Imagine if our town had a progressive mayor who didn’t agree with the public religious comments of a conservative pastor and contacted a different progressive pastor asking, according to the progressive pastor, “Is there anything anyone could do to tone down this guy’s rhetoric? Isn’t there some kind of hierarchy in his church that could rein him in,” making it appear the progressive mayor was trying to silence and intimidate the conservative pastor and his church, in an unethical and unconstitutional way.
We don’t have to imagine that scenario; it appears to have happened. According to a video “sermon” posted on Facebook and on his churches YouTube channel, Mayor Ginny Dickey contacted progressive pastor David Felten with those very questions. Consider the impact of our mayor, or any political leader, allegedly attempting to silence or control any church, or its leadership. When I contacted Mayor Dickey, she had a different recollection of why she contacted David Felten, but acknowledged she contacted him about me.
As a veteran, I protected and defended the Constitution and our First Amendment rights. As a pastor, I surrendered my life to speak the Word of the Lord and will not let any government official “rein me in” or cause me to “tone it down.” Nor will I allow government officials to interfere with how churches function or what we say.
Things are off kilter in Fountain Hills, when we have a mayor allegedly contacting one pastor about another. There is no legitimate reason for our mayor to do this. If she has any questions about me and my church, she is free to contact me. It’s time we have a mayor that has the integrity and the fairness to personally contact the people she/he has concerns about.
Editor’s note: Ginny Dickey has clarified to The Independent she reached out to Felten because of comments made by Tony Pierce about Felten’s church online that gave her cause for concern. In the communications reviewed by The Independent, she does not say the lines quoted here, but they are accurately quoted from and sourced to David Felten’s video.
