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| Hoosier United Methodist News |
January 2002 |
Comments from the Statehouse:
'To be spiritual does not mean to be socially irrelevant'
By Jane Fribley
jsfjes@juno.com
"To be spiritual does not mean to be socially irrelevant."
Thus states Indiana Bishop Woodie W. White in his book Confessions of a Prairie Pilgrim. He clarifies by stating, "Why must one make a choice? In my judgment, one can be both spiritual and socially relevant. I shall go one step further and say one ought to be."
This a good reminder to us as the Indiana General Assembly 2002 Session begins on Jan. 7. Though this is
the short session year, many urgent issues await resolution.
Issues relating to Church social concerns:
A new issue has risen that is of great concern to some of our churches. Granger Community UMC (Michiana Dist.) was taxed $34,000 by the county for land in excess of 15 acres, even though put to religious use. North Indiana Conference Board of Trustees is asking us to contact our state legislators and leadership to clarify the state property tax laws by removing this loophole.
Indiana can no longer sidestep the problem of budget shortfall. In an election year there is even more pressure on the legislators to crowd the agenda with pork barrel issues for their districts and their big money campaign contributors. We need to make clear to them that non-urgent issues should be put on the back burner until the economy improves.
Gambling Expansion interests will spend even more millions go get approvals they were denied last year. They are already busy pushing this as a means to improve the state's income. The bulk of the income from the casinos goes to the out of state owners/operators.
Some members in our communities and churches are facing poverty due to layoffs and business closings they never anticipated. We, and our legislators, must be creative in helping them survive.
The (prison) Ombudsman Bill passed last year by the Senate 33-9 and the House 81-14 but was among the bills vetoed by the governor in his effort to cut costs. However, history proves this was poor economy. In 1973, Gov. Otis Bowen established a Dept. of Correction (DOC) ombudsman who considered thousands of complaints from staff, legislators, reporters, offenders and their relatives. Some were found to be frivolous, but many were valid. By resolving the problems, the ombudsman saved the state many expensive lawsuits.
However, in 1981, when DOC administrators convinced Gov. Robert Orr this position was a threat to their authority, he dropped its funding. At the Nov.12 meeting of the legislature, the Senate voted to override Gov. Frank O'Bannon's veto. However the House failed to do so. We hope this bill will be revived this year.
The governor and legislature must follow through on the laws passed last year for election reform -- to replace outdated voting systems and to computerize the statewide registration system. The appointed Election Reform Committee has presented its recommendations.
This column welcomes your comments and suggestions on issues of concern to you and your church.
Let your legislators know about issues that concern you. Do it now; this session is short.
For information on how to reach your legislators, call Legislative Services: 317/232-9856.
Last updated on January 14, 2004