North Carolina Now; North Carolina Now Episode from 06/22/1998

It's Monday June 22nd. Tonight the leader of the Southern Baptists in North Carolina now. Hello I'm reading Madrid thanks for joining us as we begin a new week here at North Carolina now on this first full day of summer we'll take a historical look back at an epidemic that struck North Carolina with great force in the mid 40s. It was called the summer plague polio. Also on this evening's program we'll head to just outside of Charlotte where majestic birds of prey victimized by humans are given a second chance. But first up the saving. Our interview our guest tonight has been a preacher since the age of 14 and now he heads up the largest Protestant denomination he is Reverend Paige Patterson the president of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest and the newly elected president of the Southern Baptist Convention.

Reverend Patterson Welcome to the program. Good morning. It's good to be with you. They just completed Southern Baptist Convention in Salt Lake City. The first changes in 35 years were made to the Baptists It's called The Message of the Faith and Message document and among those changes was a declaration that basically stated that women should submit graciously to their husbands. What is the impetus behind this new declaration. Well you know we live now in a in a society where we've got little kids blowing away all the little kids home school yards and more we've got. Racists unthinkably tieing member of an opposite race to the back of a pickup truck and dragging them to death. And something has gone badly wrong with the American home and we think that whatever the prevailing politically correct assessment of this has clearly failed and so we felt that it was time to reassert once again what the Bible clearly teaches about how to have a significantly happy and useful home life and therefore

pass that on to society. How can a statement like this create a happy home life with a chief important thing to notice of course is that that's very little of what the statement said. The statement began with a declaration of what constitutes biblical marriage one man one woman for life. Then it has a long section in which it declares the totally quality of both men and women and where it calls upon men to love their wives sacrificially and to serve them in that kind of a way. And then it says that wives also submit themselves to the servant leadership of their husbands. Unfortunately most of that never made it into the press releases as you probably can guess that this that one half of one phrase that some people knew would be objectionable was made headlines and so it doesn't really say what the statements say. Are you bothered at all that that is the portion of the statement that's been picked up by the media. I'm not bothered by it because I have gotten use across the years to the fact that

evangelical bashing is sort of the favorite pastime of some people today. And that's OK. That doesn't disturb me too much but it is unfortunate that people were not allowed to see the whole statement because the whole statement would be objected to by practically no one in our society. Let's talk about another portion of that statement and it basically defines a marriage exclusively on how to row sexual terms do homosexuals have a place within the Baptist church. Well the practice of homosexuality is certainly considered by the New Testament and the Old Testament to be sin. Now there's never any place for gay bashing no godly born again believer in Jesus Christ can be a gay basher that's absolutely unthinkable. But at the same time we do have to say what the Bible says about any given behavior. And just as we say that for example heterosexual adultery is sin. So we say homosexual behavior is also a sand according to the Scriptures. When we have live in a society where we have so many people with different races and different

beliefs and different sexual orientations isn't it the position of the tourist church to embrace all the different types of people. Well that's an interesting question and I think the answer to it is that never and it's 2000 year history has the church attempted to embrace all positions. When you stop to think about it if you embraced all positions then you would have no position of your own. And the Word of God does stand for certain things it says for example that it's always wrong to murder. And I wouldn't want to live in a society where we would embrace murderers anon you know. And so I'm not comparing that one way or another to other sins I'm just saying that there are things that are wrong and there are things that are right and the church is committed to upholding those things that are right and true. Twenty years ago you spearheaded the conservative movement within the Baptist church and basically moving the power base away from the moderates and the liberals.

Why did you feel it important and important now to move the Southern Baptist to a more conservative position. Because basically in the history of all the nominations a liberal position is a death position. If you look at a study such as think in Stark's For example neither one of whom are. Evangelical Christians they documented the fall of all the Major Lyon mainline denominations in America from positions of great importance and high esteem to a loss of membership and a loss of significance. And the one thing they all had in common was they lost their confidence in the absolute reliability of the Bible. And so we saw that happening in Southern Baptist life and we frankly didn't have a death wish we wanted to live and to see our denomination prosper. And that's why we did what we did. What is your goal as leader of the Southern Baptists. My goal for the future for Southern Baptist is to make us the most effective missionary denomination in all of history. If if I felt I could contribute in some way to getting the

gospel of the saving grace of Jesus Christ to every man woman and and child on the face of this earth. In the year 2000 I'd be the happiest man alive. Are you hoping to accomplish that. Well we're hoping that we're going to be able to encourage our churches to take a more unselfish look at the world and keep less money at home. We have more money abroad spend more time on their faces before God praying for his intervention. And we're praying that there will be a rapid increase of the number of Baptist young people committing themselves to go to the international mission fields and share Christ wherever Pattison are there is there a place within the Southern Baptists for Baptists who are less conservative than yourself. Well of course because Baptists are a fiercely independent people. And the convention itself does not regulate the churches. As a matter of fact every church is autonomous and independent. And so there are certainly people that disagree with me there are even people that disagree with me about my positions on my own faculty. And so the

fact of the matter is there's always a place for that but it's also true that a person who is not enthusiastic about the veracity of the Bible and about the essential nature of Jesus Christ for salvation is probably not going to be real happy in the Southern Baptist Convention of the future. Reverend Patterson I thank you for sharing your thoughts with us this evening and thanks for being here tonight. Thank you Martin. OK. And you want to stay tuned to the program because right after the news we'll present the first of a two part special report on polio. It's a story that is both heart wrenching and uplifting. You won't want to miss it. But before we get to that let's head over to the news desk for a summary of today's statewide headlines. Here's Michel Louis. Thanks Marina. Good evening everyone. Topping our news a three judge federal court has given approval to the state's redrawing congressional districts. The approval clears the way for the state to move forward with congressional primaries in September. The new map contains a redrawn 12th District seen here in yellow and several other reconfigured districts neighboring the twelth. The state legislature was forced to redraw the map after the 12th district was

declared unconstitutional earlier this year. North Carolina candidates vying for the U.S. House of Representatives can begin filing for office on July 6th. Thousands of state workers can expect to make major changes in their insurance provider due to a reduction in the number of HMO is operating in North Carolina after October 1st five of the 12 HMO is now operating in the state plan will no longer be available. State officials have rejected the applications of health source doctors health plan an optimum choice of the Carolinas pulling out voluntarily our CIGNA health care and partners national health plans of North Carolina. The changes will affect more than 30000 state employee health care consumers this fall. While most private sector employers make their health plan changes effective January 1st. State Treasurer Harlan Boyle says he's worried about the state's rising debt. Boyle says he is especially concerned about a newly proposed bond referendum to help local governments upgrade water and sewer systems. The Senate tentatively approved a nine hundred fifty five million dollar package last week and the

House is considering its own 1 billion dollar plan. Oil Sands he understands the need but would rather see the state pay for improvements with a specific tax fee or trust fund. Boyle's also says the General Assembly could threaten the state's triple-A bond rating by continuing to pile on more bond debt. The recent findings of an accounting firm is raising questions about the cost of running Smart Start programs. According to the findings that ministry of cost at a locally controlled operations range from five point five percent to as much as thirty seven point five percent of overall spending. State law stipulates that no more than 8 percent of the money spent on Smart Start should go to administration. The study found higher administrative cost exists in small counties and one lead accountant says the 8 percent limit is too strict. New guidelines are intended to address the cost issue. And Governor Hunt is asking the legislature for fifty seven million dollars to expand the initiative. The state Senate will consider a revised version of a bill designed to increase penalties for crimes in which the victims are pregnant. Under the measure serious misdemeanor penalties would be

changed to felonies and violent crimes against pregnant women now deemed felonies would be elevated to a higher felony status. The Senate dropped a provision that would have toughened penalties for drunk drivers who injure pregnant women. Enforcement of the state's two year limit on welfare cash benefits will start kicking in for the first time at the end of July. Those affected started receiving welfare checks on and after August 1st 1996 the state's welfare rules give recipients two years to become self-sufficient or face losing their benefits since the act the enactment of the rule. The state has reported a decline in the number of families on welfare from an initial seven thousand eight hundred down to four hundred twenty eight. Some social service officials credit the drop to a strong economy. And now for a look at tomorrow's weather high in the mountains will be in the mid to upper 80s. The rest of the state should see highs in the lower 90s partly cloudy skies are in the forecast for all of North Carolina with a slight chance of thunderstorms. In business news the state unemployment rate has

dropped to its lowest level this decade. The employment Securities Commission reports the seasonally adjusted rate dropped from 3.7 percent in April to three point three percent in May. The last time the state rate was that low was November 1989. The rate is a full point lower than the national rate of four point three percent for May of this year. And now for a look at what happened on Wall Street today. Imagine having to spend the summer in fear fear of doing anything that might put you or your

family at risk of catching what's known as the summer plague. During the summers of the mid 40s through the late 50s that very fear gripped thousands of North Carolinians as a polio epidemic swept through the state. Today polio is the subject of history books and medical tests. But for those who survived polio the effects of the disease are still very real. Tonight Shannon Vicary looks back at the summer polio epidemics and the legacy they left behind for the Tarheel State. I don't remember but I do remember the time Shelby doing of hickory old photos and film footage of North Carolina's polio hospitals from the late 1940s and early 1950s are more than mere pieces of history. These images of hot packs and Spa bags help tell the story of 1944 when Shelby was only four years old.

I had systemic. I was just about the next day I remember my mom didn't have a washing machine and she was doing laundry in the backyard or a table with a scrub board. And I remember stooping down to pick up a rock or something and couldn't get back at Shelby's parents took her to the doctor where they received an ominous diagnosis. Shelby had polio even though it was only four years all remember Monday. First time I ever saw my dog Shelby story is typical of many North Carolinian struck by this summer plague. State Treasurer Harlan Bowles was also diagnosed with polio that same summer. I was 15 years old and I was nine hundred forty four. And there's a major epidemic of polio and that essentially was a very it was a very mysterious type. Disease at the time because very few people especially in the medical profession knew or very much about polio polio

swept through North Carolina again in the summer of 1948 infecting hundreds of North Carolinians though favor I remember the favor I'll never forget that as I remember Flip was with my feet hanging off the bed and mom like like that wasn't me Panuco water ever so many hours. Polio hit North Carolina the hardest between the years of 1944 and 1954. During that time more than 70000 North Carolinians can drive to the disease and almost 400 died. It was unclear what the pattern of transmission was. It was unclear why one child across town was struck down power paralyzed with polio and their brothers and sisters weren't. Still today no one knows why. Polio was able to spread so quickly through North Carolina. But for more than a decade polio in the paralyzing fear that surrounded it were constant threats during the summer.

Some people would drive through hickory or around it but if they came through it they brought their car windows to keep from taking. They closed down schools are closed and churches are closed to swimming pools. But many North Carolinians were able to put their fears aside in order to help those struck by the disease. In 1944 volunteers in Hickory turned a summer camp into a polio hospital in only 54 hours. Similar efforts to create new hospital spaces in Charlotte and Greensboro. But it was hickories battle against polio that caught the attention of the nation when featured in the July 30 first 1944 edition of Life magazine. This is the war time at least the early forties says we're in the midst of the war and Americans are used to mobilizing quickly and it was in the polio hospitals where North Carolina waged a war against polio. We were in wards we were in they had to Jason to each other

very very they had occupied at all times. But at the moment only link is in the cut them to fit a particular person. Liam's whichever ones are affected by polio and they would put him in this real hot water. And there were so hot they'd have to use tolls take them out the rollers in the washing machine and wrap it around the arm plus to give that linen wrap another section like it and then leave it and seven year old Catherine Pernelle. There was no I am wrong which for a short time helped her breathe. I remember it was very critical round I mean made of knowing is from the paddle. But aside from the medical treatments the polio patients knew very little about the disease you know we really didn't know what the implications were very were very careful not to portray

anything very negative. They were all they tried to be very positive and we as patients we as patients maybe didn't really understand the significance of it. But polio would change their lives had it not been for polio. I probably would have wound up being a farm boy or maybe a merchant or something like that. But it did redirect my focus. And and I had career objectives. Boyle says it's not the disease itself but how North Carolinians responded to polio. That's become legendary. As the disease fades into history. And I think that our experience with polio should say to everyone that we're able to do with it that we were able to come up with new medicines were were discovered and were accomplished.

And as a consequence we talk with the World Health Organization has established the year 2000 as the target for eradicating polio worldwide. And the main time polio survivors here in North Carolina are still fighting against the lingering effects of the disease. Tomorrow night Shannon Vickrey will show us how. From the mountains to the coast rafters or birds of prey make their home in North

Carolina but increasingly these majestic creatures are losing their homes and a battle with mankind. But on 57 acres of land near Charlotte there is hope for the birds as producer John Arnold shows us is a place of healing for raptors and a place of learning for humans in a pocket of undisturbed forest near Charlotte streets of sunbeam through the slats of this rehabilitation flight cage. Shed light on one of nature's miracles. The common bar down which has the not so common ability to hunt its prey like a stealth fighter. There are a couple here that you can't hear them at all and that's of course how they survive in the wild that's how they sneak up on their prey. But for the barbell and other birds of prey survival often requires more than natural born abilities. It requires people like Mathias Engelman a very small sample of blood. Mathias is the rehabilitation coordinator at the Carolina Raptor Center and a

facility dedicated to the preservation of Raptors were birds of prey like owls eagles hawks Falcons and vultures. No one injured or orphaned birds from all over the country are brought here to heal from wounds usually inflicted by mankind. They are pushed out of their habitats by development poisoned by fertilizers hit by cars and shot. That's what happened to this bald eagle. But he's completely missing his right way and to see that bar not even be able to get up on a perch a foot off the ground was just heartbreaking because it's his wing is completely gone because somebody was stupid enough to shoot it. Sandy McFarland and Jeff snow are just two of more than 100 volunteers who are so moved by the Raptors plight that they dedicate their free time to help bring the birds back to health. For some of the patients it may take months allowing volunteers time to earn the creature's trust.

Nowadays my friend has got Officer bacon pretty strong talents. Now my friends have the house but it's a sense of trust to trust that I won't hurt him. And I have to trust that he will hurt me. About half of the birds that come here are released back into the wild. Since the center started in the late 1970s more than 6000 Raptors have been saved. Rehabilitation is only part of the center's mission. The second avenue that we offer the public here is the opportunity to view the birds up close and personal. That's the living museum piece. The center keeps some of the birds that can no longer survive in the wild and uses them for education. Different species of raptors line a nature trail which runs through the Raptor Center and is open to the public. The nature trail leads here to the center's newest and most distinguishing feature. This 25000 square foot eagle aviary gives the public an up close and personal look at an American symbol. Twenty years ago the bald eagle was teetering on the edge of extinction

now thanks to new laws and conservation efforts. This symbol of American strength is making a comeback but Raptor Center Director John Norris warns people not to become complacent. He says it's important that conservation efforts continue. Raptors are at the top of the food chain and are an important indicator of the environment and they serve their purpose for man just like the parakeets and the Canaries used to serve the purpose for the miners when they would go in the mines years ago. They couldn't smell the miners couldn't smell the toxic gas. But when the parakeets in the Canaries got in trouble the miners knew to get out of the mine to save their lives and the Raptors serve the same purpose. They tell us there's something wrong in the food chain and how we have an opportunity to react to that. If you want to close that door but back at the flight cages Mathias continues his work to put these back into the food chain. In the last stage of rehabilitation and most of them will soon be set free. Finally see it fly off into the distance. That's a great thing. That's what

everybody works towards. Very inspiring a very powerful and very majestic. Just They're beautiful creatures their work of art. All you can say about the Carolina Raptor Center is located in a lot of pain patients park near Charlotte. For more information on the center you can call 7 0 4 8 7 5 6 5 2 1. That's all we have time for tonight thanks for tuning in. We'll see you back here tomorrow. Good night everyone. The n the a milk. A.