Off-Color Family Attempt to Show their "off color" passion...

You must not lose faith in humanity.

Humanity is an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty,

the ocean does not become dirty.

Mahatma Gandhi

This past Friday night, I was watching the local news--or what we the off color family fondly call--"propaganda time."-when a news blurb concerning a new 

billboard in town flashed by...

It sparked my interest enough that I sat down the book I was reading and watched intently for the full story.

It seems some "local" church

posted a billboard

abolishing homosexuality and proclaiming 

abortion to be murder along with scripture to support their one liners.....

Then what caught my eye was the name of a church

closely associated with a local congregation that I had recently visited that was open and affirming---meaning 

all people--gay, straight, transgendered, fat, skinny, rich, poor---were welcome.

I felt an immediate rage and couldn't believe what I thought might be a malicious attack on a congregation

I felt embraced the true understanding

of good news of 

"The Gospel"---

I immediately googled the name on the billboard 

to see if perhaps there was a church locally with the same name.  The only church that appeared was the name of the congregation that I had visited and experienced 

an incredible glimmer of the human "kindom".

While I do believe we all have the right

to express our believes in whatever way we need,

I felt myself so infuriated that 

someone might attempt to maliciously 

portray a church in the context of 

the "opposite of who they are".

I sat there for a bit and decided to just e-mail/text the pastor, in case someone from her congregation were to see--it is better for the gal/guy in church to be in the know instead of getting a surprise.

I realize and understand that people have used scripture 

throughout history to suppress, exclude and deny anyone or anything that does not look, or talk, or dress or act like them

to not be invited to be a full-participant 

at the table of  "faith"---"faith" in whatever 

realm of "faith" one practices--but it still don't make it right.

Abortion--while I believe life begins at conception---I am a supporter of "pro-choice", believing in the theory of situation ethics based on Joseph Fletcher's model---"always do the most loving thing..."  

I continued to sit on the couch that night

and

suddenly I felt the rage of all 

I had experienced in and for and because of the church

bubble up from the center of my heart---

As I sat, I suddenly said to "Big Daddy". ...this just makes me really upset and I want to do something that makes a statement that says "not all people, not all of us from the genetic Christian pool" believe in this.....

I then said, "Would you be embarrassed if I carried a sign and stood underneath the billboard proclaiming that I don't believe this to be true."

Big Daddy thought for a minute and said, "yeah go ahead and do it."

My "what would people think" came to surface and

I said, "well it is getting dark...perhaps I'd better wait until tomorrow." 

Big Daddy said, "by tomorrow it won't be as big....you better do it now.....I will go with you (now when Big Daddy and I got married--his biggest worry was whether my friends who were gay would be kissing and holding hands in the church...so Big Daddy's world has grown a bit.)

I got up,

put on my beautiful red and white T-dyed shirt, grabbed a few poster boards from the garage and my hiking sticks.

Big Daddy got our chairs and water in case we wanted to sit down.  I went in and asked off color daughter if she wanted to go as well....and she jumped up.

She even called a friend of hers that we know is gay to see if he/she wanted to go with us.  They were too scared.

We get in the ghetto van and head down the road where the billboard was supposedly placed.

We drove and drove and drove and finally

I sent an e-mail to the reporter who told us just the spot to find it.

While we drove we created our signs---

"Love is not a sin"

"Abolish homophobia in my-our lifetime"

mine was placed on

my hiking stick

and

simply said,

"Honk if you believe differently."

After driving up and down the road, we finally found the sign, on the opposite side of a four lane highway, located way up on the hill facing the incoming lane---

darkness had settled and by this time,

it was unsafe and probably illegal to sit on the four lane in our folding chairs holding our signs....

At least we now know...

:the off color family--filled with passion and love---

isn't afraid to try to practice passive resistance in the name of love:"  We are still off color, we will still say anything and you never know where Big daddy might show up to produce one of his really off color greeting cards---remind me to tell you about his latest....I'm not quite ready for that one.

Okay

we are a bit weird

but

we are fun.

As I am writing this, I just heard on the news that the billboard had been taken down saying an investigation was on-going.  As the news blurb exited--the name of the church  was given----in place of the word Christ they now used God-I google it and find the church in that town to have a different name--I don't know if it was malicious or not---my gut tells me it was and I passionately proclaim that 

this is not the manner 

in which

the guy with the knapsack taught us to display love.

Underneath all of this...

I guess what comes up for me

is my continued disappointment in the institution of church,

in humanity, and

in our world....

but then...

I remember

Love conquers Hate

Faith overrides fear

Courage raises us to Hope

and

Hope 

Hope she 

brings us back 

to the source of our creation....

"Love"

I still believe it that...

so 

I guess there might still be hope for the rest of us and the world.

Have a great day...

and

take 

a hint from the off color family..

follow your passion

even if it doesn't work out the way you think...

you will still learn alot about who you are

whose you are

and 

why you are here.

blessings and hugs...

the radical rambler