It has all the earmarks of an extremely dysfunctional family: Abuse, manipulation, oppression, suppression, and repression reign supreme.Ĭircumstances have caused me to step back and realize that when it comes to Art Azurdia and men like him, I have to let go of the idea that I can affect any sort of change in the Christian Community. I am taking on a new mantra:” Not my circus, not my monkeys.” It has come in handy in the past and for my own well-being, I am reinstituting it now. Since the sheep’s clothing has been partially torn away from Art Azurdia, revealing his wolf’s coat and fangs, I have seen many “men of god” postulate on different forums, each trying to outdo the other with their knowledge of scripture, hard hitting quotes and ability to forgive the seemingly unforgiveable and of course their ability to kiss Art’s ummm…ring.
I’ve seen women on the same forums speak truth and be smacked down, by those same men. Trust me when I say that the men were not treated that way. When one woman had the audacity to suggest that Art should also apologize to the families wounded by his actions, she was told, why don’t you “go find the biggest rock to throw.” When another woman questioned the sincerity in Art’s apology, she was told her comment “lacked grace” and needed a lesson in humility. When she responded with, “speaking truth is not lack of grace,”she was told again, by the same man, “You need a lesson in humility, sister.” Of course, not one woman came to their defense, well, one did, but I’m a heathen. Here’s the thing, I’m done trying to convince people in the church that Art should never be a pastor again and by the way, he shouldn’t. I’ve been called a liar and a snake for doing nothing more than speaking the truth. I been blocked on public forums, my comments deleted, for doing the same thing. A Personal Thought on Martin Luther King, Jr.I swear, I didn’t even cuss! I should have known that the only comments allowed in response to Art’s “fall” and “repentance,” would be the ones singing his praises and ones forgiving him unconditionally.Are Religious Services Essential to the Christian Faith?.“With my heart, soul, mind and body, I gave a damn.” “Do you remember your sermon about blessing the poor, the meek, the mourners, the peacemakers, and the oppressed who hunger and thirst for justice?” “Do you remember the stories you told about accepting those who have been marginalized by religion and culture?” “Do you remember your command for us to love one another?” When I get to heaven and appear before the judgment seat of Christ to receive payment for the good or the evil I have done with my body, I hope to be able to say: Evil can be looking the other way, tuning something out, refusing to understand. It was Jewish Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel who reminded us that the opposite of love is not hate. If loving our neighbors as ourselves is the highest good, as Jesus said it was, then refusing to love is the lowest evil. However, the older that I get, and the more I study the scriptures, I have learned that there are more evil things we can do in the body than saying a curse word. This verse may the be the reason I tried not to “cuss, drink, chew or go with girls who do.”Īnd maybe this is what keeps me on the straight and narrow today. When I was a kid, this is the passage of scripture used by my Sunday School teachers to keep me on the straight and narrow. “For all of us must appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each may receive recompense for what has been done in the body, whether good or evil” (2 Corinthians 5:10).
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