I WON'T GO TO THE WALL FOR YOU

This is a follow up to my last entry. Additional information is coming in, evidently the congregation is pretty much lining up behind him. Well, he’s had over thirty years to weed out anyone who doesn’t agree with him. The NW still sticks to the old Methodist custom of shifting ministers every seven years or so. It prevents pastors from turning their churches into their own little kingdoms.

I’ve seen a lot of calls for investigating this church’s IRS status. It would be fun to run them through the mill, but I doubt if it would do any good. We’re dealing with true believers and true believers do not, I repeat, do not see the world the same way the rest of do. Any opposition reinforces their certainty that they are in the right and doing God’s will while opposition is further evidence of the existence of the Devil and His demons.

Hell, I’ve quit even trying to look for verses that don’t agree with beliefs like this. It does not do any good. True believers do not listen. They have their verses and that’s it. Funny thing about taking the Bible literally, You can’t take the whole thing literally. At least not at the same time. Siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh. I never tried to and I’m not starting now. If alternate verses won’t do any good, this might.

This country is not a theocracy. Except for Massachusetts in the early days it never was a theocracy. And IT WILL NEVER BE A THEOCRACY. Not if the majority of this congregation’s fellow citizens have anything to say about it. You can be polite about if or not. I’ve quit. Now hear this. When it comes to the law of the land I no longer give a flying fig what the Bible says about anything. It does not matter. Repeat, IT DOES NOT MATTER. Our system is based on the English system of common law, not the Bible. John Adams read Littleton and Coke to pass the bar, not Genesis.

And it wouldn’t hurt to remind these folks of a few home truths. The most hateful actions and rhetoric seem to be coming from a specific group of our fellow “citizens.” Perhaps THEY should be segregated from the rest of us for OUR protection. Those electric fences suddenly spring to mind. Folks be careful what you wish for. Once the genie is out of the bottle it’s almost impossible to get him back in.

Oh and about the constitution. It only says that Congress shall make no laws restricting speech or exercise of religion. It doesn’t say that the rest of us aren’t free to picket, boycott, petition when crap like this hits the fan. Normally we protect the rights of some folks to be damned fools because we want our rights to be respected too. However that doesn’t seem to be the way it’s working these days. So, guess what folks, the gloves just came off.

Remember the old saying “I may not agree with what you say but I’ll defend to the death your right to say it?” To this pastor and his congregation. (and forgive me for shouting folks) I AM NOT GOING TO THE WALL FOR THE LIKES OF YOU.