April 28, 2015 5:41 AM

Today's hyper-religious face-palm moment

Hundreds who gathered at the Washington County courthouse wore old-fashioned ice cream parlor hats Saturday morning as part of a rally and prayer vigil to support a century-old pillar of their community…. “I have confidence that Blue Bell is going to come back in full force,” said Marilyn Heckmann. But that confidence in their beloved Blue Bell does not come without caution…. “People find this very serious, but we also know it’s fixable, and we’re going to be there for them,” said Barbara Bockhorn.

OK, so I get that Brenham, TX, is small-town Middle America…Americana at it’s finest. I’ve been to and through Brenham many times…and Blue Bell is still my favorite mass-produced ice cream. Their Key Lime Pie flavors is easily on my Top Ten list of things I miss about Texas…and that’s not a very long list.

All that aside, I have to wonder about the purpose of a prayer vigil for a company that just got busted for putting out tainted product. It was almost certainly unintentional, of course- a breakdown of procedures that had apparently been going on for at least the past five years. The question in my mind is why and how this problem existed for as long as it did…not that Republican governance at the federal and state level has provided for anything resembling a robust effort at protecting the public health. I find it hard to believe that no one at Blue Bell knew what was going on…and while I can’t speak to specifics because all I have is suspicion, I find it difficult not to believe that the listeria problem had been known for some time.

Blue Bell, of course, is a pillar of Brenham’s economy. Take it away and Brenham would be little more than a wide spot on Highway 290, a place to speed through when traveling to or from Austin. Still, the idea of a prayer rally for the city’s largest employer seems…odd and perhaps a bit self-interested. Then again, Blue Bell does have something of a cult following (of which I could have claimed membership when I lived in Texas). Having a day to support Blue Bell might be done out of a desire to support the company…or merely a hope that one’s ice cream of choice will continue to be available. Either way, well…Nepal, knowhutimean??

[A]way from the courthouse, others took to social media saying prayer cannot solve negligence. A company-wide product recall remains in effect after the potentially deadly bacteria listeria was found in more than one of Blue Bell’s plants. At the Brenham factory, the company has resumed limited production on a test-case basis, but that product will not yet be sold in stores.

The idea that Blue Bell sold ice cream containing a potentially deadly bacteria is nothing to take lightly. Despite the local support for the company, many have been sickened, and the last report I heard had two people dying from the listeria outbreak. That’s nothing to take lightly, no matter how much one might love Blue Bell’s ice cream.

After a less than sympathetic and thoughtful reaction to their listeria problem, Blue Bell has finally taken steps that might help them get back on track. They’ve temporarily ceased operations and plan to train workers, presumably to ensure that every step of the production process is pristine and untainted. Something about shutting the barn door after the horses have escaped….

I hope that Blue Bell gets things back on track, and that their ice cream will eventually makes its way here to Oregon. That said, I can’t help but wonder if the time and energy put into organizing a prayer vigil for an ice cream company might have been put to better use. Surely there are people- probably many- in need of assistance in the Brenham/Washington County area. Wouldn’t it make sense to devote some of the prayer and effort to trying to assist those in need? Praying for an ice cream company is all well and good, but what about those in the community legitimately in need of assistance? Might not efforting to assist those individuals legitimately in need have been a better choice for the expression of all that piety?

Just a thought.

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This page contains a single entry by Jack Cluth published on April 28, 2015 5:41 AM.

I will respect your right to your religious beliefs...as long as you respect my lack of religious beliefs was the previous entry in this blog.

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