<html><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body dir="auto"><div><span></span></div><div><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><div><span></span></div><div><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><div>Courtesy of the Letters section of today's (July 21, 2015) Moscow-Pullman Daily News with a note of thanks to Bill McKee of the Daily News Editorial Board.</div><div><br></div><div>--------------------------------------</div><div><h1 id="blox-asset-title" style="outline: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; font-weight: 400; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; line-height: 34px; font-size: 30px; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="blox-headline entry-title" style="outline: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(204, 0, 0); line-height: 38px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our View: Flags, slavery and intolerance within our community</span></h1><p style="outline: 0px; margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; background-image: none; float: none !important;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><b>By Bill McKee</b></span></p><p style="outline: 0px; margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; background-image: none; float: none !important;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Flags and slavery have been in the news a lot lately.</span></p><p style="outline: 0px; margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; background-image: none; float: none !important;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">First there was the discussion about the Confederate flag, which was removed from the South Carolina Capitol some weeks ago - a decision sparked by photos of a disturbed young man who later went on to allegedly take the lives of nine African Americans at a church in Charleston, S.C.</span></p><div class="encrypted-content" style="outline: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; float: none !important;"><p style="outline: 0px; margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; background-image: none; float: none !important;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">That story turned into a nationwide discussion over the meaning of the Confederate flag. Do the negative implications - that whole pro-slavery aspect at the heart of the South's attempt to succeed from the Union - outweigh the history it represents to those who grew up with it as a symbol of their heritage?</span></p></div><div class="encrypted-content" style="outline: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; float: none !important;"><p style="outline: 0px; margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; background-image: none; float: none !important;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The Confederate flag made another appearance over the weekend on South Carolina's Statehouse steps during a KKK rally, which generally confirmed to everyone they'd made the right choice in its removal.</span></p></div><div class="encrypted-content" style="outline: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; float: none !important;"><p style="outline: 0px; margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; background-image: none; float: none !important;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Another discussion began locally after we ran a front page story that included a photograph of Christ Church pastor Doug Wilson standing atop an LGBT flag. Many have wondered why we would run a story focusing on one man's specious views regarding slavery and homosexuality in such a prominent spot in our paper.</span></p></div><div class="encrypted-content" style="outline: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; float: none !important;"><p style="outline: 0px; margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; background-image: none; float: none !important;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"Sodomy is a particularly virulent form of slavery to sin, and slavery to sin is the foundation stone of every other form of objectionable slavery," Wilson wrote in a recent post on his blog, "Blog and Mablog: Theology that Bites Back," after stating that supporting same-sex marriage is a "far more serious problem" than supporting slavery.</span></p></div><div class="encrypted-content" style="outline: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; float: none !important;"><p style="outline: 0px; margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; background-image: none; float: none !important;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Just to clarify - we don't think Wilson's views reflect those of the Christian community at large, nor do we agree with them. And frankly, the decision to run the story at the top of Page One did raise some eyebrows in our newsroom as well.</span></p></div><div class="encrypted-content" style="outline: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; float: none !important;"><p style="outline: 0px; margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; background-image: none; float: none !important;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">When we originally broke the story in May that three of the board members at the Moscow Food Co-op were members of his church, we received numerous emails, letters to the editor and Facebook posts from locals - some appalled at the news, others defending Wilson's views.</span></p></div><div class="encrypted-content" style="outline: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; float: none !important;"><p style="outline: 0px; margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; background-image: none; float: none !important;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">In the end, it was that interest, expressed by so many of our readers, that led to our choice to run last week's story.</span></p></div><div class="encrypted-content" style="outline: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; float: none !important;"><p style="outline: 0px; margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; background-image: none; float: none !important;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">We understand some were offended by his views, and the image that went along with the story, but since then the letters, emails and posts have continued to roll in.</span></p></div><div class="encrypted-content" style="outline: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; float: none !important;"><p style="outline: 0px; margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; background-image: none; float: none !important;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">We believe that means the discussion should go on.</span></p></div></div><div>--------------------------------------</div><div><br></div><div>Thanks again, Mr. McKee, for putting your cards on the proverbial table.</div><div><br></div><div>As one of my favorite songs of all time suggests . . .</div><div><br></div><div><b>"Let It All Hang Out"</b></div><div><a href="http://www.tomandrodna.com/Songs/Let_It_All_Hang_Out.mp3">http://www.tomandrodna.com/Songs/Let_It_All_Hang_Out.mp3</a></div><div><br></div><div>Stay tuned<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">, Moscow, because . . .</span><br><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"Moscow Cares"</span></div><div><a href="http://www.moscowcares.com/" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><font color="#000000">http://www.MoscowCares.com</font></a></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></div><div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Tom "Free to be you and me" Hansen</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Moscow, Idaho</span></div></div><div><br></div></div></div></div></body></html>