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Welcome to Thinking Out Loud, a blog that contains postings from The Tampa Tribune’s Editorial Board and from various Tribune Community Columnists. Unlike the unsigned editorials that represent the newspaper’s institutional voice, the blog postings offer personal perspectives on the issues, personalities and events of Tampa Bay. We invite you to participate by posting your comments. We’ll do our best to respond.

Contributors:

Joe Guidry

Joe Guidry is the deputy editorial page editor of The Tampa Tribune. He is a Tampa native and a graduate of the University of South Florida. He is married and has an adult son.

Jeff Stidham

Jeff Stidham grew up and lives in Bartow. He has been with the Tribune for nearly 22 years, the last 10 on the editorial board.

William Yelverton

William Yelverton is a Tribune editorial writer who has worked for the paper nearly 22 years. He lives in the Dade City area.

Jim Beamguard

Jim Beamguard is a Tribune editorial writer. He is a native of North Carolina and a graduate of Davidson College. He and his family live in Brandon.

Jackie Papandrew:

Jackie Papandrew is a freelance writer and editor. Her syndicated humor column appears in publications in the United States, Canada and India. She lives in Largo with her husband and children. Visit her website at www.jackiepapandrew.com.

Camille Beredjick

Camille Beredjick is a senior at Chamberlain High School, an avid musician and a scribbler with a quirky sense of humor. In the fall, she will be attending Northwestern University to study journalism, political science and music, and she plans to pursue a career in journalism.

Jim Harnish

Jim Harnish is in his 17th year as Senior Pastor at Hyde Park United Methodist Church in Tampa. He and his wife, Marsha, have two daughters and two grandchildren. He is a graduate of Asbury Theological Seminary and received the honorary Doctor of Divinity degree from Bethune-Cookman University. He is the author of six books and numerous articles and studies. He enjoys playing with his grandchildren and cheering for the Florida Gators.

Angela Hunt

Angela Hunt is a novelist living in Pinellas County with her husband and two 220-pound mastiffs.

Sheryl Young

Sheryl Young was a Tampa Tribune Community Columnist in 2005-2006. A freelance writer since 1997, including the Tampa Bay Business Journal, Tampa Style Magazines, St. Pete Times and nationally in Better Nutrition, Today’s Christian Woman and more. She’s received a First Place Amy Foundation national "Roaring Lambs" Writing Award, and has lived in Tampa Bay with her family for over 20 years.

Christie Gold

Christie Gold teaches English and journalism at Freedom High School in Tampa where she advises Revolution, the school newspaper. She has been both the Hillsborough County Teacher of the Year and Florida Journalism Teacher of the Year. She lives on a small farm in Wesley Chapel where she trains as a competitive equestrian.

Natalie D. Preston

Natalie D. Preston is a karaoke singing, only-child pouting, Seminole Tomahawk waving, newlywed bride blushing, 50-state traveling, girlie girl who loves to shop, read, run and jump up and down on her soapbox.

Fernando Figueroa

Fernando Figueroa is a researcher, educator and lives in Riverview.

Gary Beemer

Interests include humor, politics, economics, community and world affairs, finance, people, religion, music, sports, current events, the arts and education.

Nicole Yunger Halpern

Nicole Yunger Halpern is an undergraduate at Dartmouth College, where she studies everything she can get her nerdy little hands on. Desired major: life. No, not necessarily biology. Life.

Kris DiGiovanni

Kris DiGiovanni is a Tribune Community Columnist, Huffington Post contributor, Daily Kos diarist, and teacher, who recently moved from NW Hillsborough to another planet - a small beach community in Pinellas County. She also blogs at www.sandscript.wordpress.com

H. David Braswell Jr.

H. David Braswell Jr. is an Information Systems Professional. He is a native New Yorker and a lifelong NY Giants fan. He attended college in California (Cal State Northridge) and moved to Tampa in 1998.

Sean Marcus

Sean Marcus teaches creative writing, journalism and reading at Chamberlain High School. He has one son and is expecting a daughter in early March. He can be reached at wuizabug@gmail.com

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U.S. Military funeral comes off without anti-gay protest

Posted Jul 29, 2010 by Sheryl Young

Updated Jul 29, 2010 at 05:10 PM

An expected protest by the notorious Fred Phelps and his Westboro Baptist Church never took place yesterday at the Spring Hill funeral of Sergeant Derek Schicchi. Thank goodness.

Schicchi, who was from the Tampa area but currently serving at Fort Hood in Texas, was found dead of a gunshot wound behind a building on July 19. The circumstances are suspicious and under investigation.

According to tbo.com’s report yesterday, Phelps and some Westboro Baptist Church protesters were expected to picket the funeral.

Fred Phelps, who calls himself a pastor and leads a church whose website’s motto is “God hates fags.” Phelps has been picketing and protesting U.S. Military funerals with the reason that war and a soldier’s death are God’s punishment for homosexuality.

Phelps and his church do not represent the majority of American Christians

Speaking as a Christian myself, there is no way Phelps or anyone else is going to win the understanding of gays and lesbians, much less their confidence in Christians or their hearts for the Lord, with this kind of message.

This is so out of order for a person calling himself a Christian clergyman, to say nothing of his followers—who must be following him blindly and not reading the Bible for themselves. This is the kind of church and pastor giving all of Christianity a bad name.

Getting past the fact that there are verses addressing homosexuality in both the Old and New Testament, we must remember this: Jesus said, Let he who is without sin cast the first stone (John 8:7).

Does Fred Phelps or anyone in his church gossip? Have any committed adultery? Have any stolen from their employers by taking coffee breaks that are too long, or taking paper clips and pencils home? Then they are no better then the others they say are sentenced to hell.

We are all sinners in some way or another. Besides, God calls believers to repent of their sins in order for Him to heal their land – he doesn’t call people who don’t believe what the Bible says to save the earth.

2 Chronicles 7:14: If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

Phelps also has his congregation believing that God hates the world which is in direct contradiction to John 3:16: For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Christians are called to be examples of these verses:

Galatians 5:22-23a: But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

2 Cor 2:14: But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place. (NAS)

Colossians 4:5a: Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders.

Does this sound like Fred Phelps and his group? Do they project a “sweet aroma” for Jesus? No. I appeal to readers not to allow Phelps to be your example of Christianity. And his followers need prayer for their eyes to be opened.

Side note: Contrary to popular belief, Jesus himself did say something about homosexuality (Mark 10:6-8: “…at the beginning of creation God made them male and female. For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, 8and the two will become one flesh.”)

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