You Never Listen

 Southerners love to read, but sometimes they don't listen very well.

One of the first stories in the Bible tells of how enslaving a large population of foreign people ends up with a city full of frogs and the death of the firstborn.  You'd think that'd be a pretty good lesson, but the moment we saw the Spanish making some money on this African slave thing, we wanted in on it.  

Even after Nat Turner said he was inspired by Moses and operated on messages from God, we embraced slavery and believed we were righteous.  In the end, nearly three-quarters of a million of our firstborn lay dead, our homes and farms burned, our business destroyed, and our stores of treasure depleted or emptied, but the slaves were free.  We read, but we don't listen, and it costs us.

individuals of sacred worth

Responding to an increased awareness of the inequities visited on homosexuals, in 1972, the United Methodist Church proposed a statement in  The Book of Discipline of The United Methodist Church (the UMC official statement of law and doctrine) reading: "homosexual persons no less than heterosexual persons are individuals of sacred worth." meaning, homosexuals are loved by God as much as heterosexual peoples.

Some feared this was a step too far and might be interpreted as the church condoning homosexuality, so the phrase "though we do not condone the practice of homosexuality and consider this practice incompatible with Christian doctrine" was added, making it clear that homosexuals would not be eligible for clergy positions and the UMC would not condone homosexual marriages.  That is where we stand today.

Some in the church, myself included, would like to retain the "individuals of sacred worth" statement as written but delete the "we do not condone" language, giving individual pastors the leeway to make their own decisions about homosexual marriage as they see guided by their own enlightenment and understanding of scripture. 

I tend to see pastors the same way I do doctors.  We require them to do significant work to develop the judgment necessary to accomplish their job, and I think we should let them use it.  The most likely outcome is that some UMC pastors will perform gay marriages, and some will not.  I think that's fair. 

Even discussing this change means that some want to leave the UMC and slander it.  In the twenty-first century, I don't see how an American or European Methodism can survive if homosexuality is gonna be a third rail.   In my heart, I know Christ would not want that.  I avoid using the phrase "I know" with anything regarding Jesus, but I feel strongly about this.  Jesus would not deny a sacrament to anyone that loved and, in his life, celebrated love, food, and fellowship with everyone, even those rejected by the church leaders.  

Unwelcome immigrants

 In a nation made of immigrants, this current hate for immigrants confuses me.  When my ancestors came here, there were no signs saying "Fàilte Dhachaigh!" (welcome home) or "Is breá linn an Ghaeilge!" (we love the Irish).  Nobody tried to send us to Martha's Vineyard either, although I would have gone.  It's pretty cool there.  There's an awful lot of folks in the Choctaw nation who can attest to the fact that we weren't invited.  English speakers already here considered my ancestors vermin.  People were still calling the Irish "broom pushers" when Kennedy was elected, and some afterward.

I get that the number of immigrants is intimidating.  Their backgrounds are questionable.  They're beyond poor, and they don't speak English.  How different were the ships filled with desperate souls from Glasgow, Perth, or Aberdeen?   I'm Irish, Scottish, and Ulster-Scott, and I stand against this.  It's not right to deny others what was given to us.

Millsaps and HBCU

Before it even began, there was a bond between Millsaps and Mississippi's historically black colleges.  Major Millsaps arranged a land swap between the Jackson College For Negros and some land he held, putting what would become Jackson State University in what was the center of the city, and Millsaps' idea for a new Christian college, on the outskirts of town, dangerously near the insane asylum.  The larger piece of land allowed Millsaps to later construct the first golf course in Mississippi history.  It also put the gates of the new college at the entrance to what was then called "Silk-Stocking Row."

After the debacle of what happened at Ole Miss, Millsaps would be the first white Mississippi college to voluntarily open its rolls to non-white students two years later.  During the same time, a period of understanding and cooperation between Millsaps and Tougaloo opened up.  It was not universally well received.  This was the first real test of my dad's young leadership.  

Dad's perspective on race was formed at a young age when he met Ivan Allen, Jr. at a National Office Products Alliance convention.  Besides being a fellow stationer, Allen would run for and win the mayorship of Atlanta on the basis of his philosophy that "there are simply too many negros in Atlanta for us to prosper unless they do too."  This idea that beating down the black man kept everybody down became part of my early diet.  

The idea that Millsaps professors and students should cavort with their counterparts at Tougaloo caused irritation in some quarters.  My dad, a few key players, and most of the church believed it should continue, even if they personally didn't see any sense in it. It would not be long after that Galloway would split into two churches over similar issues.  Ultimately, some disgruntled souls would take the issue to the bank, where official Trustmark sources said, "This liberal teacher bullshit doesn't really matter.  We're not getting involved."  With that, the issue was settled.

There were a few times when teachers would have to be reminded that Millsaps paid their salary, not Tougaloo, and a few students had to be reminded that Tougaloo awarded no quality points to Millsaps students unless they were enrolled in a class, but on the whole, the Millsaps-Tougaloo cooperation was a success and continues to this day.  

Building Millsaps to the north was probably the first big nudge to developing Jackson to the North East.  The Major's primary concern seems to have been that it was more than twenty percent bigger and had better drainage.  He would soon build a home nearby.