About Dawson County news. (Dawsonville, Georgia) 2015-current | View Entire Issue (May 31, 2023)
PAGE 7 A Send a letter to the editor to P.O. Box 1600, Dawsonville, GA 30534; fax (706) 265-3276; or email to editor@dawsonnews.com. DawsonOpinion WEDNESDAY, MAY 31,2023 This is a page of opinion — ours, yours and others. Signed columns and cartoons are the opinions of the writers and artists, and they may not reflect our views. The United Methodist is a new oxymoron We are all famil iar with the term “oxymoron,” meaning a figure of speech that com bines words with opposing mean ings, such as bitter sweet or jumbo shrimp, freezer bum or pretty ugly. Here’s a new one to add to the list: United Methodist. The Methodist Church, the nation’s second- largest Protestant denomination, is about as united these days as a flock of chickens in a henhouse with a rooster on the loose. As of this writing, 193 churches in the South Georgia Conference of the United Methodist Church have voted to leave the denomination. Still to come is a decision by churches in the North Georgia Conference, one of the largest in the nation with 700 churches and some 320,000 lay members, on what churches and how many may also pull out. The North Georgia Annual Conference has scheduled a vote on the process known as disaffiliation for Saturday, Nov. 18. Churches that are disaffiliating will have to meet certain financial obligations as part of the agreement. One of the primary reasons cited for disaffil iation concerns the ordination of gay clergy as well as the performance of same-sex marriage. Cobb County Superior Court Senior Judge Stephen Schuster recently ruled in favor of 186 North Georgia churches that had filed suit in March wanting to disaffiliate from the United Methodist Church and asking to be allowed to proceed with the move to leave the denomination and become independent or join the more conservative Global Methodist Church. The lawsuit named the North Georgia Conference, former Bishop Sue Haupert- Johnson, current Bishop Robin Dease and the conference’s board of trustees among others, as respondents. At issue was a “pause” the North Georgia Conference had initiated, temporarily halting requests to leave the denomination until the United Methodist Church’s General Conference, the global decision-making body, could take up the matter in 2024. The confer ence cited “factually incorrect and defamato ry” information being circulated about the process of disaffiliation for establishing the pause. The North Georgia Conference leadership (speaking of oxymorons) claimed that, “infor mation presented to members of local church es about disaffiliation has been outside the bounds of normal and acceptable civil dis course.” They stated further that, “It has not only been false and misleading but has been antithetical to the concept of a gracious exit” - another oxymoron - “or a commitment to honoring the mission and ministry of all Christians.” In his ruling lifting the pause, Judge Schuster told those attending the hearing that, “It is difficult to watch this Church go through this. It truly, truly is.” Amen to that, Your Honor. Much of the problem, at least in the North Georgia Conference, I lay squarely at the feet of lawyer-tumed-theologian Bishop Sue Haupert-Johnson, whose high-handed and clumsy dictatorial reign ended when she was reassigned to the Virginia Conference this past January. If you are a Methodist in Virginia, I would suggest you fasten your seatbelt. It could be a bumpy ride. If I ever get the chance to talk to God, I will first ask what was His reasoning behind creat ing the housefly. Second, I will inquire as to why He ever allowed a litigating lawyer to become a bishop. That is akin to me teaching quantum calculus, only I would admit I was out of my league. I have been a Methodist all my life. My mother was a Methodist and so was her moth er. Had they been Lutheran or Presbyterian, I probably would have been, also. My dad used to say that religion is like a road map, a lot of different routes to the final destination with no one way being the only way to get there. I just happened to have chosen the Methodist route. I’m not sure what will be the final outcome of the disuniting of the United Methodist Church, but for me personally, I won’t let any one or anything stand between me and my personal relationship with God. I am a work in progress and have miles to go before I sleep. What the rest of my Methodist brothers and sisters do is up to them and their own con science. Whichever side you come down on, please don’t try to justify your correctness and every one else’s wrongness by quoting specific Bible verses to me. Frankly, I find that condescend ing. I suspect God does, too. Humorist Will Rogers once quipped he wasn’t a member of any organized political party. He was a Democrat. Chances are that if Will were around today, he might very well be an un-United Methodist - like me. You can reach Dick Yarbrough atdick@dick- yarbrough.com; at P.O. Box 725373, Atlanta, GA 31139; online atdickyarbrough.com or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/dickyarb. TELL ME WHY YOU FEEL LIKE YOU NO LONGER MATTER. I'M a HETEROSEXUAL P0PGER5 FAN WHO PRINK56UP LIGHT and 5H0P5 at TARGET. Don’t mistake our Southern drawl for meaning that we re dumb people “I don’t know about the rest of you. but I just cannot for the life of me understand what those clients in Georgia are saying.” This was a comment made by a coworker recent ly- An individual who not only is in a helping profession, but also supposed to be educated and empathetic. Language can be a barrier. I get it. When we have a hard time communi cating, it can be very difficult to under stand and seek meaning in what’s being said. This was not about language. This was about something that has been said before; it was just in a more subtle way. Southerners, with our drawled out accents, are mistaken to be ignorant. An episode of Designing Women highlighted how a New York magazine editor thought we all ate dirt and mar ried our cousins; Julia Sugarbaker gave him a strongly worded piece of her mind, but the stereotype persists. “I ask them something and they give me this “danged ol’ danged ol” gibber ish and I don’t have a clue what they’re talking about.” she said. The coworker went on to state that people were talking about things she didn’t have the first clue about. Gardens and horses for starters, which her per ception seemed to be that people who gardened were too poor to buy food in the grocery store and horses were just big dumb animals. She clearly wasn’t aware that when people here say “gar den,” it usually means several acres of land and horses are pretty expensive. I wasn’t sure if it was my Irish, my Persian, or my inner redhead that was riled, but I knew one thing, I found myself taking great umbrage at her words and criticism. It also made me remem ber how several years ago when my uncle had to take his car to be repaired, the dealership treated him with utter disrespect because he stuttered and verbal communication could be difficult if he was nervous. The man made the mistake of even saying as much. “I can’t exactly under stand what he’s saying, if you get my drift,” he said over the phone. “He doesn’t exactly speak plain.” He alluded that he thought my uncle wasn’t smart because he stuttered. I gave the man just enough rope to hang himself and then properly schooled him. I made sure to properly and effectively enunciate each and every word I said - especially the bad ones, so he’d know who he was dealing with. However in this situation, I knew I had to remain professional. I took the higher road and decided rather than hav ing a heated response, I wanted to share some truths. Maybe it would help change her per ception of what she was undoubtedly seeing as a bunch of dirt-eating hillbil lies. I raised my hand in the meeting, giv ing respect, even if unearned, to those who were agreeing with her comments. When I was called on, I spoke. “Being born and raised here in Georgia, I can assure you, the majority of us do have an accent. We have a lot of Appalachian heritage in our blood and our dialects can vary depending on the region. I’ve been accused of having a heavy accent in the past, even though I don’t hear it myself.” I heard some soft snickers in the back ground and it made me feel a bit self conscious that perhaps this snarky com mentary was also a subtle jab at me, “I do think one of the worst miscon ceptions many people have is that because of that Appalachian influence in our accents, that we are stupid or unedu cated. Far from it. We’re proud of where we came from and aren’t going to try to change our accents, but like the Appalachian people, we are resilient and have a lot of grit. That person with the garden knows how to live off the land; if they have horses, they have a lot of land and the money to keep them up. So by no means are they some dumb Southerner.” My attempt at educating them was met with some sighs and I’m sure if cameras had been on, a few eye rolls. I didn’t care. I thought about a dear friend whose accent is far more pronounced than mine; she is a former school teacher and highly intelligent. If anyone thought she was dumb because of the way she spoke, they were grossly mistaken. She loves to prove folks wrong though and will even get a big possum-eating briars grin when she realizes someone thinks she’s not very bright because of her drawl. The joke is always on them. “If you can’t understand them, just ask them what they mean. Most people, especially Georgians, love to talk and will tell you. But please - do not think any of us are dumb or stupid simply because you can’t understand us.” Some folks though, no matter what you say or how you say it, just ain’t going to get it. Sudie Crouch is an award winning humor columnist and author. SUDIE CROUCH Columnist LETTERTOTHE EDITOR Save some money and have some fun In case you don’t know, we have a great library in Dawsonville. Almost any book I want to read is available through the Pines system. That saves me a lot of money on Kindle down loads, not to mention more books for a house already chock full of them, Check out the Dawson County News article about the Summer Reading kick off. It’s the library’s best season... when we have time to read what we want to read! I love prizes for reading, so I’m signing up to compete with all my friends who like to read as well. And the guest events are awesome: June 7th: Arthur Atsma, the Magician who’s also a musician and inspirational speaker AND on June 14th, Jennifer Daniels who has performed at Eddie’s Attic in Decatur. (Jennifer even beat John Mayer in a contest there!) Both performers have two shows at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. Bring your kids and grand- kids for a free and amazing time. And while you are at the library, sign up to be a member in the newly formed “Friends of the Library”. It’s a great way to say “YAY!” to literacy in your community. It’s also tax deductible, inexpensive ($15) and has perks. MG Finch President, Friends of the Library Letter policy Letters should be limited to 350 words and may be edited or condensed.The same writer or group may only submit one letter per month for consideration. Letters must be submitted by noon Friday for midweek publi cation. We do not publish poetry or blanket letters and generally do not publish letters concerning consumer complaints. Unsigned or incorrectly identified letters will be withheld. Mail letters to the Dawson County News, P.O. Box 1600, Dawsonville, GA 30534, hand deliver to 30 Shoal Creek Road or email to editor@dawsonnews. com.
