. Quite the opposite, Jesus Himself refused to embroil Himself in matters related to the government from taxation to slavery. He had a laser-like focus on what His Father had called Him to do and nothing distracted Him from that mission.

A secondary concern grows out of the first. When the church becomes too intertwined with politics, we endanger our reputation and we invite political retaliation unnecessarily. The conservative or any single political party will one day be in the minority again. Politics is a dirty game. You can count on the fact that, given the chance, regulation, scrutiny and other forms of hostility will be part of the payback if we are perceived to be simply another political faction. I dont mind scrutiny and hostility for things that are eternal in their origin. In my opinion, the rules of the Senate do not fall into that category.

I wonder how many people will cease viewing the church as a conveyer of the Gospel and start thinking of her as an arm of some political ideology because we dont take care to guard some basic principles of involvement with politics. Liberals have twisted what Jefferson was warning about when he penned that infamous line that called for a high wall of separation between church and state. However, evangelical Christians would be wise to remember and respect that the wall serves us as well. Knowing that such a wall has been suggested need not silence us from being personally active or vocal on moral issues that have worked their way into political positions. It should serve as a cautionary reminder that we serve a Higher Authority and His mandate for us as always been to preach the GOSPEL to every creature not the GOP agenda.

My kids, like most, are invited to multiple Birthday parties over the course of a year. Usually just prior, sometimes enroute, to these parties, we make a quick dash into the local Wal-Mart to spend $10-20 bucks on some over-rated piece of junk and another $5-7 bucks on a card, ribbon, paper and tapes just to cover it for the milli-second prior to the unwrapping. Within minutes, the paper, the present and the money are all forgotten.

We’ve had the same sort of parties for my own kids. I’ve often guiltily marveled to see my kids get toys and games that I would NEVER have plunked down one red dime to get. I’ve also found those same items strewn about our house or left laying in the yard within days of the party — broken, forgotten or both.

Yesterday, something different happened. My two youngest were invited to a part at “Catherines”. But on her invitation were these words — “No Gifts, Please. Instead, we will receive any monetary contributions you’d like to send, to be sent to a school for Haitiaan children which is run by our missionary, Jean Marc Desiree. So, we sent a check for the usual amount with each of our kids.

When they came back from the party, they were so excited. The described Catherine’s enthusiasm and joy as well. The kids brought and gave a total of $450 to the Birthday party! Catherine was heard to exclaim….”That’s 4 and a half kids that will get to go to a Christian school this year in Haiti (sponsorships are $100 per kid for books, uniforms, etc…)

Wow…isn’t that just a great idea? I wish I had thought of it. Not only was a missionary blessed, unknown kids will be experiencing a Christian education and American kids learned a lesson about really giving gifts that matter. In our age of materialism and excess, this was a grand lesson on selflessness and investment.

What a great example this family was to our family and I hope to many others as well. Our kids so often don’t appreciate what they have and have more than they need. To take the occasion of a Birthday party and put the focus on something spiritual and eternal is just about the greatest gift a parent can give to a child and one of the greatest lessons that could be taught to those who joined for the celebration.

I’m glad my kids have friends like Catherine. Maybe we should “pass it forward.”

I realize it’s been a couple of weeks since I last updated this blog. I wanted to assure my readers that I haven’t died or quit blogging or dashed off to the Vatican to stand in line to see the Pope’s remains. Last week was Spring Break and my family and I took a few days off to spend together. Where we “retreat” has no land phone line and very limited access to the internet. (Which adds to its appeal considering that I typically exceed 100 email messages a day.) Last week-end, we were involved in the wedding of a very special friend. This week, I’ve been trying to catch up from last week.

But never fear, I shall return. Indeed, I am percolating and ruminating extensively on the deaths of Terri Schiavo and Pope John Paul II. I actually have wanted to wait until the initial wave of prurient interest and media-driven hysteria had died out somewhat, but I’m really struggling to keep from laying out my thoughts a bit prematurely. Needless to say, I’m running the gamut from mild irritation to deep consternation to seething revulsion to bewildered confusion over the whole phenomenon of “universal mourning.” I don’t remember anything quite like this since the one-two death of Diana and Mother Teresa in the late 1990’s. But there are deeper concerns of a theological nature that I really want to address and will do so once I can organize my thoughts at least somewhat cohesively and without some of my own personal emotion clouding what I really want to say.

So….blog readers….come back in a few days and I’ll give you something to think about or fight about or send me nasty email over. As for now, I must get back to the pile of work which cascades from my desk.