Sometimes, I wonder whether people fully appreciate this column's role.
When I started it two and a half years ago, the goal was to bring transparency to the news side; give voice to unpopular opinions; and mediate when contentious issues arise.
It's no bully pulpit; there are no agendas here. But it takes much more courage to spread unpopular views and share lesser known perspectives than it does to write 30 inches about what everyone in town already thinks.
In other words, don't read this column and expect, in most cases, that I'll be preaching to the choir. That's hardly news.
With that said, Crestview's hot topic this week is a proposal to amend Crestview's comprehensive plan. The city plans to promote downtown business development by rezoning the area to exclude additional churches.
As you may have heard, the Rev. Mark Broadhead, pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Crestview, had something to say about that. But no line got as much attention as this one: "If this amendment should pass, it would mean — to use religious terms —that the city officials are selling the city’s soul to the devil."
Readers on crestviewbulletin.com and our Facebook fans almost immediately criticized the comments.
And at that moment, I knew which issue would need a closer look.
TEMPORAL, ETERNAL WORLDS
Broadhead's perspective may be difficult for some people to grasp. After all, having fewer downtown churches would mean more room for businesses that could add to the tax base and bring more revenue.
That's the popular opinion; at least, based on readers' reaction on crestviewbulletin.com and our Facebook fan page, it is.
But remember, part of my job in these columns is to give voice to the unpopular opinion, another perspective for complicated issues.
In this case, I have an advantage. As the brother of a Catholic priest, I've heard plenty about the temporal and eternal worlds.
The temporal world, as many people know it— complete with politics; pettiness; rivalries; the rat race; social climbing; bills, bills, bills; and debt— is considered a less significant reality with finite constraints and obligations.
But the eternal, invisible world — the longest battle of good versus evil, complete with angels and demons, and the reward of everlasting life or punishment of damnation — is more significant because it's infinite.
When you look at it that way, Broadhead's quote, based on his vocation as a minister, really isn't that controversial. For a pastor, it's downright factual.
In the clergy's eyes, saving souls and building the kingdom of God trump boosting tax revenues.
1 GOAL, DIFFERENT PATHS
Many of the faithful can appreciate the importance of fueling our economy and providing essential services, but everyone has his or her own ideas about to achieve this common goal.
For instance, I know some priests who say the best approach is not through capitalism, corporations or working traditional jobs. They'd favor co-ops and equal, supposedly fair pay.
Now, churches don't pay taxes, but as one reader noted, they do provide food for the hungry, clothes for the poor and other community services.
In other words, they're able to serve that eternal mission I mentioned earlier with monetary donations and contributions of goods and services.
Atop that, in the Main Street churches' case, there's the added benefit of providing a heavenly presence, a measure of accountability, for Crestview's downtown businesses.
Meanwhile, there's the understanding that any service or amenity that taxes won't pay for, the community probably could rally together to cover.
NOT MUCH DIFFERENT
In recent years, a cash-strapped city and civic-minded residents willing to open their wallets have shown that Crestview can operate much like a church: relying not on taxes to provide essential services and amenities, but more on donations and volunteered labor.
Crestview residents last year raised $30,000 to reconstitute the police department's K-9 unit; they're raising $20,000 this year to pay for the fire department's new Hurst Jaws of Life; several are brainstorming ways to fund recreation facility improvements for the city's baseball and softball teams; and Friends of the Arts — which initially formed to find and fund a grand piano for Warriors Hall in the Whitehurst Municipal Building — regularly programs events whose proceeds help maintain the piano at no cost to taxpayers.
In other words, basic needs and even wants can be provided by the community; forget tax dollars.
Still, a vibrant downtown area enhances the community's quality of life. Certainly, it would be great to see more places to shop, eat and be entertained at on Main Street. And people who live here should want to play here, too, and keep tax dollars in this community to support it financially and symbolically.
And in The Bible, even Jesus said that supporting the government wouldn't prevent someone from building his kingdom.
In fact, according to Matthew 22:21, it's a duty: "Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and unto God the things that are God's," he said.
What's your view? Write a letter to the editor or tweet News Bulletin Editor Thomas Boni.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: BONI: With downtown Crestview churches debate, consider the source