Whirled Views with Dan Burrell

Anyone who knows me well would attest to the fact that Im pretty outspoken. I sometimes surprise myself when I speak publicly on certain topics, because I tend to be a private and even shy person. Get me worked up on a matter or ask me my opinion, and Ill lay it all out in a flash.

Because I communicate for a living, I know that there is a fine art between saying something in a way in which it is memorable or in a way in which it is outrageous. In a world that has an ever-shortening attention span and which reports news and positions in sound-bytes and one-liners, professional communicators have to find a way to get their points across quickly, succinctly and in a way which will catch peoples attention.

Sometimes, however, it is possible for us to stray into verbal overkill or worse yet, become messengers whose demeanor and spirit are inconsistent with the testimony of a wholly-devoted follower of Jesus Christ. Sometimes it is simply thoughtlessness and other times it is ignorance, but in the end, we do more damage than good.

Scripture reminds us to be careful so that we do not abuse the truth with our actions or attitudes. Specifically, Paul instructs us to let not your good be evil spoken of in his letter to the Romans.

Recently, there have been headlines in news reports about two North Carolina Churchs whose pastors might have had good motives, but ended up letting their good be evil spoken of. In Waynesville, NC, one pastor was accused of taking politics too far from the pulpit by drawing stark lines against certain political parties and for certain political candidates. According to some press reports (and keep in mind, they arent always accurate), he wanted to make party affiliation and political candidate support a test of fellowship within his church. Controversy lead to division and division lead to his resignation.

In another incident, a church in Rutherford County put a message on its marquis that said, The Koran needs to be flushed. It eventually drew world-wide press attention and was removed, but not before it was roundly and rightfully condemned.

Lest you think Im some sort of pacifist milquetoast moderate, let me say that Im so conservative Ill only eat the right wing of a chicken. I believe the Word of God is found in the Holy Bible alone and that Islam is a false religion and the Koran nothing more than a flawed piece of literature. However, when we choose to use unbiblical, unethical, inappropriate or inflammatory methods and rhetoric to get our point across, very often we do more damage than good. We can be plain-spoken without being obnoxious.

Very few people in my church have any questions about where I stand politically on most issues. While Im not a loyal party man, my faith-based worldview definitely impacts my politics. But Im first and foremost an ambassador of the Gospel of Christ and that fact must not be lost in my rhetoric. Besides, why would I want to run people off that dont see things the same way that I do? Then Ill lose my opportunity to try and persuade them. It doesnt make sense!

Of course, there is no book like the Bible and Bible-believing Christians reject the authority of the Koran. But can we not communicate the difference and educate the misinformed without showing antagonism in the process? Does not the Golden Rule come into play at some level here? Does not Scripture speak the truth in love? Have we bought into the mentality that if were not strident, were compromisers? Are words like flush and moral sewer and degenerates necessary in order to get our points across?

I wont pretend to have a perfect track-record when it comes to verbal moderation. Thats why most of us require some accountability in our lives for the words we speak and the actions we take. I appreciate it when someone helps me understand when and why Ive gone over-the-top in a speech or column or even a sermon. Leaders at every level should give thought to avoiding letting our actions and words become good for nothing because we lob verbal bombs in place of presenting thoughtful arguments. In my humble opinion, there may indeed be a correlation between arrogance or ignorance and the use of excessive rhetoric. The motivations and ends simply do not justify the means when our words communicate something less than the spirit of Christ in the ears of listeners.

In a few days, we will observe the day we set aside for remembering. It is officially referred to as Memorial Day and we commemorate our war dead in particular. But in many parts of the country, we use it to remember all of our loved ones that have gone on into eternity. Families often go to cemeteries sometime during the day to decorate the graves of friends and family members. In the Midwest, where I was reared, we even called it Decoration Day instead of Memorial Day.

I rarely visit cemeteries unless I am conducting or attending a funeral. I find it too difficult to visit the graves, and consequently the memories, of people that I loved very deeply in life. Others find it comforting; I find it painful.

As a child, I can remember my grandmother cutting peony buds from her garden and putting them in the refrigerator a day or two before Memorial Day. The night before we were to visit the cemetery, she would place them in warm water, which would force them to bloom. The aromatic fragrance would fill her small country house. Shed take the huge blossoms in buckets to the family plots and fill the vases on the grave markers with the fresh flowers. Interestingly, just thinking about that tradition brings back huge waves of good memories and bittersweet recollections of simpler days.

In many ways, our memories are landmarks. Like monuments that identify a city such as the Gateway Arch marks St. Louis or the Space Needle tells us we are in Seattle, key memories also identify our values and our heritage. Scripture reminds us to remove not the ancient landmarks which our fathers set before us. I think these landmarks are essential in helping us avoid a drift that leads away from the important in pursuit of the trivial.

On this Memorial Day, Id challenge you to erect a few landmarks that will serve as a reminder of that which will still matter in twenty, fifty or even a hundred years. Most of these are not landmarks that are visible to the eye, but they are important to the heart.

Im thinking of landmarks like patriotism, loyalty and respect. I long for the days when reverence was actively taught from bowing ones head while praying to how we handled the names of God. I think the landmarks of courtesy and chivalry have been obliterated by the radical feminists and I long for a resurrection of an attitude that respects ladies, not out of a sense of superiority, but out of respectful deference.

I love the landmarks of tradition wherein we observe certain ceremonies and memorials purposefully and regularly. Whether we are talking about Sunday meals at Grandmothers or an annual family reunion, we rarely recognize their importance and significance until we get older and some of the people we loved to spend time with are no longer with us.

I love the fact that we sing the national anthem at baseball games and stretch at the seventh inning. Few American rituals have more reassuring emotions attached to them than a day at a baseball game being with family, yet also being part of a crowd. From the peanuts and hotdogs to the sunburns and pop-up fly balls, each part of the game is essential to the landmark they become in our lives.

In a time in our nations history where conflict is on the rise and uncertainty abounds, landmarks will provide us with direction. They serve as anchors for our values and our souls. They can elicit fond reflections of the past and inspire great visions for the future.

The Lord encouraged memorials and remembrances throughout both the Old and New Testaments. Jacob built a pillar; Jesus required baptism. Moses and Abraham erected monuments and the Lord gave us Communion. Too often we glibly breeze by significant landmarks in our culture and connected to our faith. Lets not forget them due to neglect or a lack of respect. Instead, lets observe them and remind ourselves often that so much of what we enjoy is because of Gods hand and plan on the lives of those who have gone before us.

I thought I’d change gears today and deal with something that impacts families with teenagers. But before I get started, I probably should issue an “Old Fogy Alert!” Im getting ready to date myself big time and if you are a teenager, youre going to want to keep this from your parents.

Im very concerned about what generally occurs during this time of the year in the life of all too many teenagers. Ah, yes.the end of the school approaches, graduation calls, love is in the air and limo drivers and dress makers are grinning. Its prom time.

Our Christian high school did not have a prom. Instead we had a banquet. Which really meant that we had a prom without the dance. How well I remember the pressure there was to have a date, get a new suit, buy the right flowers and make this a night to remember. If there was pressure a quarter of a century ago, then youd better believe there is really a lot of pressure on todays teens.

Prom night has evolved into something that alert and concerned parents really need to monitor with leadership and supervision. For many, this generations prom night includes a dress that costs as much as a wedding gown, limousines, hotel rooms (either for primping and hanging out purposes or a more promiscuous agenda), loss of virginity and grown-up beverages.

And as this social event has grown in popularity and expectations, so has the pressure that is on our teenagers at a time when they may not be fully prepared to resist its temptations. Combining the natural interests and inclinations of adolescents, cultural messages popularized in movies like American Pie and on shows like Dawsons Creek, a generation of absurdly permissive parents and the typical ingredients of any prom night and you have the recipe for problems and heartbreak.

Todays not so subtle message for teens has created an event that in some ways surpasses expectations normally equated with a wedding right down to the wedding night. From the financial implications to transportation arrangements to the sexual aspects, there is an unrealistic and even unhealthy aura that now surrounds prom night of which all parents need to be aware.

May I offer some practical suggestions for making this event one that provides special memories for teens and their families rather than setting them up for tears and ruined expectations?

Consider a prom alternative. Families, churches and youth ministries can come up with a more wholesome alternative, if they have the desire, that will be alcohol free, where dancing the freak isnt acceptable and which protects the participants while providing a social setting. From hosting a banquet to an all-night lock-in, there are some fun alternatives to what has become a night of recklessness.

Lower the bar. Put a limit on the cost of the dress. Let Junior use the family car, but draw the line at a limo. No way, Jose when it comes to visits to hotel rooms and co-ed sleepovers, I dont care if Donald Rumsfield is chaperoning it. This will freak them out double date. Theres far less of a chance that behavior that will make you a grandparent will occur if there are two couples in the car and not just one.

I would like to pause here and suggest that the parent who slams into his or her teens room and starts acting like a paranoid version of mommy dearest is well an idiot. This is the time for some thoughtful conversations, guided standard setting, genuine dialogue and Biblical leadership. Never forget that rules without a relationship usually leads to rebellion. Good parenting isnt about being popular or letting kids have their way, nor is it about treating teens like infants and letting our authoritarian dictator personality emerge. A healthy balance of love, direction, courage and creative alternatives will lead to a solution that is reasonable and responsible.

Parents, we have a responsibility to guide and protect our kids from the culture, from their natural inclinations, from situations that create unfair pressure and unrealistic expectations. For too long, we have let the world and popular culture put our children at risk while we dutifully paid the bills and provided the transportation. Its time that parents step up to the plate and dial down prom-time pressures a few notches. In the short-term, there may be some long conversations and even a few tears of protest. In the long-term, youll receive the blessings of moral purity, reasonable expectations and happy memories.

Last night, the Mecklenburg County Commission changed the existing discrimination policy to include “sexual orientation.” The public was literally given only 4 days notice to respond to this. Many of us found out about the agenda item through gay and lesbian news sources who were given the courtesy of a heads up in advance of the general public.

Thankfully, Parks Helms has backed away from his previous call to visit the issue of Gay Partner’s Benefits and we feel that this is partially in response to the outcry and pressure put on commissioners by the Conservative and Christian communities. In a meeting with Parks on last Friday, he discussed his rationale with me and other pastors who had come with me to ask him not to press this issue. While I will not divulge all of his rationale at this time, I will say that what we are observing is a clash of Worldviews — plain and simple.

The next few months will be vital if we are to head off additional efforts to implement the radical agenda of the Homosexual Left. I have been in contact with several leading conservatives in and out of politics, government and the media and we WILL be working to plan a strategy that will oppose these steps.

Hopefully, this will serve as a wake-up call for the evangelical and conservatives in this city to get back to the polls and vote. We need Ruth Samuelson back on the County Commission. She would be there now had only the legal and legitimate votes been counted. Right now, she is our “Commissioner in Exile” — but hopefully our community will rally around her and get her back on the board. I think she’d make a fine chairwoman in the future.

Ms. Rembrant and Mrs. Roberts need to be voted off next election cycle. Both these commissioners “won” by the narrowest of margins and are VERY vulnerable. Hopefully, the African-American Community will vote against the offensive notion that homosexual rights and the real Civil Rights Movement are somehow related.

I will keep my readers posted as to our progress. Parks Helms personally told me (and I asked him three times in three different ways to make sure I didn’t misunderstand and I have 3 other witnesses) that he is not going to bring up additional measure this budget year. Let’s hope he keeps his word and let’s be prepared when he (or the Charlotte City Council) takes up this issue again.

This is the text of the statement I had read at least night’s CC meeting. The gay’s PACKED the place and they were ugly and loud and abusive. I sent Dave Smith, one of our associate pastors, to read my statement as I had a deacon’s meeting that could not be rescheduled. As he left, he was jostled by several members of the homosexual community and spit at by one individual. Of course, the Charlotte Observer only published photos of the Gay Activists and nary a word about their disruptive rudeness throughout the public comment portion of the evening was written.

Statement before the Board of County Commissioners

Hello, my name is _______________________ and I am speaking at the request of and on behalf of Dr. Dan Burrell, senior pastor of Northside Baptist Church in Charlotte. Dr. Burrell has been working with a coalition of pastors of the largest evangelical Christian churches in the Charlotte region. These churches represent some of the largest congregations in our city and have a total constituency of between 50,000 and 75,000 members.

We rise in opposition to the proposed change of wording for the Equal Employment Opportunity policy for Mecklenburg County for the following reasons:

First, by adding the words sexual orientation, the county would be providing a special and unnecessary class of protection to individuals whose conduct and/or choices violates values held deeply by many in the faith community and which undermines sound nuclear families. Such protection is legally questionable and for many morally offensive.

Secondly, we recognize that this is but a first step in a series of progressive steps to be introduced by those who represent the radical homosexual community and which will lead to discussion and possible adoption of benefits for unmarried partners, fair housing ordinances affecting private property owners, possible affirmative actions policies directed toward homosexuals and other ill-conceived privileges which we have seen unfold in cities like San Francisco, Miami Beach and Hollywood. We are strongly opposed to these cascading steps.

Thirdly, to equate homosexual rights with the hard-earned rights won by African-Americans who had no choice in the causes that lead to their discrimination is offensive and demeans the sacrifices made by African-Americans. This fact was raised personally by Bishop Phillip Davis of the Nations Ford Community Church in our meeting with Parks Helms and numerous other African-American community leaders feel similarly.

Finally, our county is in turmoil over issues ranging from tax rates to school district size. To so rapidly introduce an issue so potentially divisive as this would appear to be thoughtless and presumptuous. Others have concluded more cynical motivations.

With great interest, the evangelical pastors of this community are watching the response of our County Commission in general and the at-large commissioners specifically in regards to this issue. Please recognize that we are organizing behind the scenes and at the appropriate juncture, we will make the expansion of the gay rights agenda a very public matter of discussion and opposition. We do not appreciate the fact that it seems that this is being rushed through without sufficient time for public debate and the vetting of the ramifications of these changes. Considering the closeness and even validity of some of the commission races last year, we find it somewhat arrogant to press for issues so divisive when there is so much more on which we could seemingly agree. Please do not gauge the depth of our passion on this issue based on the number of people here on a night when we literally had less than a weeks advance notice that this topic would be addressed. This entire matter is of significant concern to us and it would be unwise to underestimate our willingness to oppose an expansion of homosexual rights for both moral and fiscal reasons.

Thus, we ask that the resolution be withdrawn or tabled and that our individual commissioners would vote against making any changes to the current equal employment opportunity statement.

Respectfully and representing the 4,000-plus constituents of Northside Baptist Church and Northside Christian Academy and the Mecklenburg Evangelical Alliance.

Dan Burrell

Tuesday, May 17th, the Mecklenburg County Commission will be voting on adding Sexual Discrimination to the county employment policy. If you want to contact the commissioners who have indicated they will support this radical change in county policy, here’s the information for contacting them….

Parks Helms - 704.372.4884 phelms@helmshenderson.com
Wilhelmenia Rembert — 704.336.2641 wirembert04@bellsouth.net
Jennifer Roberts 704.336.2574 Roberjw@co.mecklenburg.nc.us
Norman Mitchell — 704.399.3061 normanam@aol.com
Valerie Woodard 704.537 8958 2woodard@bellsouth.net
Dumont Clarke 704.331.1051 dumontclarke@mvalaw.com

If you wish to address the country commission at tonight’s meeting go to www.charmeck.org and click on the BOCC page and the “Speaker Sign-up” link.

Bishop Phillip Davis, Senior Pastor of the Nations Ford Community Church and a courageous and devout leader in the African-American Community of Charlotte has sent a letter out to call others to action. I wanted my blog readers to read his comments:

From The Office of Bishop Phillip M. Davis

Friday, May 13, 2005

Dear Pastors and Leaders;

Today we, the members of Nations Ford Community Church and The Community @ Rock Hill, have set aside this day to pray for you and your congregations. We have been led by the Spirit of God to set aside Friday, May 13th for a 24 Hour Prayer Vigil, beginning at 07:00am and ending on Saturday, May 14th at 07:00am.

God has already begun to work in His own mysterious ways. It has come to my attention that our one of our Mecklenburg County Board of Commissioners has made plans to introduce an ordinance at this coming Tuesdays meeting that will give even more broad and sweeping benefits to individual county employees who choose to live a homosexual and deviant lifestyle, than the Domestic Partnership Benefits proposal that was originally floated a couple of weeks ago.

My sources inform me that Mecklenburg County Commissioner, Park Helms, is preparing to offer at next Tuesday’s meeting (May 17th) special benefits to homosexuals who are employees of the County or who work for groups that receive county money. This is NOT the medical benefits proposal but a broader more sweeping proposal that endorses the lifestyle and will force County employees and related parties to accept what they find morally objectionable. This would also force you and me to fund a lifestyle that is in direct opposition to a biblical, moral family lifestyle that we promote to our congregations.

In plain language, it seems that, Mr. Helms wants to make “homosexual, lesbian, bi-sexual and transgendered individuals” a special protected class that would place them along side of legitimate minorities, such as race.

I have been informed that Mr. Helms is rushing this through the agenda process and has invited key homosexual groups to be at Tuesday’s meeting.

Opposition to this will have to rise up very swiftly or it will be a done deal before most people know it. I’ll keep you posted on what we discover and I hope that you will join me in calling your church to prayer and action as appropriate. Please consider sending this letter to as many people in your network as you can and call on your congregation to let Mr. Helms know that we oppose this immoral and anti-family action.

As African-American we vehemently oppose the notion that an individuals chosen sexual deviance is equated to the horrible and costly struggle that our fore-parents suffered because of the color of their skin.

Thank you in advance for your support of our families and for that which is right.

2 Chronicles 7:14

Bishop Phillip M. Davis
Nations Ford Community Church

I just wanted to keep my blog readers up-to-date on the progress of our efforts to stop Commissioner Helms efforts to add benefits to heterosexual and homosexual “partners” in Mecklenburg County, NC. I’ve received multiple press requests and private inquiries in the last two weeks. At this time, I am purposefully trying to keep this “low-key” and hoping that by simply letting the commissioners know that this will be very divisive and unhealthy for our county, perhaps they will back off from pushing this.

I am hearing “mixed” reports on the feedback the commissioners are receiving. One conservative commissioner tells me he has received fewer negative emails than he had expected. Another conservative commissioner tells me that he has received a LOT of negative feedback to the proposal. Three of the liberal commissioners have had “full” email boxes on at least 3 days of the last week and Commissioner Jennifer Roberts was quoted in the QNotes (local gay internet newsletter) as saying that she was being “inundated” by negative emails asking the commissioners to stop this before it gets started. There have been articles in the Rhino Times and the Charlotte World noting my efforts to generate emails, though (no surprise here) the Charlotte Observer has not mentioned it to my knowledge.

Currently, I am working privately to meet with a major player for a face to face meeting to discuss this issue. We have been exchanging phone messages and haven’t been able to secure a meeting time. If he requests it, I’ll keep our meeting off the record, but I mention it to give you something for your prayers and so you will know that there is “behind-the-scenes” activities going on in several areas and that just includes my own efforts.

For now, I would simply ask that you copy and paste the text from my Blog article (that precedes this one) and continue to email it to others to encourage them to email the County Commissioners. If you haven’t written yourself, please do so as soon as possible.

Watch this blog for on-going updates.