A (Failed) Call for Civility from Rev. Emrich in 2010‏

Please see (below) current Christian Civic League of Maine Executive Director Carroll L. Conley, Jr.'s article from January, 2010 lauding Rev. Robert K. (Bob) Emrich for Bob's civility.  Conley, Jr. and Emrich were both on the Board of Directors of the Christian Civic League of Maine at this time, and Conley, Jr. was also the Bangor Baptist Church's school guidance counselor at that time, too.

 

Conley, Jr. became Executive Director in July, 2010, while Emrich went on to become Chariman of the League's Board of Directors in 2011.

 

Then, please note (also below) the good reverend Emrich's uninitiated e-mail to me just some five weeks after Conley, Jr. heaped praise upon Emrich for his "civility."  Emrich was a State Representative candidate at this time (March, 2010), and he went on to lose in the GOP primary just three months later to a pro-gay marriage Catholic attorney, Ken Fredette.  

 

This kind of incivility by Emrich toward me (twofistedmanofgod@mail.com, I was the League's Administrator at the time, in 2010) must have been big news to Conley, Jr. who "never heard or read of anything [Emrich] has said that was a personal attack" (from Conley, Jr.'s column), although I do not seem to recall Conley, Jr. mentioning his disappointment to me with Emrich about these remarks at the time...

 

Mike Hein

Augusta, Maine

A Call to Civility

by Carroll L. Conley, Jr., Saint John's Valley Weekly

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:Y6oJraRQ7EsJ:www.svweekly.com/joom1511/index.php%3Foption%3Dcom_phocadownload%26view%3Dcategory%26download%3D31:the-svweekly-january-28-2010%26id%3D2:recent-editions%26Itemid%3D5%26start%3D40+&cd=10&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us

January 28, 2010

 

Bob Emrich’s recent announcement that he is seeking the Republican nomination for the District 25 seat in the House of Representatives has elicited expected positive and negative responses.

 

As Emrich puts it, "I’m not surprised by the negative comments; I just hope that the negativity does not become the focus of this campaign."

 

As an observer of Bob Emrich’s civic efforts during the same-sex marriage issue, I find the personal attacks upon his character both unfounded and counterproductive. When it comes to public discourse in regard to an issue with which both sides hold such deep, passionate convictions, it is all the more critical that personal attacks be absent from the process. And for the record, I find too much of the rhetoric coming from conservative Christian voices to be counterproductive as well. More importantly, I find some of the inflammatory language to be totally inconsistent with the principles of Biblical Christianity.

 

Bob Emrich may say things with which his opponents totally disagree, but I’ve never heard or read of anything he has said that was a personal attack. As a matter of fact, his decision to establish Maine’s Jeremiah Project was to distance himself (and other like-minded conservative evangelicals) from Christian individuals and groups whose conduct was vulnerable to the public perception of hatred. Due to his commitment to oppose gay marriage in a respectful, humane manner, Bob Emrich was (and still is) being hammered by folks on the left and the right who would say anything to advance their agenda or cause.

 

With all this negativity, I asked Bob why anyone would subject themselves to the slander, obscene and threatening phone calls, things being thrown at his home, and even being intentionally blocked in a parking lot?

 

"I truly believe we all need to serve the public good. If I have the opportunity and ability to have a positive influence upon my community, then I have a responsibility to do so. I know there are going to be controversies and disagreements within the process, but I hope that we can agree to disagree in a civil manner," responded Emrich.

 

It is interesting to note that, just recently, Pastor Emrich wasc ontacted by the Maine Civil Liberties Union in regard to legislation dealing with solitary confinement. He accepted their petition to join them in investigating the matter of prisoners’ fair and just treatment.

 

"As much as I may vehemently disagree with the ACLU on many issues, as a Christian I am concerned about those that are incarcerated being treated humanely. We may differ on what is or is not humane, but conservatives must participate in such matters. For too many years, our lack of participation has made us appear to be uncaring."

 

The very fact that the MCLU would reach out to Bob Emrich and assume that he would engage in this process demonstrates his viability as a candidate and a public servant. As much as his far left and far right opponents may desire to define him as an ideologue by personal attack, I believe the constituents of District 25 will stand with him above the fray of such pettiness and the politics of personal destruction.

 

Carroll Conley currently serves as Director of Advancement at Bangor Christian Schools.

 

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Bob Emrich <bemrich@midmaine.com>
Date: Tue, Mar 2, 2010 at 6:22 PM
Subject: FW: Temporary Victory in Maine (Transgendered Guidelines)
To: twofistedmanofgod@gmail.com

Cowardly, divisive, false, and slanderous are only a few of the words that come to mind when I read your email.

You have every reason to be ashamed. Even apart from your cowardly attacks against me, you are dishonoring the organization you pretend to serve and even worse you dishonor my Lord. 

From: Mike Hein
Sent: Tuesday, March 02, 2010 10:39 AM
To: Mike Hein
Subject: Temporary Victory in Maine (Transgendered Guidelines)

Monday afternoon's public meeting of the Maine Human Rights Commission regarding the proposed transgendered schoolchildren guidelines resulted in a minor, and possibly only temporary, victory for decency and morality.  The five Commissioners voted 4 - 1 to put off voting on accepting or rejecting the guidelines proposal until after public hearing(s) are held on the matter.  There was no date yet set for the hearing(s), but it could be as late as May.  The one vote opposed to this decision came from a Commissioner who wanted to vote on the proposal yesterday, and vote to reject the proposed guidelines!

All it took was for about two dozen concerned citizens to turn out to the public meeting (where they were not allowed to speak by the Commission) and for several of them to stand up and yell at the Commission about their opposition to this and to then walk out of the public meeting.  There was a lot of media there.  Print accounts of the story are at:
www.kjonline.com/news/sex-orientation-bias-guidelines-await-feedback_2010-03-01.html
www.bangordailynews.com/detail/138022.html
www.sunjournal.com/node/806519
www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=126662

Television news/video of the story are at:
www.myfoxmaine.com/dpp/news/20100302-hearing-held-on-transgendered-students
www.wmtw.com/education/22709245/detail.html

The most disturbing development surrounding the issue, however, came from the Maine Jeremiah Project's Bob Emrich, who sent an e-mail alert to his group of supporters on Saturday, ahead of the meeting, encouraging Maine's Christians to not attend the public meeting.  His e-mail alert text can be read at http://politics.mainechristianblogs.com/2010/02/27/maine-jeremiah-project-message-february-27-2010-2/ 

Bob seems completely off the reservation here, essentially telling Christians to sit-this-one-out and to shut-up-and-stay-home.  I can only speculate that his bizarre stance was due to one or both of the following:

a) Bob was a co-leader of the gay marriage repeal effort last year with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland, Maine.  He worked very closely with Maine's Bishop Malone and the Diocese, the same Bishop Malone and Diocese who supported the homosexual rights law in 2005 which this whole transgendered issue arises from (that 2005 law included both "gender identity" and "gender expression" protections).  Since Bob probably anticipates working again with the Catholics later this year on the homosexual marriage issue again (EqualityMaine is vowing to submit homosexual marriage legislation again late this year), Bob had good reason not to go against the Roman Catholic Chancery on this transgendered issue now.  The Diocese has been completely silent on the transgendered schoolchildren proposed guidelines issue. 

and/or

b) Bob is running for State Representative as a Republican in Maine House District 25 (an open seat this year in a Republican district, due to term limits), and his recently announced Republican primary opponent is none other than Ken Fredette, who sits on the Maine Human Rights Commission, who is deciding the transgendered schoolchildren proposed guidelines issue.  Fredette (despite being a pro-gay marriage Catholic) stole the show yesterday during the public meeting (see the video news accounts), taking the strongest stand against the proposed guidelines, saying this was a legislative issue that the Commission should not be handling.  Fredette was the Commissioner who voted to kill the guidelines yesterday.  Bob would have reason for not wanting a lot of people to show up and see his GOP primary opponent shine in the spotlight as a hero for morality and decency.

It was beyond disappointing to see Bob Emrich act so publicly in such a politically calculating and shortsighted way.  He even (without naming us) criticized the League as "sound[ing a} careless alarm" by encouraging people to attend the meeting.  It's amazing to see this "FRC Watchman on the Wall" and, more importantly, ordained Baptist minister of the Word of God tell Maine Christians to shut up and stay home on such an important matter.  Sad and pathetic.

Mike Hein