Newspaper Page Text
1 Closer Look
What happens when the church endorses a war?
s America continues
to mourn and fight a
war of principle, all
of us must continue tosupport
the troops and families who
are directly involved in this
noble war effort. As we move
forward, we must embrace the
American valueof dialogueand
debate whiel simultaneously
being tactful and respectful.
Afewweeksago, while Iwas
listening to my favorite na
tional preacher (and he is still
my favorite national preacher)
on Black Entertainment Tele
vision, I was shocked to hear
nim call Colin Powell Joshua.
Joshua was the understudy of
Moses in the Book of Exodus
and eventually led the African
Israelites into the Promised
Land. This national religious
leader went on to give a blan
ket endorsement of the war
Local elections and other news
The local elections are over
with the exception of a run off
in the sth District between
incumbent commissioner
Henry Brigham and the Rev
erend Bobby Hankerson. Tra
ditionally theincumbent loses
the run off to a better-moti
vated challenger. The logic
behind thatisbased on the fact
that anincumbent dependson
a large turnout to carry him
and turnout dropsin arun off.
Chances are that the
challenger’s supporters are
going to be more motivated to
return to the polls and vote
against the incumbent than
the average status quo voter.
We wili"se'é ifMr. Brigham can
get them back to the pells in
three weeks. Alsoin the 5" my
friend Ken Cone came in a
respectable third (hey, at least
he beat the Chronicle’s man
Charles Grant.) not bad for
his first time out. Better luck
next time, Ken.
The biggest upset was in the
7% District where challenger
Tommy Boylesbeat incumbent
Commissioner Jerry Brigham
by over a two to one margin.
Jerry is another victim of the
“sour puss” west Augusta group
that tossed out Robin Williams
last year. The voters of the 7
areperpetually pissed offat the
county government and being
that they could not voteagainst
the peoplethat theyreallyblame
for the perceived problems, the
black commissioners, they voted
CSRA EOA seeks Board of Directors applicants
The CSRA Economic Opportunity Authority, Inc. is seeking applicants to fill four seas on its
Board of Directors. Seats are available in District - Weed/West Richmond County, District 3 -
Laney-Walker/Bethlehem, District 5 - South Turpin Hil/Hyde-Aragon Park, and District 7 -
Burke County. Board members are volunteers and must live in the district they wish to
represent. Anyone interested should contact Gloria B. Lewis at the Central Office, 1261
Greene Street, Augusta, Georgia 30901, telephone 706-722-0493. Applications must be
received no later than November 16, 2001. The CSRA EOA, Inc. is a private non-profit
corporation whose primary mission is to promote self-sufficiency among low income citizens.
s
THU PRI~ SAT SUN ~ MON T
b 5 68 65 -65- 70 72
; ; v
d ; \\,
! R A RN A ’
Chief Meteorologist George Myers on
AL WL 4
black &8
in the ogil
By The Rev. Dr. ~'.. s
Ralph C. Watkins o
effort and the leaders who are
in Washington. He likened
these menand women of Wash
ington tc biblical characters.
He then called the church to
support these leaders, basically
without critique. He went on
to suggest that all leaders are
put in place by God.
As I got up from listening to
this sermon and went to my
church for worship, I thought
about Rev. Martin L. King Jr.
and those of his generation
who alwaysreserved therigat
of the church to be prophetic.
By prophetic, I mean the
The, . (&
~=piniong;,.
By Brad Owfins , b
out their own man. Tommy,
like Sue Burmeister, just hap
pened to bein theright race at
the right time. But then again
winning in politics is mostly
getting your timing right.
Steve Shepard cruised (thank
God!) into another four-year
term as the 3" District’s com
missioner and received one of
the largest margins of victory I
can remember (79 percent). I
guess that is the reward for
being the only sane passenger
on that ship of fools at the
marble palace known as the
“Commission-Council.” Actu
ally, hard work and honesty is
what carried Steveall the way.
InDistrict 1 incumbent com
missioner Lee Beard dis
patched his only challenger,
George Sancken, with 65 per
cent of the votes cast. In the
county Marshals race Steve
Smith won with 60 percent of
the vote and will now fade
back into obscurity until next
election (what does the Mar
shal do anyway?) All in all
this election year was as bor
ing as the candidate’s stump
speeches that they tortured
us with at the candidate so-
church must remain outside
looking in, and as long as the
stateisinline with God’s word
they should support the effort.
But if a policy or war effort
begins to go adrift then they
must rise up and raise legiti
mate questions and provide
critique. The church must
operate under the sovereignty
of God und not the powerof the
state.
When the church becomes
one with the state and
uncritically endorses leaders,
policy and war efforts, then
how canit be free from politics
and ideology? The separation
of church and state benefits
the church. As a minority of
church leaders try to push for
areturntoprayerintheschools
during this period of crisis,
and get in bed with political
leaders, I would urge the
rums. Hopefully next year will
be better with all of the races
that will be on the ballot.
Speaking of races next year,
David Bell is not running for
the Democraticnominationin
the newly created 12 congres
sional district. I heard it from
the horse’s mouth. I pressed
him for the reason that he
would not run and the answer
he gave for not seeking the
nomination just made me want
him to run even more. He told
me that he has children in
school and did not want to live
life on an airplane. His dedica- -
tion to his family, which in my
eyes makes him a good man
and someone I want toleadus,
was the deciding factor in his
choosing not to run. I respect
his choice, although I wish he
would run, and wish him well.
With David Bell not running,
one question remains, who will
stepuptothe platenow that the
clear front runner is out? With
the makeup of anewdistrict, 37
percent black and 63 percent
white, logic would dictatethata
white democraticcandidate has
the best chance to win the seat.
I will keep you informed as this
raceshapes upover the next few
months.
In New Jersey and Virginia
the democratic candidates for
governor won. That is great
news for the Democratic Party
who has been neutered by G.
W. “Cowboy” Bush’s 90 per
cent approval ratings and his
church to protect her freedomn
and remain submitted to God
and God alone.
When the church becomes
anagent ofthe stateitlosesits
freedom. When the church
loses its freedom it can fight
for the freedom of the op
pressed. Ifthe church will not
fight for the freedom of the
oppressed then who will?
Let thechurchbethechurch.
Pray inyour churches, in your
homes, andin the publicsquare
when you gather, but don’t
become a tool of the state. We
must support the things and
ways of God. When the church
becomes a tool of the state,
who is its God?
Dr. Watkins is a professor of
sociology at Augusta State
University and can be reached
at (706) 737-1735 or e-mail at
rwatkins@aug.edu.
war on terrorism. I think that
the most stunning victory was
that of Mark Warner in Vir
ginia. Virginia is a republican
stronghold and few political
pundits gave Warner much of
a chance of winning last year.
I see this as a signal by the
American people that they ap
prove of Bush’s handling of
the war but trust democratic
leaders when it comes to do
mestic affairs. I predict that
next year will see ademocratic
sweep with huge victories ev
erywhere and especially here
in the south.
‘brad.owens@lycos.com
#4415/ The, CSRA Rrepared; .
oy ATemosist Attack?
T M x"_ B B o |
i :j o -g‘ffl‘?z‘:{,bc";".‘jfi .&) :f@?m ol
. SECURITY, ' &
& . Y ONTHEE -
B HOMEEBDNE
eS¥ G J ‘
Find,out what local law, enforcement, emergency,managementy
A ndte fe. department are,doing,to protect the_communy
RSN . Monday, & Tuesday, at,6pm
) &% A F
i B
fi . -A p
B | i | Loverage,r.ou, Langs
L O Wil 4, Count OngFT-ss
- Q B —
. B
Renita Crawford S, L
AUGUSTA FOCUS
Travel ban on Cuba
From page 8A
40 years has been both politi
cal and ideological.
As our American ancestors
understood so well, a free so
ciety entailstheright of people
to accamulate unlimited
amounts of wealth and to dis
poseofit any way they choose
anywhereinthe world. That’s
why such infringements on
individual liberty as income
taxation, licensure, welfare
state programs, and passports
were once nonexistent in
Achievement gap
From page 8A
teachers, encourage and as
sist our students, and ad
equately fund the programs
weenact. It is far past time to
play theblame game. We must
now work cooperatively for
Westside High School parades Patriots pride
For the first time in 25 years, Westside High
School is celebrating Homecoming with a
homecoming parade. The parade will take place
Friday, November 9, 2001, at 3 p.m. and last
about 30 minutes. Events will start at the
school, travel down Patriots Way to Washington
Road, turn right on Washington Road, then right
on Beverly Heights Drive, and right on Parrish
Road heading back to Westside. Students,
teachers and staff look forward to flourishing
the Augusta streets with school spirit. For
more information, contact Westside principal
David Smith at (706) 868-4030.
NOVEMBER 8, 2001
American society. The ab
sence of such controls was
what it once meant to be an
American, what itonce meant
to be free.
Mr. Hornberger is presi
dent of The Future of Free
dom Foundation
(wwuw.fff.org)in Fairfax, Vir
ginia, which recently pub
lished Tethered Citizens: Time
to Repeal the Welfare Stateby
Sheldon Richardson. A de
tailed account of his(licensed)
trip to Cuba is posted on the
Foundation web site.
improved student achieve
ment. GAE fully supportsour
goal of “leaving no child be
hind.” We must all prepare
our students for the opportu
nities of tomorrow.
Ralph B. Nobleis president
of the Georgia Association of
Educators.
9A