Of Churches and Banks: What is Happening in the World of Eminent Domain

Is Eminent Domain not going where we fear? There is a small church in Oklahoma City that is to be destroyed in the interest in commerce and tax revenues. That's it, then. If you want to destroy a church, all you have to do is demonstrate that you can pay taxes using the land the church is sitting on.

Just so you don't think I'm missing the elephant on this one, the congregation is primarily of African lineage. This demographic is exceptionally weighted toward support for the Democratic party which is primarily liberal, although people of the sub-culture that grew out of the African slave communities is typically more conservative. (The reason, of course, is due to the myth that Democrats care more for civil rights than Republicans. This is fueled by the bait-and-switch legislation that Democrats promise will help them while Republicans have generally opposed such legislation to protect them from the virtual slavery hidden in the proverbial other hand.) Conservatives are against the encroachment of government dominance over personal liberties through the subversion of eminent domain for anyting other than civil necessity. Perhaps our fellow citizens in this demographic will realize with increasing frequency that the liberals are not the friends they purport to be. As a Christian, I pray that my bothers and sisters in this church will successfully defeat this attempt to destroy their fellowship. If they're the first, they certaily won't be the last.

The good news is that there are allies in the private financial sector against this treachery. BB&T, headquartered just down the road from me in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, is one of the largest banks in the United States. They have recently announced a policy to deny loans to commercial developers that plan to build on land taken from private citizens by eminent domain. I hope other banks will also see the benefit of this position.