Oak Ridge Today

More than 1,000 protest for equality, police reforms, end of racism

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Hundreds of people march from Oak Ridge High School to the Civic Center for a Black Lives Matter protest on Tuesday afternoon, June 2, 2020. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Note: This story was updated at 9:45 a.m. June 11.

More than 1,000 people marched and protested in Oak Ridge last week, asking for equal treatment for black people.

They said the nation is obligated to fight systemic racism, racial inequality, and police brutality. They want to live without fear. They advocated for police reforms, accountability, and the use of de-escalation tactics.

Protesters hope to end 400 years of oppression that started with slavery in America in 1619 and continued after the Civil War with attacks on black people, lynchings, the Ku Klux Klan, segregation, discrimination, and racism. That oppression has been felt in Oak Ridge, and some young adults and teenagers said they have experienced or witnessed racism.

Protesters said they were angry, upset, and frustrated. They called the death of George Floyd while he was detained by police in Minneapolis last month a murder. They recalled the deaths of other black men and boys, some killed by police and others by citizens. They acknowledged that there are many good police officers, but they condemned police officers who they said hide behind their badges to do wicked deeds.

“Enough is enough,” protesters said. “We are done dying.”

Hundreds of people meet at Oak Ridge High School before marching to Oak Ridge Civic Center for a Black Lives Matter protest on Tuesday afternoon, June 2, 2020. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Protesters met at Oak Ridge High School Tuesday afternoon, June 2, and marched to the Oak Ridge Civic Center. They carried signs and wore T-shirts that said “Black Lives Matter” and “I can’t breathe.” They chanted “No justice, no peace” and, led by organizer Trevor King, “Make racism illegal.” Silence is compliance, the protesters said, and silence in the face of evil is itself evil.

[Read more…]

Church Women United offers focus on community dialogue on Friday

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Church Women United will hold a public presentation on Friday, April 6, at Kern Memorial Methodist Church, which is located at 451 East Tennessee Avenue in Oak Ridge. Reverend David Allred of High Places Community Church will introduce an innovative supper program that the Oak Ridge Ministerial Association is developing to foster healthy conversation and closer ties between people of differing backgrounds, experiences, and core beliefs within our community, a press release said.

According to Allred: “Communities around the country are disconnecting from each other in ways that are driving us apart. We’re slowly losing our ability to listen to one another, fragmenting into ‘bunkers’ of sameness rather than giving space for each other’s differences.” To overcome this fragmentation, ORMA aims “to create spaces of togetherness that are not designed to fix community problems, but instead center on the practice hearing each other and being present with each other.” The inspiration for this program comes from the organization called “The People’s Supper.”

All are invited to attend the event however long they can, the press release said. Fellowship begins at 11:30 a.m. Friday, followed by a short meeting and prayer at noon, along with the presentation thereafter. Latecomers are welcome. Contact Gay Marie Logsdon at (865) 483-7940 for more information.

This press release was submitted by Gay Marie Logsdon.

High Places Community Church has first ‘Night of Doubt’ on March 26

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

High Places Community Church

High Places Community Church is pictured above.

 

The first annual “Night of Doubt” will be hosted by High Places Community Church at the Historic Grove Theater at 6 p.m. Saturday, March 26. The coffee house-style event is an offering of space to the community for the sole purpose of creating a safe place to ask questions, express skepticism, and share doubt in a group setting.

“There will be no sermon, no rebuttals, and any attempt to answer the doubts expressed will be strictly forbidden,” according to Reverend David Allred. “This is about affirming the reality of doubt as being central to the human experience; it is not an opportunity to debate or argue.”

Allred says the idea came from a Rob Bell book the church read for a recent retreat, but also from an experience he had with a high school girl 10 years ago who openly asked in small group where God was hiding when she was sexually assaulted.

“We were talking about God’s presence and how God is with us when she erupted with powerful emotions surrounding this terrible memory,” Allred said in a press release. “It would have been highly inconsiderate of her experience to even attempt a ‘pat-answer’ about faith in that moment. The doubt, grief, and anger she felt needed a safe release. No answer would have sufficed for that kind of pain as she shared. Sometimes healing comes through just being able to let it out safely and the best ‘Christian’ response is to simply listen.” [Read more…]

Opposing views on gay marriage: ‘Equality’ and ‘biblical values’

Posted at
By 1 Comment

Melanie Heiberg

Oak Ridge resident Melanie Heiberg organized a celebration at Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church on Friday, June 26, after a 5-4 U.S. Supreme Court decision made gay marriage legal in all 50 states. “This is about equality,” Heiberg said.

 

Note: This story was updated at 11 a.m.

There was a range of reactions in Oak Ridge and across the state this week after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a 5-4 decision on Friday, June 26, that the Constitution guarantees a right to same-sex marriage. That decision made gay marriage legal in all 50 states.

Some said the decision made them proud to be Americans, while others worried about whether the country is straying from biblical values.

Melanie Heiberg and others celebrated the decision at the Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church last Friday. Heiberg said she was raised by two dads—her father and his partner—when she was in high school.

“This is about equality,” Helberg said. “Everyone is as important as the next person.” [Read more…]

High Places Church gearing up for summer camps, more

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Submitted

Continuing to build on traditions spanning nearly 50 years, High Places Community Church is making preparations for both their Children’s “Mountain Movers” Kid Camp and the annual “Off The Wall” Youth Camp at Big Ridge State Park.

Kid Camp will be held during the evenings of June 22-25, Monday through Thursday, from 5:30 until 8 p.m., in and around the location of their church home, Grove Theater, located at 123 Randolph Road in Oak Ridge.

Pursuing a theme entitled “SEE GOD,” children ages 4 through upcoming grade 5 and grouped by age, will spend their evenings exploring evidences of God’s presence in the earth, water, wind, and fire. In this case, “seeing will be believing” in the sense that God can and will help us to see when we open our minds to the everyday wonders which are always on display in our world. Monday, the group will take a hike from The Grove to A.K. Bissell Park for their fun-filled explorations. [Read more…]

Guest column: ‘More than true’…Christmas matters

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

I had a talk not too long ago with a very intelligent person about Christian Christmas stories. He asked, “Surely you don’t actually believe that the Christmas story you preach really happened?” It was a question that I settled long ago, although it reminded me that many people still struggle with their faith around the holidays.

Even though there are probably some good reasons to ponder the “reality” of the Nativity story over the holidays, I honestly don’t even think about it anymore. I once read a quote that went something like, “The question is not always whether it is real, but whether it matters…the things that matter most become reality.”

Atheist Sam Harris has written about “tiny lies” and the cost they have on our culture. He even discusses Santa Claus, taking on a popular non-religious Christmas tradition as a form of deception. I see Harris, much like my friend, in a very “stuck” place. When we bring the wrong question to the table, we often feel the need to “force feed” answers. No one likes being force-fed.

When it comes to Santa, the question for families is not so much whether or not he and his reindeer troop are real; rather the question is whether or not he matters. Because if he matters, every family finds a way to make him real during the season. [Read more…]

Feed the People at Grove on Thanksgiving; volunteers, dishes needed

Posted at
By 1 Comment

High Places Community Church

The Feed the People dinner is at The Historic Grove Theater from 3 to 7 p.m. Thanksgiving Day.

A grassroots effort will provide food and friendship for all who need them on Thanksgiving, organizers said.

Feed the People has scheduled a dinner from 3 to 7 p.m. Thursday, November 27 (Thanksgiving), at The Historic Grove Theater at 123 Randolph Road in Oak Ridge.

Volunteers will be needed to help as early as 9 a.m. and as late as 8 p.m.

“Whether you can help for an hour or more, we need you!” Oak Ridge City Council member Trina Baughn said in an email.

She said meals will also be delivered throughout Oak Ridge. Call (865) 730-0331 to request a delivery for yourself or anyone you know of that is need. [Read more…]

Guest column: Technology in the classroom

Posted at
By 2 Comments

In 2012, the scientific community was shocked to see six Italian scientists arrested and placed on trial for the manslaughter of 309 people. How did they manage to kill 309 people? Easy: They failed to predict an earthquake.

As insane as it sounds, two years later these scientists are still stuck in an appeal process, and they are still facing a potential six years in prison. Now long off everyone’s radar, the questions this prosecution poses to Western civilization have faded from our memory.

At stake and at issue are the underlying ideologies of what our machines and the data they generate actually mean to us as human beings. Unfortunately, these ideologies remain in the background of our educational and technological decision-making. The lives and the minds of our students are rapidly becoming intertwined with their technologies and the haste we feel in harnessing this cultural phenomenon is driven by a competitive economic desire to “stay ahead” of the technological curve.

With the exception of perhaps a few hold-over “Luddites,” no one I know is against the use of technology in the classroom. On the flip side, however, I must say that in all my conversations about classroom technology, I have never—not even once—heard a citizen or educator discuss what the use of that technology actually means to a human being. [Read more…]

Child advocacy seminar at Roane State on Thursday

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

People concerned about the community’s children are invited to attend the fourth annual Nurturing and Safe World Child Advocacy Seminar this Thursday, June 5, in the Roane State Community College City Room on the Oak Ridge campus, a press release said.

The seminar will run from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., and it is sponsored by the Oak Ridge Ministerial Association and the Oak Ridge Police Chaplains. Robert May of Oak Ridge Police Department Chaplains; Margaret Durgin of the Child Advocacy Center; David Allred, previous coordinator for Safe and Drug Free Schools; and Sarah Littlefield, a marriage and family therapist, will present sessions on the issue of bullying and hostile environments as it relates to children who are affected by this challenging problem.

There is no charge to participate, and lunch will be included. Certificates of Participation will be available for those who need annual training hours.

Pre-registration is required by contacting Myra Mansfield at (865) 220-8826 or by emailing [email protected].

Guest column: Remembering Walt Whitman

Posted at
By 1 Comment

This Saturday, May 31, marks the 195th birthday of America’s greatest poet and perhaps even its greatest citizen to have ever lived: Walt Whitman. “Leaves of Grass,” as one contemporary reviewer put it at the time, was “an explosion in a sewer.” The reactions to Whitman’s work, at least in most circles, were largely unpleasant. One reviewer even suggested that Walt Whitman commit suicide.

“Leaves of Grass” was so offensive that it cost Walt several jobs, and by the end of his life, the poet died nearly in poverty, relying on the kindness of Britain’s literary elite just to survive and be buried.

I had the chance to visit the Walt Whitman home on a mini-Sabbatical in 2012. The caretaker there in Camden pulled a letter out and read it aloud to me. It was written by a middle-aged woman from England on September 11, 2001. As she watched the twin towers fall, she was uncertain how to express her grief and outrage—or even where to direct those thoughts. She chose Walt Whitman and eloquently expressed her love of America’s democratic spirit, stating there was no other place for her to lodge her thoughts than with Walt Whitman. The letter was powerful and brought tears to my eyes. [Read more…]

‘Legends of the Knight’ screening to benefit ADFAC this Sunday

Posted at
By 4 Comments

Legends of the Knight

A movie poster for “Legends of the Knight,” which will be screened at the Historic Grove Theater on April 27 to benefit ADFAC.

A special screening of “Legends of the Knight,” a documentary by acclaimed filmmaker Brett Culp, will be held at the Historic Grove Theater on Sunday, and it will benefit a local nonprofit.

“Legends of the Knight” weaves together the uplifting true stories of individuals who have overcome devastating obstacles, unselfishly given to the community, and embraced their inner superhero because of their love of Batman, a press release said.

The screening starts at 3:45 p.m. Sunday at the Grove Theater, which is at 123 Randolph Road. It will benefit Aid to Distressed Families of Appalachian Counties, or ADFAC. [Read more…]

Faith column: Shouldn’t we be doing something?

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

It’s the holidays—a time of year when churches are often on the move and active in a community. Anytime a church is in motion and doing something in the community, that action reveals something of the character and nature of the church and her mission. But what if a church decides to lay low? What if little to no movement is taking place at all? Is this a “bad” thing for a church? Shouldn’t we all be doing something???

We live in a culture defined by motion and noise. The bigger the motion and the louder the noise, the more people stop to take notice—just check out your favorite Black Friday YouTube video for examples of motion and noise over the holiday. We’re all human and sometimes we can start chasing noise for all the wrong reasons. That’s why I believe it’s critical for churches to first ask if the lack of motion is really such a bad thing.

What does it say about a church that decides to loaf over the holiday? The word “loaf” has received a bad rap in our society. A loafer is seen as a lazy person in a culture that is obsessed with work and productivity. If the loafer isn’t doing anything to contribute to his or her own financial well-being, then the assumption is that something must be wrong with them (which may or may not be true). As working and being a productive member of society, you could make an argument that maybe Jesus’ was a loafer. Yikes! [Read more…]