Yet Another Paranoid Unitarian*Universalist Old Coot And A Rather *Too* PC Totalitarian U*Unitarian Congregation. . .
Just saying. . .
Pagan U*U blogger Jason Pitzl-Waters has picked up this well publicized U*U paranoia on his appropriately titled 'Wild Hunt' blog today in a blog post titled 'Quick Note: Weapons and UU Churches'. I submitted the following comment to it by it may not remain visible for all that long if Jason decides to "memory hole" it. Hopefully he won't because it is certainly very much on topic to this U*U breaking news and his blog post about it -
This kind of paranoia is all too typical of Unitarian*Universalists and it existed even before Jim David Adkisson walked into the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church in Knoxville with a shotgun and a bag full of shells to sow his thankfully curtailed "whirlwind" of shotgun blasts. In that Charles Rowe has a proven track record of wearing his knife in church without incident I dare say that he almost has an acquired right to continue to wear it. Heck he might even have a constitutional legal right to grin and "bear" it. . . :-)
I can understand how some people, not just U*Us by any means, might consider it to be inappropriate to bear potentially lethal weapons within the sanctuary of a church, and ask that they be deposited for safekeeping during the service, but there does seem to be some measure of less than rational fear involved here. Jason's question about how this decision might affect the use of ritual daggers is a valid concern for U*U pagans. I recall a member of the Pagan Grove Of Montreal using a full sized sword during the pagan ritual that was done in the sanctuary of the Unitarian Church of Montreal during the first, and last. . . celebration of Creation Day in it. What if a Sikh visits the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in Franklin? Will he be asked to remove his kirpan before entering the "church"? Will paranoid U*Us fear that he is hiding a bomb in his turban?
During the court hearing arising from Rev. Diane Rollert's paranoid fantasies, and/or cynical misuse of criminal law to censor and suppress my peaceful public protest aka non-violent direct action in front of the Unitarian Church of Montreal, the judge asked me if I owned any weapons. You should have seen her face when I responded to her question by saying - "Everbody owns weapons your honour. All they have to do is look in their kitchen drawer. . ."
After glaring at me for a bit the judge corrected her question by asking me if I own any "prohibited weapons" to which I honestly answered no. I thought it wise not rub it in her face by informing her that I had a stainless steel keychain in my pocket with a one inch penknife blade and a couple of screwdrivers that *could* potentially be used as a weapon if I wasn't more concerned about doing harm to myself in doing so.
The upshot of this is that the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in Franklin should either rethink their policy about knives or remove every knife from their kitchen. . . While they are at it they might want to remove all the chairs from the "church " or firmly bolt them to the floor because, as someone who has been falsely and maliciously accused of being involved in "a chair throwing incident" by U*U slanderers, I am appreciative of how chairs may be used as weapons. BTW They had better get rid of that rainbow flag in the lobby lest someone use the flagpole to spear someone.
end quote
For the record I made that comment based solely on what Jason's blog post said before even reading the Smoky Mountain News article titled 'Franklin man banned from bringing knife to church'. Subsequently reading the article showed that it only validated what I had said in my comment. Here are some choice quotes from that article about how the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in Franklin prohibited Pagan U*U Charles Rowe from bringing his hunting knife to church after a paranoid old coot by the name of Dr. Bill David saw him with the blade at a Sunday service and got "worried". . . I strongly suggest reading the whole article however since it reveals inept mishandling of the situation that is all too typical Unitarian*Universalists -
But even in Appalachia, where mountain men once thrived, Dr. Bill David, the complainant, said knives still shouldn’t be allowed in church.
“I’m opposed to bringing weapons to church,” David told The Smoky Mountain News from his home in Athens, Ga. “I didn’t confront him personally. He was sitting in front of me. I kept my mouth shut. I didn’t want him stabbing at me with that knife. He may get mad at someone. It should never be permitted.”
Knives aren’t allowed in the post office either, David noted.
David said he has no reason to believe that Rowe would do anything violent with the knife. (Editor's note - WTF?!!)
Rowe said he thinks David overreacted to his knife. The knife is a tool, not a weapon, said Rowe.
“I think our society has become too paranoid,” Rowe told The Smoky Mountain News in an interview at his house on Saturday (Feb. 28). “I wear it everywhere.”
‘The knife is part of me’
Rowe said his main problem with the ordeal has been the way the church handled it. He said he wanted to express his views to the entire congregation, but he felt church officials censored him.
“I wasn’t given a chance to discuss it rationally,” he said.
Rowe also said he wasn’t give a chance to meet with the person who complained. Rowe sent an e-mail to a church official explaining his side and asked that it be forwarded to the entire congregation, but it wasn’t.
“This is just one example of why we need open conversation within this congregation,” said Rowe.
“We all too often succumb to the tyranny of the least stable among us, giving up our precious freedoms to appease those who suffer from irrational fears and paranoia so as not to offend anyone,” he wrote. (Editor's note: No fucking kidding. . .)
Pagan U*U blogger Jason Pitzl-Waters has picked up this well publicized U*U paranoia on his appropriately titled 'Wild Hunt' blog today in a blog post titled 'Quick Note: Weapons and UU Churches'. I submitted the following comment to it by it may not remain visible for all that long if Jason decides to "memory hole" it. Hopefully he won't because it is certainly very much on topic to this U*U breaking news and his blog post about it -
This kind of paranoia is all too typical of Unitarian*Universalists and it existed even before Jim David Adkisson walked into the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church in Knoxville with a shotgun and a bag full of shells to sow his thankfully curtailed "whirlwind" of shotgun blasts. In that Charles Rowe has a proven track record of wearing his knife in church without incident I dare say that he almost has an acquired right to continue to wear it. Heck he might even have a constitutional legal right to grin and "bear" it. . . :-)
I can understand how some people, not just U*Us by any means, might consider it to be inappropriate to bear potentially lethal weapons within the sanctuary of a church, and ask that they be deposited for safekeeping during the service, but there does seem to be some measure of less than rational fear involved here. Jason's question about how this decision might affect the use of ritual daggers is a valid concern for U*U pagans. I recall a member of the Pagan Grove Of Montreal using a full sized sword during the pagan ritual that was done in the sanctuary of the Unitarian Church of Montreal during the first, and last. . . celebration of Creation Day in it. What if a Sikh visits the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in Franklin? Will he be asked to remove his kirpan before entering the "church"? Will paranoid U*Us fear that he is hiding a bomb in his turban?
During the court hearing arising from Rev. Diane Rollert's paranoid fantasies, and/or cynical misuse of criminal law to censor and suppress my peaceful public protest aka non-violent direct action in front of the Unitarian Church of Montreal, the judge asked me if I owned any weapons. You should have seen her face when I responded to her question by saying - "Everbody owns weapons your honour. All they have to do is look in their kitchen drawer. . ."
After glaring at me for a bit the judge corrected her question by asking me if I own any "prohibited weapons" to which I honestly answered no. I thought it wise not rub it in her face by informing her that I had a stainless steel keychain in my pocket with a one inch penknife blade and a couple of screwdrivers that *could* potentially be used as a weapon if I wasn't more concerned about doing harm to myself in doing so.
The upshot of this is that the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in Franklin should either rethink their policy about knives or remove every knife from their kitchen. . . While they are at it they might want to remove all the chairs from the "church " or firmly bolt them to the floor because, as someone who has been falsely and maliciously accused of being involved in "a chair throwing incident" by U*U slanderers, I am appreciative of how chairs may be used as weapons. BTW They had better get rid of that rainbow flag in the lobby lest someone use the flagpole to spear someone.
end quote
For the record I made that comment based solely on what Jason's blog post said before even reading the Smoky Mountain News article titled 'Franklin man banned from bringing knife to church'. Subsequently reading the article showed that it only validated what I had said in my comment. Here are some choice quotes from that article about how the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in Franklin prohibited Pagan U*U Charles Rowe from bringing his hunting knife to church after a paranoid old coot by the name of Dr. Bill David saw him with the blade at a Sunday service and got "worried". . . I strongly suggest reading the whole article however since it reveals inept mishandling of the situation that is all too typical Unitarian*Universalists -
But even in Appalachia, where mountain men once thrived, Dr. Bill David, the complainant, said knives still shouldn’t be allowed in church.
“I’m opposed to bringing weapons to church,” David told The Smoky Mountain News from his home in Athens, Ga. “I didn’t confront him personally. He was sitting in front of me. I kept my mouth shut. I didn’t want him stabbing at me with that knife. He may get mad at someone. It should never be permitted.”
Knives aren’t allowed in the post office either, David noted.
David said he has no reason to believe that Rowe would do anything violent with the knife. (Editor's note - WTF?!!)
Rowe said he thinks David overreacted to his knife. The knife is a tool, not a weapon, said Rowe.
“I think our society has become too paranoid,” Rowe told The Smoky Mountain News in an interview at his house on Saturday (Feb. 28). “I wear it everywhere.”
‘The knife is part of me’
Rowe said his main problem with the ordeal has been the way the church handled it. He said he wanted to express his views to the entire congregation, but he felt church officials censored him.
“I wasn’t given a chance to discuss it rationally,” he said.
Rowe also said he wasn’t give a chance to meet with the person who complained. Rowe sent an e-mail to a church official explaining his side and asked that it be forwarded to the entire congregation, but it wasn’t.
“This is just one example of why we need open conversation within this congregation,” said Rowe.
“We all too often succumb to the tyranny of the least stable among us, giving up our precious freedoms to appease those who suffer from irrational fears and paranoia so as not to offend anyone,” he wrote. (Editor's note: No fucking kidding. . .)
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