Well now, it seems the good Christians hereabouts have forgotten the teachings of Christ who advocated charity, kindness and understanding – and most of all, love.
You see, a few of these good Christians physically set upon an actual minister of the faith last Friday at Riverside Baptist Church in Denham Springs. The event was some sort of rally called by Livingston Parish Repugnantcan Rep. Valerie Hodges, now a candidate for the Louisiana Senate to fill the seat being vacated by the term-limited incumbent Rogers Pope.
Valerie Hodges, I would remind you, is the same one who, a few years ago – as in the Jindal administration – pushed through a bill to provide financial aid to religious-based schools and then raised holy hell when an Islamic school in New Orleans applied for funding. Apparently she forgot that religious is religious, regardless of the affiliation label that may be attached.
Oh, and she’s also the one who railed against illegal immigration and then when she and her husband purchased flooded rental homes in Denham Springs, employed – guess who? – to perform renovation work. No need to guess, you know damn well who.
Anyway, Hodges called this big rally of “all Louisiana pastors with sound Biblical conviction” to gin up support for what she obviously hoped would be a massive show of support for a veto override session for three gender-related bills that passed the recent session but which Gov. John Bel Edwards has promised to veto. You can see the bills in the attached flier that Hodges sent out to invite those pastors with “sound Biblical conviction.”
Now, I’m not certain if the “Biblical conviction” alluded to by Hodges included Second Samuel 1: 26, the Bible verse which noted that Jonathan’s love for King David was “deeper than the love of women,” or First Samuel 18: 1 where it says Jonathan “stripped himself of the robe that was on him and gave it to David,” or in Ruth 1: 16-17 where Ruth tells Naomi, “Where you go, I will go, and where you stay, I will stay. Your people will be my people…” Or if it’s the same Biblical conviction in which God instructs the Israelites to attack an enemy and “Their children also shall be dashed to pieces before their eyes; their houses shall be spoiled, and their wives ravished” and that “they shall have no pity on the fruit of the womb; their eyes shall not spare children.” And in Numbers 31: 31-40, along with His instructions to disembowel pregnant women (could that be considered a form of abortion?) He tells the Israelites to take livestock and virgins for themselves. According to the Bible, the Israelites responded by destroying the Midanites, but capturing 337,000 sheep, 36,000 cattle, 30,500 donkeys and (ahem) 16,000 virgins. Of course, they tithed, giving God 675 sheep, 72 cattle, 61 donkeys, and 32 virgins (just what God did with all that booty remains unclear). If you’re good a math (or even mediocre), you can readily see that those tithes come nowhere near the 10 percent we’re told to give today.
But I digress.
What transpired was anything but Biblical in the sense of the “Biblical” teachings we hear in Sunday School (as opposed to the above-cited passages). An Episcopal minister who has asked that his name not be revealed, did the unpardonable – he spoke of Christian love and acceptance.
His message wasn’t accepted too well. Nor was it loved. Some in the crowd, which also included State Rep. Kathy Edmonston (R-Gonzales), physically attacked the good reverend with at least one person actually grabbing him around the neck. (Not saying Edmonston was one of the attackers, just that she was in attendance.
The Livingston Parish Sheriff’s Office had to be called in to restore order, it was reported to LouisianaVoice.
Just another of the Christian influence of the political religious right.
Louisiana Voice 