If no chain is stronger than the weakest link, no bridge stronger than the weakest girder, then the Christian church is royally fucked.
We have bullying liars who, when called on their bullying and their lying, proclaim themselves to be victims, and the very people they have been actively seeking to harm are portrayed as villains.
Let us discuss the recent brouhaha regarding the subpoena issued by pro bono lawyers for Houston Mayor Annise Parker.
Ms Parker and the Houston City Council recently passed a measure called HERO (for Houston Equal Rights Ordinance) as is their right as duly elected officials of that city.
So far, so good.
A group of people opposed to that law circulated a petition for a referendum to repeal it.
Again, so far, so good.
Ms Parker et al rejected the petitions citing discrepancies that invalidated most of the signatures gathered.
Hmm, could be problematic; hope they have the facts to back this up.
The group opposed to them filed a lawsuit -- as is their right -- claiming the petitions had been arbitrarily and unjustly dismissed.
A serious charge, if they can prove it’s true.
Up to this point, a few things that make one go “hmmm” but nothing illegal, unjust, or unconstitutional. Elected officials make a ruling, challengers go to court to challenge it, happens all the time, all legal and above board.
The next step is the one where the lying sacs of human excrement present themselves front and center.
See, under the laws of this great land -- hell, under any standard of common human courtesy & decency; including most specifically the Bible’s own Golden Rule -- what’s good for the goose is good for the gander.
If you file suit against someone, you are asking a court to compel them to hand over evidence they may possess that will strengthen your case, establishing and proving facts that will help your claim.
But guess what? They get to do the exact same thing right back atcha!
Pro bono lawyers, responding to the lawsuit on behalf of the LGBT community, fired back with a volley of discovery subpoenas of their own -- which is their right!
They requested internal communications from the group bringing the lawsuit, as well as with people outside that group who had been working with them on the petition issue.
Now, you want to make the argument that was not the brightest political move to make, go right ahead; I’ll agree with you on that point.
But there was nothing illegal, unconstitutional, threatening, or stifling about it.
Rather it was just a logical step any competent (albeit in this case politically tone deaf) lawyer would have done.
The subpoenas issued, while legal and basically justifiable, have been criticized as too broad and ambiguous, in particular when asking for copies of sermons written / delivered by various pastors who were associated with but not part of the group suing the mayor and city council.
The mayor, when she learned of them, had those particular subpoenas recalled; she and her legal team will obtain the information they need through other means.
But here’s what the lying sacs of human excrement have done: Instead of saying merely that the opposing legal team’s subpoena request re discovery in a lawsuit that they and/or their allies had initiated was too broad, they quite deliberately and unambiguously presented the perfectly legal discovery subpoenas as an unwarranted, unprovoked, and unilateral action aimed at Christian churches purely with the intent of stifling opposition to laws passed by the government, in particular laws that reaffirm equal rights and protection under the law for all citizens and legal residents, regardless of race, color, creed, religion, nationality, gender, or previous condition of servitude.
And that, in a nutshell, is why people are leaving organized Christianity in greater and greater numbers.
If you’re going to act like a bully and deny other citizens their God given and constitutionally guaranteed rights, if you are going to file suit against people who protect those rights and demand discovery from them, then you are a hypocrite of the lowest, rankest order if you then turn around and deny you started the ball rolling, deny you initiated the process, deny your opposition is merely enjoying the exact same rights as you do in the exact same set of circumstances.
You are hypocrites.
And you are the reason more and more people are saying “shuck this fit” and walking away from our churches, never to return in our lifetime.
You lying sacs of human excrement are poisoning the well. You are convincing millions and millions of others that everything Christ taught, everything the church traditionally stood for re mercy and compassion and justice for all is nothing but a sham and a lie.
Nobody will side with that.
The time is coming when perhaps the kindest thing true Christians can do to the rotting shell of their organization is just to walk away from it, let it collapse, and start planting seeds for a truly organic Christian faith to grow.
It may be time to start thinking about walking away from Omelas.