Time for Oakland to Put Pastor Byron Williams Back to Order
I wasn’t even considering to post this unoriginal Huffington Post entry on the Armenian Genocide resolution, that echoes the State Department’s official guidelines in denying recognition for the Armenian Genocide, until I saw at the buttom of the post that the author was a pastor!
It is always great to see a pastor-blogger, but it also surprises to see a pastor who doesn’t dear truth as dear as Jesus, or in fact any other founder of a religion, would. After openly talking about the Armenian Genocide without denying it, the pastor-blogger goes ahead to the tale that State Department and the administration have been telling in the last ten days.
Like its predecessors, the Bush administration, opposes the measure, calling it an insult to a key ally. Moreover, strategic reasons also play into the president’s thinking, as an estimated 70 percent of U.S. military cargo bound for Iraq goes through Incirlik Air Base in Turkey.
“Congress has more important work to do than antagonizing a democratic ally in the Muslim world, especially one that is providing vital support for our military every day,” the president opined at a press conference last week.
The president is absolutely right!
[…] However important it may be to publicly acknowledge Armenian genocide, it is more important that we put our own house in order now.
However important it is for Pastor Byron Williams to practice his freedom of speech, it is more important that folks in Oakland put their Pastor back to order – perhaps a theology school where Christianity’s core value – TRUTH – and not genocide denial for political gains is a priority.
Byron Williams on 22 Oct 2007 at 8:55 am #
I saw your post, I thought I would respond. If you read that my column was about Armenean genocide, then you obviously read somethhing into the piece that no one else did. I did not take the State Department line, I used that only to make the point that Congress must role back the authority that it gave the president. By the way, I have not read too many pieces that call for such rollbacks. While I welcome exchange, I also welcome that critiques are made in context.
Peace and blessings,
Rev. Byron Williams
Byron Williams on 22 Oct 2007 at 8:56 am #
By the way, its Byron not Bryan
Blogian on 23 Oct 2007 at 4:49 am #
Rev. Byron Williams, I read your entry again and I think my post reflected what I wanted to critique – your attitude that Turkey is more important than truth. For a pastor to put anything above truth is immoral in my opinion.
Sorry for having written your name as Bryan at first. I changed it. And thanks for commenting.