|
In a message dated 1/25/2005 1:10:21 PM Eastern Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
"WE" are not dividing this town by race or class all by ourselves. That's a dishonest assessment, I'm sorry. And I don't think it's fair to be shaking the perverbial finger (my perception) solely in our direction. Dane,
I really appreciate the email you posted. It is the other half of the argument of the issues I have been writing about today. You may not be aware, but I have also significantly challenged "the other side" as well on these issues. Here is an old email I sent to Joe D'Andrea in September about the perception of the "gay agenda" on the West Side. I sent this to Joe after I had a conversation with one of the more vocal members of the Christian Coalition following an explosive School Board meeting.
<< Their perception of the "gay agenda" is quite serious and desperately misinformed. The conversation I had was interesting, but troubling as well. It is imperative, as I shared with you in the past, that a serious effort is made to bring both parties together to share thoughts, feelings, aspirations for the community, etc. It is clear who the Christian Coalition is and as such they could be invited to participate in an event that my organization is willing to broker. On the part of the gay community, is there an organized group that could be approached formally?>>
As I have said both privately to Joe and publicly at City Council meetings, my wife and I are professionally trained to deal with the tensions that you speak of and are willing to utlize our professional abilities to attempt to bridge the divide.
I also want you to know that I understand your frustrations about how you are perceived when you try to help the community.
<<Yet, those efforts are perceived - or worse yet, dismissed - as not viable - or invasive - simply because they're being done by "non-minority" residents. >>
I have felt this too around the efforts I have made on a couple of projects. The difference between us may be that I have a very keen understanding of the dynamics at work that bring about such feelings. Understanding issues like this and educating people in a way that promotes understanding and social justice is what I do for a living so that really helps me in this regard.
<<What Asbury Park really needs is someone who can bring the two sides of the "problem" together. But before that can happen, there has to be a tacit acknowlegement - from both sides - that the problem actively exists. All I keep hearing from one side is a victim mentality that cloaks a portion of the truth.>>
My wife and I are well positioned to do exactly what you are asking for. As I wrote to Joe back in September (see above) I want to organize some sessions with both communities to draw out this stuff and deal with it. If you can help in that regard, let me know. I would love to discuss this with you further, so please feel free to call me in my office 732.988.7322. We want to help if we can.
Finally, I also wanted to share with you a letter to the editor that I wrote in response to the Concerned Christain Coalition's efforts to demonize the gay community in light of the gay marriage issue. It was published in the Coaster, the APP and on gayasburypark.com. (see letter below)
I hope to hear from you soon as I do want to help.
Peace, Jim Keady
Keeping Focus By Jim Keady I was recently given a copy of a May 19, 2004 news release issued by the newly formed âConcerned Christian Coalitionâ of Asbury Park as well as a copy of prepared remarks made on the same date to the City Council by the groupsâ leader, Rev. Brown. As a Catholic theologian and educator living and working in Asbury Park, I would like to congratulate Rev. Brown and the other members of this coalition for their attempt to raise public concern about issues that should be at the top of the agenda of all of Asburyâs citizens, particularly our elected officials and government employees. The issues raised by Rev. Brown and the Coalition include, the current affordable housing crisis, the violence in our city streets, the clear lack of visionary leadership in our city government with regards to executing a redevelopment plan that includes the West Side, and the lack of sound recreational and educational programming for our cityâs children. Taking action on behalf of social justice is a fundamental responsibility of all Christians and again, I am most excited that a group of concerned Christians has begun to mobilize around these most pressing social and economic issues. I would be remiss however if I did not address what I believe to be a theologically flawed argument that was also put forth by Rev. Brown and his Coalition in these same statements. Rev. Brown, commenting on the gay marriage issue here in Asbury Park, wrote: âMarriage is defined by God as a covenant between one man and one woman as husband and wife.â I imagine that Rev. Brown is referring to statements made in Genesis and the Gospel of Mark to defend this position. But it is important to note that marriage is also talked about in a number of other instances in the Bible and the âChristianâ response to them has been different. For example, Jesus ruled out divorce, yet that is tolerated by most Christian denominations today. Many of the Patriarchs (Fathers) of the early Christian churches took slave women as "breeders" if they were not having children in their own marriages. Would we tolerate this today? Abraham had a concubine with whom he bore Ishmael and we are told that Solomon had 700 wives and 300 concubines. Since Abraham and Solomon did these things and it âsays it in the Bibleâ does that mean it is right for us to do them as well? Needless to say, the Bible is not as clear as we would like it to be about marriage and Biblical role models for the institution of marriage are somewhat suspect. And that is ok, as the bible was not written as a history or science book or book of hard fast rules. It was written as a âtestamentâ of faith. Does this mean that the bible holds no truths, that it is outdated and that we should discard it? No, certainly not. What it does mean is that we must meet the challenge of disciplined and informed scripture scholarship by utilizing the latest hermeneutical (interpretive) methods to draw out the truths that God is attempting to share with us. Simply put, we must use both faith AND reason to come to deeper and deeper understandings of Godâs will. Specific to the issue of gay marriage, I believe that we must unearth the historical and social contexts in which the statements on marriage were made in the Hebrew and Christian scriptures, and determine what they mean for us today in light of our much deeper understanding of human sexuality and psychosexual development. To be clear though, while I do think that the issue of gay marriage is an important issue in both our local and national dialogue, I do not believe it is the primary issue on which we should focus a majority our collective energy at the moment. On the national front, we have an unjust war being waged in Iraq that has been condemned by a range of Church leaders, we have an economy that has lost millions of jobs, we are bankrupting our national treasury and we continue to have an economic system that places the profits of multinational corporations ahead of human needs. On the local front, we have the issues that Rev. Brown and the Concerned Christian Coalition dutifully brought to the fore, including affordable housing, job creation, public safety and the development of educational and communal opportunities for our children. I would encourage the Concerned Christian Coalition to stay focused on these issues, rather than the gay marriage issue, as these are at the heart of the challenge to develop a more just and sustainable community for the citizens of Asbury Park. Peace, Jim Keady The writer is the Director of Educating for Justice, Inc. He holds a masters degree with distinction in theology from St. Johnâs University. He has taught religion at Catholic high schools in New Jersey and New York and is a much sought after national lecturer on issues of social justice. He currently works and resides in Asbury Park with his wife, Leslie Kretzu. He can be reached at [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links
|
