Another Nail in the Cross

Our local public radio just ran a news bulletin describing a protest led by Paul Madore, a local bigot who calls himself a Christian and perennially unsuccessful candidate for public office. According to the news report, Madore organized a boycott yesterday of a fundraising dinner a local Democratic party organized to raise funds for the heating bills of poor people. The point of the protest? The dinner took place at the parish hall of a Catholic church in town. Two of the state legislators who helped organized the event had voted in support of not discriminitating against queers. The bigots who call themselves Christian were outraged that the Catholic church had not refused use of the hall because of the presence of legislators who don't want to discriminate. If you're wondering what's the connection between gay rights and helping poor people pay heating bills, you are at the end of a very long line.

We're still looking in the gospels for the part where Jesus said nasty things about queer people, but can't seem to find them. Helping poor folks pay their winter heating bills, on the other hand, strikes us as something Jesus would be down with. In the words of a dinner attendee, “ I’ve read my Bible as much as any one, and it seems like Jesus spent a lot more of his time helping the poor than he did worrying about sex.”

When Pudentilla's grandmother heard of particularly heinous and hypocritical behavior by anyone, but especially by public figures, she was wont to say in a brogue so thick you could cut it with a knife, "ah, that one - he's driving a nail through the flesh of Christ on the cross." Sound about right for Mr. Madore - who doesn't strike us as much of a Christian, even though he plays one on the t.v. news.

Anyways, the story has a happy ending - the dinner was a huge success.