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On Saturday evening, a group of parishioners at the New Bethel Church will bring unloaded guns into the sanctuary and listen to lectures about the Second Amendment, firearms safety and responsible gun ownership.
At the same time, on the other end of the county, an interdenominational group of worshippers will bring picnic lunches to a rival event sponsored by the Interfaith Paths to Peace.
“It’s certainly okay for people to own guns,” says IPP Director Terry Taylor. “I’m not opposed to that. But the idea of, just at a symbolic level, of bringing guns into a sacred space seems troubling.”
New Bethel Pastor Ken Pagano says the congregation isn’t worshipping guns or using sidearms as some kind of holy tool. They’re celebrating the fact that they can carry guns, and Pagano says it just so happens that the only place they can do that is in their church.
“The ladies had a ladies fashion show here last month and they did it in the sanctuary because that’s part of the building and that’s the biggest space we have,” he told WFPL.
But with the murder of the controversial Dr. George Tiller in his church, Taylor isn’t sure that now is a good time for churches to celebrate weapons.
“With what we’ve been hearing in the news lately about troubles and shootings in churches and other places, the idea of bringing even unloaded guns into a public space seems to me to be kind of problematic,” he says.
But again, Pagano says there’s nothing to worry about. There will be security guards making sure each gun brought into New Bethel is unloaded.
“I have more to fear from the person driving down the highway from a person with a cell phone texting or twittering than I do from a responsible firearms owner,” he says.
It seems like the arguments aren’t quite on the same level. It’s not that one side is making the case better than the other, but Pagano is defending the “Open Carry Celebration” in the physical sense. He says the guns will be unloaded and attendees will be taught how to properly own and use a gun so that no one gets hurt. No one will be shot at New Bethel. Taylor is looking at the philosophical implications of bringing potentially deadly weapons to a place of worship.
Pagano says the celebration is just that, a celebration of the freedom his parishioners have not only to own guns, but to worship however they please. He and Taylor are both preaching responsibility. Pagano says it’s up to people to responsibly manage firearm ownership while Taylor is concerned about how responsible it is for a religious organization to celebrate the ability to possess weapons.
What both sides have in common is a respect of the other’s beliefs. Neither side said anything bad about the other, and on Saturday night, after the guns are holstered and the picnics devoured, Taylor and Pagano will meet and discuss their differences like two responsible adults.
Do you want free cookies, juice, snack crackers and other treats? Come to Louisville Public Media to load up. All it will cost is one pint of blood.
Plus, you’ll also be helping people, and that’s sweeter than any sandwich cookie I’ve ever had.
Here’s what we’re reporting on today:
Rick is covering Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels’ ‘Budget Tour’ visit to New Albany.
Stephanie is covering the Iranian peace vigil today at Thomas Merton Square.
I’m covering tonight’s Metro Council budget vote and the Anthem/Norton arbitration attempts.
Today on SOA….”Making Sense of the Stimulus Plan.”
This post comes to us from Laura Ellis.
The Louisville music community said goodbye to one of its elder statesmen today. Tim Krekel passed away this afternoon after a brief illness. He truly was a Louisville treasure, and lots of local musicians of my generation wouldn’t be playing today if it weren’t for his support and tutelage. More than just a phenomenal songwriter, he was a beloved figure on a personal level, and in a business where competition sometimes overshadows creativity, I’ve never heard anyone say a bad word about Tim Krekel.
WFPK will pay tribute all day on Thursday, June 25th, so tune in to reminisce, and you can leave your thoughts and memories here on WFPK’s site.
We’ll update this post with memorial service information should it become available. In the meantime we thought we’d repost the last time Tim was with us here on State of Affairs, on Valentine’s Day, 2008, to talk about love songs. Nobody wrote them or played them like Tim. Click here to listen.
UPDATE:
Tim’s family has set up a memorial fund called “The Krek Fund.” Checks can be made out to that name and dropped off at Ear-xTacy where John Timmons is collecting.
The family also invites all of his friends and fans to join them at a special memorial event following the funeral service this Sunday, June 28th, at 4pm at the Vernon Club.
Tim’s family has set up a memorial fund called “The Krek Fund.” Checks can be made out to that name and dropped off at Ear-x-Tacy where John Timmons is collecting.
The family also invites all of his friends and fans to join them at a special memorial event following the funeral service this Sunday, June 28th, at 4pm at the Vernon Club.
Photo from www.timkrekel.com
Here’s what we reported on today:
- Mayor Meets With King On Budget Changes
- Beshear Applauds Lawmakers’ Work During Special Session
- Louisville’s Tim Krekel Dies At 58
- Harrods Creek Bridge Renovations Begin
- U-of-L Neurosurgery Residency Program Reaccredited
- Group Offers Alternative To ‘Open Carry’ Church Celebration
- Indiana Budget Talks Underway
- Slots Advocates Say They Won’t Give Up
- Special Session Winding Down In Frankfort
Stephanie Sanders brings us this post from the Studio 619 editing room. We’ve posted links for the interviews mentioned that are still in the archive.
Studio 619′s last show is this Sunday. In some ways, I’m excited about the change, because it’s going to enable the news staff to think harder and be more creative about interviews and stories that are important to you, and the best ways to get them to you. But in other ways, I’ll miss producing those insightful interviews on a regular basis (don’t worry, we’ll still be doing insightful interviews). So while we bid farewell to Studio 619, let me share some of my favorite moments from the show:
(As we go forward, in some cases I’ll be able to share links with you to these interviews. In other cases, I won’t. The audio archive for Studio 610 only goes back to January 2007.)
Famous People
There are some days in the news business when you think to yourself, ‘I’m getting paid for this?’ Sometimes it’s when someone pours out their story to you in a way that seemingly forgets you have microphone in your hand. Many times it’s when you find yourself talking to some like Julie Andrews. A lot of us working on the show have had these moments over the years.
Rick Howlett spoke with filmmaker John Waters (11/19/06) and legendary radio personality Studs Terkel (12/11/05). Both Rick and I got the chance to talk (on different occasions) with public radio icon Ira Glass. Robin Fisher had the opportunity to interview a literary giant, Salman Rushdie (11/06/05). Heidi Caravan interviewed veteran newsman Tom Brokaw when he was in town (11/06/05), as well as Nick Clooney (06/25/06).
My heart-a-flutter moments came when I got to interview Joe Montana (04/02/06) and Julie Andrews. But the best thing about all these interviews is that we had the opportunity to have the right person interview each of them. Studio 619 was a great way to utilize our entire news staff, so when Salman Rushdie came to town, we didn’t send me (who, ashamedly, didn’t know who he was), we sent Robin, and it was a better interview for everyone.
I forget who it was, but someone with more insight than me once said, “Everyone is a geek about something.” That’s true, even if you’re an athlete. Runners tend to be the skinniest, geekiest people I know (all those mesh shoes, gels and bar-shaped foods).
At The Edit, we’re not ashamed of our geekiness. We are on the internet after all. So revel with us today during State of Affairs’ twice annual “Tech Talk” show. The guest techies will tell us all about the latest trends in consumer technology, the iPhone 3GS and possibly the e-mail-destroying Google Wave.
The show starts at 1 PM. In the meantime, geek out with this.
Here’s what we’re working on today.
Stephanie is checking in with the Kentucky Equine Education Project in the wake of the slots bill’s death.
Rick is monitoring the conference committee of the Indiana General Assembly. They’re starting on budget talks today. Rick is also checking to see if there’s any news out of the Southern Baptist Convention, which ends today after almost a week in Louisville.
I’ll do a set up on this weekend’s Open Carry Church Service in Valley Station and Interfaith Paths To Peace’s alternative event.
Tony is monitoring the special session in Frankfort.
From the AP:
MAJ. GEN. EDWARD W. TONINI, ADJUTANT GENERAL FOR KENTUCKY, WILL JOIN HIS FELLOW CITIZEN-SOLDIERS AND AIRMEN IN CELEBRATING THE 217TH BIRTHDAY OF THE KENTUCKY NATIONAL GUARD. HIGHLIGHTS OF THE EVENT INCLUDE A READING OF GOV. BESHEAR’S PROCLAMATION MAKING JUNE 24TH “KENTUCKY NATIONAL GUARD DAY,” AND AN UNVEILING OF A PRIVATELY FUNDED MEMORIAL TO BE BUILT AT THE ENTRANCE TO BOONE NATIONAL GUARD CENTER. LOCATION: MAJ. GEN. BILLY G. WELLMAN ARMORY, BOONE NATIONAL GUARD CENTER.
Fire up your iPhone or dust off your Commodore: today on State of Affairs…”Tech Talk”
Here’s what we reported on today:
- Budget Committee Amends Proposed Budgets
- Budget Talks Underway In Frankfort
- Unusually High Rainfall Totals Could Prevent Drought
- Indiana Senate Passes ‘Fail-Safe” Budget Bill
- Clear Line Airport Service Closes
- Beshear Addresses House Democratic Caucus
FEATURE – Parking Contract In Its Final Few Months
This week’s On The Media has a segment on Connected Nation, formerly ConnectKentucky. The group promotes the expansion of high-speed internet to rural parts of America.
Brooke Gladstone grills a CN spokesperson on the apparent shallowness of the group’s results. She points out that while the group does map broadband penetration, it doesn’t say who provides internet service for the areas mapped. She also asks about the ties between the Connected Nation board of directors and telecom companies. The spokesperson is amiable and justifies the company’s actions, and even references Kentucky’s progress in broadband penetration. We reported on the CN’s dubious practices in Kentucky about a year ago. At that time, it seemed as if ConnectKentucky was taking credit for broadband penetration that would have happened without any group pushing the technology.
When the CN spokesperson cites transparency and security concerns to say private enterprise is better suited to manage broadband rollout to rural areas than the government, Gladstone laughs and points out that CN keeps lots of its information secret and is not susceptible to freedom of information requests. (That brings up a familiar issue.)
Gladstone also talks to Connected Nation critic Art Brodsky. I interviewed him for my story last year, and he touches on a few of the same issues with Brooke. He also brings up a few new arguments against Connected Nation. Listen for yourself.
