JH 32a - Joe Hill Responds to Anon. On JH 32

If the workers took the notion they could stop
all speeding trains;
Every ship upon the ocean they can tie
with mighty chains;
Every wheel in creation, every mine
and every mill:
Fleets and armies of the nation,
will at their command stand still.
Joe Hill 1915

Joe Hill Responds to Anon. On JH 32 - LTD, Hamm's Flock to Proselytize

Anon. I am sorry if this article offended you. It was not the intent of the article. Remember the opinions are of the Joe Hill LTD Project, not the union. If the Union wants me to pull down the posting of JH 32 it will be gone by the next day. So I am sorry. Let me explain myself.

There is a big difference in this circumstance contained in my article, from my way of thinking.First, Ken Hamm is the top paid public official of LTD and I think that it demonstrates poor judgment to spread religious messages that might be offensive to non-Christians. Plus Hamm is in the power position, so who dares speak up about it.

Second, LTD is a tax supported agency. As a government, we and especially Hamm, should not establish any religion either by action or expense. I happen to think that it should apply to emails also. And Jewish, Muslim, non-believers and others could be threatened or made to be uncomfortable with this. The fairest way and best way is to remain silent on personal issues like this on official business machines.

Wear a Crucifix, Star of David, Red Crescent or a Pentagram for all I care. Send religious messages from home, fine. But, I think that someone making more than $100,000 per year has better things to do with his time at work than personally address emails to employees with prayer messages. It is especially wrong when LTD has a policy against it, which it does, by the way.

Third, if Ken Hamm is such a proud and faithful Christian then I really hope that he is asking the question "What would Jesus do?" with regard to our collective bargaining. If the answer is what Hamm and Management is doing to us in bargaining then he reads a different Bible than I do. Furthermore, Jesus said to "enter into thy closet" to pray and "not in the corners of the streets... As the hypocrites do."(Mathew 6:5-6)

OK, I will agree that it may be petty to some. But I would not have done the article if I had not received the email from another employee who was offended by it. Maybe he or she believes the Lord's words in Mathew 6:5-6 or they just think Hamm should leave them alone. Whatever it is, that person thought it was wrong and so do I. The other thing to think about is the email was sent in February 2001, so this employee has been carrying this around for quite a long time and is still upset about it.

Lastly, We do not want the Joe Hill LTD Project to be a forum on religion. This is last time I will talk about religion (I hope because it is very personal to me).The Joe Hill LTD Project is a forum about bad LTD management judgments, and how they affect workers, fairness for workers and our collective bargaining solidarity. I apologize to all who did not like the article and this reply to the comment.

In Solidarity,
Joe Hill