Shealy Opens Mouth–Inserts Foot

Bryan Fischer at the Idaho Values Alliance posted an article and in part of it he described the hositility of Alan Shealy to religion in the public square as the one who spearheaded the removal of the Ten Commandments Monument from Julia Davis Park:

The deal which resulted in the removal of the monument was engineered by city councilman Alan Shealy, a relative newcomer to Boise from the east coast. Mr. Shealy takes full responsibility for the decision that took this symbol of transcendent values out of the public square.

The Boise City Council opens its evening meetings with an invocation offered by a local clergyman. Immediately following the invocation, everyone in attendance faces the American flag and recites the Pledge of Allegiance together.

Mr. Shealy’s custom is quite pointedly not to participate in the invocation. While every other council member bows his head and adopts some posture of respect for this custom, Mr. Shealy either glares defiantly at the pastor giving the invocation, stares at the back wall, or nonchalantly allows his eyes to wander about the room.

When the Pledge is recited, Mr. Shealy customarily refuses to say the words “under God.” He closes his mouth and does not open it again until everyone else present has uttered the phrase. It’s not a stretch to see in these actions a hostility toward religious expression, and difficult not to think that Mr. Shealy’s animus against Christianity played some significant role in our city’s loss of this cultural artifact.

Well, Alan Shealy used the comments on the IVC blog to respond:

I read your comments about me with great interest, and confess that I am bemused by your opinions. If I am being “disrespectful” of the religious custom of prayer by keeping my eyes open and not bowing my head, then I conclude that someone is being similarly disrespectful, as the only way he would be able to confirm this is by keeping his eyes open with his head upright during the Council invocation. Worry not, however, because God forgives.

Mr. Shealy’s got a point, somewhat. Yes, you’d have to be breaching the etiquette to notice that if you were in the Chamber with Mr. Shealy. However, you don’t have to be at the Council Chamber to see Mr. Sheeley’s act. Just turn on the Television to Public Access. Now, while some might say that you should bow your head when people on TV pray, that’s a little much for me.

As Bryan pointed out Shealy didn’t speak to his protest of the words of our pledge of allegiance which can be seen.

Shealy goes on:

As for my “anti-Christian” bias, only a careless lunatic would have chosen to take on the religious right by gratuitously voting to move the decalogue simply because he took issue with the tenets of Christianity. Let me assure you that I am in full control of my faculties. My motion to move the monument was impelled by one simple practicality, to avoid the senseless expenditure of taxpayer dollars to defend the City of Boise against the ravings of a religiously inspired bigot from Kansas. Period. End of story.

Mr. Shealy continues to ignore the two elephants in the kitchen as he has for the past two years: the still-standing Ten Commandments Monuments in Meridian and Nampa. If it was necesary to remove those for fear of the Phelps clan, why have these two cities not suffered the Wrath of Phelps? Anyone with knowledge or research knows that when it comes to any issue, the Phelps clan has a lot more bark than bite. This is a bogus point.

It was the correct decision, and I fully expect the Idaho Supreme Court to uphold our administrative right to move the monument. You believe whatever you want.

Alan Shealy, working to unite our city. Remember, the liberals told us that we need people like Alan Shealy on the Council because activists like Brandi Swindell would drive a wedge in the Council and create disunity in our city.

While studying the Bible in a grammar school course and during the church sermons of my youth, I learned and took to heart the Christian message of love, compassion, tolerance, and acceptance of those who differ from us in body and mind. Apparently this is a notion that is absent in your particular version of the faith.

Its amazing that liberals all come away with the same conclusion. This is actually, the opposite of the Fred Phelps version of the Bible. It is Cafeteria Christianity or Religiosity. You pick a few themes you like and say that’s what its all about. Christianity is about love and compassion, thats true. But its about justice and righteousness, too. Its about courage and truth.

However, the only type of Christian faith, the left likes is Wussianity, wherein we never stand up for anything lest we be considered unloving or intolerant. We let our own fear blind us to our duty to God and others.

I believe spirituality is a wonderful and beneficial asset. My own spirituality is a bulwark and a comfort to me in a difficult world. To true Christians, it matters not how I chose to use it, how it manifests, or even if it exists in my heart and mind. True Christians accept and celebrate the great patchwork of beliefs and spirituality that make up the fabric of humanity. True Christians understand that their faith is not etched in a piece of granite, but burns in their souls and manifests in their deeds.

So apparently, true Christians are liberal universalists and the rest of us are heretics. Again, this is Alan Shealy working to unite our city

True Christians chafe at and are embarrassed by the torrent of dark, hypocritical bigotry that flows ceaselessly in your words and postings. They are the sort of rants that animate so much hatred and bloodletting in our world. They are shameful.

Bryan Fischer is not Fred Phelps. In fact, back when Bryan was pastoring CCV, the church was picketed by Phelps’ people. In a true hyperbolic attack against the former chaplain of the Idaho State Senate, Shealy has accused him of darkness and of fomenting hatred and bloodletting. This is funny, because Reverend Fischer negotiated the arrest procedure for the Ten Commandments protestors, so there’d be 13 people arrested quickly and in an orderly fashion rather than giving the police a hard time. Shealy’s attacking the person who moved to reject Fred Phelps’ hateful anti-Matthew Shepherd monument.

Lets put this in context of the recent campaign where the left supported the re-election of Maryanne Jordan arguing she’d represent unbiased qualified government. Mr. Shealy came from out East to Boise, got elected to the City Council, and spent the last two years castigating and picking fights with people of faith in the City of Boise. While the rest of the City of Council has mostly viewed the issue as something to forget, Shealy relishes challening the “religious right.” Alan Shealy makes a good city councilman for Boise like I’d make a good supervisor for San Francisco. Mark it on your calendar, Alan Shealy will be a one-termer on the Boise City Council.

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