Catholic, Lutheran clergy lead prayers over Crystal labor impasse
June 3, 2012 at 6:03 pm in Grand Forks Herald
With union members camping overnight here in a caravan bound for American Crystal Sugar Co.’s headquarters in Moorhead, people from both sides and several faiths in the long-running labor dispute over processing sugar beets met for prayer in the cathedral. Continue Reading
First of all, may God bless those who meet on June 8. I pray that the Lord will provide wisdom and calm so that a proper outcome can occur.
Secondly, don’t you just love those union t-shirts at church? Did the front side say “WILL STRIKE IF PROVOKED”?
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Sssssssssseperate god and business.
Hot debate. What do you think?
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“God helps those who help themselves”…..never have seen much of that from the unionites.
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Sorry Richard. You know my stance in all this, but in all fairness that is nowhere in the Bible. God is into reliance on Him; not our own power.
If you are looking for an appropriate verse for the union workers with too much time on their hands: 2 Thessalonians 3:10: those who do not work shall not eat.
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You’re over-thinking this RN, never said this was a Bible verse or in the Book.
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Good call. I stand corrected
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First, I don’t think there are 1300 still out of work. The ones that wanted to provide moved on. Second, why can’t new employees handle the job? Hasn’t everyone been new at some point? That is what training is for.
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I think the t-shirts are totally appropriate. The message about never giving up, coupled with the aggressive canine only serve to drive the point home that their attitude is the biggest problem here.
They consider anything OTHER THAN what they want to be “giving up” or “giving in”. It’s probably hopeless to try and convince them otherwise. That attitude comes from the top down in organized labor situations. The “big thinkers” further up the ladder who are conveniently insulated from the suffering have NOTHING ELSE to offer up in the way of advice for the members.
“Never give up”.
Priceless.
Just more evidence of what enough time in “the bubble” can do for a person’s objectivity.
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As the old saying goes: “Sometimes the answer is no.”
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Received that answer more than once
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A question which has been asked for millenia. If, as some believe, God is immutable, no prayer is going to change his mind. I mean, look at Jesus in Gethesame: even then the answer was no.
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Prayer is not about God’s mind; it’s about ours.
“Our Father who is in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done; on earth as it is in heaven … ”
Prayer is not about bringing God into line with my will, but bringing my will in line with His.
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You are correct God has a plan, but do not forget it is your choice whether or not to follow it.
God has never forced his Salvation on anyone against their will. All who ask receive; not everyone asks.
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So, you’ve never said “God, please grant me the strength to xxx”? If you ever have, and God really has known his plan for you forever, then aren’t you trying to persuade him to grant you strength, even if he never intended you to have that strength?
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You are very, very close. I routinely pray for strength, guidance, & the ability to keep my mouth shut when the only thing liable to come out of it is hurtful.
God can answer yes, no, or wait. I am asking, but if He says no, then more often than not I am asking for the strength to do what He wants instead of what I want. He doesn’t need the strength, I do.
Lest you get confused, very few Christians (at least the honest ones) agree with God 100% of the time. I have been arguing with Him over several of His precepts for years.
He is not going to change. In the end He probably isn’t really all that interested in what I think. He sees the big picture where I resemble an electron microscope.
He doesn’t change, but with His help I do
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As I already stated, the precepts you are arguing with were the inventions of man: the earth as a flat plain, diseases caused by demon possession, Original Sin, a world-wide flood, ad inifinitum.
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At the risk of generating a theological debate which will go nowhere, almost without exception, the true faith of believers is not in a deity, but in other men who have proclaimed the will of the deity. For Mormons it’s Joseph Smith, Moslems have Mohammed, and there’s the Bagwan, Maharishi, David Koresh, Russell. For mainline Christianity it’s Saul of Tarsus, whose only validity rests in his own declarations. But for a majority of Paulists at the Council of Nicaea, Arians, Docetists, or a whole other group of Christians would have represented orthodoxy. The Bible? Men chose what books would be included and excluded. And when people cite those texts, their faith is in the editors and translators, which is why both LDS, JWs, and Jews for Jesus have their own translations.
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Faith is always intangible and largely illogical. Noah spent the better part of 100 years building a boat nowhere near the ocean. You know the local homeowner’s association hated him.
I have very little patience with bozos who spend all their energy trying to scientifically prove God exists. They completely miss the point.
According to Biblical doctrine, we are saved by faith, not by scientific proofs. If you believe the Bible, then you are comfortable with that.
If you don’t trying to convince you is simply a waste of time. By definition faith will always have a component hat cannot be quantified.
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” By definition faith will always have a component hat cannot be quantified.”
No ever proven. Which is why religions ram it down people’s throats.
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Not me. As I said above, I have no tolerance for those who try to prove – or disprove – what in the end is a matter of faith. Waste of time & a completely inaccurate reading of the Bible.
I also do not believe in legislating morality. When you stand before God you stand alone. The law will not save you..you either have Christ or you don’t. It is completely binary: yes/now
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Well, as Christopher Hitchens used to say “When a North Korean dies he escapes North Korea. Under Christianity, death is just the beginning of etenal dictatorship under the Beloved Leader.”
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FN. Well written. It makes no sense to try to prove the existence of the supernatural based on science (natural law). Natural law by definition does not allow for the supernatural.
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Dear God,
Please tell the people that are not personally involved in this labor dispute to butt out. I would appreciate it if you told them to get a life. And if at all possible, please shut Scott and ron up, or tell them to get their own radio show.
Thank-you for the lovely day.
Amen
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Good morning tj, I hope your husband is on the mend. This labor dispute was brought to the attention of the general public by the union leaders looking for public support. I have family and friends on both sides of this dispute and I am concerned for their well-being… on both sides. Try not to be frustrated at those that comment, the frustration should be directed to those in power. Specifically, the union’s negotiating team for not getting the job done.
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amen gussy…
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You do insire me TJ. My husband is a very small farmer, not a rich plantation owner as some of the others have made general statements about. My sister is married to a union worker. It is very sad all around. I wish they could agree. She wishes they could agree. He wishes they would /could be exempt from intimidation and agree. Do you think that will ever happen with this union? As a farmers wife I have worked my ass off for 20+ years to raise my six children. We have NO health insurance because we can afford NO health insurance. I would still like to see my sisters family with coverage. I begrudge the union nothing. But fair is fair, and I believe the offer is fair
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I was told the union members would be getting a chance to vote on the contract after the meeting with the company. I can only HOPE they get the opportunity. I should warn people…if they don’t sign the contract after this round of talks…I might not be too nice for a while.
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Ouch.
Perhaps I should explain. I “feel” personally involved, even though I’m not a locked-out employee, nor am I in management.
The reason I “feel” personally involved, is because my employment situation has taken a bit of a *hit* over the years, (as I’m sure a lot of other peoples’ has as well), by the continuous redefining we do. I’m not saying my paychecks have gotten smaller necessarily, I’m saying terms like “skills” and “skilled labor” don’t mean what they used to. As a result, lots of folks that fall into the “skilled labor” category take a look around from time to time and wonder how exactly the membership rules got as relaxed as they are.
The downward-spiraling criteria for what constitutes a “skill” can have effects that reach further than those immediately involved in this situation.
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As in all things, work as if everything depended on you, pray as if everything depended on God.
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Amen Gene.
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It’s ironic that Catholics and Lutherans can get together to pray for a union, while for 500 years they can’t agree on their own doctrines.
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Seems to me they should be praying on more important issues than that of a bunch of people who think they have the right to dictate what a company pays them.
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Putting your money where your mouth is puts you above 8/10 who talk but never follow that up with action. I salute you. I disagree with you but I Honor your convictions.
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and i buy more American Crystal sugar
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MEASURE 3
Since the Herald did not put a comments option on the measure 3 opinion today, I’ll comment here (and I invite others to join me).
Note that the measure 3 proponents think that Justice Scalia’s interpretation of the COTUS does not allow enough religious freedom. Well, Scalia is a devout catholic, and is generally accepted as the most religiously conservative justice — for example, he led the court to try to prevent any taxpayer challenges to church-state separation issues.
The point: If Scalia is too liberal for measure 3 advocates, then the hair on the back of the neck of reasonable people should be standing straight up!
This measure is NOT about the religious freedom the COTUS already guarantees. It is about undermining the establishment clause of the 1st amendment by forcing cases of religious oppression or constitutional questionability into litigation to have any chance of justice.
The catholic bishops in particular should be thoroughly ashamed of themselves on this one. They have turned their church into a giant political action committee, and are brow beating their flocks into voting for their agenda (those who listened to your priest telling you how to vote last Sunday should note that church politicking is in violation of the religious tax exemption).
I’m not religious — but I’m strongly in favor of the religious freedom our wonderful COTUS guarantees. However, the COTUS does NOT allow any religious sect the freedom to oppressively impose their dogma on unwilling others. There is absolutely no need for this measure other than to remove all reasonable constraints on those want power and control over others.
Thus, for goodness sake tell everybody to vote “NO!” on measure 3.
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Saw a New Yorker cartoon the other day. God was too busy to intervene in floods, earthquakes, and other calamities because he was helping some guy make a free throw.
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Guess he was too busy to notice the batter crossing himself.
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http://www.helpline.org
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I believe you meant that link for Schurkey.
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I guess that’d be the “psychiatric crisis–Dial 911″ part of that link.
I just go nuts when Government intrudes on our freedom; including when they steal excessive money from us to finance pet projects, nonsense wars, and parasites.
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tj: Is this Gene DuBois stalking you, hitting on you or just annoying you? You and your husband are in Mpls fighting a different battle and he’s making bikini comments. Am I the only one creeped out by that? I know Gene hates sports, hates that a Hakstol is worth 30 times more than him, but I never knew he had such a disregard for women. Please check “dislike” if I’m not being fair.
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Gene and I have a thing going…he lets me pick on him…in exchange I let him harrass me a little. It seems fair to me. No harm done.
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Alvin, This is all an inside joke between tj and me. I have all the sympathy in the world for her and her husband. My wife is a breast cancer survivor, so I know the enormous toll this awful disease exacts on the person and loved ones.
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“I know Gene hates sports, hates that a Hakstol is worth 30 times more than him”
Actually, Alvin, you don’t know that. The fact of the matter is I love sports, and college hockey happens to be my favorite. I just dislike the fact that UND believes that hockey should be its # 1 priority, as witnessed by the value they put on Hakstol. But, as has been said before, the same is true for most universities now: athletics rule.
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I have to admit, the exchange seemed a little out of character. I often don’t know when to leave well enough alont. sorry.
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No big deal. I can see where you’d arrive at the conclusion that our communications were a bit out of the ordinary. We’ve been kidding with each other for some time.
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Except the time I called you a dolt Gene…I meant that. And the beers cans you find on your lawn are mine.
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I knew that when I saw the brand. $6.99 a 12-pack.
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Ever notice that when a wide receiver drops a touchdown pass, he never points to the sky?
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The union tried to cry to “Mr Union” Dayton and comedian “Franken”, and that got them nowhere……..maybe Jesus can help! I think Jesus said…..no work, no pay! And also no sympathy!
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