Little Shop of Horrors

Until last week's Dobson broadcast on STRESS,  I had not one reason to admire Fuller Theological Seminary. Apparently, Arch Hart, Dobson's saucy guest, is an academic dean there. So I may allow my disdain for Fuller to abate just a little, for now.

Feeling somewhat less threatened, then, I have finally come up for air after being utterly lambasted by what seems like a plethora of angels recently fallen from Fuller.  'Seems like,' yes; while, although there were really only three incidents, each having occurred w/in the past six months, the cumulative effect has been a little swooney.



Here's how the worst "hit" went down.

"S." is a female pastor for one thing. In purely Biblical parlance, those two words are oxymoronic. You can't lead a flock when you're female, unless you want to Out Yourself as having a problem with male authority, eyeing Christ's job, and basically wanting to wear the proverbial pants in the Christian family. Her poor hubby. At Fuller, Biblical parlance is not --sigh-- what it is most everywhere else.**

The fact that they turn out women with a mind to Take Charge of the church, well, I find that risky, not just for Christendom as Christ intended it, but for the women themselves. Think of an Edward Albee version of a Pastor in Ms.Woolf's clothing... But i digress.

This past election day, I traipsed out of our polling station alongside my husband, and my line of sight landed upon a campaign sign right in S.'s front yard, moderately within the legal limit for campaigning around voting booths, but still...

It was for a notorious liberal democrat state office holder.

My stomach sank. I stopped in my tracks. I asked my husband if he knew what I was thinking.  Wise man that he is, he did.

I needed to hike up those porch steps and ask her WHUZ UP wit the sign?

Hubby advised me right there on the sidewalk: NowNowNOW, hold on there:   What are your intentions? How will you make your point without being offensive? How will you land the plane? Let me pray with you first. And he did. And it was just the calming salve I needed at that moment. I took a nice long deep breath before seeing him to the car and reviewing key points from Sunday's sermon at church.  It just happened to be about Being Nice to people you disagree with.

He drove off for work, leaving me to walk myself home; but first, I hiked the long mile across the street and up those steep "S." steps.

She was pleasant and willing to take a moment out from getting kids ready for their day, and not a little bit thankful that I reminded her what day it was, admitting to having forgotten that it was Election Day, as we moms often do when it's all spills and dishes and messy hair in the morning.

I got right to it:
So, S., tell me about the sign you've posted on your lawn there? (wait for response. LISTEN TO IT, don't glaze over,  don't let your mouth get all dry; wait, why is my mouth getting all dry...?)

She briefly explained her enthusiasm for the incumbent female running for Congress. (Ug. I'm not hearing the greatest case for swaying the neighborhood to keep California a freaking bastion of liberal lostness. Breathe. Ok, my turn:)

I just wondered if you're aware that your candidate is rabidly pro-abortion?

((fyi, dear Zygote reader:

• Voted NO on banning federal health coverage that includes abortion. (May 2011)
• Voted YES on expanding research to more embryonic stem cell lines. (Jan 2007)
• Voted YES on allowing human embryonic stem cell research. (May 2005)
• Voted NO on restricting interstate transport of minors to get abortions. (Apr 2005)
• Voted NO on making it a crime to harm a fetus during another crime. (Feb 2004)
• Voted NO on banning partial-birth abortion except to save mother’s life. (Oct 2003)
• Voted NO on forbidding human cloning for reproduction & medical research. (Feb 2003)
• Voted NO on funding for health providers who don't provide abortion info. (Sep 2002)
• Voted NO on banning Family Planning funding in US aid abroad. (May 2001)
• Voted NO on banning partial-birth abortions. (Apr 2000)
• Voted NO on barring transporting minors to get an abortion. (Jun 1999)
• Endorsed Recommended by EMILY's List of pro-choice women. (Apr 2001)
• Rated 100% by NARAL, indicating a pro-choice voting record. (Dec 2003)
• Rated 0% by the NRLC, indicating a pro-choice stance. (Dec 2006)
• Provide emergency contraception at military facilities. (Apr 2007)
• Ban anti-abortion limitations on abortion services. (Sep 2014)
• Access safe, legal abortion without restrictions. (Jan 2015)
• Ensure access to and funding for contraception. (Feb 2007)
• Focus on preventing pregnancy, plus emergency contraception. (Jan 2009) 

On The Issues dot org ))

"Well," my dear neighbor said in reply,

"I think that might've been a concern years ago,   
but today, i think it's important to take care of the children 
who are already here, 

instead of the ones that never will be."

[stunned. sucker punched. KO'd. lambasted. I think I went white. 

DID I HEAR THAT RIGHT?

THIS? From a graduate of a renowned, so-called respectable THEOLOGICAL seminary?]

I said something about advocating for the LIFE OF THE UNBORN in her future dealings with this misinformed candidate, assuming she might grow a care if I just back away slowly and make nice.    REAL NICE... 

And I have not had a full night's sleep since then.  This was June.  I remain stunned. 

Arch Hart, Fuller Dean, 

would say I have adrenaline issues...

Everywhere I go, I ask people for names of good counselors. It's OK if they have no idea what Arch Hart is talking about.  Any counselor will do.  

Or, maybe Hart is right? Maybe all I need is a boxing membership in a FightClub, to take the angst down a few notches.  

(("...children who are here now are more important" than the ones who are butchered in the womb?? When did Sangeresque  
e u g e n i c s  become a Fuller grad requirement?))

I did take jabs at Fuller two or three times this summer, 
questioning their intentions whenever their name came up. 
And I wondered. 

Especially now.

I ask myself,   

What Would Phyllis Do?

**
Interesting find. On the same day I penned the above, this note was also penned during a morning reflection on a Crawford Loritts message on IDENTITY:

"... JUST AS WHEN [name witheld] was interviewed for the job of senior pastor in a church-wide meeting back in 1986, I floated the "unheard of" idea that the feminist movement actually produced some positive outcomes-- given that now women are seen as credible sources of authoritative ideas and initiatives in society, no longer made to wait outside while men make all the political and corporate decisions-- but that dear pastoral candidate disagreed and made it clear that he was not in favor of anything that smacked of feminism... and he was voted in. His pastorate only lasted three and a half years."

So, cut me some slack. I am not a misogynist stuck in some cultural backwater.

Queen Phyllis the Great

Baby AmZyg's EDITOR wrote:
My first ever actual "Christian Book" purchase was one written by Phyllis Schlafly. It was a thank-you gift for a nice church lady named Jane Webber, who had "discipled me" for three or four months every week at her kitchen table. As she unwrapped it, she looked shocked.

It was one of those not-easy-to-disguise half smiles that really said "...have I taught you nothing? This woman is not a Protestant, she's a, a, a, you know; a Catholic." But I smiled anyway and assured her that she'd love it.

I forget the title of that book, but fifteen years later, I would join the Eagle Forum and soon after, pose for a photo with its founder,

the inimitable, 

the one and only, 

the cutting edge  Mother 

of 

Christian Conservatism 

herself,
Mrs. Phyllis Schlafly. 

And for my fleeting chance to say something profound to this lioness of 20th century heroism while we briefly stood together for our photo, I heard myself ask her whether she finds her Catholic supporters outnumber her protestant ones. I wish I could recall her response.  All that I recall about that momentous opportunity to mine the mind of a truly great person was the soul crushing realization that she... hated my question. It was a 'dismiss' of an answer. A sleight. A wave off. Be Gone You Knave she seemed to insinuate with her quick reply, whatever it was...

My anti-catholicness was leaking out in the asking, even then.

But I still loved her.

And today, I mourn her passing.

St. Louis MO newscast

This truly great American Female has run a race like no one else. She marked her place on this planet like a true QUEEN of the realm, filled with dignity, moral suasion, intellectual prowess, effectual DOING (though her mothering skills might've lacked a certain touch; not all her kids were wild about her), and a legacy of position papers that, G-d Willing, will someday form the oeuvre of great Political Theory courses across the land.

I've long ago parked my prized EF Eagle Pin in the back of my jewelry box, esp after moving away from the monthly gatherings of likeminded Feisty Gals.  But those ten (hello? it was 15) years of monthly service were formative for both me and my children.  Phyllis flew out to speak at our chapter more than once during that decade.

A beloved leader stands center, circa 2000. I think I'm behind the camera for this visit.
(Where is that pic of me and P?)

((Most humble apology begged of the other Female Great captured here,  back in the shadows: EZOLA FOSTER.  Why did i not insist she join this photo?
I am such a dork. She was, and is, a most gracious and humble Giant among us.))

Phyllis, may you rest in peace, and thank you for serving your country in ways none of us can fathom, none can even imagine. When I ponder the lengths you must have gone to study, write, speak and lobby. I am tired for you. Because you never were.

Blessings always, on the name and legacy of Mrs. Phyllis Schlafly. 

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

For it is appointed unto man once to die, and then the judgement. 

(Hebrew 9:28)

Salvation is by faith, not works, that no man should boast.

(Eph 3:8)

Justification by Grace, not works...

(book of Romans, entire)

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P.S.

(I've often thought back to that GoLady Activist book, and wondered if Jane Webber summarily shot the book straight into her kitchen trash bin. That's how reviled we were (and still are) by works-based religions that masquerade as Great Faiths.  Great faith in Christ that is "Authentic Christianity," is not one of them. It is not an institution.  It is a two-way relationship with Him who is fully God and fully Man; not a relationship w/ a denomination,  regal hierarchy or no regal hierarchy.  It is an intimate relationship born of the certainty that my sin has separated me from all that is holy; and that He has paid a way for my pardon.  That pardon consists of, and unleashes, unmerited GRACE, arrived at merely by being broken for my sin.

I have experienced the healing power of that Grace, but it did not come by impressing God with my good behavior; not by believing I must attain some level of personal perfection to pay God back for my misdeeds before being allowed into heaven...

...which, for the typical religionist, is a piece of cake. We fallen humans seem only able to own up to the most trivial things. 'Little white lies' or some cheating on homework or MAYBE some necking with dicey boyfriends and the like, denial being denial. But the first leg of the matter relies upon an honest self-eval that agrees with Holy Writ: We are all F*****! (Bleeeeeeeep.) Good news, tho. At the foot of the cross, the ground is level. We all are equal offenders. The point is, just get there, kneel, and heal.

But that, I suppose, is for another post. Meanwhile, tHIS:  Extreme Grace

Eternal Rest happens IN CHRIST, 

not in the prayers of well meaning kneeling votive lighters.