Plead the First

The High Point City Council recently voted on a resolution to stick with non-sectarian prayers at the start of their meetings. The resolution passed, with Councilman Mike Pugh casting the lone, dissenting vote, saying, “No, in the name of Jesus Christ”. As you may recall, Pugh would rather start city council meetings with prayers to Jesus.

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Last week was an interesting and unusual week for me.

Early in the week, I found myself wrestling with this cartoon – after running it by a few people, I’d gotten a very mixed bag of feedback on it. Some thought it was very good, some thought it was too contentious, and others thought it missed the mark in comparing Pugh’s attitude with the verse from Matthew.

Later in the week, my Pulpit Forum cartoon started generating some negative responses, including a Letter to the Editor in the News and Record.

All this prompted a lot of thinking on the role and responsibilites of a political cartoonist, as well as on the limitations of the medium.

I’m generally not a mean or confrontational person, which makes editorial cartooning a bit uncomfortable for me at times. Having to publicly ridicule people on a regular basis tends to go against Mom’s admonition that if you can’t say something nice, you shouldn’t say anything at all.

However, one well-known political cartoonist (I can’t remember who it was at the moment, unfortunately) said that the job of the cartoonist is to hold people in power accountable for their actions, and to me that is an important distinction. Wielded against an appropriate target – those in power – and with the purpose of encouraging them to use their power in good ways, a stinging cartoon can become a way to help right wrongs. I don’t pretend that my cartoons amount to a crusade for truth and justice, but I do find the idea of holding those in power accountable to be a useful guiding principle. Towards that end, kind and gentle cartoons are unlikely to get the job done.

Unfortunately, while editorial cartoons can be a powerful device, they also can be a bit of a blunt instrument. Exaggeration is one of the primary tools of the cartoonist, and because of this it’s sometimes difficult to present a nuanced, detailed position on a subject. Background info and context can get left out or inadequately communicated, and that can lead to misunderstandings.

For example, some critics of my Pulpit Forum cartoon seemed to assume that I am racist. (Ironically that’s the exact thing my cartoon was critical of – attributing any criticism to racist motivations rather than to a legitimate complaint about the person or group in question.) However, I’m sure that the members of the Pulpit Forum are fine people. I have no problem with the members themselves, only with their seemingly hair-trigger, unsupported use of the “racist” label – a tactic which detracts from any legitimate arguments they may actually have.

Similarly, the Pugh cartoon may not convey enough context for some people either. At first glance, there may indeed seem to be a disconnect between the bible verse and my criticism of Pugh, or someone may (incorrectly) think I am speaking out against all public prayer. After all, in Matthew 6, Jesus is not prohibiting public prayer, but rather cautioning against praying publicly for the wrong reasons – for the glory of the petitioner rather than of God.

And that’s where some context can help out. I tried to put it in by echoing Pugh’s words at the council meeting: “No, in the name of Jesus Christ”. When Pugh said those words, he was not in prayer, or in fellowship with other believers. He was casting a vote on a contentious subject at a City Council meeting. That is one point of reference.

A second point of reference was not in the cartoon, but may be familiar to anyone following the story. At an earlier rally with supporters, Pugh threatened to take his fight all the way to the Supreme Court. These sorts of actions – threats and grandiose proclaimations – smack of grandstanding. In other words – in my opinion – I think Pugh is doing exactly what we are warned not to do by Matthew 6:5-6.

As I’m finding out, some people will understand that point, and maybe agree with it. Others will disagree. Ideally, the cartoon will get people – maybe even Pugh himself – to think about the issue in a way they may not have. If that happens, the cartoon will have done its job.

Seymour Hardy Floyd is blogging again after a long absence. If you have any interest in what’s going on locally in the Greensboro area, you need to read Hardy’s thoughtful take on matters. Check out Seymour’s Purple Mind II.

From the Duke University website, on Friday July 20 (emphasis added):

By now many of you have read news accounts around iPhones and Duke’s wireless network … Cisco worked closely with Duke and Apple to identify the source of this problem, which was caused by a Cisco-based network issue.

Three days later, on Monday July 23, the Greensboro News and Record prints this (emphasis added, again):

Apple’s ubiquitous new iPhone can do everything but take out the trash and do the laundry, if you’re to believe the hype.

But there appears to be an unexpected side effect at Duke University, where the new devices may be interfering with the school’s wireless network.

Experts say the iPhone and Duke’s wi-fi may need to adjust how they speak to one another. A failure, ironically, to communicate.

I know they’re short-staffed over there, but really – it’s been known for three days that the problem was with the university’s network, yet they’re still implying that the iPhone was at fault. It’s extra embarrassing considering that Duke is right down the road.

Update, October 2014: I’m removing this cartoon. After witnessing the mess in Ferguson this summer, and the discussions surrounding it, I don’t feel I can stand behind it any longer. The intentions behind it were good, but that doesn’t mean that I was right. There’s a lot more to issues around race than I had considered at the time. Looking back on it now, it feels too much like “punching down” rather than “punching up”, which is what a good political cartoon should strive for.

Update: This cartoon garnered a letter to the editor in the July 27 edition of the News and Record. The writer takes issue with what she sees to be some implications of the cartoon. I tried to explain my position a little better in the comments there.

A few people, the letter writer included, seem to think my position here is a racist one. But drawing that unwarranted conclusion is to do the exact thing that this cartoon is critical of. As I said in the comments on the letters to the editor thread:

The mere fact that I criticize the Pulpit Forum does not make my perspective racist. … that sort of leap brushes aside the criticism as nothing more than a result of a racist attitude, and fails to look at the criticism on its own merits.

Despite the fact that there’s no objective indication of racial motivations, the Pulpit Forum has made accusations of racism a central part of their criticism of the Bellamy-Small recall effort (and of Gatten before that). This detracts from any legitimate arguments they may have with the recall effort, and is itself harmful to race relations and productive dialog.

A bit oversimplified, as he admits, but it’s an interesting argument. He addresses some criticisms here, here, and here.

(Via The Talent Show)

My photo of the Fourth of July fireworks in Kernersville was selected as this week’s Picture of the Week for WUNC’s The State of Things on North Carolina Public Radio. Finding that out was a nice way to start the week!

Speaking of photos, the photoset for my recent southwest vacation is coming along slowly but surely. I’ve stalled out on it for the moment, but I’ll be finishing it up as soon as I get time to sort through and process more of the photos.

Guilford County Commissioners turned a blind eye to our past when they came up with our new budget:

Julie Curry’s job was to make sure Guilford County’s history didn’t get lost.

Now, she has lost the job she held for 11 years. And outraged preservationists declare progress to save historic structures will suffer as a result.

Curry, who was county government’s only historic preservation specialist, worked her last day Friday.

“I was hoping it was a typo,” Curry said, explaining how she learned she was losing her job while reading a story June 21 in the News & Record.

That night, county commissioners officially abolished her 30-hours-a-week position, in which she earned $31,465.80 and benefits. It was among cuts the board made to balance the county’s $549.3 million 2007-08 budget, which went into effect Sunday.

Wharton and Hoggard weighed in last week.

The thing that amazes me is that county preservationist position was eliminated before, almost 20 years ago, with ill effects that led to the hiring of Curry. I don’t know why the Commissioners think things will be different this time around.

From this Wednesday’s Fourth of July festivities in Kernersville.

… because our city council is about to fight a losing battle:

Mike Pugh got a standing ovation even before he finished telling the gathering for the “In Jesus’ Name” prayer rally Saturday that he is willing to take the fight to invoke the name of Jesus in opening City Council meetings all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.

I see two possible outcomes to this.

The first is that they fight it out in court and lose. Similar cases have been tried before, and the courts have been consistent – sectarian prayers that advance one specific faith over another are unconstitutional. If Pugh and the city council are merely going to “fight to invoke the name of Jesus in opening City Council meetings” then they are going to lose that fight – at the taxpayers’ expense.

The second possible outcome hinges on the council taking a slightly different approach. From the News and Record article linked above:

Pugh’s proposal would allow for a rotation of people of various faiths, which would give non-Christians the same right to invoke the name of their deity during prayer — something he thinks would pass muster with the courts.

That has the potential to succeed in court. However, winning that battle sets the council up for a whole different set of problems. It’s been shown in the past that while some folks *say* they are willing to give people of other faiths equal access, when that possibility becomes a reality they suddenly become firm believers in the idea of separation of church and state. The most recent example that comes to mind is the Virginia fiasco revolving around a pagan flyer handed out at schools.

Christian groups in Albemarle County, Virginia pushed their school district to allow churches to distribute flyers to schoolchildren through a school “backpack mail” program. After being threatened with legal action by the Liberty Counsel – a Religious Right legal group – the district acceded to the request, opening the “backpack mail” program to all religious groups. Soon after, some local Pagans took advantage of the opportunity with a flyer promoting a December holiday event with a Pagan twist to it. Christian leaders and parents in the community suddenly saw this as inappropriate, and expressed outrage at the idea that the school system would allow such flyers to be distributed.

ReligiousTolerance.org has some examples that are even more relevant:

The Tampa city council has had a long tradition of having Christian ministers and an occasional Jewish rabbi deliver an invocation before the start of each meeting. Ed Golly, chairperson of Atheists of Florida offered to have someone from his group take a turn saying the invocation. Councilman John Dingfelder agreed. He later said that people of different beliefs, or lack thereof, deserve a chance to give an invocation without censorship. He said “I thank God every day that I live in a country that accepts everybody.” The Atheist group had selected Michael R. Harvey to say the invocation. Councilman Kevin White tried to deny him an opportunity to speak, saying: “We have never had people of an Atheist group represent Americans and I don’t think it is appropriate in this setting.” He called for a vote to either find a different person to pray, or to bypass the invocation for this meeting. Different sources say that there was either one or two votes in favor; the vote would have had to be unanimous in order to take effect. White then walked out of the meeting, along with fellow council members Mary Alvarez and Rose Ferlita.

And this:

Cynthia Simpson, a Wiccan priestess, was informed that she could not lead the opening prayer at a Chesterfield County Board of Supervisors meeting. The county asserted that her beliefs as a Wiccan were not consistent with the Judeo-Christian tradition.

So, how will High Point Councilmembers and citizens react when a Muslim Imam wants to deliver the invocation, praying in the name of Allah? Or a Wiccan Priestess? A Satanist? Is that something that Pugh and his supporters really want to see?

This issue has come up before, and I think Jon Lowder had a great take on the situation in the comments:

As far as the City Council and whether/how they pray, personally I don’t see a need for any government forum to start with a prayer of any kind. To me it is city business, not city worship. I’ve never been in a business meeting that started with a prayer and I don’t see the need for it at a city business meeting.

Despite what some of the people quoted in the News and Record article seem to think, no one is trying to stop any private citizens from praying on their own time as they see fit. The circumstances in question are very limited – actions by a government body at a government business function. As Mayor Becky Smothers pointed out, “Council is perfectly able to pray informally before we get up on that dais.” They can also pray silently to themselves at absolutely any time they want to.

I think some words from Matthew are appropriate here:

And now about prayer. When you pray, don’t be like the hypocrites who love to pray publicly on street corners and in the synagogues where everyone can see them. I assure you, that is all the reward they will ever get. But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father secretly. Then your Father, who knows all secrets, will reward you.

Whatever reward Pugh is seeking through a legal battle, I don’t think it’s going to work out quite the way he hopes.

From CNN.com:

A bitterly divided U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday issued what is likely to be a landmark opinion — ruling that race cannot be a factor in the assignment of children to public schools.

The court struck down public school choice plans in Seattle, Washington, and Louisville, Kentucky, concluding they relied on an unconstitutional use of racial criteria, with the 5-4 vote reflecting the deep legal and social divide over the issue of race and education.

Similar plans already in place or being proposed across the country could be in danger as a result of the ruling, which would sharply limit the power of local governments to achieve diversity using race-based criteria.

I wonder how much impact this will have next time the Guilford County school board tries to rework the local school districts?