It seems I was not alone in my, ah, disdain for Rapid City Weekly News columnist John Tsitrian's disdain for churches that take seriously Christ's admonition to be "salt and light" in a dark world.
A few weeks ago, as many Catholic and Protestant churches across South Dakota made the pro-life petition available to their congregations, we saw articles coming out of both the Rapid City Journal and the Rapid City Weekly News which engaged in a little fear-mongering.
Some people (and we know who) would obviously rather keep Christian churches silent and irrelevant in the public square, and waving the club of their tax exempt status over their heads is a good way to intimidate some.
If you follow the links embedded in the text above, you'll see that I had my own comments to refute these thinly veiled threats, and expressed my displeasure with them.
Today in the Rapid City Weekly News, several local citizens have spoken up about their displeasure with Tsitrian's column.
Here are a few tidbits:
Priests and ministers are within their right of free speech when they instruct their congregations on their duty, as Christians and children of God, to fight against injustice, in this case the terrible injustice of depriving innocent children in the womb of their right to life - Mary Alice Sorensen, Rapid City
It’s still wrong to kill the child and wrong to mislead the woman into thinking abortion is a solution to their problems. It is immoral to leave women to their own suffering that the abortion doctors, Planned Parenthood and some fathers never address. But the church is sympathetic to picking up the messes Planned Parenthood leaves.
Long before Mr. Tsitrian seeks to change the tax code concerning churches and property tax, he should consider removing taxpayer supported funding of Planned Parenthood to the tune of $305.3 million. - Clark Sowers, Belle Fourche
Throughout his rant he demeans Christians, mocks Catholics, and perverts the United States Constitution. Indeed, his apoplexy over the “Establishment” clause of the First Amendment has made him completely forget about the “Free Exercise” clause.
Bishops, pastors and priests have a moral obligation to counsel their parishioners about responsible citizenship and to invite the faithful to act according to good conscience. Tsitrian mischaracterizes the abortion law petitions as “favoring the passage of a law”...
Perhaps taxing churches would lower Mr. Tsitrian’s taxes. But how much would his tax bill go down if we eliminated government entitlements and left charity to the churches? - Tonchi Weaver, Rapid City
Well said, folks!
Maybe word is getting around in the Christian community that you can't ignore the murder of innocents and be "salt and light."
Maybe word is getting around in the Christian community that the Word that Christians hold to really does have relevance outside the four walls of their church.
Maybe word is getting around in the Christian community that not only do Christians have the obligation to present to the community the solutions their faith has to offer, but that they can do so without jeopardizing their tax exempt status.
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