Volume IX, Issue I
The "Values of THYME"
Beginning in 2009 as a parody of the 'other' weekly news magazine, THYME has struggled to find its place in the word of citizen journalism as TIME has become less of a force in mainstream reporting. As more and more people find their news in alternative sources, usually through the internet, it has become all too common for badly sourced hysteria to overshadow good solid discussion of information. Here's an example: Last year the following 'petition' circulated the email circuit:
As co-creator of The Simpsons, I can find humor in almost anything. But I’m not laughing at the shocking images of blatant cruelty to animals from inside a Chick-fil-A supplier farm and slaughterhouse that I recently saw. When my friends at Mercy For Animals showed me hidden-camera video footage exposing Chick-fil-A’s foul treatment of chickens, I was sick to my stomach. Now I need your help to stop it." -- Sam Simon
Terrible! But what Sam Simon is protesting is not the truth. Mercy for Animals investigated a grower in Puckett, Mississippi, and a poultry slaughterhouse in Chattanooga, Tennessee owned by Chicago-based Koch Foods. Koch Foods' contract to supply Chick-fil-A was terminated as of April of 2013.Thus they were not even a Chick-fil-A supplier at the time Mercy for Animals investigated them! Could it be that there is some media bias towards Chick-fil-A for their support of traditional values? You be the judge.
Chick-fil-A said of the matter: "As a values-based organization, we strictly partner with suppliers who share in our goal of responsible environmental stewardship, and maintain our values throughout all animal welfare and management practices. We wholly support the humane treatment of all animals and do not condone their mistreatment at any point along the supply chain." [1.]
Certainly there is plenty of evidence to suggest that Chick-fil-A's values are more than window dressing. To honor a fallen police officer in Georgia, they closed the store while his funeral procession passed by, saying: “Chick-Fil-A of Griffin Dwarf House will suspend all transactions as the funeral processional for Officer Kevin Jordan passes our location Monday afternoon, June 9th. Thank you for helping us pay respect to our fallen officer.” When Birmingham Alabama highways were shut down by a massive snowfall, Chick-fil-A passed out thousands of free meals to stranded motorists. [2.]
The larger point here is that modern liberal thought (which drives much of today's so-called 'journalism') does not have a place in the narrative for values, as we in the household of Faith know them. Pointing to a few instances of very real Hypocrisy, they proceed to tell us that very real values are only a pretense! They do a great disservice to humanity by doing so. The void this thinking creates is often filled with things sensational and tawdry. We, as a people, are diminished by that.
That is why THYME has changed direction to present the stories that celebrate the things found in Phillipians 4:8: "Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things."
Dennis Prager discusses good values.
Staircase to belfry, Mount Vernon United Methodist Church in Danville, Virginia.
Blue Ridge Parkway Bridge over U. S. Route 60.
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