This is Viewpoints for Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2015
Get involved
Earlier this month the voters of Macon-Bibb County approved a renewal of the education special purpose local option sales tax by 75 percent to help continue making improvements to our school district for another five years. I want to thank the voters and all of those who supported the 2015 ESPLOST campaign, Victory for Our Students, especially co-chairs Leonard Bevill and Rene Neville. Their tireless efforts helped ensure stakeholders throughout Macon-Bibb County had an opportunity to learn more about this tax referendum and how it will benefit our students and schools for years to come.
One of the many things we spoke to stakeholders about over the past few months during this campaign is our hope to rebuild the community's trust in our school district. At the next school board meeting on Thursday, Nov. 19, board members will be presented with a second reading of Board Policy BBC. This policy includes provisions for implementing a committee to oversee the management of ESPLOST capital improvement projects. Board members first received the information about plans to develop an oversight committee as an administrative rule at the board meeting on July 16. Plans for the ESPLOST Oversight Committee also have been mentioned in this newspaper, including an August article in which the Greater Macon Chamber of Commerce announced its support of the ESPLOST referendum.
Policy BBC will allow each board member and the superintendent to appoint one person to the ESPLOST Oversight Committee to form a nine-member team. These appointments should have relevant experience and skills as indicated in the policy. Between now and the next board meeting in December we are requesting each board member to forward a list of potential appointees along with the skill set they possess so final selections can be made in December. A list will be compiled with all potential candidates to be reviewed during executive session at the December board meeting. Board members will review all potential candidates and work to make sure there is a broad area of skills and experience represented for the ESPLOST Oversight Committee. Once there is a consensus among board members, the appointees will be named in regular session.
I am encouraging anyone with relevant skills who is interested in serving their community through the EPLOST Oversight Committee to please contact a board member or my office to add their name to the list of potential candidates. You may contact me by email at Jason.Daniel@bcs dk12.net or by phone at (478) 765-8508. Information about the committee will also be updated on the school district's website at www.bcsdk12.net.
— Jason Daniel
executive director of capital programs
Bibb County school district
Making the irrational, rational
Once again, an unprovoked and horrific massacre has rocked the civilized world. Once again, there is consternation, supported by an ongoing naivete, on the part of some political leaders and some in mainstream news outlets as to why any sane, rational individual could even consider acts of such cruelty and barbarism all in the name of religion. Once again, we seemingly fail to comprehend that basic concepts of God, morality, final judgment and ultimate destiny which are common to all of the great religions — Christianity, Judaism and Islam — have been misinterpreted and grossly distorted by a growing number of religious zealots.
Unfortunately, these religious fanatics, by virtue of their intense indoctrination, are immune to rational discussion and will not be swayed by cajoling or intimidation. What we consider irrational and callous is quite logical and appropriate for individuals who fervently believe that this dreary, earthly sojourn is a mere preparation for an eternity in paradise surrounded by all the worldly comforts and pleasures denied to them in this life.
I have no definitive answer to the question as to how to deal with religious zealots whether they are Christian, Jewish, or Muslim. However, I am convinced that the Supreme Being — whether you choose to call that entity God, Yahweh, or Allah — does not condone senseless slaughter. The fact that murders are committed while invoking the name of the divinity makes the acts even more despicable.
— Kathryn Cunningham
Macon
Questions
In the past I said to ask questions. Jesus did and so does Dr. Bill Cummings. What questions should we ask? Is there a God who created this universe? Who is God? What is the true meaning of the Bible? What Is life? What is the soul? Is there life after death? Why do we pray? If so, does prayer really work? Does God answer all prayers?
Most of the questions you must ask and must answer. I cannot prove that a mythical gentleman we call God is out there somewhere in the ether. I know there is life because I see it every day. Still I ask, what is life? The soul is what makes me a man. I know about the soul because the woman whom I have loved for 60 years is no longer at my side. I pray that God will help her because she has Alzheimer's. I know she has prayed for me because at 86 I have came through a dozen years of illness that kill most men.
I believe in life after death because I know that someday I will have God to answer all questions that run around in my brain. My body and brain is the temple God gave me. It is a temple to carry God around in all the days of my life.
— Brian T. Reid Sr.
Gray
This story was originally published November 17, 2015 at 9:39 PM.