| “Resourcefulness” by the
cities, er, Character First/Bill Gothard/IBLP definition is,
being able to do something from someone else’s discards. It
reminds me of the stories I have learned in history class about
slavery when the slaves had to make do with what the slave
owners gave them, be it food, clothing, whatever. It also
reminds me of when Hitler put oppression on the German people
and slaughtered anyone who didn’t believe the way he did. I am
certainly not saying that that would happen here but the door
was cracked open when the commission approved the Character
First Program. America never thought that Hitler would do such a
thing either. Just ask a WWII vet. This program most certainly
may not be hurting people physically here in Three Rivers, but
it is hurting people physically in Indianapolis, Indiana at one
of Bill Gothard’s Training Centers. Children are put in
“prayer rooms” for day’s or even weeks without food or
water, even without bathroom privileges. There are other ways of
hurting people other than physically. (At the end of this
article there will be a few web sites to check out)
As far as the 25 people making up ALL the walks of life in a
city of 7,500 is a bit of a stretch. Among the 25 people who
attended the Character Council Meeting, there were business
owners, ministers, charitable organizations, one school board
member, and city officials. When I count that I only five walks
of life represented in that meeting. You have to remember that
that was the original meeting. What portion of those people that
were in the original meeting, will be taking on this program?
Well, let’s look at this a bit closer. The school board member
is eliminated because the school spoke and they are not going to
take this on because they have something that they are already
using. That school board member can promote it all he/she wants
just like those who oppose it can, but the fact remains that it
is his/her own personal opinion. Some ministers are eliminated
from the equation because they already have a plan. (The Bible
or it’s equivalent) So now, that only leaves three walks of
life represented. You do the math. What I am wondering is that
if five, excuse me, three, make up ALL the walks of life, then
who is representing the elderly, physically challenged, the
school, the youth, college students, doctors, lawyers, blue
collar workers? To me it looks like not all the walks of life
were represented.
When it comes to the mission of the Character Council being to
“encourage better character community wide” I have to
disagree because I thought that it was up to the citizens to do
that individually, in a free society. We have a diverse
community, that alone brings character to our community. If we
all thought, or looked the same, then we just might be on the
verge of utopia or Nazism. It could, as the old saying goes, get
pretty boring.
It isn’t in the job description of the city commission to tell
the taxpayers of this city what is right or wrong morally or
anything for that matter. It IS the job of the city commission
to ensure the citizens have police and fire protection, clean
water to drink, a functional wastewater treatment plant, decent
roads and to try not to raise the taxes. I could go on and on.
It isn’t the job of local government to mandate character
descriptions/ definitions to its employee’s either. It is not
in the city charter, city ordinances, the Michigan State
Constitution or even the United States Constitution, Bill of
Rights, or anything that this country goes by, or the job
description of the city manager.
The local government is a body that is to act only on things of
a legal matter, not on a personal level. But because the
commission “trusts” the city manager and it seems that the
commissioners choose not to address the concerns of the
taxpaying citizens, then the commissioners might as well go home
and let the city manager run the city. This letter may seem a
bit sarcastic or offensive but I am truly amazed and livid on
how this program got approved so quickly without a lot of
research. I forgot, the commission “trusts” the people
implementing the program, even when all the information about
this program is ignored or denied. What kind of representatives
do we have in our city? The commission is at the mercy of the
city manager when it comes to getting information. How many
times does the commissioners do any “investigating” on their
own? I can’t answer for them, but I investigate. And on
several occasions I was told that I shouldn’t do that because
that is not what I was suppose to do as a commissioner. I was
even told that it was unethical to discuss things with other
people.
This overwhelming support for the character program on the night
of October 16th, 2001 from citizens, includes mostly people from
“ANOTHER STATE!!” or from outside of the city limits. That
alone eliminates about half of the group. There were
approximately 18 people there at the city commission meeting the
night it got approved. And let’s not forget “all” those
meetings that the city had, all of about two or three, and those
were “only” held because the vote was postponed for two
weeks. Had the vote not been postponed that night, the Character
First program would have been slammed through without any
meetings to inform the public at all.
After reading the brochures of some of the character traits, the
only thing that I felt like doing was going to my local sporting
goods store and buy equipment to go hunting or fishing. Every
character trait has to do with some animal. That to, I feel, a
bit resentful towards the city commission and the city manager
to think that we, as people or citizens, are being compared to
some kind of animal.
This program is trying to create a better society through
bettering everyone’s behavior, getting everyone to think on
the same character trait, same thought, at the same time. What
kind of life would that be if everyone thought the same? Again,
pretty dangerous.
I am almost positive that we as responsible adults are always
seeking improvements when it comes to our families and our
individual lives, and I resent the fact that the city commission
feels that they can help me/you with that. I, for one, don’t
need anyone telling me where I should shop, what I should buy,
and what to do with my “leftovers” or the “leftovers” of
someone else. If I want to throw away food to the dog rather
than freeze it, I have that right, or throw clothes away instead
of giving them to Goodwill or to someone who needs them, I have
that right too. Why? Because we live in a country that gives us
that right because of the men and women who have died to protect
that right. What I buy with my money is my business and not
anyone else’s.
I personally don’t want the government involved with my life
anymore than they already are. Every year that goes by another
right or privilege is taken away. Seatbelt use, helmets, you
can’t turn a corner without the government interfering in your
life, so when are we going to say enough is enough? I understand
that there are certain things that the government has to help
with, but not every area of our lives, especially our freedom of
opinion and conscious.
As far as this program being voluntary, that couldn’t be
farther from the real truth. Again, smoke and mirrors from city
hall. Just ask the city employees how voluntary it is. I
specifically asked the city manager if the city employees had to
attend character training and he said if he is having a meeting,
he expects them to be there. While no city money is being spent
as of this date, there are indirect expenses that the city is
incurring; i.e. city employee’s time away from their jobs to
be taught character, possible attendance at seminars on how to
teach character and also moral problems from the employees who
have religious beliefs that conflict with the some of the
definitions taught by this program.
Next year the grant money is decreased by a certain percentage
and let’s not forget that the city manager has a $7,500
spending authority to which he could easily approve taxpayer’s
money to go towards this program to keep it at the $10,000
level. Then the fourth year it goes down even more and again,
the city managers spending authority is $7,500 to make up the
difference. Eventually the money for the program could be taken
out of our tax dollars. I, for one, do not want to see one
taxpayer’s dollar spent on this program or any other program
like it.
Now, lets look at this month’s character trait. Tolerance vs.
Prejudice- To illustrate the point with one of their animal
stories they include: “The soft shell meat of the eastern box
turtle is a delicacy for the curious raccoons. Unable to fight
against the agile raccoon, the turtle must retreat inside its
shell. As the raccoon “tinkers” with the turtle, trying to
find a crack to pry it open, the turtle must patiently
“tolerate” being turned over and tossed around while holding
itself shut.” I don’t know about you, but I call that
survival. If someone is bothering you to the point of trying to
get at you to “eat” you, and ultimately kill you, you do
whatever you can to protect yourself. You get a court ordered
personal protection order, call the police, something. You
don’t just “tolerate” it because you would be in obedience
to the aggressor.
If you have an opinion either way, please come to a city
commission meeting on the first and third Tuesday of each month
at 6:00pm.
www.liberty1st.org
www.wishtv.com/global/story.asp?S=655112
www.wishtv.com/global/story.asp?S=656484
www.wishtv.com/global/story.asp?S=648729
www.newstimesbpb.com/issues1999-02-18/feature.html/1/index.html
www.freedomforum.org
(I am not speaking for the city commission as a whole, I am
speaking for myself. The city commission passed a character
resolution by a 6-1 vote. I am proud to have cast the NO vote.)
If you would like to discuss this further, please feel free to
call me at 278-2900.
Gretta Schermerhorn
Three Rivers City Commissioner
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