About a decade ago the religion editor of the Times News approached me and several pastors in the city to consider writing on a rotating basis for the religion section in the Saturday Paper. This has been a great pleasure to have done so and would hope it to continue on for many more decades.
But, the wind has shifted and the Times News is pulling the plug on Pastors’ Corner.
For the past several years my friend “Bear” Morton, pastor at Magic Valley Bible Church and I have been essentially rotating the column between the two of us with a few exceptions when another contributor would submit a column.
About two months ago I was informed that the paper would continue to publish my column submissions but they would no longer publish anything related to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, + topics. This was after a month of writing about concerning issues related to LGBTQ+ promotions in our city library in the children’s department.
Writing from the Times News has been an experience I will always treasure. I have had many conversations with people in the community who either appreciated what I had to write or had steam building up in the pressure cooker that needed to be released. These columns would generate occasional personal emails, phone calls, vile voicemails, online debate, and a few submissions on Rants and Raves on Craig’s List that were only rants. I was even nominated for the coveted “Christmas Turd” award from someone who likely only gets used coal in his stockings.
But overall, I’m thankful to have had this opportunity.
The real unsung hero in my column writing was my personal editor, Renee. I can assure you that anytime I published a column with a run-on sentence, a misspelled word, or a misplaced there, their, or they’re was not because of the careful eye of my editor, it would because I would submit it before I had her look it over. There were for sure some embarrassing mishaps from these lumberjack fingers clunking away on the keyboard. A few of my favorite columns never got submitted because after Renee read it she would very kindly say something like, “were you drinking when your wrote this?” Because I don’t drink, I took that as a fair critique that I should not submit it without a major rewrite. So Thank you, Renee. (If you are reading this right now, that means that I published this post without asking her to edit what I just said. Imagine seeing me at my computer right now with a smile on my face knowing that when she reads this later she will ask me; “Why didn’t you let me edit this?” Now imagine me shrugging my shoulders with a crooked grin on my silly face. )
I have offered the Times News my efforts to find more people to write the Pastors’ Corner column. I even have a long list of people who disagree with me who would love to have a platform if only to rebut my column. I don’t look for this to unfold. Funny thing is, those who think my biblical view is too narrow have successfully censored me by cancelling my column in this publication.
I guess people would rather their religious leaders provide a drive-through blessing of the pets than actually write about holy things. Maybe they are more looking for someone to write about bad puppy breath and how cute floppy bunny ears are rather than the oracles of God from someone with a biblical vertebrate (hat tip to Times News reader Brian.)
There was a day when communities wanted a religion column to be a religion column. The day is fast behind us. Come on, preacher, the days where you describe God from the Bible only are the days my grandparents lived in. Don’t you know we can now eat meatless meat printed on a 3D printer? Your environment killing cows have been replaced.
I will continue the discipline of writing and musing from a biblical worldview. I invite ongoing discourse with any who agree or disagree. I welcome face to face discussions in many of the fine dining establishments in the city, I welcome more formalized public debates. I just enjoy talking about the Messiah as described by the Bible alone.
I find value in taking the time to actually write out my thoughts. I even enjoy a heated debate with myself on how to say something.
You are encouraged to drop by my self-published-blog page and correspond with me from time to time. When you do, please share my blog posts before someone comes along and unplugs my monitor.
Does anyone have a typewriter?
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