There is at Least One

Well, it's happened. The Religious Right has blamed the gay community for Katrina and the devastation in New Orleans. I am shocked but not surprised. We all should have seen this one coming.

Now, I speak as someone who is no longer Christian but was raised one ("I'm not a doctor but I play one on t.v." and of course, there's always "I don't have any problems with them; some of my best friends are Christian." Okay, sorry. It's late and I'm tired.) And I was raised by deeply faithful, deeply committed and uber-liberal Christians. So much so that when I chose a different faith, it was accepted to the point of being a non-issue.

However, I was also raised in Jerry Falwell's hometown. This was fun. We even called ourselves "the other Christians." But here's the thing...

...there is one.

She grew up in Thomas Road Baptist Church. She went to the elementary school and the high school before graduating from Liberty University. She worked for the high school for a while before getting married to a man who works there still. They attend Jerry's church most Sundays. So why am I writing about her now? Because there is one.

We've been friends since early college. And what we've been through. Being raised so differently, we've had all kinds of discussions about faith, belief, politics, women's rights, gay rights, children...You name it, we've talked about it. And we don't often agree. She's a conservative Christian and I'm...well, I'm really, really not.

But the thing about her is her Love. That's the core of the message Jesus speaks to her. Love. She has no real use for tolerance. It's too limp a word, too fickle and uncommitted. You tolerate a head cold or corn pops when you really wanted apple jacks. That's not what you do with people. Christ's word was Love so that's her word too. She doesn't make judgment. She doesn't condescend. She doesn't patronize. And most importantly, for me anyway, she doesn't pray for the rest of us to be "fixed." What's the point, she'll tell you, when we have all been made in God's image so we must be just fine the way we are?

Okay, she and I disagree on George W., when life begins, a woman's place in the home and world, and the existence of Hell. And, throughout all the disagreements, she completely and totally respects my opinions and the choices I make. The "sinner" isn't the person who commits adultery or the thief or the homosexual or the doctor who performs abortions (or the woman who gets one). The "sinner" is the person who abuses children, who ignores poverty, who disrespects the elders of our community. It's called Love.

Now, she loves me, too. With a lower case "l" the way we all love our friends. And, she Loves. She Loves me, you, the people in New Orleans, the soldiers on both sides of the war, the stranger on the street, the drag queen in sequins, the priest, the rabbi, the shaman. She is a role model for other conservative Christians. Hell, she's a role model for all of us.

Luckily for us, she also a role model for her children. Which means she is the one raising the next generation of conservative Christians. These two little beings give me Hope. Hope that maybe, just maybe, there is room for all beliefs, opinions, and interpretations. Hope that maybe we don't all have to think one way before those of us who are labeled "different" or "wrong" or "sinners" can simply be ... Us.

It's not an enormous wish. It's not even a huge reason to Hope. And it is all I can offer at this time when there is so much pain being caused in the name of Jesus Christ. When these rich, straight, white men start shouting, know that there is at least one. And Hope.

Those are Pobble Thoughts. That and a buck fifty will get you coffee.