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Letter to the editor – Grand Haven Tribune after 2nd County Board of Commissioner’s meeting January 10th, 2023
The latest Ottawa County board meeting started with a sermonette and a politicized prayer. Many of the Ottawa Impact supporters (a religiously based political organization) praised the board members claiming the country to be a Christian nation, quoted scripture and espoused religious freedom. Either we are a Christian country, or we have religious freedom, the two are mutually exclusive. Example, Iran is a Muslim country with restricted religious freedoms. Israel is a secular country with a Jewish majority. The US is a secular country with a declining Christian majority.
When people start talking about freedom, I find they usually mean THEIR FREEDOM (caps intended) with little or no regard for others. Government, by necessity, enforces order on the chaos of absolute freedom. We give away some of our “freedom” to live in a civil society. Therefore, I view pandemic mandates (effective or not) as public safety rather than an infringement of my personal or religious freedom.
Three assumptions were made at the meeting; (1) John Gibbs is overqualified for the job of administrator, (2) Religious values are always best for everyone in the county, (3) Kallman Legal Group is the best in the country. Based on those assumptions (1) There is no need for proper HR hiring procedures, (2) No need for transparency or public discussion of policy changes, (3) No need to consider legal representation from Ottawa County firms. These assumptions deserve to be questioned.
A board member labeled the previous motto “Where We Belong” as fascist, so I feel justified in identifying “Where Freedom Rings” as a conservative evangelical Christian activist dog whistle. The supreme court may squint at the constitution in such a way as to not see separation of church and state. Ottawa County should not be so myopic!
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