This is Viewpoints for Friday, Oct. 28, 2016

Club probably won’t close

Yesterday’s article about the Macon Health Club was both surprising and misleading. While it’s true Navicent will no longer manage the club as of Dec. 31, it is unlikely the club will close. So club members should sit tight, plan on renewing their memberships and spread the word that the club will likely stay open under new management.

I was a principal drafter of the 1990s agreement that transferred ownership of the club to the Medical Center aka Navicent. Per that agreement, Navicent was required to maintain and operate the club for a minimum of 25 years. If it didn’t do so, the prior owner, Macon Health Centers Inc., could elect to reclaim the property for the remainder of the term.

Roughly four years remain, and I anticipate Macon Health Centers Inc. will elect to reclaim the property and entirely redevelop it with the leadership of NewTown Macon, renovating and saving the club for generations to come.

From my recent conversations with Navicent officials, I clearly understood Navicent was supportive of this possibility. That’s why yesterday’s article was so surprising. Somehow Navicent didn’t manage to tell “the rest of the story,” not a principled way to conduct business. Hopefully, it just got its wires crossed.

Navicent is our hometown entity. It should be interested in this historic club’s continued presence in our downtown, adding to its vitality and charm. As a valued local leader and partner, Navicent should work with NewTown and Macon Health Centers Inc. to find a reasonable path forward.

Those interested in saving and supporting the club might offer suggestions and support at MaconHealthClub@NewTownMacon.com. And I do hope some of those supportive emails come from Navicent leadership and board members. They should, perhaps along with some apologies.

Bogus signs

Gilbert Switzer’s recent letter, stating that Dearborn, Michigan, has “changed all signs to Arabic” is based on a posting at WorldNetDaily.com which pretends to be a news website but is, in fact, a source of conspiracy theories and far right-wing nonsense.

A check of this story at Snopes.com shows that the only sign in question is one that was created by an online software designer. The sign is a fake. Inflaming readers with bogus “news” serves no purpose.

Vote for Amendment 2

Most people I have talked with believe this is by far the most unusual presidential election in their lifetimes. And with that battle seemingly sucking the air out of the other races and referendums on the ballot, it is very easy to get “voter fatigue” and not research some of the other initiatives as thoroughly as you might otherwise have done. But this year’s election is about much more than who will be our next president. It is also about an opportunity we Georgians have to make a real difference in the lives of child sex trafficking victims.

A Yes vote for Amendment 2 will create the Safe Harbor for Sexually Exploited Children Fund. This fund will provide permanent financial support for the rehabilitation of child sex trafficking victims in the state. This is not a tax on ordinary citizens. The fund will be established with monies from two sources: an additional penalty assessed on convicted sex traffickers, and an annual fee upon adult entertainment establishments in the greater of $5,000 or 1 percent of their revenues. In Atlanta alone last year the “gentlemen’s clubs” generated approximately $240 million, so the 1 percent would generate over $2 million annually.

The FBI considers Atlanta to be a major hub for trafficking, and children from at least 102 of the 159 counties in Georgia have been bought and sold for sex. Even closer to home, did you know that in Central Georgia, Macon-Bibb, Monroe and Peach counties are in the highest percentage category of counties statewide with child sex trafficking victims? Last year alone, the GBI conducted nearly 4,000 investigations into cases of child sex trafficking. Even worse, many of the children being sold for sex daily across the state are between the ages of 11 to 15, with some as young as 9.

So why do we need the amendment? Because under our state constitution any revenues received by the state must be paid into the general fund and be available for appropriation by the General Assembly. But dollars that are constitutionally dedicated may only be used for the purpose established by the amendment, thus assuring that all monies raised can only go to help our children. This is why last week our board of trustees voiced their unanimous support for Amendment 2 and the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity it provides to help rescue children from this modern-day slavery and provide them the restorative services they will need to rebuild their lives.

Pot calling the kettle

Unfortunately, when you know beforehand that a politician is a criminal, liar and murderer of infant children and still vote for that person it shows that you have the same moral views of that person. It’s a lesson like we learned in geometry. “Things equal to the same thing are equal to each other.” People who vote for Hillary have become the exact image of every evil action of Hillary.

Nonetheless, it would appear the criminals and murderer of infants have won and all those with Christian values have lost. It’s a sad and black day in the history of America. Everyone would do well to remember that when God sent his prophets out to speak to the wicked, he did not hold just the leaders guilty of sin. He condemned every inhabitant of the city who had approved of and participated in that evil. With the installation of Hillary as president, the United States has become the Sodom and Gomorrah of the world and we know what destiny they realized.

Every person with Christian values in America will feel a chill run up their spine and hair stand up on their neck when they hear Hillary say “God Bless America,” because God does not bless evil. Hillary is the embodiment of evil and the enemy of everything for which God and his people stand.

The eye of the reader

Thank you Charles E. Richardson for your comments for which one is questionable and the other superb. Very questionable; “I’m not going to spend my remaining time on Earth letting hatred live rent free in my head.” Did he mean to say hatred has lived in his head for 65 years?

Now the very superb: “If somebody doesn’t like me because of the color of my skin, that’s their problem, not mine.” In my opinion having such embedded self-worth is indeed an excellent attribute to his character.

This story was originally published October 27, 2016 at 9:00 PM with the headline "This is Viewpoints for Friday, Oct. 28, 2016."