Accosted at Church Yesterday
Generally on Sundays, when I am in Kalispell, Montana, I attend two church services, one that is like going to a movie, you just go, sing, get a great gospel message, that lasts all week, and then leave . . . and I love it. You have to remember, that I came from a Mormon background, where, you have church members run the place, with all kinds of callings, that you dread on Sunday, allegedly a day of rest, but quit the opposite, so to just come, sit, let a paid clergy with an education and background in the seminary, divinity and knowledge of ancient scriptures, is just fine with me, and I dig the more intellectual application, interpretation, and insight, that comes with any educational pursuit, electing to listen the better informed, whether that be in the law, politics, religion, sports, or any area, because there is a more up close and personal insight that comes, not just a hack, response, kind of like this, that I am writing . . . it just dawned on me, that I fit in the unlearned letter of the Bible; however, I have read the scriptures as Timothy did, since I was young, and throughout my life, tried to apply the basics, the tenants, principles, and concepts, and at one time, started a master's minor in ancient scripture study . . . so, as in most things I dabble in, I am somewhat of a hybrid, while not falling totally on one side or the other, somewhat better informed than the average Joe or JoAnn . . .
I met this woman last week sometime, and she learned or a common friend introduced me as an attorney, and that was about the end of it; however, as a blogger, who sits, right here, right now, in the play area of the McDonald's on Idaho Street, in lovely, Kalispell, Montana, writing a blog, I often forget how many people are actually reading this blog, not just me, writing my personal and professional journal of venting, trashing judges, who have done me wrong, or taking on sensitive political issues, that are tangentially related to my upbringing in the Mormon Church, like Mitt Romney running for office, hot topic legal issues, like gay marriage, polygamy, or human body trafficking under the guise of religion, or the intelligence arms of the government being predominently, the religious affiliation, that I was raised in, knowing full well the agenda, the motives, the payoffs, the hoped for end result, and the darker sides of the religion, as well as the great sides, of good families, healthy eating, gardens, food storage, avoidance of drugs, alcohol, qualified sex, and other areas of my young training that I am more than grateful for, just finding me, doing what my legal training taught me, with a focus on constitutional law, to separate my religious beliefs from affairs of the state, while still integrating my beliefs into my daily life, into my law practice or writings, being heavily influenced to visit those in jail, take particular care of the fatherless and the widows, many of which make up our elderly population or our senior citizens, or in dealing with minorities, protecting their rights from being trampled by the majority . . . I rely on my religious foundation, while not forcing that into the public arena, just quietly finding strength to visit a client in prison or jail, over attending a BBQ with my family or friends, often the choice, the busier my practice and family demands got . . .
Running Thin on Patience
So this woman, who has never come to the Crossfire Church, a biker church, with many homeless, street urchins like myself, seeking a good message for the day, and a free meal, plus, the friendships that have developed over the two years I have attended, whenever I am left alone long enough to go to church for an extended amount of time, to be considered a regular, like I am in this Church, with a friendly pastor and his wife, greeting me and understanding full well, when, why and how, I either come or don't come on Sundays. But in the time that I have been attending this church, I have never seen this woman, so she come directly back and plants her larger than mine, ass, next to me, in somewhat of a combative and confrontational style and blurts out of her mouth . . . probably having read one of my blogs, defending gay marriage, that God is against homosexuality . . . oh, fuck, here we go . . . I simply turned to the woman, and said, you can choose HATE and I will choose LOVE, remember the two greatest commandments are to love the Lord, your God, and to love your fellowmen/women; and don't forget, judge not that ye be not judged. And I walked over to get a few sugar cookies!
I used to be really nice, try to explain the 14th amendment, which I forgot, she alluded to in her, Sunday shattering mood, of peace, church in the wild, that I do and got from the guest pastor from New York, who was taking Pastor Levis place, because he was in Butte, doing some field and foundation work, probably planting the seeds of the gospel, in that town, much as he did in Bozeman, and was going to Great Falls next, for it is said, that the gospel will run forth out of the mountains--that is what Montana means--the star, made out of a harvest moon, made me think that the Christians in Kalipsell and the Flathead Valley, will play a huge role in spreading the gospel, like a rock, rolling down hill gathering speed . . . as will other denominations and sects, who all work together here, not in competition, but support, but he, the visiting pastor for Fresh Life Church, had a large THANK YOU, on a sticker on his computer, because what I do, is literally Church in the Wild . . . no one has called me to the preach the word, I am not connected really with any particular church or religion, but I have an everlasting gratitude to my Savior, and love of Christ, his teachings and think that mankind can be save by obedience to the basics of his teachings, even if all they got, was love thy neighbor as thyself . . .
SHOCKED WOMAN'S RESPONSE . . . I DON'T HATE
Well, I am here to tell you, YES YOU DO! And the down and dirty of it, is you simply are not a Christian! That is not what Christians should do, but often what they do, judging in self-righteous indignation, that they are scriptural based right in stating what they are stating, have every right to trash gay marriage, and homosexual behavior, and this woman tried to defend herself, but I am totally done with every stupid, inane and hatred filled argument, that the Christian right can come up with, can we move on now! The U.S. Supreme Court, is so right, in just letting the California decision stand, as they should have done with Roe v. Wade, the law is the law, is the law, we don't need ever fucking state in the Union, thinking of ever lame ass argument, whether it be dealing with abortion or gay marriage, the third branch of the government, under constitutional authority, if you still believe in the balance of power, the right of the court and the duty to interpret the constitutional provisions that are in question, with 40 law clerks each, scholars themselves, limited to only the issues, some attorney like me, decides are the questions they want the court to address, and trust them, that given the fodder they were dealt, the fucking decision has been made!
So, for the sermon of the day, I am trying to listen to Pastor Dennis, and sing the powerful songs that his biker wife, Debbie, sings and plays the guitar, as me, and others harmonize, with the gospel messages, while Debbie plays the guitar. In the corner of my eye, I notice this, hard to not notice woman, glaring at me, just two seats down, like she can't believe that I would be so curt in my response to her, didn't give her a chance to show her, so called, knowledge of the word. And she couldn't be more right. I no longer care enough, or I am burned out, trying to talk some sense into closed minded, bigoted haters of mankind, going totally contrary to the foundational principles of love, tolerance, peace, sanctification, wisdom, knowledge, for love is kind, long suffering, seeks not its own, and so on, what do they not get? Life is just too short for me to deal with their stupidity and I just don't care, she has to save her own soul, not my jurisdiction, teach correct principles and let them govern themselves!
In Her Passive Aggressive Way, She Defers to the Pastor By Way of Question, to Try to Say, in Response to Me Reminding Her Not to Judge, That Depends On What "to Judge" Means?
Again, I don't give a rat's ass, what this woman thinks, I kind of take the approach Jesus, took, come follow me, I am not going to try to fight with the woman, not going to beat her with legal arguments, pound her face into the table in front of her, because I don't like her looking at me, whether in shock or amazement, by way of hatred or misunderstanding, or the thought that she would impress me with her arguments . . . she didn't, I am heard them on national news channels, on the streets, on the bus, through legal briefs, new articles about legislation, and on and on . . . you either get this, or you do not, I just don't care anymore, NEXT!
While our legal system if influenced greatly by Judeo-Christian principles, and common law, and there are many exceptions, almost in every provision the legislatures write and pass, and for damned good reason, life is not black & white, facts are not black and white, nor is the law black and white, but to me the commandment to love your fellow men and woman, is just that, black and white, I never read any exceptions, no loophole, no escape clause, nothing by way of the scripture that tells you not to judge one another, EXCEPT, just isn't the case. So, whatever interpretation either the woman or the pastor comes up with, qualifying or quantifying judgement or love, doesn't wash with me, I am a strict constructionist, and utilitarian, and it says, what it says . . . no judicial activist judges, pastors, or lay members of a church, period.
Mormon scholars and general authorities and prophets alike, made bookoo bucks writing commentaries on their interpretation of the scriptures, just as legal scholars and others do, in areas of expertise . . . just as the U.S. Supreme Court held, when the plain language of a statute, law, or scripture, which is referred to as a statute in scripture, most likely where we got the name for a codified law, the debate is over! My plain interpretation of the scriptures, is much like the plain language section of statutory interpretation standards, (1) rely on the plain language; (2) intent; and (3) history to become clear on what is being said, written or implied. I use that model, not only in the law, with statutes, with cases, the constitution, but with scripture, that was the foundation for the law, as is the case with gay marriage, abortion, and whatnot.
Regressing from the Two Great Commandments, Might Actually Make a Case for Homosexual Acts, and Blow the Shit Out of Your Arguments
The two great commandments are to love your God, and love his children, all of them, with no exceptions, without qualifying them, and separating them from their acts, you are to simply love them and not judge them. I trumped Dennis' pastor status, with a more weighty religious authority and his response, when asked about gays, homosexuals, or gay marriage . . . Pope Francis, whom I love, the new pope of the 1.2 billion Catholics, said, who am I to judge? That somewhat reminds me of Christ, with the woman caught in adultery, go and sin no more . . . she has a husband, have sex with your spouse! He doesn't condemn her judge, her, nor put her down, just admonishes her to go forth and change, or go back home, so to say.
There is a scripture that I like . . . the apostle Paul, said, if you can be like me, and just teach the gospel, don't get married, that basically gets in the way, loyalties shift, and so on, you have a wife bitching and moaning that you are always gone, better to just stay single and celibate if you can, but if you are weak, and need a wife, get married. The scriptures also say, husbands and wives should come together often, reading between the lines, that means, they should have sex, a lot, and I would agree with that, if you are happy with your spouse, you will be a better citizen, father, mother, co-worker, etc. The scriptures also state, that the marriage bed is undefiled, some statistic, in Billy Graham's, Good News Magazine, was concerned over the state by state exodus from banning gay marriage and leaning more to evolving with regard to this issue of gay marriage, but the author of the article, in this 2013 issues, a year old by the time I read it, so it was pre-supreme court ruling, but the argument was that homosexuals, have so many sex partners, some engaging with unknown partners up to 3 times a day.
Well, for health reasons alone, we may want to recommend and defend gay marriage just on that statistic alone, or protecting from sexually transmitted diseases, encourage gay marriage, because, there are bi-sexual oriented people out there, who are going from male to female, or female to male partners, and so the whole damn population is at risk, when you sleep with one partner, you sleep with everyone they have ever been with. So, let's say, that we, as we actually have, here in America, you just don't know it yet, have legalized gay marriage, that the marriage bed is undefiled, and sodomy, whether, done to females or males, along with other unnatural acts, that are often forced on wives, girlfriends, or lovers, of either sex, is condemned in the same scripture verse! Would it not be better, then to allow, as the U.S. Supreme Court, in a string of cases, dealing with the act of sodomy, adding birth control which used to be illegal, and abortion, to be lumped into a category of bedroom acts, that are entitled to a right to privacy, and therefore, none of the rest of our fucking business!
Bill Maher, had a visiting clergy on one of his programs, which is came, armed and informed with scriptures that he wanted to bash the preacher over the head with. And I very much, liked the pastor's response, when he said, you can use the scriptures to prove and justify anything you want, depending on your interpretation. By way of example, he said, both sides of the Civil War and one of the issues, that of slavery, used the exact scriptural example to argue either for or against slavery! The Bible, New and Old Testament is filled with complexities, conundrums, paradoxes, intricacies, mental gymnastics, etc. And that might possibly be, due to the fact that life is not, black and white, life is complicated, and there are many versions of good, better, best.
Romans 14:14 to the End of the Chapter, Demonstrates Complexities
In this particular part of the New Testament, and the scripture I relied on when deciding whether to get an abortion or not, turning to God, and the scriptures for guidance and divine inspiration, I simply, let my Bible fall to where it fell and my eye, landed immediately on section 14, amazingly enough, where the Lord states, all things are pure to me, it is you, who assigns the purity or impurity to something. And that is obviously paraphrased, but that is the general jest of the verse. That was somewhat of a shock to me and seemed to be of great merit, and application, given my dislike for abortion, having worked for Americans United for Life, on the Casey v. Planned Parenthood case, when the high court, revisited Roe v. Wade, and being personally against abortion, while understanding, that life comes at you fast . . . life happens when you are making other plans! So, when forced with the realities that we are hard wired for sex, need it, life is better with it, and it is healthy, not to mention fun, and a part of loving someone, best within perimeters, of marriage, but we would have missed many a great love story without adultery and fornication, let alone, nations may have fallen another way, or wars determined other ways, as in the case of Anthony and Cleopatra . . . so, not to mention, the fact that Christ's lenage, is through, the adulterous line of, King David and Bathsheba, the one he killed Uriah for, complex, hell yes, messages between the lines, right, but we have a savior that died for these complexities . . . great taste is messy!
Someone would say, well, yeah, but that section is dealing with eating pork, which the Jews didn't do, as a throwback from the Law of Moses; therefore, any missionary, as Paul was, would have to be aware of the beliefs and practices of the people he was dealing with, seeing that giving up pork for a meal, was better, than losing the convert to Christianity, so the person could eat what they want! I love pulled pork BBQ sandwiches! You hardliners, Christian far right, you might think about that one, at your next southern Bible belt church picnic! LOL! But anyway, Paul, again, learned in the law, with a complex mind, not trained in black and white, nor thinking that way, explains this very rationally, logically and in this good, better, best fashion. Hey, if you still believe that God doesn't want you to eat pork, don't do it; however, if you can eat pork and you have faith that it is okay, then go for it; although, if you are going to cause someone to fall due to you eating port, when they don't believe you should eat port, old school, then don't do it if it is going to cause problems . . . WOW, is that refreshing!
While I Am No Saint, For Sure, I Have Felt Inspired, Called If You Will, to Use My Legal Knowledge, Much Like the Apostle Paul, With Similar Personalities, to Further the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, through this Blog
At one time before law school, I looked into going to divinity school, or being trained in the seminary, but got high-jacked into the law, away from the word and the work, through, another commonly used method of God, to give directions to people throughout history, to engage in a particular line of work, like he did me in the law, getting accepted within two hours of approaching law professors and deans, without application, test scores, and letters of recommendation, and being accepted, without, any, having to merely apply, as a formality, to meet the requirements, and I have had a laudable career in the law, while not being famous, per se, definitely leaving my mark on Utah, and other states, on areas of the law or legally related issues, or in legislation, or with national attention to manuals I have written, blogs, or what not . . . not quit what the law school wants, but what the law school needs to hear from one of their more notoreus law graduates, or outlaw school graduates, trying to keep the brethren of both the courts and the church in line! LOL!
I have been slow in conforming to what I would consider, pressure from on high, to use, this avenue, having gained a readership, from around the world, to further his, God's Kingdom here on earth, attempting to teach the gospel, and the good news, about the mission and redemption through Jesus Christ, to anyone who reads this blog. By no means, because I am at all righteous, but if God, can use, Paul, due to his legal training, with him persecuting Christians, watching while Stephen was being stoned to death, even maybe the one who gave the order, then he could use me, a big, time sinner, kind of like when I go dancing, if she can get out there and boogie, rip up the dance floor, then so can I, same with repentance, and being an instrument, a rational one, for bringing about love, peace, good, in this world or ours. Yesterday, I had 60,000,000 results, at the time the number gods at Google, tallied my results, writing every day, this is the blog that moves the numbers, up and down . . . that is a hell of a lot of traffic!
Here is the way the Church in the wild works, we are all called, God called Paul, and there is some debate among scholars, as to whether Paul was actually considered an apostle in the same sense that the other hand selected 12 apostles were, or was he a rogue apostle, much like myself, a disciple, without a former appointment or calling, and just doing what he thinks, he was directed to do . . . with me, it has been years, since I kept, dissing the call, the feelings, having to go into the belly of the whale, as did Jonah, and being spit out on the banks of Nineveh, with no other alternative, that to do what God told him to do. So, be it, I feel the Sunday, negotiation period, phasing out, while, not leaving totally, the U.S. Constitution, but showing how the gospel, actually dovetails, or laid the foundation for God's Kingdom or government here on earth, not to say that its boundaries are limited to America, but to all His children on earth, using many of the same basics, one supporting the other, without, crossing, the separation of church and state!
ISIS and the God of the Old Testament
Scripture also states, as Christ did to Peter, at the Garden of Gethsemene, when the Roman guards arrested Jesus, and the apostle took a sword and cut off the ear of one of the captors, and Jesus, picked up the ear and reattached it, or healed it, I don't know if it was totally cut from the head, but he told Peter, those who live by the sword, die by the sword. This kind of sounds like, poetic justice, or applying the mentality of ISIS, going back to more archaic and thoughts of Sharia law, of an eye for an eye . . . Sorry, Bill, but watching your Daily Show, video clips, from YouTube, with interviews you have had, and things you have said, questioning if Jesus came to do away with his own Father's laws, or the laws and applications of the Old Testament, you have inspired me to think in different ways, answering not only an atheists, questions, but looking at issues in a more critical fashion, and going deeper into the explanations, looking at the times, the place, the customs of the people, that ISIS, or the days that ISIS is going back to for power, to the days when there was a calaphate who was over the Arab world, or even back to the days of the Ottoman Empire, where the knights of Arabia were famed and ruled the Arab nations, protecting the people and being seen as the political saviors of their people, noble yes, but different times.
Christ came not to bring peace, but to bring the sword, mother against daughter, brother against father . . . he came to bring inner peace, and heavenly salvation, not necessarily, political peace, although, I do believe New Testament principles, of love, and all that entails, is the actual answer to world peace, with nations, being friends, rather than foes, and operating under the good neighbor policy of what would we like that nation to do to us, if we were in their shoes, or going by the Golden Rule, not the rule of gold . . . I loved reading an interview in the local college newspaper, in the Mercury, for Flathead Valley Community College, where a German student, who was attending the college, was asked about, government issues, and about Angela Merkel, German Chancellor, and what a difference from the days of Hitler's imperialistic attempts to have Germany rule the world . . . she said, well, Germany is kind of into this love one another stage in history! LOL! WOW! Women will save civilization! And Merkel, hates the NSA spies, just like I do!
If Your Creation & Your Children Are Literally Going Straight to Hell, You Stop Them!
The God of the Old Testament, while appearing to be a vengeful and murderous Father, killing millions in the great flood, that allegedly covered the earth, saving only a handful of people, the ones in Noah's family, may actually have stopped the rest of his more wicked children, from going down the slippery slope, into even further darkness and condemnation, without having yet, sent his only Begotten Son, who would do way with the old laws, after his death and resurrection that hadn't happened yet, so, without repentance and a perfect sacrifice to save them, he did what he could, not being able to turn them from their ways, and just simply, cleansed the earth, and started over, with better products, doing so to his children's benefit, not their determent! It all depends on the way you look at it, tough love, so to say!
Hell, we are evolving as a nation, as a world, as individuals, all the time, and so much in the last decade, toward, the love one another stage that Germany is showing the way to, that we are at least showing promise; however, as Christ told Peter, trying to teach a higher law, with him replacing the old law, do not go back to an eye for an eye . . . let me handle this, and he healed the guy, exemplifying, loving your enemies, even in spite of what they were currently doing to Jesus! What parent doesn't take drastic measures, from drug intervention, to kidnapping a daughter turning tricks on the streets, to stop children, from going even deeper into the hell, they are currently going into, stopping further misery, thus being a loving, not vengeful God, or parent, as God the Father is to all of us.
There is some thought in my mind, the days I entertain the thoughts, that I might actually have had Pick's Disease, rather than being poisoned by the government, if God, was not doing exactly that to this arrogant, not it all, self-righteous attorney, striking me down in the prime of my life and my career, stopping me from further eternal damage to my soul, and letting me know that he would rather have me die, or take my life, in a terminal brain disease, than see me suffer for an eternity in the damned direction I was going on, never, ever, even thinking of him, nor his son. I remember hating God, and talking to him for the first time in 20 years, after being diagnosed, and asking why? I was to be dead by 2002, with no cure, and no exceptions to this disease, never in the history of someone being diagnosed, did anyone ever live, beyond the two years expectancy, except me. So I assumed it was the government, but it may in fact, have been a loving God, giving me a second chance, turning my skills, which he blessed me with, to his purposes, much like that of Paul, who was the greatest missionary of all time, and my role model.
God is Good, God is Love, No Matter Which Way You Look at Him, and During What Stage in Earth History!
Words from a Country western song: God is great, Beer is good, and People are CRAZY!
