Battleground: Monroe, Ohio

The Decline of Internet Civilization by Eric Power

There is a heated debate going on in the town I called home for the last 12 years. Monroe, Oh is verging on a civil war over an issue that has been at the forefront of the town's (and my) attention for the past few years. In 2004, the newly-built conglomerated school campus opened for business, leaving the century-old building and 29-acre campus empty and slipping further into disrepair. 10 years have now passed since the transfer, and the building is on the verge of being condemned. The Board of Education of Monroe has waffled between letting it rot, selling it, repurposing it, or gifting it to a private or municipal entity. Since 2011 (at least that was when my awareness came into being on the matter), my church, Monroe First Church of God, has been interested in purchasing the 29-acre site, encompassing the old high school and all the surrounding outbuildings. We have outgrown our current home; this facility would really allow our congregation to "stretch our legs" and hopefully increase our community outreach as well. The controversy stems from the fact that the BOE would be selling the property to a church, hence violating that well known clause in the Constitution, say it with me now, the Separation of CHURCH and STATE. Oh...hey wait a second...I've got my handy pocket Constitution right here...Bill of Rights....1st Amendment...okay okay...oh! Oh, uh...no never mind....hmmm...dagnabbit! Well butter my butt and call me a biscuit, it seems that there is no such thing as the Separation of Church and State in the Constitution of the United States! Don't believe me huh? That's okay, I understand; it's a deeply grounded myth...go ahead, look it up...yeah I'll wait...

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Zzzzzz Snnnnrkkk!
HuWha--!?! Oh! You're back! So what did you find out?
Ahh you're throwing the 1st Amendment Establishment Clause at me huh? Yeah, sorry Charlie...doesn't apply here. The 1st amendment states, and I quote -- "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech," -- and some other stuff that's not pertinent to the religion aspect and it's all probably going away soon anyway, so...ahem, I digress. Bad habit, sorry. Here is the only way the 1st amendment would prevent the sale to the church: if in selling the property to the First Church of God, the Monroe Board of Education declared, by law, to all citizens of the town, that from this moment forward, we must attend, and only attend, the services for the First Church of God. This would be a government body establishing an official religion, and also preventing the free will of the citizens to exercise their choice of religious expression and worship. By selling this property to the church, all that has occurred is an exchange of real estate. Yup, people can still attend their church of choice, or feel free to sleep in late and eat Fritos on the couch in their underwear. "Well yeah, but the Board is favoring a religion by letting them have the building for next to nothing!" During the last open auction, the church placed the one and only bid upon the building for 50,000. Granted, a low-ball bid in and of itself. They did figure it was an opening bid; however, no other interested parties upped the offer. They were declined and negotiations continued. Recently, a deal was proposed that would allow a buyer to purchase the property for $1.00. "Why that's a dirty back room deal if I ever heard one!!" Not when you consider the fact that recent estimates had shown that the asbestos removal would be extremely costly. Conservative estimates topped $750,000 merely to accomplish the safe demolition of the hazardous site, with no rehabilitation of the buildings at all.

Extreme Makeover: School Edition

Restoring the site would cost far more. The Board decided to offer the site for a dollar, in order to offset the prohibitive remodeling costs. All that was left was to find a prospective buyer. Oh wait! Hey, this church over here is willing to take it off your hands. The church has also agreed to allow the school system the use of the renovated buildings for extra classroom space for ten years; all without a single dime of taxpayer money being spent on that renovation. A gift back from the church to the community that they serve. Recently, the city itself has shown some interest in the 29-acre site. Makes sense -- it sits in the middle of town, they could do anything from residential to retail/commercial, (or a blend of the two), and would someday garner them a nice little tax revenue. In the eyes of the BOE, this option was less attractive because there was no benefit to them in the way of "free" classroom space. So the players were chosen and the board was set to play. After much talk and debate, with plans reviewed from both parties, it was initially decided that it would be gifted to the church. The decision prompted an uproar which garnered the attention of a national activist atheist group and they have since filed a lawsuit against the Board. This caused an "all bets are off" retraction of the deal and it's back to square one.
The most regrettable part of all of this is not the denial of the sale to my church. If it is God's Will that the school goes to us, then it will go to us. If it isn't, then we will find some other means of relocating our congregation to a bigger locale. This whole ordeal may have been to show the true character and goodness of our church body to the residents around us. If just one more person came to Him during the occurrence of all of this, then, to God, it was a worthy expenditure. No, the disheartening part during all of this has been the interactions between the citizens of Monroe within the Social Media universe.  

Shut Up, You!!!

I fully understand being passionate about a topic. Hello!? I write a blog! I get it, really. But one thing I have always endeavored to avoid is name-calling and personal attacks. Apparently a great number of people on Facebook do not. I have witnessed the lowest of insults on people's intelligence, their religious beliefs, heck, even the way people look, as if that is actually pertinent to a topical debate such as this. There have even been high-ranking members of the city council who have dragged their feet through the muck and resorted to this gutter behavior. It's despicable. But unlike the internet at large, with the faceless protection to hide behind, these attacks are neighbor vs. neighbor; people you may come across at the local Kroger, or the neighborhood restaurant. It doesn't deter some people these days, unfortunately. I am proud to say that my church family acted graciously and kindly, and when the choice was to either say something hurtful or say nothing, they chose the Godly path of silence.

What has happened to us?!? Can we, as a society, no longer engage each other on the battlefield of ideas without

resorting to insults or character assassination?? It's not just this particular debate; it's across the board, on all social networks. On any topic where two or more opinions can be had, break out the popcorn and gather 'round the ringside, because it's bound to get brutal. Other times, someone can ask a question about nothing in particular, certainly not anything divisive, and more often than not, they can be greeted with vicious disdain about what a stupid question they've just asked. The anonymity of the internet has given people a "007" status and a poison pen, and away they slay, with no regard or remorse for their toxic vitriol.  

"We are persuaded that good Christians will always be good citizens, and that where righteousness prevails among individuals the Nation will be great and happy." - George Washington.



"Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is
wholly inadequate to the government of any other." - John Adams These two quotes by our first two Presidents exemplify the problem in our society today. The first quote, by Washington, can be altered to say a religious people, or even just a people with a moral center. Penn Jillette, a noted atheist and skeptic, lives by a moral code. It's not a code that he ascribes to a higher power, (although one could argue their similarities) but it is a solid moral center for his life. There are exceptions to the rule, of course. On the flip side, you have the Westboro Baptist Church, who CLAIM to live by a moral code, (the veracity of that claim is for another blog altogether) but act so contrary to any moral code that I, as a supposedly fellow Christian, believe in, that they may as well worship the Devil. If we as a people cannot be good citizens with a true moral center, religious or otherwise, then how can we expect to be a happy people? It seems as though we are a people wallowing in misery. And as the saying goes, misery love company. That brings us to the second quote. Since, as Americans, the Constitution is our guide to our freedoms, it is a guide to our way of life. When it was designed, there was a certain expectation that some self-governance would be present amongst our populace. For me, much of that governance comes from a belief that God will hold me accountable for my actions on Earth. The other part comes from a desire to be a good decent person, because it is the right way to be. The less moral and self-governing that people act, then the more that government feels justified in stepping in and controlling those people with oppressive laws and regulations.  

The Golden Rule Should Still Apply

We must return to a more moral, spiritually guided core if we are to survive as a country with the freedoms that

we've enjoyed. With these freedoms, however, come responsibilities; responsibilities we seem to have forgotten in time. The freedom of speech must be tempered with the responsibility of holding your tongue from time to time. Above all else, if nothing else, follow the Golden Rule: Do unto others as you would have done to you, even on the internet. Okay, so I added that last part. Pray for us, pray for our country. Thanks for reading, and God Bless.