Wednesday, November 30, 2005

A NATURAL CONFLICT

“A dishonest man detests the righteous, and the upright in their ways detest the wicked.”

(Proverbs 29:27)

QUOTATION FOR THE DAY

“It was the nation dwelling all round the globe that had the lion's heart. I had the luck to be called upon to give the roar.”

(Winston Churchill)

LOCAL STORY
BECOMES NATIONAL DISGRACE

The story which started on a street corner in Augusta has now spread to all parts of the nation - and beyond. CNN, MSNBC, and CBS all carried stories yesterday on the “lingerie models” that are appearing three times a week in a display window in Augusta. The reason for the sudden interest in Augusta, is that the incident represents a new low in American social mores, and the mass media is eager to trumpet the news to the rest of the world.  No doubt they are hoping that the practice will spread, and semi-clad young women will start appearing in shop windows across the nation. 

In the meantime, irate e-mails poured into city council members demanding that something be done. The RECORD spoke with Augusta City Council member David Gomeau yesterday to ask what will be done about a story which is rapidly giving Augusta nationwide notoriety.

Councilman Gomeau reassured The RECORD that the mayor, the City Council, and the city’s attorney are working on the problem.  Gomeau stated that he is aware it has become a national story, and likened the incident on Water Street to a fire that has to be put out before it spreads.  “There is nothing the city can do about it at the moment, because the city doesn’t have a public lewdness law, and the store owner hasn’t violated any law,” Gomeau said. Gomeau also said that the city is contemplating a new ordinance to remedy the situation, and is discussing the matter with the city’s attorney.  The councilman warned about giving the story any additional publicity, since he believes that this is exactly what the store owner wants.

Meanwhile, a local pastor, Kevin Kidd of Elim Christian Fellowship, wrote the members of the City Council stating that he was shocked and appalled by what we saw. Pastor Kidd, who is originally from Rochester, New York, said that people contemplating moving to Maine would be discouraged from doing so by the kind of behavior on display at the store.

Another concerned citizen, a police officer originally from Brooklyn,
e-mailed each of the members of the City Council and warned in the starkest possible terms of the dangers that will inevitably result from allowing such behavior.

The economic consequences are harder to predict. Councilman Gomeau was unable to state whether or not the incident at the store would have an impact on business on the street.  One store owner on Water Street said that the underwear models would give Water Street an “edgy New York” atmosphere. Perhaps so, because only a bit down the street is “PJ”s, a bar  located in a particularly seedy-looking building, which caters to a homosexual clientele. All in all, Water Street is starting to look more like San Francisco than New York, perhaps in keeping with the Governor’s plan to transform Maine along the lines of a ‘Creative Economy.’ On Monday, CBS Channel 5 in San Francisco gleefully ran video of the ‘lingerie models’ in the Augusta shop window – as if to say, “You see, Maine is as dirty as we are!” 

Families, and especially women with children, are sure to give the area a wide berth. No one can argue that three women standing in a shop window in their underwear makes an area more respectable – though we are sure to hear some local and state politicians say that it does. The plain fact is that the goings-on in the window of the store on Water Street have already earned Augusta an undeserved black eye nationwide.

THE LONG REACH OF
HOMOSEXUAL ACTIVISM

Pro-family activist Paul Madore was recently contacted by Shaw’s supermarket and warned about the content of his website. What had Paul Madore done wrong? He had the nerve to suggest that people shop at Shaw’s instead of Hannafords! Hannafords was listed on the Equality Maine website as having contributed to the annual Equality Maine awards banquet, and  Madore suggested that people buy their food at Shaws and send their receipts to Hannafords.

Some time thereafter, Shaws called Madore and said that gay activists had contacted them warning of the “discriminatory” nature of Madore’s activities. In other words, gay activists pressured Shaws until their public relations department caved in and told Madore to take down any reference to their supermarket. So even though Madore invited people to shop at Shaws, gay activists carried enough weight to make Shaws ask Madore to take their name down from his website.  

In the meantime, the best thing the public can do is to stay away from any chain store which knuckles under to the homosexual agenda. Instead, we should all give some thought to patronizing the Maine-owned grocery store down the street. Our neighbors who own these stores could use the business. 

STRONG WORDS FROM
MATTHEW HENRY

"All that are sanctified have a rooted antipathy to wickedness and wicked people. They have a good will to the souls of all (God has, and would have none perish); but they hate the ways and practices of those that are impious towards God and injurious towards men; they cannot hear of them nor speak of them without a holy indignation; they loathe the society of the ungodly and unjust, and dread the thought of giving them any countenance, but do all they can to bring the wickedness of the wicked to an end. Thus an unjust man makes himself odious to the just, and it is one part of his present shame and punishment that good men cannot endure him.

All that are unsanctified have a like rooted antipathy to godliness and godly people: He that is upright in the way, that makes conscience of what he says and does, is an abomination to the wicked, whose wickedness is restrained perhaps and suppressed, or, at least, shamed and condemned, by the uprightness of the upright. Thus Cain did, who was of his father the devil. And this is not only the wickedness of the wicked, that they hate those whom God loves, but their misery too, that they hate those whom they shall shortly see in everlasting bliss and honor, and who shall have dominion over them in the morning. (Psalms 49:14)"

(from Matthew Henry’s commentary on Proverbs 29:27)