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Hoosier United Methodist News Archives
| Hoosier United Methodists together |
Nov./Dec. 2004 |
Letters to the Editor
Tribute to Blaising
Just ordained, I found myself on the North Indiana Conference Board of Ordained Ministry with a winsome fellow, Mark Blaising. Over the next 44 years, Mark was my mentor and a precious friend in the service of our Lord. As was the case with many fellow pastors, he applauded me when I was up. And when down, he lifted me up. His friendship never wavered.
Mark represented God's best in The United Methodist Church, for he saw her as the agency which enabled Christ's ministry to go forward in the world. No matter where Mark served, he was vitally connected to the Almighty, the local parish and the general church.
Always hope filled, Mark saw the faithfulness of God in history. He bet his life on Christ's resurrection. Above all, he lived a joyous life in the Spirit. Because of this, he recently shared with me over lunch his expectation of eternal life in God's future new world. Always a servant leader, he gladly now awaits us on the other side.
Harold L. Leininger II
Brownsburg, Ind.
Raises my ire
It is not infrequent that an article in (the Oct. 2004 issue of) Together raises my ire and prompts me to want to respond. However, I generally shrug it off. This time I decided to write.
The first sentence of the article ("Church should speak against racial profiling, agency leaders say"), "A report that 32 million people have been victims of racial profiling practices since September 2001 should move UM churches to speak out ."
First of all, you don't bother to define "Racial Profiling" so allow me to offer up a definition for you. "I choose to think of profiling as using cheap-to-observe characteristics. What about using a race or ethnicity as proxies for some unobserved characteristics? . (from "Racial Profiling," by Walter E. Williams from www.townhall.com, April 21, 2004 ).
Another article taken from the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics points out that 66 percent of whites and 71 percent of blacks support the ethnic profiling of people who "look to be middle-eastern descent."
My intent is to demonstrate to your satisfaction that there are always two sides to every issue, including "racial profiling." While your article paints a bleak, unfair, discriminatory practice allegedly being perpetrated on blacks, I submit that it is doubtless true in some instances. However, it is surely not the case in all instances, and perhaps, not even in the majority of instances.
Does the Department of Homeland Security use racial profiling to screen people for security purposes? I sincerely hope so and I pray that the practice will continue. I am concerned for the safety of all American citizens.
For Amnesty International to remark, "racial profiling undermines national security," I have to wonder to which nation they refer. It certainly is not the United States of America. And frankly, that is the one I am concerned about, aren't you?
When the Rev. Chester Jones, top staff executive of the UMC Commission on Religion and Race makes the comments that, "church leaders, policymakers and community leaders must work together to end racial profiling," his thinking is narrow and even sounds as though he might want to be selective in his targeting? Don't some universities use the 'racial profiling' quota system to limit the percent of white students? Don't government agencies use "racial profiling" to assure blacks get a proportionate share of the job offerings?
Profiling will always be with us, like it or not, overt or covert. And there will always be abuses of it. Aren't the abuses what should be attacked?
Gregory A. Smith
North Webster, Ind.
Displaced Hoosier
As a displaced UM Hoosier, I really appreciate e-HUM; I love being able to keep up on what is happening in my home state.
It is so good to have Mike Coyner back in Indiana once again. After reading his (online Web site) story on "Giving Up My Buffalo," I am hoping that Bishop Mike will write more and we will see them printed in e-HUM.
Kim Diemer
Fort Walton Beach, Fla.
Last updated on 25 Apr 2008