tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1148291610321991733.post813613828063795157..comments2023-11-05T02:30:36.729-06:00Comments on Contemplations of an Unconventional Christian: For Such A Time As This Teribear68http://www.blogger.com/profile/00521963493128758920noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1148291610321991733.post-2840334359457346512014-05-28T01:58:38.062-05:002014-05-28T01:58:38.062-05:00Terri reminded me that I'm also a contributor,...Terri reminded me that I'm also a contributor, here, when I responded to the beta of this post. I responded with some heat, and much conviction, and more than a little fury. What follows are my thoughts on this matter, in the raw, as it were, over the course of two nights. Reader Discretion Is Advised:<br /><br />The first evening's response...<br /><br />As an outside observer, the UMC is, more and more, resembling certain nationalist organizations which promoted purity at any cost, in the 1930s.<br />Racial, sexual, religious.... no matter what type of "purity" you espouse... you have no right to persecute and marginalize groups you deem to be less than your ideal.<br /><br />Emotional terrorism can do more damage than conventional - because the victims can just disappear silently.<br /><br />No BBC reports. No UN taskforces.<br /><br />And the next night...<br /><br />I had an additional epiphany overnight. The victims of this sort of organized abuse can also pass on the damage, either wittingly or not. This is how this insanity moves from place to place, and generation to generation. It takes true courage to snap those chains.<br /><br />It's why speaking out is so hard. You're not the only ones within reach of these fanatics. Often, relatives (both by blood and by choice) are in the line of fire, implied hostages.<br /><br />In so many ways, it's like trying to leave a gang.<br /><br />And if they've convinced themselves there's no bloodshed involved in their persecution, they need to be forced to attend every funeral of every suicide related to it. Every kid shoved into a dead end alley. Every person denied care, every assault to "teach a lesson", every involuntary confinement, every piece of the Constitution hack-sawed away by politicians, legislators, and judges "serving their constituency".<br /><br />This madness has to stop, before we turn into Iran or Syria.<br /><br />And now, an addition as I'm posting this, here:<br /><br />This is serious. This is real. This affects ALL of us, whether or not we think so at first blush.<br /><br />Anytime one of us is stripped of a right- human, citizen, or otherwise- we all lose not only that right- but all the parents, siblings, or children of that right. You feel that the fellow down the road shouldn't be allowed to kiss his boyfriend in public? Think twice before you run to a lobbyist group that feels the same way, and throw your resources at them.<br /><br />Because if they manage to bribe (yes, I said it- it's bribery, plain and simple) a legislator to pass your pet law, you can be certain that the next time you kiss your mate in public, the people you've removed that right from will be calling the local PD on YOU.<br /><br />Stop it. STOP IT. Before it's too late. Before the hate and fear and anger make us sew uniforms, and build camps... and chambers. That's where this is headed. We're ALL responsible for this. How long before we find a sufficient excuse to take it that one step too far? That step outside of humanity. The step that reduces us, as a race, to mere pack animals.<br /><br />Devolved. Inventing stories to cover our delusions, and calling it "science". Using this madhouse creation to justify heading further down the rabbit hole of "my god told my leader that X is true, so anyone who doesn't agree must be punished".<br /><br />We're already seeing it blossom, all over the globe. This beast doesn't care what it clothes itself in. Turbans, robes, commando masks, beige shirts, or... three-piece suits and hairspray.<br /><br />What are you going to do about it?Commodore Rasterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06140271826596056662noreply@blogger.com