The Need For Tolerance

There are a lot of people making a stink about not getting their way these days. One of them is the homosexual lobby screaming about not being admitted to the Boy Scouts as troop leaders – this, despite the ruling by the Supremes which upheld the Boy Scouts as a private organization that was free to set its criteria for membership.

Suffice it to say the national news media had a field day over this. Even Bryant Gumbel got in on the act and demonstrated total intolerance towards Robert Knight of the Family Research Council. After the microphone was turned off, a camera turned toward Gumbel, and it was quite unmistakable what he said, even though he could not be heard audibly. He said about Knight "what a f***ing idiot". When confronted, all CBS had to say was that Gumbel was "on vacation".

Gumbel is not the only one who demonstrates intolerance. It’s not just media personalities who are getting in on the act. In fact, there are whole segments and areas of the country that seem to be afflicted with this problem. Other areas of the country have their unique struggles with this in various shapes and forms. One case in point exists in Belmont, Massachusetts where a group of neighbors have an axe to grind against The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, commonly known as the Mormons or the LDS Church.

Here’s the story: In 1997, the Church began construction of a temple in Belmont, Massachusetts, a Boston suburb. To clear the land, there was the need for the controlled use of explosives. Note that I said controlled – at no time was anyone in jeopardy during the clearing of the land. However, that was not enough for some of the neighbors. They made a stink about the proposed design, which was to be multi-spired, so the Church came back with a single spire or steeple to be atop the temple. They were still unhappy.

The Church went to the local zoning board to seek permission for approval of the revised plans for the single spire temple that was approved by the appeals board after its initial denial. Again, the neighbors weren’t satisfied over the issue of the spire, so they went to Middlesex County Superior Court where they got a judge to side with them and as such, the spire is on hold – at least for now. Despite the opposition, the Church has a public open house underway, and is planning on dedicating the temple without the spire on October 1st. After the temple is dedicated, only members of the Church in good standing may enter. The Church currently has the matter regarding the spire pending before the Massachusetts Court of Appeals – and that is not the Church’s only headache in this matter.

Not only does the Church have this matter pending against them, there is also a second legal matter they are having to defend themselves in. The state of Massachusetts has what is called the Dover Amendment, which gives churches in the state considerable power as to design and locating their buildings. The second group going after the LDS Church is not only challenging the legality of the Amendment regarding the placement of the spire on the temple, but the legality of the entire temple being there altogether. Either of these cases could conceivably go to the Supreme Court of the United States.

What I cannot understand for the life of me is what the fuss is all about. Why the stink about a spire or steeple? I traveled through New England with my family on vacation three years ago and I found hundreds of churches with steeples or spires. I have also seen them throughout the Deep South as well. In many communities, these churches were the dominant landmarks in the communities I traveled through. The LDS temple being opened in Belmont is 60 feet high without the spire. The proposed spire the Church wishes to add is 139 feet high for a combined height of 199 feet, a height that isn’t prohibitively high, and something the neighbors need not have any legitimate worries about.

To me, this action on the part of the neighbors smacks of religious intolerance in specifics, and bigotry in general. I find this ironic given that this area is one of the first settled areas of America. The ancestors of these people left England to seek freedoms they were not permitted there. One of those key freedoms they sought was freedom of religion. Of all people in America, you would think that these people would be somewhat more open-minded when it comes to religious tolerance, but apparently they aren’t – or so it seems.

About ten days ago, former Massachusetts Republican 1994 senatorial candidate and current Salt Lake Olympic Committee President Mitt Romney met with his former opponent Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA) and took him through the new temple on a guided tour. Accompanying them were a couple of LDS Church leaders. After touring the temple, Kennedy was asked about the legal challenges the Church had to deal with regarding the spire, and he said, "If other churches are going to have their expressions in terms of spires, this one should as well. What’s fair is fair."

Whatever one has to say about Kennedy, one can say this: He can understand what religious intolerance and bigotry are about. When asked about his late brother John F. Kennedy, he stated "I think President Kennedy probably said it best: that he wanted to be evaluated as an American who was Catholic and not as a Catholic president."

That is a lesson that some of his constituents would do well to learn.

You can e-mail your comments to Timothy at trollins@idirect.com.

Copyright © 2000 by Timothy Rollins.
All Rights Reserved.

-Published with permission