Well why don't you tell them the whole story about this situation, and see what they say.
Don't forget to come back and tell us what you hear.
As an aside, I have talked to many of my "real" black friends about this issue, none of them connected to CC in any way. They are all aware of it to some degree. And they all say the same thing.
Let's just say none of them would be willing to stand on the side of the "Objectors".
Here we go. This is a sensitive subject, and everyone is looking for someone to hang. Not fair attacking someone for making a statement that there is no way to word "correctly" Some of my best friends go to church..you know...not the wrong church , but the real church. And some of my friends are jewish, and they don't even look it. Go easy my friends
I don't know about the last post nor about "careful with the wording". Remember I USE my name.
I didn't grow up in a community with a lot of black people, nor do I live in one now. No, we don't have a "lot" of black friends.
Now, does that mean I should start socializing somewhere that has more racial diversity? Why?
Regardless, at the risk of dignifying your assinine question, I'll answer.
A very good friend of our family is black, extremely cool, and we hang with him on a regular basis. My husband is on his way out with him right now. But, this guy's black and Jewish, so maybe he's not black enough for your little study.
There are three people at my office who are black--
I'm sure any of these people would appreciate it if I went and asked them how they felt about this issue. As I said before, it would automatically imply a racial undertone which doesn't, in reality, exist.
If I did, however, they'd probably all agree that they wouldn't want 5,000 fanatical born-agains traipsing through their neighborhoods either.
I'm against the church coming here because of traffic concerns.
I have black friends - not many - but then again, there are not many black people in the area.
They've been to my house for dinner. My kids have played with their kids.
I even have friends in mixed marriages. They even came to my wedding (ooooh....).
But according to all the Rev. Ireland supporters, I'm a racist because I'm against Christ Church building their mega-campus in my rural town.
I just love all you Al Sharptonites who when you can't win an argument based on it's merits, try to paint things as racial. The world is not black and white - there are many shades of gray. Of course there are racists in Rockaway. There are also racists in Montclair. Some are white. Some are black. Some will try to use race as a wedge to get their way.
It all comes down to the merits of the applications - Not the race of Rev. Ireland. The mega-sprawling-campus-parking-area is TOO BIG for our town. Residents do NOT want it here and contrary to what Rev. Ireland told our local clergy, he'll do whatever it takes to fulfill his dream of replacing his brand new luxury Lexus SUV with a Hummer by next year. For him, I believe this is more about ego and money than anything else....I think he's shown his true colors <pun intended> at the hearing by being so evasive about future growth, but such a good 'numbers' guy about everything else.
I have black friends, I've been to one of their baptist churches and actually liked the service much better than the catholic masses. But that is not the issue here. If Christ Church was 5000 white people I still would not want the church here. I moved here from Parsippany after 40 years, want to talk about what happens when too many people and too much congestion takes over a town ??? How you lose your rural to surburbia, your open air, woods, lakes, landscape. How it takes 1/2 hr to get somewhere that use to take 5 minutes. I don't want to lose Rockaway Township like I did Parsippany. We must fight or lose our identity.
You're saying that everyone in Rockaway should ask their black friends their opinion on Christ Church?
I don't care what my black friends who live in NY and CT think. They don't live here. I've got an Asian friend living in India - do I need to check her opinion? What about my friend from Japan? Can I check with the one person I know in England? He's white, so does his opinion count less?
And I suppose that if a Rockaway resident does not have black friends (after all - if someone grew up here, there are very few people of color living here), they are automatically racist and not allowed to have an opinion?
Again - this is supporters of Christ Church attempting to use race and racism as a wedge against the good citizens of Rockaway Township.
Racial issues are not an issue for us. It just so happens that the singer in my band and very good friend is black. I had this conversation with my singer the other day and he totally agreed with me that there were no good reasons that CC should have a place in town. Unfortunately, he doesn’t live in rockaway or he would probably come to the meetings.
My wife and I were both raised to view people by their merits and their faults, not by their skin tone or religion or hair style. I grew up in Paterson and have had plenty of exposure to a multitude of races and ethnicities.
Basically what I’m saying is you're barking up the wrong tree.
Maybe instead you should be questioning the man that openly told this town that he would not hire anyone that was not of his religion. To me, that is pretty serious. At the same time, he’s perfectly happy to accept the money of students of any religion to attend his school.
Contrary to Mr. Ireland and CC’s belief, Rockaway is a diverse town. Our daughter has friends representing that. Catholic, Jewish, Hindu, Methodist and Lutheran, all the same here in rockaway.
I’m sure that if I owned my own BUSINESS and publicly said that I refused to hire Methodists, the Methodist Anti-Defamation League would be all over me.
Why does Mr. Ireland insist Rockaway is a horribly racist town while Mr. Ireland’s prejudice is glaringly apparent?
