FUNDAMENTALLY MISUNDERSTOOD

Thank you Katherine O’Day for the excellent interview of Michelle Goldberg (“Salvation Nation,” Artvoice v5n31).

I am an evangelical Christian, I am a premillennial dispensationalist and I attend a church that has an ex-gay ministry. I am not a Republican and I do not support the political/cultural goals of what Michelle Goldberg appropriately described as “Christian nationalism.” I’ll go even further and state my belief that the attempts by this vocal segment of American Christianity to take control of governments and social institutions is contrary to Christian faith and, in particular, contrary to premillennial dispensationalism.

Christian faith teaches that those who follow Christ are citizens of His kingdom and that we are here on Earth to serve as His ambassadors (see John 15:19 and 2 Corinthians 5:20). Thus, according to Hebrews 13:14, “here we have no continuing city, but we seek one to come.” Ambassadors represent the government that sent them and communicate the policies and views of that government. The policy/view of the government sending forth Christians as ambassadors (Heaven) is not “take over governments and social institutions to present them to Christ when He returns to establish His millennial kingdom” but “be reconciled to God” (2 Corinthians 5:20).

There is probably not a lot on which Ms. Goldberg and I would agree but I appreciate her responses to the questions that were asked in the interview. I especially appreciate the way Ms. Goldberg specifically distinguished Christian nationalism from Christian faith when she said, “when I write about Christian nationalism I’m not writing about Christianity as a faith. I’m not even writing about Evangelical Christianity as a faith.” There are far too many people who lump all evangelical Christians in with what has sometimes been called “the radical Christian right” just as there are far too many who lump all Muslims with the fundamentalists who are enacting sharia laws and perpetrating acts of terrorism around the world.

Chancellor Carlyle Roberts, II

Buffalo

BASS PRO: GO JUMP IN A LAKE

In November of 2004 Bass Pro announced that it was coming to Buffalo, intending to occupy Buffalo Memorial Auditorium. In that time, Bass Pro has been thrown countless dollars in public financing from the city, county, and state. This open bribery has taken place as local businesses dry up.

We are approaching the second anniversary of the Bass Pro announcement that had politicians in fishing costumes glad-handing for the media while making promises of an endless flow of dollars to a revitalized downtown Buffalo. Meanwhile, the dollars only seemed to be flowing out of New York to Bass Pro in Minnesota.

The project was supposed to be completed by 2007, which is no longer just unlikely; it’s impossible. In nearly two years, not one minute of construction on this project has taken place. The Aud still sits there idle, as a model of the city’s inefficiency. During that time, Boston Garden was also abandoned for newer facilities. Within one year, Boston auctioned off pieces of stadium for fans willing to exchange a few bucks for invaluable memories. After that, the stadium was demolished before the following hockey season ended. Still, Buffalo Memorial Auditorium sits idle.

Now it is announced that Buffalo Memorial Auditorium is cosmetically unpleasant, after being sealed for nearly a decade. As a Buffalonian, I would love to see the Aud in use, but we must be logical too. To think that Bass Pro did not do a walkthrough before they signed their deal 21 months ago is ridiculous. Did they really think that a building constructed in 1936 would not have logistic problems, including asbestos? Of course an abandoned building has problems. Now Buffalonians have been asked to shell out the cash to clean the place spotless. I understand that a business should be able to start at square one, but they’re already not starting at square one. Once this project is underway, Bass Pro will be very well financed. So now fans need to pay to clean the stadium for probably $500,000 by the time everything is said and done, on the off chance that Bass Pro decides to stick to the deal? This Bass Pro deal seems to have turned from a dream to a pipe dream.

If the city, county and state have so much money that they can FedEx it to Minnesota, maybe they should stop and think. Wouldn’t that money be better spent investing in local business? Bass Pro officials could not find Chippewa Street if they were standing on it. Buffalo business people have a connection to this city. Let’s see what they can do to make this area blossom.

It is now time to focus on helping Buffalo business flourish. Let’s cut bait with Bass Pro and focus on our own. No one cares about Buffalo’s success more than Buffalonians. Invest in ourselves, then others will want to, not out of charity or because of bribery, but because Buffalo is simply an ideal place for a business to grow. New York City does not need to bribe businesses to open in Midtown. This should be Buffalo’s goal. Sure, I will miss the Aud. I have memories there too, but Buffalo needs to do what is financially wise. That is the only way to make Buffalo strong once again.

Wayne Brown

East Amherst

THE VIEW FROM THE SKYWAY

We might not want to be in a hurry to see the Skyway disappear (“Streetvoice,” Artvoice v5n31). It does have one stunning asset: the view of the lake (as well as splendid views of the historic Buffalo River grain elevators and the downtown skyline). Why not close the Skyway to traffic on certain Sundays and give pedestrians the opportunity to leisurely enjoy the unique perspective. Who knows, secured against severe weather, there may be a future life for the Skyway as a people-friendly space.

Francis R. Kowsky

Buffalo

JUDGING HEZBOLLAH

I am writing this in response to “The War in Lebanon,” (“Letters to AV,” Artvoice v5n30), written by Norm Tederous.

He contends that Hezbollah is a “resistance organization,” which I do not buy. Tell me, how many resistance organizations have their members murder innocent people as an initiation rite, such as what six Hezbollah members did twice in 2001? My guess is not many. Would a resistance organization continue to attack when their occupiers have left? Hezbollah has attacked Israel over 30 times between Israel’s departure from Lebanon in May 2000 and the start of recent conflicts. Would a resistance organization deliberately target civilians, or hide amongst the civilian population, as Hezbollah does? Probably not.

Hezbollah’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, once said, “If [the Jews] all gather in Israel, it will save us the trouble of going after them worldwide.” To me, those are not words of resistance. Saying the European Union views Hezbollah as a “resistance organization” is wrong. They do not list Hezbollah as a resistance organization, nor a terrorist group. Interestingly, however, they list Hezbollah’s senior intelligence official as a terrorist and they support ending Hezbollah’s terrorist activities. According to the Taif Agreement, the existence of Hezbollah’s military wing is illegal. And according to the United Nations, Israel fully withdrew from Lebanon, so what is Hezbollah resisting? Save your sympathy for people who deserve it—the civilians being killed by and on both sides—not for a terrorist organization.

About the current conflict, Israel is between the ever-popular rock and hard place. If they do not retaliate, then Hezbollah will continue to attack and kill Israelis, as they have been for the past five years. They could let the Lebanese government take care of Hezbollah, only the Lebanese government has not done much in that regard. If Israel does attack Hezbollah—which is their current course of action—everyone jumps on their back.

Hypothetically, if Canada had been launching illegally held rockets across the border at us, killing civilians and soldiers, would you want us sitting on our hands? I have a feeling most people would want the US to protect us, militarily when necessary. (And if they killed someone from the Sabres, half of Buffalo would enlist that day.) Do not take my views the wrong way—I am not a blind Israel supporter. Far from that, as they have committed wrongs. I do believe, however, that people are too quick to point the finger at Israel when they should be looking at why the conflicts are occurring. Situations involving Israel and its neighbors are more complex than any of us realize, and our opinions should reflect that.

Samuel Forlenza

Town of Tonawanda

PORTRAIT OF A VIOLENT ARREST

At last Thursday’s Violent Femmes Thursday in the Square concert, Buffalo’s premier b-boy crew, Differential Flava Crew (DFC), led by Buffalo News poster boy Shane Fry, were entertaining the citizens of Buffalo in numbers unseen previously. People were clapping, yelling, smiling, and skill and art were once again taken to the public and freely given away.

Near the end of the night, a 20-year-old dancer by the name of Solomon did a flip off the side of a stationary subway car, a classic street tap dance maneuver seen on stage (in Riverdance, no less) and screen. People on and off the train loved it and screamed for him to do it again, which he did. Without verbal warning from one Lieutenant Jones, weighing in at around 210-plus pounds, of the Buffalo Police, Solomon, weighing in at around 130 pounds, was grabbed with two hands around the neck (witnesses and Solomon himself use the term “choked out”) and slammed against the subway car. Solomon is black, Lt. Jones as well. Two white police officers came, instantly “threw” Solomon on the hood of the car, cuffed him roughly and tossed him into the back of the police car, where, according to Solomon, his feats of agility were praised by the non-Jones officers. Solomon, of course, was not touched by their regards. He was taken to jail, spent 14 hours there and was charged with three counts of disorderly conduct and one count of resisting arrest.

When questioned about the terms “police brutality” and “excessive force,” all those that I have spoken with have said that “excessive” certainly describes the force employed and about half said “brutality” is an appropriate term, as well.

Certainly Thursday in the Square is a rowdy place. Thousands of Buffalonians are drinking, getting or being drunk, there is loud music and Friday is tomorrow. There are cops everywhere and they are on their toes. My take on the situation is this: The scene created by the DFCs is one of personal and social empowerment on physical, emotional, mental and metaphysical levels. The energy, while invisible, is palpable; you can “feel it in the air.” Music and dance are essential elements in a whole culture. The other elements are: food, dress, language, religion, art/architecture. By various physically and psychically violent forces of acculturation and assimilation, almost all personal and social participation in these elements has been commodified and lost. Where a hundred years ago or less, people would get together and sing and dance, people now sit at home, docile, and eat TV, vaguely feeling something is missing, attempting to fill it with junk food, material possessions, sex, etc. We all know how being fulfilled by those things is going. Obesity, 12-year-old mothers, environmental devastation. Make your own extensive list from here.

People want to see prowess, they know that dancing is something they were, at some point, supposed to be doing. Little kids just bounce when they hear beats. After some drinks and a huge, social, emotional event like a wedding, everybody is grooving on the dance floor. Why once a year? Why not three times a week or more? People want to dance and have togetherness, and dance parties are a millennia-old way to make that go.

The cops have a vague sort of notion about this. There are 200 people gathered around, tapping feet, shouting, bouncing. B-boys are doing back flips and spin kicks (nobody wants to fight Shane Fry, you can see all his veins; nobody really wants to fight a b-boy). There’s a lot of kung fu in our dance and in a straight-up, fair fight with no potential law intervention, Jones is not trying to fight Fry because he knows he’d get whomped and is very threatened by this. Pre-emptive strikes ensue.

Cops don’t want people to get together, because those 200-plus people are a unit, a socially cohesive mass of feeling good and fulfilled without buying a damn thing. You know what I’m trying to say, people being highly skilled at something and others rallying around that to have some sort of common emotion, experience, feeling, delight…it’s bad for business. And when it comes right down to it, cops are around to make business good. As many black social philosophers have said: “Cops keep the working man down and in check for the upper classes. What cops don’t realize is they are the working man.” Getting shot at for $50,000 a year? Cops got to make ends meet. To make sure the Riches and Clintons, whose ends never stopped being met two generations ago, keep their extras?

Of course cops are on a hair trigger, the b-boys and hip-hop are nothing short of a social revolution. It’s not the dancer, it’s what he represents. The cop is jealous that ladies love Solomon. Jones is a “hater,” someone who is jealous of someone else’s abilities. The b-boy is fit, fulfilled on many levels, young and has a sense of his own self-worth. Hip-hop fills in and fills up what has been stolen and sold, our souls. Feeling threatened by this is the only reason one would be violent to a crowd-pleasing dancer.

Aaron C. Piepszny

Buffalo