Seeing that Dianne Williamson agrees with me on an issue gives me pause. Could it be I’ve been wrong about the siting debate all along?
. . . But not even a visit from the Holy Father himself would have swayed this crowd, or likely any other, because group homes have a way of bringing out the baser instincts in otherwise decent, thoughtful citizens.
. . . This script never, ever varies, but it does absolutely no good to try to calm the neighbors’ fears by citing facts, statistics or histories of similar homes in this city and elsewhere that are supervised 24 hours a day and cause not an iota of trouble for the neighborhood.
The meeting was moderated by “a rabbi, a minister and a nun.” I hadn’t heard this quote before:
At one point, [Rev. Bob Bachelder] received a major tongue-lashing from James Lukes, husband of City Councilor Konstantina Lukes, who said he objected to what he called “the religious dog and pony show intended to put a guilt trip on the group.â€
I think the religious dog-and-pony-show is entirely appropriate. As Bob Waldrop put it so well:
The Bible teaches clearly and without any ambiguity that the rich and powerful who oppress the poor are going to hell.
At a bare minimum, a religious leader should be willing to stand up and say, “Maybe you should reconsider this joining-the-ranks-of-the-damned thing.”
