In the interest of full disclosure, Rev. Scott Jones is a friend and former co-worker of mine. His church, the Cathedral of Hope-Oklahoma City was formerly a parish extension of the church of which I am a member and staff member, the Cathedral of Hope in Dallas. CoH-OKC is now independent of us, though we still maintain a relationship.
In his defense, for those who think he did not do well against Rep. Kern, Scott was courageous, albeit perhaps a bit foolhardy, even to accept the invitation to "debate" Kern. Very rarely is anything accomplished in such a setting. Fundamentalists have no interest in hearing, or letting be heard, the other side of the argument. After all, they have the Bible on their side, so what other side is there?!? Sally Kern is a bigoted, fundamentalist politician. Scott is a compassionate, intelligent man, who, as a minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, approached the conversation from a different perspective, with love and understanding. Scott could have made any number of other Bible references, in addition to the ones he did, had she not talked over him every time he opened his mouth.
One of the first things I learned when I joined the staff of CoH as the media relations representative was that rarely, if ever, will we accept an invitation to "debate" a fundamentalist in an on-air setting. With the opponent's unwillingness to listen, it too easily can turn heated. As Rev. Michael Piazza is fond of saying, "It's like teaching a pig to sing; it frustrates you and annoys the pig." Scott has been at the forefront of the response to Rep. Kern, and should be commended for that.
"I am open, and I am willing,
For to be hopeless would seem so strange.
It dishonors those who go before us,
So lift me up to the light of change."
Holly Near
