Here we go. According to the Asheville Citizen-Times today:
“Mayor Terry Bellamy is fasting and praying for a solution to the city’s budget woes and asking her friends to join her. She asked friends on her Facebook page today to fast and pray for 24 days [emphasis mine]. She said in an interview that the timeframe doesn’t have any religious significance. The mayor is suggesting a limited diet as a fasting plan.”
I don’t know what religious tradition our mayor follows, but it sounds very much like what Christian Assemblies International recommends: “A blessed progress will develop in the Assembly of God depending on how much the Christians pray and fast!”
It does seem that 24 days is a popular fasting duration — the best-known 24-day fast is the 1972 “fast for justice” by Cesar Chavez. Maybe Ms. Bellamy is emulating Mr. Chavez. Except that the “limited diet” then enjoyed by Mr. Chavez consisted only of water.
“The city faces a nearly $6 million budget gap it blames on a raft of Republican legislation aimed at taking away fees and revenue. City leaders have said they might close popular amenities like the WNC Nature Center and all city pools and athletics.” So, just as with Mr. Chavez, this is about lettuce.
Ms. Bellamy is a Democrat. Her action gives Democratic leadership a bad name. Rather than do something about the problem, our fast-and-pray mayor instead makes a show of what she is not doing — (a) eating normally and (b) talking to someone who might help. I am not impressed.
If you are a video graphics talent who lives in northern Kentucky, you might want to look into this position at the Creation Museum in Petersburg:
Lead Video Editor/Cinematographer
Responsible to assist with lighting and filming when on location as well as editing in post-production. Experience should include advanced lighting techniques, camera usage and a good understanding of editing tools/software.
Items needed for possible employment:
Darwinians need not apply, no matter how skilled you may be in video editing, lighting and cinematography. In fact, just forget your experience in advanced lighting techniques and camera usage because you can learn all that. Concentrate on your salvation testimony and your creation belief statement, because that is what will qualify you for this position.
If you want to know a little more about us before you apply, please be assured that the Creation Musuem “brings the pages of the Bible to life, casting its characters and animals in dynamic form and placing them in familiar settings. Adam and Eve live in the Garden of Eden. Children play and dinosaurs roam near Eden’s Rivers. The serpent coils cunningly in the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.” The right applicant will feel right at home.