Let me tell y'all a story- this one doesn't have an ending yet, nor will it likely for a while...
Once upon a time, there was a man that thought that Jesus sent him to El Paso to convert all the heathens so they could be saved.
This may or may not have been his vision. Just go with it.
So, he came to be in the desert, married a native, and made babies and a church with her. All was well- he had a decent sized following, and he did what he thought Jesus sent him out to do....
Sadly, somewhere along the way he heard another voice- one which surely had to have been Jesus again, he was sure of it.
This voice told him there were too many gays working for the city getting benefits for their partners. Now, as in almost every other part of the country, gays are still not allowed to marry each other, so naturally they were unmarried. The man decided to follow the suggestion of the voice, and make it so the gays could not provide even health benefits for their partners if they worked for our city. He and a few of his flock wrote up a proposal, followed protocol, and that proposal was put out to a vote. People came in handfuls, as they always do in the desert- sometimes it is just too damned hot to be out- and they voted. Many came out perplexed- they did not know if they had voted the way they wanted- there were too many vague descriptions in the proposal that made them want to say yes to it- words like traditional family values, and keeping people off the taxpayer bill... Who wants to say they are NOT traditional ? (Besides heathens like me, that is) So many voted for this proposal, when they actually felt that the proposal was wrong. The head tribunal of the heathens in the desert saw that this was a bad thing, to hurt a small group of people by denying them the same access to healthcare that their hetero counterparts had, so they overturned the ordinance.
Now, this made the desert Jesus man and his flock very, very, angry.
very, very angry- on the behalf of his Jesus.
So he enlisted his army, and declared battle on the heathens that were against his proposition and the tribunal that overturned what he had hoped would be a victory for his Jesus. They made banners, and drew petitions. They hired lawyers. They yelled- a lot. They gave arguments for why they were right, and they painted the war to seem as if they had been victimized because they were disallowed to treat the gay heathens as second class citizens...Worst of all, they demanded that the heathens make it up to them by spending a lot more money to remove the head of the heathen tribunal and a few of his helpers. (Y'all, in the desert, and on the border,especially, budgets are tight for everyone- including the city...)
The head of the heathen tribunal...As portrayed by the flock- the very angry flock.
Some of the heathens (this heathen included) decided that enough was enough. They would much rather not do battle- they preferred to co-exist peacefully, even allowing members of the flock to bleat at them on occasion, but this was enough. So, a small group was formed with a very simple message.
See, y'all- the heathens prefer to keep it simple, and non-violent.
The heathens, including some very sweet religious leaders, have made a few peaceable protests, and held a few assemblies- but they see no reason to go to the extent that Jesus man and his flock have. They believe that their fellow heathens see the rationale behind their movement, and the absurdity in ever having started this war to begin with.
Unfortunately, this is where the story stops as of today. Is this heathen wrong?
And, as a side- I mean absolutely no offense to any Christians out there- this particular pastor seems to have forgotten the meaning of Christianity entirely, and, as he is a very enthusiastic speaker, has led his followers down the same sad sad path. I doubt that Jesus would have encouraged hate in his day- based on the stories about him, he was a fiery, short-tempered dude at worst- but hateful? never. And I grew up Catholic, y'all- they make you study allllll the books- not just the abbreviated KJV.
What do you think? I'd love to hear your take- just, please- nothing derogatory. This heathen prefers to keep it civilized.
