Tom Stein is senior pastor of Christ Presbyterian Church in Richmond, Indiana. He writes a weekly blog for his local newspaper.

We are at a fork in the road. It is not a choice that will make or break this community, but it will test the heart of this community — and the hearts of the people in it.

A local group wants to build ballfields on land owned by Christ United Church. The church has said, “Go for it.” Some neighbors do not like this idea, and they are letting their feelings be known.

What to do? Sometimes in life, the issue is less about which path you take, and more about how you take that path. The fields will be built, or the fields will not be built. Even the most ardent friends and foes must admit that either way, life will go on. This is not the end of the world as we know it.

But how will we walk through this process? Already, I am concerned. I have watched municipal government for too long now, first as a journalist, now as just another citizen.

Too often, I have seen too much of two follies:

1. Government By Screaming. This is when a loud and obnoxious group essentially intimidates elected officials or local developers into backing down and running away. They yell so persistently that people say, “This ain’t worth it.” It is like a parent who listens to the child bellow and wail for what seems like forever, and finally gives in. It is a shame with parents, and it is a shame with communities.

2. Government By Deafness. This is the opposite problem.
People have legitimate concerns, but they are treated like they are speaking Swahili. Anyone with a whiff of common sense can see trouble ahead, but no one will listen. It is like a child who sticks his fingers in his ears and sings a patriotic song, so he will not hear what he does not want to hear. It is a shame, too — for all involved.

We tend to think we can scream, and they tend to think they can ignore. No one gets anywhere — including the community. But then we have to go on living with each other, and it poisons the air we have to breathe together.

So what will it be? Ballfields or no ballfields?

Forgive me for sounding like Yogi Berra, but can’t we find a compromise? Why not find a way to build the fields, but address the concerns before they are built, and as they are built? Wouldn’t it be great to see something new and attractive in this community?

Might new ballfields encourage younger people to move here or stay here? No one will get everything they want, but isn’t that what living in a community is all about?

Yet that issue is only part of the issue. Citizen, how will you act? Official, how will you respond? The key to relationships and community is fighting well. We will believe differently, and we will decide differently. But how will we treat our neighbors?

This article first appeared in the on-line version of the Richmond, IN Palladium-Item and is reprinted with the author’s permission. Click here to read the article and the communities responses: http://www.pal-item.com/article/20100219/NEWS03/2190310/1003/Ballfields-debate-will-test-community [Editor’s note: the original URL (link) referenced is no longer valid, so the link has been removed.]