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.