 Editor:
Dave Uphoff
I would like to set the record straight on St. Paul's vote on gay
marriage. I wrote in my editorial on March 27 that congregational
members voted 97 -37 supporting the church's position on accepting gay
marriages. In fact, the vote was to have St. Paul's U.C.C. go on record
as opposing same sex marriage by using a yes/no ballot." This motion
failed in a 37 yes / 97 no vote as stated by UCC Council President Gayl
Wyss. Interestingly, Janice
Megow, who originated the proposal said that her original proposal was
to vote on an ammendent that would declare the church's opposition to
gay marriage which is closer to the way I presented it. However, the
church council reworded it to read as stated in the above paragraph.
Therefore, the vote does not really represent how church members feel
about gay marriage but indicates that the members do not want to take a
stand on this issue against the national synod. I
regret the error but I do not apologize for my stand or for my bringing
up the issue. One of the reasons I developed this web site was to bring
up important issues that should be discussed. While many St. Paul
members feel that this is an issue that is private to the church, the
emails I received indicate that it is not an isolated issue and one
that many people have strong feelings about. Furthermore, the ensuing
dialog probably did enlighten more than a few people on the subject. Many
small communities like Minonk tend to become xenophobic and shy away
from publicly expressing viewpoints on important issues. Nevertheless,
when issues flare up, the emails tend to get hot and heavy. Some do not
like the controversy that can result from discussing issues. However,
nothing is resolved if we remain muted. Do we want to go back to
decisions being made in smoke-filled rooms? We as a community have an
opportunity with this website to discuss and hopefully, resolve, or at
least understand important issues. I would think that this puts us a
little bit higher on the cultural plane of communities.
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Life
is not Ozzy and Harriet. There are many issues that can and should be
discussed such as the immigration issue, the war in Iraq, etc. There
are many more issues in Minonk that should and will be addressed. Finally,
for those who are concerned about whether the MinonkTalk website is
supported and funded by the City of Minonk and, therefore, must be
reigned in by the City fathers, let me set the record straight. I
received a Woodford County grant in 2004 to develop an economic
opportunity section on the website for the City. The City of Minonk
provided $3,000 of this grant. While I certainly will not turn down
donations, the only other funding I have received are donations from
Bob Schmitz of Streator, Il, James Weistart of Rochester, IL, John
Weistart of Raleigh, NC. and a donation from members of a Davison
family get together in my office last fall. I fund the rest which
includes buying and maintaining a building to house the web site, the
payment of insurance and utilities, a monthly server fee to run the
website on the internet and countless hours of my time. Gentlemen, start your engines. How does everyone feel about the immigration issue?
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