Recently, I’ve been involved with the group that’s been supporting the couples who could not get married in Rowan County. I was out-of-state all summer, so I only began turning up to the courthouse recently, but I’ve made many friends in that group, and it’s been really interesting to hear their viewpoints about so many things.
On Thursday, I drove to Ashland and hoped to get into the courtroom. Unfortunately, I did not get in (I think the press had half the seats!), so I joined the group of couple-supporters. All around us were so-called Christians who used all sorts of means to throw hate around. And seriously, it was pure hate and venom. The signs were professionally done (leading one to the conclusion that the holders thereof were “professional protesters”), and these guys (almost all men) knew what they were doing. The wove in and out between people in our group, then isolated them by preaching/shouting/”arguing”with them. I can’t really call what they did “proper” arguing because they simply did not listen to the other person/people. Their language was disgusting. One man, using a megaphone (several of them had megaphones, all were using them, and the cacophony of sound was just awful) was describing anal sex in detail. It was tasteless and vulgar, and there were children present. Why not describe vaginal sex in such detail? Oh no, that would be wrong. Grrr. The words are all almost the same. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing “Do you have AIDS yet?” “Welcome to Sodom and Gomorrah” etc… In fact, I am unable to really paint a picture of what it was like to be facing those people. A cameraman told me he couldn’t even pan the crowd because the signs were so bad, they couldn’t be shown on TV. Shame. I think people should be able to see what was being said and done in the name of Jesus.
Then, yesterday, while we stood outside the courthouse waiting for our couples to come in and get their licenses, a lady showed up. She was wearing a Lutheran-type shirt with dog collar, and I waited for her to start arguing with someone. She didn’t. She was quiet for a while, then addressed us. She was AWESOME! One of the things she pointed out was that the people on the other side of the concrete strip between us were NOT representative of all Christians, that there were many, many who did not support what Kim Davis was doing. But… this woman, together with a unitarian minister who showed up at almost the same time, was the first, and ONLY Christian clergy-person to support us. My question is, then “Where are all the Christians?”
Aren’t Christians supposed to be the salt and light of the world? There have been many hate-group-type-Christians turning up for the other side, but where were the pastors who agree with us? Where are their congregations? Why aren’t THEY bussing themselves in? Don’t they care? Is not caring what all the other Christians, “not like” the screamers and haters really do? I’m not sure that’s any better. On the one hand, the haters who feel passionate enough about something (I’m not sure what that something is in this case: homosexuality, gay rights, so-called religious freedom, martyr complexes, politics), yet on the other, the do-nothings who don’t care. Which group is better? Hmmm
Life. What's it all about? 