Back in December I posted on how I thought people in the Dayton region don't get diversity, using Chicago as a counter-example.
This article in the Sunday Dayton Daily News (front page, but below the fold) is an example. And its interesting, too, how prejudice flys below radar in this area (this story would have never broke if it wasn't for the Methodist minister going public about it)
SUGARCREEK TWP., Greene County — — Several days before a hearing in which a zoning board denied a request to build a mosque here, a Bellbrook pastor and her husband received a phone call from a woman urging local residents to show up at the board meeting and oppose the mosque, the husband said.
The caller said the mosque should be blocked "because of what it says in the Quran, and these are bad people," said Brooks Heck, whose wife Terry is pastor of Bellbrook United Methodist Church. Brooks Heck is pastor of South Park United Methodist Church in Dayton.
The caller identified herself as a member of First Baptist Church of Kettering, now located in Sugarcreek Twp....The full story is a this link:
Pastor Recieved Call as part of alleged campaign against mosque
... and really should be read, especially for the role of Sugarcreek officialdom, first saying one thing, and then another.
And the ironic thing is that this is the South Park Methodist Church talking about the First Baptist Church of Kettering, which are both now in the Sugar Creek/Bellbrook area. Coming out of the place-based Catholic denominational subculture, I'm a bit amused by peripatetic Protestant congregations. One would expect the name to change along with the location.
8 comments:
This didn't surprise me- but it disappoints me. They should look at the addresses of all who showed up- and see if they map out to really being affected neighbors.
Anytime that many people show up for a zoning meeting- there are other issues to be dealt with.
This time, unfortunately, it's racism tied in with stupidity.
Im curios as to whether there was a connection between the pressure group and the zoning denial.
It could be the case of local bureaucrats and govt giving someone the run-around, and it was just a coincidence that that there was a anti-Moslem NIMBY thing going on too.
Though reportedly the staffers told the mosque reps that their plans ought to go through the review with no issues. Oh yeah, except for the petite bourgeoisie of Bellbrook rallying for Christ!
As soon as I heard that the zoning was denied, I wondered if something fishy was up. This is where I wish the DDN would do some real journalism -- dig into this story more. Would a protestant church have been denied? As a counterpoint, the Kettering Baptist church just had their new, large church and sanctuary development approved -- and in general, from the planning I've seen in the Bellbrook area, these concerns don't seem to have stopped development in the past.
Believe it or not, this incident actually gets my goat, and I'm pretty cynical.
I notice how how polite the Moslems are about all this. If it was me I'd be organizing a Boycott Bellbrook campaign.
First of all, I believe the word is "Muslim."
I can tell you personally that there was no calling campaign initiated by the church in question. There have never been anti-Muslim statements preached from the pulpit. Additionally, if you know anything about the DDN, they are notorious for misquoting and misrepresenting people to sell papers. Do not believe one side of the story, try to be objective and look at all sides to see what is really going on. BTW, the township and the county did give the First Baptist Church heavy opposition to the building of their facility. There were no articles written then, so who is really being persecuted? Please don't blindly believe the DDN, get the real facts before making gross assumptions about a whole congregation of people.
I believe the article said the caller identified herself as a church member.
The implication was that this arose from within the congregation, not that it was downward directed from the pulpit.
Thats probably more of the issue than the BZA vote.
Also, Mary McCarty had a good column on this on Sunday.
And it is interesting that the township did grant the variance to the Baptists, even though it sounds like they didnt want to, but were able to refure the Moslems.
The Baptist church didn't have to have a zoning variance approved because the land they purchased was already zoned for commercial or residential use. Also, a whole church cannot be held responsible for the actions of one person who claimed to be a member of the church. There is actually no proof that they were a member of the church at all, as this person has not identified herself to anyone. I can see this issue both ways, I feel for the members of the Muslim group, however, I would not want a large building built right next to my home either. Once land is zoned for commercial use, anything could come into that area. If the Mosque had to close in a few years for some unknown reason, anyone could purchase their building. Depending on who that anyone is, it could greatly effect property values.
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