MY SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE
By John Leon
In this day and age, the politics in just about any situation never seem to boggle my mind. People are constantly being taken advantage of, and I confess, I happen to be one of them.
Recently there was been a power struggle in an entity that I would like to believe that I was part of. No longer. The days of being taken advantage of are over and there will be a price to be paid in the future, since I have the power of the pen.
I didn’t bring this on, but this is the result of what happens when you piss off a writer that was asked to help and do things the right way.
Being a journalist gives me creative license to write and determine the rights and wrongs of everyday life. It’s my opinion after all, and if you don’t like it, tough! I personally do not like being used as a pawn in power games between people that supposedly have the best interests in mind of those that they are the leaders of and that’s the kids that they teach and coach.
Gone are the days of taking sides and it’s time to call it like I see it, and although I’ve done my due diligence in reporting things AFTER getting quotes from the sources and confirming like a good journalist is supposed to, it never ceases to amaze me, how people send out false information or the information that they want to release, in the name of their cause.
A denial, false truths, lies; however you want to name it is all the worst kind of information that goes around these days. People ask you for your opinion and then you realize that they just wanted to see where you stand. All the while reporting to the higher entities that you may have had differences with.
A recent committee asked my opinion on what they thought needed to be done in a situation. I told them what I always do and that’s the truth. Like it or not, it’s my opinion and that’s what I say. It’s sometime brutally honest but it gets the point across. What I never banked on was that the words that I chose would find their way back to someone that not only I don’t trust, but don’t like and want nothing to do with. I realized that the person, who I thought was no longer in charge, still is with minions to do his bidding.
Another committee tried, in vain, to have the gym at Holy Spirit named after long time coach and teacher Bill Deibert. It was UNANIMOUSLY rejected. That’s not the best part. The football field is already named after Ed Byrnes and there’s no problem here, but the people that rejected the idea are two administrators that have no idea who Deibert was, one person who had a fleeting time with him and two of his peers. Nice huh? I wonder where the final vote came from? Certainly not the current administration.
Don’t worry about the possible revenue that it may bring, let’s just not give the naming rights to anyone. Don’t worry that he sent all of his children through the school, spent 43 years teaching there and was a revered coach and mentor. Apparently the “committee” that rejected the idea felt that he didn’t do enough.
This is the struggle of Church and State, my State. I have no love lost for either side especially on side that has been a thorn in my side professionally and personally. I have tried to treat all parties with fairness and equality and have been taken advantage of.
I hope all parties are having a good laugh at the expense of a journalist that tried to do the right thing and made sure the sources were of the highest quality before releasing any information.
I suppose in this day and age, sensationalistic journalism rules and being one of the few that actually still believes in the integrity of my profession, it must mean that there’s a stamp on me that says, “Take him for a fool”.
Enjoy it now, because it’s about to change.
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