Oak Ridge Today

DOE not affected by shutdown

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The Joe L. Evins Federal Building is pictured above in Oak Ridge on Monday, Nov. 19, 2018. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

The Federal Building is pictured above in Oak Ridge on Monday, Nov. 19, 2018. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

The U.S. Department of Energy is not affected by the partial government shutdown that started at midnight, and DOE employees and contractors, including in Oak Ridge, are expected to continue their normal work schedules.

”The partial government shutdown does not impact Department of Energy facilities,” federal officials said in a statement. “DOE’s fiscal year 2019 appropriations bill was approved by Congress and signed by the president in September. DOE employees and contractors are expected to continue to report to work according to their usual work schedule.”

Among the DOE sites and operations in Oak Ridge are East Tennessee Technology Park, Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge Office, Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, Office of Scientific and Technical Information, and Y-12 National Security Complex. Y-12 is overseen by the National Nuclear Security Administration, a DOE agency. [Read more…]

Opinion: Rev. Morrill addresses ‘Black Lives Matter’

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Jake Morrill

Jake Morrill

By the Rev. Jake Morrill

This past July, a church committee requested a new message on the electronic sign, which faces the Oak Ridge Turnpike. The message they requested was “Black Lives Matter.” The board of the Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church, or ORUUC, voted to approve it, and the message was added to the sign’s series of scrolling messages.

Since then, we’ve received feedback from different members of the community. Some has been to praise the sign; some, to criticize.

The Police Lives Matter Rally

Saturday night, I attended a rally called Police Lives Matter in A.K. Bissell Park. My colleague at ORUUC, the Rev. Tandy Scheffler, attended as well.  She’s a recent graduate of the Citizen’s Police Academy.

She told me she saw the rally as a chance to demonstrate that support of police officers and support of black lives is not an “either/or,” but a “both/and” for her. Yes, she said, police lives matter, and yes, black lives matter, and yes, all lives matter. I agree. Along with my gratitude for police officers and first responders, I also attended because the rally’s organizers have been critical of the church’s “Black Lives Matter” sign.

When people have an opinion, I believe it’s important to listen. In fact, responding to online criticism of the sign in recent weeks, I’ve extended at least 15 invitations to people to sit down together so we could talk. I’m sorry to say that no one, as yet, has accepted my invitation. [Read more…]

Letter from Oak Ridge clergy: Public statement on Ferguson

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Yesterday’s decision not to indict Officer Darren Wilson—who shot and killed 18-year old Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, in August—serves as the latest flashpoint for heated racial tensions involving our criminal justice system. Whether one feels Officer Wilson’s action constituted “a crime” or not, the reality is that young black males are at a far greater risk of being shot dead by police than their white counterparts. Consequently, a tremendous amount of our nation’s racial history and tension gets exposed in reactions to such shootings because, regardless of the reason, the rate that blacks are killed by police is startling when set against the rest of the American population.  During these times of heightened racial frustration, it is critically important for the faith community to lift up a unified voice.

The Michael Brown case presents a unique challenge for racial harmony because the “no indictment” announcement was carried out in a way that highly frustrated many in the black community and went to great lengths to communicate that no crime was committed. As a result, many African Americans believe this case to be an attempt to “turn back the clock on race relations,” while many others see it as a successful demonstration of the effectiveness of the American justice system. So the question becomes, “How does the community of faith move forward in unity?”

First, we must draw inspiration from this situation. We must inspire our congregations to believe that God is still sovereign in spite of human brokenness. We must also inspire our people to believe that God, in His sovereignty, will ensure justice always prevails. Psalm 9:7-8 says, “But the LORD abides forever; He has established His throne for judgment, And He will judge the world in righteousness; He will execute judgment for the peoples with equity.” [Read more…]

Honors: DA Clark named a governor of Tennessee Bar Association

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Dave Clark

Dave Clark

District Attorney General Dave Clark has been named a governor of the Tennessee Bar Association. The 23-member board controls the activities and business of the Tennessee Bar Association in all its activities across the state.

The TBA represents more than 10,000 lawyers in Tennessee in trying to “foster legal education, maintain the honor and dignity of the profession of law, cultivate professional ethics, and promote improvements in the law and administration of justice,” a press release said.

“It is an honor to be selected to serve in a leadership role among my peers and to help continue the service of the Tennessee Bar Association,” Clark said in the release.

Clark, who represents the Seventh Judicial District (Anderson County), was elected to a second eight-year term as DA in the August 7 county election.

Letter: Dunkirk a candidate who can administer ‘justice with mercy’

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David Dunkirk

David Dunkirk

To the Editor:

What does it take to be an effective juvenile court judge in Tennessee?

First, in my opinion, would be the ability to know, understand, and apply the laws that impact juveniles and their families or guardians.

Second, that person must have the demeanor to be a judge. He or she must recognize that the position is not based upon winning a popularity contest; or being a “glad-hander” at a community pancake breakfast, for example; or having the most and largest political ads in the local press; or having the most yard signs to the point their number appears to exceed the number of wild onions in a person’s lawn. That candidate must recognize the seriousness of the office and conduct him or herself accordingly.

Third, he or she must have outstanding credentials.

In my judgment, Mr. David Dunkirk exceeds these qualifications. [Read more…]

Guest column—Happy 75th anniversary, Batman: I owe you

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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.

On March 30, Batman turned 75. That same day, our church celebrated a 24th birthday and a 10-year anniversary of having moved into the Grove Theater. The irony of it hit me like a ton of bricks because many of the seeds that led me to become a minister were, strangely enough, planted throughout the pages of my childhood comic books.

Batman has had his share of ups and downs over the years. From the most campy television programming imaginable in the 60s, to witnessing Robin bludgeoned to death by the Joker in the 80s, to actually dying and being resurrected a few short years ago…I’ve managed to stay with the Dark Knight through his many twists and turns. At age 45, perhaps I should have outgrown it all, but I haven’t.

The truth is I owe my childhood heroes a pretty huge debt. They instilled in me at a very early age the belief that truth and justice were not just abstract forces in the world, but that they could be shared and experienced with enough effort and courage. At a time when it felt like the world was growing more cynical and afraid, I came to believe that honest people could really make a difference—that good really could win out in the end. The stories of my childhood were saturated with hope.

Moving through ministry for about two decades now, I almost always find that I arrive back where I started. I find that, fundamentally, hope is a life-blood running through the veins of healthy people. I find that fear, doubt, and cynicism are toxins that course through the bodies of the most unhealthy. I also discover that I am not immune to any of it. I experience these poisons too, times when I wonder if I shouldn’t just hang my hat and choose another profession in despair over our human condition. [Read more…]

Faith column: Letting pain be pain (Part Two)

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Last month, I wrote about the problem Western civilization seems to have with pain as evidenced by the plethora of outlets we’ve created to avoid it. Central to part one is understanding the paradox of pain: that while pain certainly is no one’s friend, the laws at work on our planet are such that pain is everyone’s friend: Life depends on pain and without it, we wouldn’t be here.

It would be hard to maintain our humanity if we didn’t ask spiritual questions about pain. The Bible is loaded with “heroes” who did this very thing, including Christ himself, who from the cross issued the famous phrase found in Psalms 22: “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” Questioning in this way is not only natural, but also appears in both the Jewish and Christian texts as an affirmation of our human need to wrestle with the “why” of pain.

I have only one real issue with the questioning of God and pain in our modern world. It comes when a person has rejected the faith life because of the problem of pain and yet, simultaneously, accepts the story of evolution as a beautiful thing, despite the clearly painful history it details. I don’t believe these two world views are mutually exclusive and personally hold to both as examples of beauty rising out of pain. [Read more…]