The California Collection/TheCaliforniaCollection.cdr/his060/realfree.arj/REALFREE.TXT

Text File | 1990-03-27 | 4KB | 88 lines

REAL FREE SPEECH
or
Mommy, Why Is That Man in the Fire?

Last January, Cornerstone Baptist Church of Springfield, Oregon, had
the tract Millions Disappear inserted into the Springfield News and
raised "as hot a controversy as the fires of hell pictured in the
pamphlet."

When about seven thousand people opened their Saturday morning paper
and got an "extra-special treat," the newspaper received "more than
fifty calls of protest, one of the strongest reader responses to a
published piece in the past ten years." There's nothing like a little
scripture in the home to stir a controversy.

Reader response was at first negative, and we quote a few of the
touchier Springfielders:

"This is a public newspaper, not a church newspaper," said Jan
Hutchins, who was so upset about the piece that she canceled her
subscription.  "I wouldn't have been insulted if it had been
{delivered separately} on my front porch.  What made me mad was that
it was in the newspaper."

Karen Doyle of Springfield also quit the paper, saying she felt the
religious pamphlet was "forced on me." But the content of the pamphlet
also made Doyle see red.

"My daughter read it first," Doyle said.  "That's how I found out
about it."

"She asked me, `Mommy, does this mean I'll be gone?' It scared her to
death.  Why would anybody want children told that they'll be here one
day and gone the next?"

Well, lady, it is called raising a child in the "nurture and
admonition of the Lord" instead of only exposing her to Miami Vice,
Married:  With Children, and Bay Watch.  Or as Pastor Ron Robinson of
Cornerstone Baptist put it:

"Because these are issues that you won't hear about in the public
schools or on TV or on the radio.  Somebody should provoke people's
minds to consider it.  We need to talk to children about eternal
things like Jesus and life after death.

"I don't understand what difference it makes if it's on the religion
page or inserted in the paper or whatever," he said.  "We're like any
company or business that's advertising."

That's what you call "exercising your Constitutional rights," and
there's still some hope for a country when a newspaper publisher has
enough guts to allow it:

"This is a newspaper for the public," said publisher Clark Gallagher.
"It also is a private enterprise, and we reserve the right to accept
or reject any advertisement at any time.

"We also believe in the First Amendment of the Constitution, and
though I might not agree with what was in that advertisement, I
respect their right to say it."

Sort of reminds you of Gallio (Acts 18:14-16), and it turns out that
some people in the community do have sense.

The editor "started getting calls from people who agreed with the
church pamphlet or who supported the newspaper's decision to
distribute the booklet."

Gallagher said he personally had received ten calls "congratulating us
on our stand of letting something like that run because they would
rather it run than have it be censored out of their paper.  They
believed {the newspaper} should be a paper that is open to freedom of
expression."

The conclusion of the matter:  thousands of people got a "witness"
that they won't forget for a while, Cornerstone Baptist church is
right now the most famous church in Springfield, the newspaper
received its advertisement money and gained a reputation for fair-
mindedness, and we all found out that "freedom of speech" and "freedom
of religion" will not kill you.

What do you want for a nickel?