[Dialogue] Robin Censored?

[Roger Alexander]

Here is the note from David Reese. He sent it to me earlier.
Roger

----- Original Message ----- 
From: kwoody at earthlink.net 
To: David Reese 
Sent: Friday, October 01, 2004 3:59 PM
Subject: Fw: Robin Censored?



----- Original Message ----- 
From: kwoody at earthlink.net 


below is something I found on the web about Robin and his censored column in the Gazette.
I contacted the Gazette supporting Robin.

Jin


Censored: This Column
Editor's Note: James Nimmo sent this our way with this note:

Readers,

I've been given permission to forward to this list the following emails and story by Dr. Robin Meyers, minister of Mayflower Congregational Church in Oklahoma City. 

The publishers of the weekly Oklahoma Gazette have chosen to censor Dr. Meyers and his column which appears in monthly rotation in the weekly shopper, to use Frosty Troy's description.
Dr. Meyers is the recipient of the Angie Debo Award for Intellectual Freedom given annually by the ACLU of Oklahoma. In addition to being the senior pastor at Mayflower Congregational Church, Dr. Meyers is professor of rhetoric at Oklahoma City University. Dr. Myers is also the author of two well-received books, "Mornings on a White Piano" and "The Virtue in the Vice", which carries a recommendation from Bishop Tutu of anti-apartheid fame and a Nobel Peace Prize laureate.
In my opinion, the Oklahoma Gazette exploits Dr. Meyers as a lightening rod for its letters column which frequently contains as many as three letters written by fundies who are jealous that Dr. Meyers's erudition and Christianity trumps their own as they splutter and foam about the number of hairs on their heads and whether sparrows and lilies neither spin nor toil. 
Dr. Meyers has asked his supporters to politely contact the Oklahoma Gazette and express their appreciation for his columns and the objection to his censorship. 
Outstanding in his support of progressive causes such as, but not limited to, the abolition of the death penalty and gay equality, Dr. Meyers does not deserve this insult from the Oklahoma Gazette, whose main business is promoting the spending of capitalist cash, and the aggrandizing of GOPer Kirk Humphreys, former mayor of OKC, and failed candidate for United States Senate, thanks to Bob Anthony's entry in to that sordid campaign.
Contact info for the Gazette is:
voice 405-528-6000
fax 405-528-4600
email editor at okgazette.com and publisher at okgazette.com
Jim Nimmo, Oklahoma City

Though we do not have express permission to reprint it, we will do so unless Dr. Meyers objects.
Rhetoric and Reality

HIJACKING THE CHRISTIAN FAITH
by Dr. Robin Meyers
Minister, Mayflower Congregational Church
Oklahoma City, OK

Leaders of more than 50 nations gathered last week at the UN to discuss world poverty, and the rising gap between rich and poor. President Bush was conspicuously absent. This "born again" president, who talks constantly about his relationship to Jesus Christ, skipped the meetings about helping poor people, but showed up to address the general assembly and brag about the war.

When a non-binding agreement was reached to try to help the more than one billion people who live on less than a dollar a day, Bush didn't sign it. It must have sounded like a bad deal for corporations, and we all know that God is more interested in big business than in poor people.

He didn't sign the Kyoto accord either, because he has discussed global warming with God, and knows that it's all a socialist plot against big oil and free trade. He and Jesus must have had a talk recently about assault weapons, and decided between them that every God-fearing man and woman should be able to own a machine gun if they like, because an armed disciple is a safe disciple.

By rolling back years of bi-partisan environmental law designed to protect the earth which the Psalmist said belongs to the Lord, Bush has given the biblical concept of "stewardship" a new twist. The earth belongs to Haliburton, and the fulness thereof. 

While everyone is arguing about the Patriot Act, there is another serious threat to the very soul of the nation that is getting far less attention: The Sermon-on-the-Mount-Suspension-Act.

In a high-level, secret meeting at an undisclosed location, Bush and Cheney met secretly with the Lord (Bush, to his credit, did not want to have to answer questions put to him by Jesus alone). Cheney did most of the talking, and although not even the minutes of that meeting are available to the public, it was decided that faith, from now on, means that the president and God will take turn winking at each other.

Whenever the Lord says, "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth", Bush will wink and say, "But not the mineral rights!" And then the two of them will laugh all the way to the bank. 

If the Lord says, "Pray for your enemies and those who persecute you," Bush will flash that Texas smirk, that gnostic grin, and say, " I'm all for prayer, don' t get me wrong, but you can' t love a terrorist who has a bomb strapped to his chest." And Jesus will say, "What was I thinking?" 

Whenever Jesus says, "Judge not, lest you be judged," Bush will say "That's fine for Sunday School, but Lee Atwater had a better gospel, and he taught it to my daddy: seek and destroy, before they seek and destroy you. This includes actual war heroes and triple amputees."

When the Lord says "Be humble, don't pray in public to be heard by other men, and remember that giving a cup of cold water to a thirsty child is all the law and the prophets," Bush will shrug those mighty shoulders and remind the Lord that humility can be confused with weakness, public prayer can be particularly effective in the swing states, and private sector water for children is dandy, but leaving "no child untested" is the true meaning of love.

That's when the meeting turned sour, and Jesus got concerned. He reminded Bush that he once stopped an execution in progress, reversing "an eye for an eye." Then the former Texas governor got a tad impatient himself, and started lecturing Jesus on "coddling criminals." "What about forgiveness?," said the Lord? "Overrated,"' quipped Bush. 

That's when Jesus got up and walked out.

Maybe it's time we all walk out.




Roger Alexander
5809 Meadowcrest
Bartlesville, OK 74006
ralexan934 at sbcglobal.net