For several months, one issue has driven a wedge between residents of the closely knit Baker community.
Exodos Ministries, a six-year-old Christian substance abuse rehabilitation ministry, wants to house men with drug, alcohol and sex addictions on the agricultural-zoned Buck Ward Road.
The goal is to build a house that initially serves eight men and eventually can minister to 16 men, according to Kyra Crowson, Exodos' admissions director and secretary of its board of directors.
But that's too many men with serious problems, and it's too close for comfort, according to nearby residents.
VIDEO: Watch commentary on this issue>>
Okaloosa County Commissioner Nathan Boyles will facilitate a 6 p.m. public meeting Thursday at the Baker Recreation Center so residents can finally hear more about Exodos' proposal, and both sides can have their say.
At least, they can offer feedback directly to Exodos Ministries board members and Buck Ward Road residents, as our readers have certainly made their views known on crestviewbulletin.com and on Facebook.
That was in addition to protest signs lining residents' properties and at least one assembly beckoning the two groups to find peaceful resolution.
I've covered this issue, as a reporter, from day one, and won't take a side in the debate, but will offer some analysis.
Several Buck Ward Road residents have expressed concerns about having an alcohol or sex addict receiving Exodos' services on their street. But Exodos supporters say that even if the ministry moves somewhere else, that doesn't ban addicts from residential areas.
Indeed, anyone can travel those roads, and there's no scarlet letter or bad seed icon branded on people who've lost their way. So you won't necessarily know whom to avoid.
In many cases, you may be unable to tell who's battling the bottle or abusing prescription drugs. They go to work, go to church, and you see them cheerful and friendly around town, but behind closed doors it could be a different story.
That's why they call them high-functioning alcoholics.
In addition, "sex addict" is not synonymous with "sex offender." Rather, the term — whose legitimacy, granted, some psychologists question — refers to someone who battles anxiety, depression or other problems with high-risk sexual activity, according to WebMD.
These typically are people who seek release to cover sorrow, not people who seek to prey on others.
So, knowing that Exodos doesn't minister to sex offenders or men who have committed any violent act, and knowing that their clients are HIV-negative, readers' remarks about fearing sex addicts are puzzling.
These aren't pedophiles; they're sad people finding other sad people for consensual sex. They're not predators; they're human beings with weaknesses.
That said, I also understand those who oppose the ministry's proposed location.
People often fear the unknown. If you don't know someone who has suffered from any kind of addiction, or if your only frame of reference for these behaviors is connected with criminal activity, it should raise concern.
And those fears can snowball and create, in the mind, a bogeyman that doesn't fairly reflect Exodos' good aim of helping lost sheep.
Or those fears could be legitimate.
What if someone who isn't just a high-functioning alcoholic or run-of-the-mill Craigslist sex addict entered Exodos' doors?
What if a pedophile sought spiritual guidance months or years before a law enforcement official learned about his behavior, before he could be locked up, and thus denied admission to Exodos?
If you were raising a family on Buck Ward Road, would you really want to take that gamble?
There will be no easy answer here.
But there will be an opportunity for your voice to be heard, this Thursday.
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: EDITOR'S DESK: No easy answer in Exodos debate (VIDEO)