My childhood church was a safe haven for NC kids like me. No more. | Opinion

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My childhood UMC was a safe haven

The writer is a Belmont University professor who grew up in North Carolina.

When I was a boy — a little gay kid, though I didn’t know it at the time — I loved my church, First United Methodist in Maiden, N.C. I could imagine no sweeter music than its congregation singing hymns. I could imagine no fairer light than that cast by the stained glass in the sanctuary. The playground at Maiden Elementary School might have been torture, but church was a safe place.

So it is with bone-deep sadness that I report that on Sunday, Jan. 22, 2023 First United Methodist in Maiden voted to disaffiliate from the United Methodist Church, mostly because some Christians do not want to extend ordination and marriage to LGBTQ folk.

The genius of John Wesley, father of Methodism, was his ability to think and act outside the box. When the hidebound, class-bound Church of England neglected large swaths of the British people, Wesley held services in Lincolnshire cemeteries and at the entrances to Cornish coal mines — wherever he could find an audience. To do all the good he could he adapted to new circumstances. He taught that the love of God was broader than the measure of the human mind. Unfortunately, two centuries later, large segments of the religious group he most influenced do not share Wesley’s love and flexibility.

It’s sad when people love dogma more than their daughters, smugness more than their sons, an illusory purity more than real people. As one of my wise friends said, it’s as if my childhood imploded. The little kid who loved First Methodist, Maiden in the ‘50s and ‘60s has been retrospectively rejected, made invisible. My heart goes out to those adults who now find themselves exiled from their goodly heritage, from a tradition which had nourished them and their grandparents. And I fear for LGBTQ children in my hometown who, as a result of the Jan. 22 vote, now have one less safe place.

Douglas Murray, Nashville, Tenn.

NC must improve gun safety laws

The writer is a Wake Forest University med student and 2022-23 N.C. Schweitzer Fellow.

As a medical student in North Carolina, gun violence concerns me.

North Carolina’s Department of Health and Human Services reports that in 2020 there were more than 1,700 firearm-related deaths in the state and in 2021, there were more than 116 related deaths of children — making it the leading cause of child injury death.

Gov. Roy Cooper recently discussed this with health, education and law enforcement professionals at a round table with the NCDHHS. They propose several strategies in a layered public health approach to reduce gun misuse, reduce suicide and mitigate violence.

The group reflected on the success of previous public health efforts to reduce motor vehicle accidents, such changes in the law around the drinking age, speed limits and seatbelts. Just as insurance companies reward good driving behavior, they could incentivize gun safety behavior, such taking gun safety classes and using gun safes.

San Jose, Calif. is poised to be the first city to pass a law requiring gun owners to have liability insurance and will impose annual fees paid by gun owners to fund violence prevention efforts. To consider what that would look like in N.C., an estimated 361,500 guns were sold between January and July 2022. If a flat fee of $10 were to be applied to every gun sale during that time, it would amount to more than $3.6 million.

These funds could be used for gun safety and violence prevention programs. While this would not be a comprehensive way to cover everything outlined in the round table, it could certainly be a starting point to better support communities and individuals at risk for injury and death by firearm.

While these programs appear promising, it would be wise to see the success in San Jose before moving forward. For now, each of us can contribute to firearm safety. As a future physician, asking patients in mental health crises, and families with children, about the access to firearms in the home is an important step.

Each of us can advocate for programs in our community, and each of us can ensure that if we own a firearm, only the right people have access to it.

Annie Thurman, Winston-Salem