Such was the case recently when Talkers noted a post by Chrissy Tatum Williamson, who grew up in Davidson and now is youth pastor at Myers Park Baptist Church in Charlotte.
"So proud to be a part of MPBC!" she wrote Monday, above a link to a Charlotte Observer story headlined, "Churches weigh in on marriage amendment." The story compared the views of the senior pastors at Myers Park Baptist and First Baptist Church of Charlotte, which are separated by three miles but are oceans apart in their views of a proposed amendment to the N.C. Constitution to officially ban same-sex marriage in the state.
In a sermon Sunday called "The Opposite of Love," the Rev. Steve Shoemaker of Myers Park Baptist called the proposed amendment an affront to the Bill of Rights and the Golden Rule. Meanwhile, Mark Harris, senior pastor at First Baptist and president of the Baptist State Convention, announced further plans to get the amendment passed May 8. The convention represents about 4,300 churches and about 1.3 million members.
Myers Park Baptist isn't one of those churches. In 2007, Harris and other Southern Baptist conservatives voted to expel Myers Park Baptist from the state convention because of the congregation's acceptance of gays without trying to change them.
The rhetoric on all sides of such a divisive issue can be ugly. That makes Williamson's restraint all the more admirable and, Talkers believe, Christlike.
Committee of none
Last week's two-day Huntersville Town Board retreat provided a smorgasbord of Talker fodder, either in the form of concrete plans or pie-in-the-sky proposals commissioners discussed and defended — or disputed, dissected, disseminated and discouraged.
Committees were on the agenda Friday morning, and a back-and-forth about the importance of a "citizens' committee" grabbed Talkers' attention. Some commissioners stressed the need for a committee to focus on keeping citizens informed and obtaining feedback from residents on municipal matters. Others, while not exactly opposing the proposal, said other subjects were more worthy of committee consideration and should be addressed before additional efforts are made to force town residents to stay abreast of public, well-publicized proceedings.
If people they represent are well-enough aware of the commissioners' action to complain, then the commissioners are right: there is no need for a special committee to keep them informed.
Several commissioners said poor voter turnout in last fall's municipal election was, at least in part, an indication that citizens need to be more informed and, subsequently, more involved in the governing process. Sarah McAulay, the board's senior member and its frequent voice of reason, questioned why town leaders should make extra efforts to reach out to people who don't make an effort to be involved. She also succinctly expressed her thoughts related to the voter turnout.
"As far as getting more people to vote," she said, "it indicates we are not happy with the election. But I'm happy with the election."
Commissioner Charles Jeter, never one to let a pitch go by without a swing, couldn't resist. "I was 17 votes away from not being happy with it," Jeter said, referring to his sixth-place finish in November's election.
The conversation moved on and commissioners didn't make the committee a priority. Talkers, convinced if citizens don't care enough to know you can't make them, think that's the right choice.
