Ohio Feed 1529 - 1600 Vote 2006
Tapper feed
Door knocking - tape 3
15:30:21 aherns goes door to door
15:31:47 volunteer to african-american male resident in black t shirt: are you a voter
15:33:35 volunteer: if we dont get a lot of people to vote in this community the politicians are going to ignore us.
15:34:58 ahern and volunteers foot shot -- pov
15:35:39 aherns knocks on door/no answer/leaves reminder to vote nov. 7
15:36:29 ahern walks up to another door: this one is jacqueline and joseph...
15:36:50 ahern knocks on door
15:37:26 ahern: I'm tim aherns...
15:38:06 TA: What we're here to do is stop by and make sure folks are going to get out the vote, and I'm trying to see, I had a note here, did you vote in the last election?
15:38:12: I did not.
15:38:13 TA: Ah-ha! See!
15:38:14 we'll it's a good thing we're here. It's very important that you vote on Tuesday. Are you planning to vote on Tuesday?
15:38:19: I am.
15:38:20 TA Good. Do you know where to go?
15:38:22: A church somewhere.
15:38:23: St. Phillips. Right around the corner. And you know that it is open 630-730. Its very important thing this year is that you have to bring a photo ID. You know that. Or, do you have a driver's license?
15:38:35 Yes.
15:38:35 TA: Well bring-yeah, a pay stub will work. The other thing is, just to let you know, in this neighborhood, only ten percent of the people voted in the last election. So it's really crucial if this neighborhood is going to be represented, come on down the line, that we can hold people accountable. So it is important to get out and vote; we're not going to tell you how to vote. So kids were asking 'so who are you running for?' I said we're not running for anybody, we're just trying to get people out to vote so. Great. Well we look forward to that, so thank you very much, let's see, am I missing anything?
15:39:07 (man on the right of camera) tell everyone else who's registered to vote, anyone else registered at this address, your
neighbors, make sure everyone gets out and votes.
15:39:15 TA: Please do. And one more thing, you have lovely yard, and sorry if we burned your meals. And don't make him pay for this.
(Laughter)
15:39:25 (man on the left of the camera) If people vote in this community, politicians will listen to us. That's the key.
15:39:30 (resident in the black shirt, to the left of the camera.) That's right. That's absolutely-that's right. That's what brings the resources to the Woodland Park area.
15:39:35 TA: Absolutely. Thanks. I'll be back for dessert.
INTERVIEW WITH REV. AHRENS (TAPES 3 & 4):
15:40:59 J: So what happened a year ago that launched you into this?
A: Well, I had been in Arizona - actually, with my wife for our 21st anniversary - we got back and woke up on a Saturday morning and um there was a photograph of people on the statehouse steps um and I read the article - it was a religious gathering of a thousand people - and Ron Parsley said in the midst of that, "we're lockloading and firing on Ohio." And uh, I spit my coffee across the room - (CUT OFF FOR CAR NOISE)
15:42:10.I was in Arizona for my anniversary, we got back and um Saturday morning I wake up and read that the day before while I was still away, Parsley and the Patriot Pastors were on the steps of the statehouse declaring that they were "lockloading and firing on Ohio." And I just lost it. I didn't know what to do - I just kind of spit my coffee across the room, I just was shocked. Because the question I had was a question of faith - what does this have to do with Jesus. You know, some of the stuff I had heard them say was a mockery of the faith I have given my life to.15:42:30 Uh, but this was way over the top. And so I began to ask my colleagues and my friends - what do you think of this? Where are we going to go with this? And we gathered, and what came from those gatherings was eventually "We Believe Ohio." But from the very beginning, it was a very spiritual movement because people - people said we're sick and tired of this. And uh -
15:42:54J: But what are you sick and tired of?
A: Oh we're sick and tired of the religious right saying, this is what faith looks like. Um, you know, we really just had a time of sharing where pastor after pastor shared stories of members of their church that don't tell people they're Christian, because Christian means right wing; Christian means uh reactionary; Christian means all of these things.15:43:15 Now for those of us that love Jesus it doesn't mean any of those things but it's become that because of the ultra-right wing. You know, I had written about this in the newspaper, I had done some other things and challenged some of my colleagues, but this was sort of the crowning glove. And, you know, that's not enough - it's not enough to be angry about something, it's not enough to be disturbed by something, you have to figure out what you stand for. And so as we came together - first as pastors of local churches and then we broadened it to rabbis and (?) and others, we realized that we really believed that the state had gotten in such shambles economically, politically, every imaginable way, that we had to do something about it and we had to come together to raise social justice issues.
15:44:01 J: When you say raise social justice issues, what does that mean?
15:44:07 A: A great example - the education of our children in this state is uh four times the Supreme Court has told the legislature that it's unconstitutional - the way the schools are funded. And um.
15:44:19 J: How are they unconstitutional?
A: Well, what's unconstitutional is that there's not a state-funding base that allows - (INTERRUPTION FOR NOISE)
J: (Re-asks) What's unconstitutional?
15:44:36 A: The way the schools are funded uh continues to decline in the state legislature. And what happens is, the richest schools in the suburban areas can afford to raise levies and have taxes on their schools and on their housing - but the inner-city schools and the rural schools just continue to loose out. 15:44:54 So we literally have this huge gap educationally between the rich and the poor. The kids in this neighborhood don't stand a chance in the schools they have. Um - asbestos dripping from the ceilings.it's awful. It's almost an educational apartheid system. And um, four times the Supreme Court has ruled on this and said, you have to change this. And four times the legislature has done nothing. 15:45:19 So in my understanding, if you four times a judgment comes down upon you and you don't do anything about it, that's contempt of court. Uh, you know, the legislatures should all be put in jail um.and nothing's happened.
15:45:30 So, you know, it's wrong what's happened here and so we're saying you have to fulfill the state mandate by the Supreme Court. Another example would be that um - we had until May of this year uh - the 49th lowest payment for minimum wage in the country. Only Kansas was below us.so thousands of us started organizing this ballot initiative that is now on the ballot about raising the minimum wage. And uh the legislature cynically raised the minimum wage after 15 years to meet the national minimum wage and completely ignored what we had done to raise it to an equitable wage. And so, it's just - there's a lot of G-d talk in the statehouse but the actions and the nature of G-d are not reflected in legislation in this state. So people are fed-up. You know, I think people have really had it with what they see going on on the corner of High Street and Broad. So.
15:46:40 J: Who is Parsley? Explain to our viewers who he is -
15:46:44 A: Rod Parsley is um a pastor of a megachurch in Canal Winchester called World Harvest Church. He has a huge following through TV ministries and he really has gained sort of a national reputation through his show, Breakthrough, and uh, um he's a Pentecostal pastor that grew up here in the Columbus area and has now made a national name for himself.some say he's vying for the position of the next Falwell or perhaps the next Pat Robertson, or something in the movement. Uh but he's clearly has his trajectories set on a national uh crowd; a national audience.
15:47:25 J: Does it bother you when you hear him?
15:47:28 A: Well you know, some of the things he says makes sense. I mean, if I listen to his preachings, he's an inspirational preacher, he's a great preacher -
J: I've heard him talking about poverty -
15:47:37 A: I mean, he does talk about poverty, and uh then he pulls out a couple of cans out of the pantry and gives them to people.but the fact of the matter is that's not justice coming. That's a hand-out, it's charity at its best - it's good charity - at its worst it's sort of not honest - you know, he has a $40 million a year operation and I've said many time we put some of those dollars into the poor.like a quarter of them; I mean a tithe of his money would make a difference in central Ohio.
15:48:07 He hasn't done anything in central Ohio to make a difference, in my mind, in the neighborhoods that I work in. I work downtown and I've served meals at the homeless shelters for years.and our church will be there serving and his church will come pick people up and take them to services and what he says - and he said this in the Columbus Dispatch - is they get the best food in the world at my church when I feed them the word of G-d.
15:48:33 And uh, we have stories from pastors in the area around his church that people come for rallies to his church and then end up coming down the street to their church to get money and bus passes and other ways to get back home. When they ask him if he would help them - of course not. You know, you got here on your home, you get home on your own, you know. And so there's a real cynicism in it, and I'm sad to see that actually because again, it's a cynicism that doesn't play well in Ohio ultimately. You know, the people I find here are real salt-of-the-earth people; they're real honest people. And they're very moderate in a lot of ways. It takes a lot to stir up an Ohioan. And people are really stirred up.
15:49:13 J: Let's talk about that for a second - because I don't know what's going to happen Tuesday.you know, the polls make it seem the Democrats are going to do very well in the elections here but we have no idea. But if people in Ohio are as moderate as you say.how come the Governor, the Secretary of State, both Senators, the majority of House members.how come this is such a Republican state that the ban on same-sex marriage won with about 64% of the vote, President Bush won this state in 2004.doesn't sound that moderate to me.sounds pretty Republican -
15:49:45 A: Well, you know, I guess I kind of look at this as a person of faith and I say, you know, the way these things play-out oftentimes power corrupts. And I think the Republican um machinery um was well put in place over a long period of time and it was very effective in delivering candidates and building a base. And uh - so you need to be given credit for that.but as "We Believe Ohio," the way we look at it is - it doesn't really matter who's in office.
15:50:15 If Strickland becomes governor on Wednesday, the 8th, we're going to hold him accountable. If Blackwell becomes governor on Wednesday, the 8th, we're going to be holding him accountable. So we've got our work cut out for us. This isn't about elections ultimately, it's about accountability, it's about faithfulness, and it's about delivering your promises. And we've seen a lot of promises made - in fact there's the books published recently about promises made about faith-based initiatives that was a mockery of the people who believe those things to be true so, you know, as people of faith I don't think we want to be mocked.uh no one does.but we also believe that the most important issues we have before us are raising up the children and the poor.
15:50:57 J: It's interesting that you talk about the governor's race because it really seems that that governor's race is in many way uh.a proxy battle for the kind of theological fight that's going on in a way. Not fight but uh.disagreement. Uh - you have Ted Strickland who's a minister and a liberal. You have Ken Blackwell is an observant Christian and very conservative. Um it looks like the liberal Christian is going to win.
15:51:29 A: Well again, it's sort of hard to measure um playing the faith card has been a part of every election here.in fact, it's funny, when you read the Columbus Dispatch you'll see, you know, the criteria for why this person should be elected and you know, what they do, their job they're doing, why - you know, they make their statements - and they always ask the question, what your faith is. And I don't know if everybody asks that - I've been in Ohio for 21 years now - but it seems to me that that's not really the most relevant question because - but it is an important question to people.
15:52:04 The question is are you a person of integrity and if faith informs that integrity, are you going to - um are you going to vote the values of integrity that you bring to the place. And, as I say, there's a lot of people in elected positions who go to church. But somehow or another there's a disconnect between um the issues - you know, 2000 passages of Scriptures - speaking of concern for the poor - and no concern for the poor coming out of the legislature in this state. And again, I've watched this happen for years.
15:52:41 I guess the question for me is - my son was with me in church this morning home from college for the weekend - and my question is for my oldest down to the youngest of the 4 kids, you know, what kind of future will there be for my three children and the foster daughter that's been a part of our lives all our lives - so, you know, what kind of future is there going to be for all of them? (DON'T USE ABOVE STATEMENT ABOUT NUMBER OF KIDS!) And hopefully, that future will have a place right here in Ohio. Um but if not, that's a bad reflection on people not living out their faith in elected positions here.
15:53:20 J: Do you um - the Civil Rights movement was in no small way motivated and run by people of faith. Uh Dr. Martin Luther King was a minister. What happened to the Christian left? Where were you . where have you been since the 1960s? I mean, it's 2006 - you guys took 30 years off? What happened?
15:53:45 A: Well I've been creating - that's why my voice is horse - I've been trying to create a lot of noise all those years - I feel like it's a little bit like Dr. Seuss.Horton hears a Who. I mean, we've been here, we've been saying that we're here, but I truthfully think the media got all smitten with Gerry Fallwell and Pat Robertson and the guys in TV evangelism and they said - 'Well that's religion.' Well that's not religion in my book. You know, it never has been, really. Um it's a great show, you know? And I guess we've been in the trenches. We've been living faith.
15:54:18 One of the things I think defines so many people in my church is that they are patriots, they are people that believe in G-d and live their faith. In fact, one of the points that pushed me over the edge again was when - I have a guy who's one of the most honored war veterans of WWII and he's a member of my church. And I was interviewed when the Patriot Pastors came out - you know, calling themselves that - and I just went ballistic on TV. You can't imagine I'd do something like this but I just lost it and I said, these guys aren't patriots. They mock the word by using it in a way that makes Walter wonder what his patriotism means. Um, you know, and Walter's a real patriot. And, you know, he's there in church every Sunday. And, you know, have we lost our minds? You know, that we use that and throw those kind of words around so loosely when in fact there's people um who really live that life and do so humbly, and do so with integrity, and get looked over. So I think we've been here, we just haven't been heard.
15:55:26 J: But have you been politically active? Because this is your first real.you're out here in a non-partisan way trying to get people to vote and also, you are clearly taking a position on the minimum-wage referendum. Is this the most political you've been?
15:55:40 A: Oh no, I mean my whole life I've been very political so - I was a political science and religious studies major in college. I mean, I've always been - I've always seen the intersection of faith and politics. I went to McAllister College - actually our colors were blue and orange so.
15:55:56 J: But have you ever endorsed a referendum before?
A: Um on this no, I haven't actually.
J: And you're not allowed to endorse candidates.
A: Well, no we don't endorse candidates and I never have, actually. Um.
15:56:08 J: But this is the first time you've ever endorsed a referendum.it seems to me you've upped the anti a little; you're getting a little bit more publicly politically involved.
15:56:18 A: Well and.I think yes. One could say that. And the other reality is though - it's gotten so bad. It's sort of like saying um.well you're opposed to fires? Well yeah, actually I am, I don't like fires but the whole block is burning so I have to do something, you know. And you know, when I see the state um in just a state of disarray, I'm not being faithful to G-d or Christ as I understand the faithfulness of my uh calling if I stand back and say nothing.
15:56:53 There's a great line in scripture at the resurrection um - you know, the story goes that the women came to the empty tomb and they left in the Gospel of Mark and it's said they said nothing to anyone for they were afraid. And we obviously know they said something to someone because the story gets told, right? But that sort of sits in your mind and in your heart and you say, 'Are we gonna be faithful if we say nothing to anyone because we're afraid?' And um I think the greatest thing that "We Believe" has done has helped people find courage to come together. And you know, we are inspired by Martin Luther King Jr. and a lot of people - in fact, Frank Shuttlesworth who's now in Cincinnati but ran the Birmingham movement during the Civil Rights era - and I've gotten to know him and become friends through these last couple years - and I sat down with Fred and I said, 'What are we supposed to do?' And he said, 'I don't know, man you got gray hair, if you can't figure it out by now - that's not my problem!' You know. I'm like, ok, thanks doc. You know, there comes a point where you just kind of have to draw the line - and we have. We've drawn the line and said, no more, not here.