Brynn's Baptism- our new Goddaughter

Nicole and I with Brynn. She was a peach through the baptism. Slept for most of it.

OG got to run riot around the church afterwards. She kept trying to climb up in this fancy chair that looked like it was only meant for Jesus, The Pope and the local priest on a special occasion. I peeled her off it.

Does it look like I am having fun or what?

Same Sex Marriage and Sioux City City Council Schlubs

Let me count thy ways I can describe the flavor of the Sioux City Council Decisions since I have been in Sioux City...
biased, illiberal, intolerant, narrow-minded, partial, prejudiced, sectarian, small-minded
Or you could go a little different direction...
abhorrent, abusive, annoying, biting, cutting, detestable, disagreeable, discourteous, distasteful, dreadful, embarrassing, evil, foul, ghastly, grisly, gross, hideous, horrible, insolent, invidious, irritating, nauseating, objectionable, obnoxious, odious, off-color, opprobrious, outrageous, repellent, reprehensible, repugnant, repulsive, revolting, rotten, rude, shocking, stinking, terrible, uncivil, unmannerly

Ok, so there are a few of those words I had never heard, (opprobrious? thaaank yoouuu thesaurus.com). But here is the gist:

This is a very conservative city. About a year ago I started to notice the circus that is the Sioux City Council when allegations were brought up about two council members, (Aaron Rochester and Brent Hoffman) allegedly promising to institute spoken prayer before council meetings in return for campaign funds. While there was and is no official proof of this, where there is smoke, there is often fire. The mayor, Mike Hobart spoke out and questioned whether Rochester and Hoffman had conflicts of interest on two issues -- on switching to a spoken prayer and continuing the downtown taxing district.

The council took out their stick and beat Hobart with it. It seems they really have never let up, at times questioning his place and role in the city publicly. Now, the council, led by the very conservative, (and by conservative I mean prejudiced and close-minded, not republican) Dave Ferris, Brent Hoffman and Aaron Rochester have just voted to publicly express "Sioux City's Opinion" about the definition of marriage. Wow, they continue to amaze me with how inclusive they are. A snippet is below, or the full story here.

SIOUX CITY -- The City Council majority will send a message to the Iowa Legislature that voters should decide how to define marriage.

Voting 3-2, the council Monday adopted a resolution supporting the legal definition of marriage as between one man and one woman, opposing efforts to redefine the institution as anything else and urging the Legislature to place a constitutional amendment on the ballot.

SIOUX CITY IS NOT WHITE BREAD

Here's the thing, when I moved to Sioux City, I was sort of expecting white bread Iowa. It's far from that. We have a big cultural potpourri that surprised me when I got here. There are Somalian and Laotian refugees here. There is a large Hispanic population here, along with many Native Americans, Whites and Blacks. I see many different people, with various cultural and religious differences that I take into consideration when treating them.

However, the 'ruling class' here seems to want to enforce their beliefs on everyone else. I think councilman Ferris, Hoffman and Rochester would edict that all attend a Christian Church and follow in a straight line behind them if given the power to do so. The problem is, we don't have to. I am Christian. But I believe my neighbor has the right not to be, and also not made to be felt bad for NOT being so.

Did you know that at one time the Sioux City Council voted against an ordinance that would have protected people of all sexual orientations from discrimination in housing, public accommodations, and in the work place?

As a straight white christian male professional, I feel pretty included and wanted in Siouxland. However, if I wasn't any of these I think I would feel very rejected in this city. Thumbs up to those who continue to stand up against these outrages, including our Mayor, who voted against this.