Monday, December 15, 2008

Issues, Etc. Gains My Congregation’s Support


Yesterday my congregation voted to include Issues, Etc. as part of our budget. As the kids like to say; w00t! Believe it or not, it wasn’t even me that made the recommendation that we support my favorite radio program. Who cares who proposed it as long as it got done!

While I’m on the subject, I might as well address a somewhat angry email that I received back before the show was resurrected on Pirate Christian Radio. About a month after the host, producer, and show were terminated I received this little gem:

Honestly carrying on about a radio show like you are, I just don’t see the happy, attacking someone of a different path, I just don’t see the happy, hating Canadians, I just don’t see the happy, attacking the radio station for changing it’s programming and not consulting you, tell me where is the happy you speak of, all I see is an angry zealot.

Nobody, especially me, was upset because we weren’t consulted. We were upset because the reasons kept changing and none of them matched up with the facts. If the people who made the decision to cancel the program had went through proper channels so that everything was above board and the reasons transparent there would be no reason to be upset. But that didn’t happen and as more and more official statements were released, more and more questions about timelines and who said what popped up. It didn't add up and if you followed a little closer you might have picked up on that.

You see, people like me like to play by the rules. The people that were issuing statements, that justified the cancellation, didn’t follow the rules and couldn’t come up with a story explaining what happened that matched up with the very facts that they themselves were putting out there. If there was transparency and honesty there would be no reason for anybody to get ill about it.

Was I upset when the program was cancelled? You bet! The reason I was upset was that there was no other program that did what it did. As an apologetics resource it was the cats meow. It taught in a manner that never talked down to the listeners. It used the issues of the day as a springboard to catechize listeners of all denominations and not just Lutherans. Why wouldn’t we be upset if a show like that was cancelled unjustly? If you think that makes me or anybody an angry zealot; you’re not just a few fries short of a happy meal, you’re missing the fries.

Oh, one more thing; I do like Canadians and you just don’t get the joke. Naturally I’m still holding out hope that they issue an apology for both Anne Murray and Bryan Adams. I love my Canadians brothers and sisters but they still need to take responsibility for what they have done to not only our country but the entire world. If you can't see that, you just ain’t right (or as the kids in my Sunday school class would say, you’re wack)

So in conclusion, soon you’ll be hearing my congregation listed as a supporter of my favorite Christ centered, cross focused radio program: Issues, Etc. Oh yeah!

5 comments:

Dan @ Necessary Roughness said...

Too awesome for words. Congratulations.

Kelly Klages said...

What did Canada do? I must have missed that conversation. Besides foist Celine Dion on the rest of the world, I mean.

Frank Gillespie said...

Hi Kelly, I forgot to add Celine Dion to the list… the comments in the post were part of a longer comment that had to be deleted because of it’s inflammatory nature. What the commenter read was a snarky remark by me claiming that Canada wasn’t even a real country. What she didn’t understand was that I have relatives from Canada (my dad’s side) and one of my friends down here has family in Ontario. I’m always joking about Canada for these two reasons. She was upset about a great many things and missed my sarcasm as an attack. She also though it isn’t very Christian of me to be critical of wiccans or witches (that’s the “path” she’s referring to). As I wanted to leave paragraph intact, I thought I should answer the Canadian thingy.
So, I do love Canadians is the bottom line. Only they, and the upper half of Minnesota, have a true appreciation for the most regal of sports, my favorite sport, curling!
I guess as long as you never marry a Canadian...... heh.

Kelly Klages said...

Canada's a real country? Have you seen the current political mess? It makes me wonder sometimes. :o)

Don't even get me started about how real countries shouldn't have minus 50-degree wind chill. That's reserved for imaginary countries ONLY!

Frank Gillespie said...

Actually I do know about the parliament situation but I’m probably only one of eight or nine down here.
My nephew is attending college up in Duluth and he got minus forty wind chill earlier this week, sheesh.
Blessings to you, baby K, toddler K, and Pr. K this Advent and Christmas!