RevCyn

My letter to the editor today in response to this article .  Don't read the comments to the article if you don't want to feel sick or angry.  I'm sure if you read the CitPat you'll see the article within the week.  They're very good about printing letters, and I haven't written one in a while. Dear Editor,             Your article on the Gay Straight Alliance at Columbia High School quotes people saying “They shouldn’t get to push it down other students’ necks” and “If you support your homosexuality, then we shall support our heterosexuality.”               First, heterosexuality is universally supported—at every church, school, and family, and by the state.   These things aren’t labeled “heterosexual” because it’s the dominant norm.   Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people, too, support their heterosexual relatives, classmates, teachers...

I forgot last week that I was going to put up the words I said at the Unity Rally.  So here they are: Last week people came into our community to spread  a message of hate.  They came here thinking that we would be fertile ground on which to sow to seeds of racism, anti-semitism, xenophobia, and homophobia. They don't know Jack--son. I've been here only 5 1/2 years, but I know this is a community that was the birthplace of the Republican party, founded on ideals of equality and freedom for all races.  I know this is a community which has been home to one of the oldest Jewish communities in the state.  I know the Jackson that was a stop on the Underground Railroad.  And I know the Jackson that has been a home for members of my little religious community, a church that represents God's universal love for all people, for over 150 years.  I've seen a Jackson with dozens of non-profit agencies working altruistically to better people's lives.  I'v...

The Unity Rally was today. People attending were asked to sign the Jackson Pledge. The Jackson Pledge Jackson, Michigan Sign It - Live It I believe that every person has worth as an individual. I believe that every person is entitled to dignity and respect, regardless of race or color. I believe that every thought and every act of racial prejudice is harmful; if it is my thought or act, then it is harmful to me as well as to others. Therefore, from this day forward I will strive daily to eliminate racial prejudice from my thoughts and actions. I will discourage racial prejudice by others at every opportunity. I will treat all people with dignity and respect; and I will strive daily to honor this pledge, knowing that the world will be a better place because of my effort. Taken from www.birminghampledge.org . There is also a new Facebook page for the pledge: The Jackson Pledge Promote Your Page Too

In response to this: About 10 people with flags and banners reading 'White Pride Worldwide' march in Jackson We will be doing this: CommUnity Flyer                                                            

One of the reasons I've been blogging less is that I was working on the Opinion Editorial that ran in today's Jackson Citizen Patriot.  If you'd rather read it here, here's the text: State must recognize committed same-sex couples With Valentine's Day right around the corner, our thoughts naturally go to the subject of love. Many loving couples will get engaged or married to celebrate their commitment. But there are a lot of loving couples in our community who cannot celebrate in this way because of our state's limitations on same-sex marriage. Many of the same-sex couples that I know are in relationships that have lasted longer than my marriage. These couples are raising children. They own houses together; they are an asset to our community. They are in every significant way like my husband and me, except under the law. The majority of Americans now believe in something we call "civil unions," and are willing to give same-sex couples the sam...

I'm still irate about Jackson County Commissioner Phil Duckham's carrying of a swastika sign to the healthcare rally/protest last week, and his comments to the press comparing Obama to Hitler. Because I am still irate, I am going to choose his latest remarks for my next rant. Reader beware. Since the statements Duckham made, there has been a press conference about the issue that I attended, and a County Commissioners' meeting that I did not. In the write-up of those two events, the Jackson Citizen Patriot writes : Reached by phone after the press conference, Duckham said he does not believe an apology is in order. Although his actions at the rally might not have been the best choice, Duckham said, he still stands by his comparisons between Nazi politics and Obama's plans for restructuring America. "Was it my best choice to carry the sign — no. In hindsight, I wouldn't have done it," Duckham said. "But I will stick to my point that I was trying to ...

Jackson County Commissioner Phil Duckham carried a sign with a swastika (with a circle and slash "no symbol around it) on it to the recent healthcare rally in Jackson, and the Jackson Citizen Patriot says in an article about the rally : "This is how Hitler started out," Duckham said. "First, Obama took over the auto industry, then the banking industry. We don't need him to take over the health-care industry." What follows is my letter to the "Voice of the People" (letters to the editor) of the Jackson Citizen Patriot: As a person of faith and as a citizen, I am appalled at County Commissioner Phil Duckham’s public actions and statements comparing Obama to Hitler. They were callous and insensitive comparisons. Comparing Obama to Hitler shows ignorance of Hitler’s motivations and actions, and insensitivity to the Holocaust survivors in our own community. I invite any making such comparisons to do more to inform themselves. Actions I have taken to in...

Today we had a rally for Healthcare reform in Jackson, MI. Somehow, people had gotten word that there was a rally scheduled at 4:30 to protest against healthcare reform, so various local groups got together to state a counter-demonstration in favor of healthcare reform starting at 3:30. I got notified of the event from several different agencies-- Organizing for America , the Jackson Democrats, the Michigan UU Social Justice Network , MichUHCAN , and Planned Parenthood , as well as some church members. After four e-mails in a row popping into my inbox about it, it was clear this was a big deal in Jackson. My husband and I got there a little after three, and things were already well underway. There was a table registering people, handing out signs for those without (we came prepared), and handing out buttons to locals only and stickers to all. It was being run by Organizing for America personnel. This event was happening at Rep. Mark Schauer 's Jackson office, and congressional s...

For several years, the Jackson Human Rights Commission has been putting up a proposal for a Civil Rights Ordinance to the Jackson City Council . It has been repeatedly referred back to the committee for further work. Here's the first paragraph of the latest draft: It is the intent of the City of Jackson that no person be denied the equal protection of the laws; nor shall any person be denied the enjoyment of his or her civil or political rights or be discriminated against because of actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age, height, weight, condition of pregnancy, marital status, educational association, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, or HIV status. As used herein, "perceived" refers to the perception of the person who acts, and not to the perception of the person for or against whom the action is taken. (Source: PFLAG ) Last night, the City Council tabled it until the July 14 meeting, and referred it to the city attor...

Michigan is having a hard time right now. No news there. My city, Jackson, Michigan, topped Forbes' list of the 10 Worst Small Cities for Jobs . Five other small Michigan cities made that top ten list as well. And of course we're well represented on the mid-sized and large-sized cities lists, as well, with Detroit coming in number one on the latter. Find any other gloomy list of worst places to be in this economy, Michigan cities are sure to be on it. Michigan churches are having a hard time, too, of course. When times get hard, discretionary income goes down. And churches are, well, discretionary, particularly in the guilt-free UU version where tithing isn't a religious obligation in the same way that it is in some other faiths. One measure of rough things are in Michigan might be to look at the level of ministerial transition. Sometimes these transitions are a result of ministerial tenures happening naturally, but sometimes they're because of a need to decrease the ...

Here in Jackson, it hasn't looked good lately. Some February developments: Melling Tool is laying off 28 employees . From a recent CitPat article : • Gerdau Mac Steel has laid off 300 of 380 workers indefinitely. • Michigan Automotive Compressor Inc. has offered buyouts to nearly all of its 740 workers. • TAC Inc. has offered buyouts to 70 of 590 employees and gone to a four-day week. • CertainTeed has temporarily laid off 80 of 250 workers. • Jackson-based Sparton Corp. has cut its workforce of 1,000 by 60. Michigan Automotive Compressor is also offering buyouts . Multiple local restaurants have reduced busing staff . Bullinger's Pub is closing. That's what February in Jackson has looked like, so far. The good news, if you can call it that, is that some area churches are showing increased attendance . We had a packed house on Sunday for our guest speaker on Darfur. This is a good time as a church organization to think about what our saving message is, what our role in the...

Here in Michigan, we're about as hard-hit as it gets with this recession, and in our county here in Jackson, we're worse off than state average in terms of unemployment, despite our proximity to the employment star of the state, Ann Arbor. Unemployment in Jackson, Michigan, reached 11% in December . Meanwhile, our local community is buzzing over the news of a pay raise for Jackson Community College President Dan Phelan. It was probably a necessary move for the college, because, like with churches, the search process can be expensive and the pay is usually increased to move up to going rates for the new hire. It comes as a hard pill for the community to swallow, however, in the same week as the unemployment rate was announced and while faculty (and adjuncts like myself) have no contract. It makes the college board look out-of-touch with the living reality of its students, faculty, staff, and the community that surrounds and supports it. Personally, I think the board's ...

In all the discussion about what we aren't allowed to say from our pulpits, I've been forgetting to say something I can legally say from the pulpit or anywhere: I hereby endorse the Jackson District Library's operating millage on their November ballot! I, personally (as our church has not taken an official stand on this), encourage people to vote in support of their local libraries! Whew. Glad to have that off my chest. Our church is very much blessed by the presence of our district library. We have banded together with the library to co-produce our very successful comm U nity for U m series. The library also heads up the "Big Read" initiative with grant money from the NEA Big Read , and we've tapped into the Big Read program for the last couple of years ( 2009 book : The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck). This millage is not the same as the last millage for the library. That millage, which failed, would've provided for expansion of the library. We w...

Every year I seem to write something about fall being the start of the church year and the start of the school year. For me, this year it's true again in a more concrete way. Today I start teaching again. I'm teaching adjunct at Jackson Community College, and I'm teaching two sections of English 131, which is freshman composition. I taught freshman composition before at Mount Wachusett Community College in Gardner, MA, but it's been four years since I've been in a formal classroom. I'm looking forward to meeting my students later today. At a community college, you often get a very nice mix of traditional and nontraditional students which enriches, I think, the classroom setting. I remember my own college experience at the University of Michigan, and one thing that could be said is it isolated me from the rest of the community. I remember walking across campus one day and seeing a child and thinking it had been months since I'd seen a small child! Th...