Chapter 12

At some point during the time it took them to return Spencer's car to the rental place, pick up Garcia's bags at the hotel, and drive back to Morgan's family's home, the cable system came back to life, allowing people to tune into the news and see what was going on around the country and around the world. As a result they walked into Morgan's family having a vociferous non-debate with each other over the war. "They are not Christian." Uncle Roger said as he took center stage. "I don't care what they say they are not Christian."

"Uncle Roger is a deacon down at MLK Baptist." Morgan said quietly as his mother shooed them over to where a small buffet was lined up on the kitchen counter.

"Did they ever try to recruit people at your church?" Spencer asked.

"Oh more than one time." Uncle Roger said. "Couple of families at the church heard about their ways on the internet, started trying to get us to invite out their preachers from Atlanta. Said they would solve all the problems with gangs and drugs and girls getting in to trouble. Finally Pastor Brown let them have someone come out to speak to us. Out came this fine family with about eight or nine kids all dressed alike and playing their music and acting like robots. He preached his sermon but it wasn't a Christian sermon. And then after, right there in front of everyone, Pastor Brown got up and told him so."

"What did he say?" Garcia asked.

"Well, this fellow talked about three things. First off he talked about how you had to discipline your children. You had to make them obey the first time out, no talking back or even rolling their eyes as kids will do. Don't give them any chances or show them any mercy, they get one chance and that's it. And the only way to do it was to spank on them until you broke their wills, that way they learn to fear you like they're supposed to fear God for the father is God for the family here on earth. Spare the rod and spoil the child he said. Well Pastor Brown got up and started quoting at him over that one. John 14:6 Jesus said to him, 'I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. Not through your father here on earth but through Christ direct. And as for making them afraid of the Lord and showing no mercy Luke 17:1-4 Jesus said to his disciples, 'Occasions for stumbling are bound to come, but woe to anyone by whom they come! It would be better for you if a millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea than for you to cause one of these little ones to stumble. Be on your guard! If another disciple sins, you must rebuke the offender, and if there is repentance, you must forgive. And if the same person sins against you seven times a day, and turns back to you seven times and says, "I repent", you must forgive.' That is what the Lord said direct. Forgive."

"Many people think that the quote 'spare the rod, spoil the child comes from Proverbs 13:24, He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes." Spencer said. But it's actually from a poem about a love affair, Hudibras by Samuel Butler.

"What medicine else can cure the fits
Of lovers when they lose their wits?
Love is a boy by poets styled
Then spare the rod and spoil the child."

Morgan's Aunt looked over at his mother, Fran. "Is that the one you were telling us about?"

"See. Not Christian." Uncle Roger agreed with Spencer. "Then this preacher went on about how women were supposed to stay home and look after the babies and make their daughters cover up and not talk to the boys and not date. He said if they just learned to be homemakers and housekeepers and maids and didn't try to make something of themselves, acted all meek and mild all the time and let their fathers or their uncles pick out their husbands, all the boys would give up the gangs and the trouble and be inspired to be gentlemen. If they didn't rein in the girls then the Lord would have nothing to do with them. Well Pastor Brown called that legalism out for what it was. What matters is faith, not how you dress or who you run around with. Faith is all that matters to the Lord. Matthew 21:32. For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him, but the tax-collectors and the prostitutes believed him; and even after you saw it, you did not change your minds and believe him. Then one of the women in the congregation stood up and asked how they were supposed to pay the rent and put food on the table if they all stayed home and he said that the Lord would provide. Well, we all laughed at him for that and she said he meant the government would provide the food stamps. He went off on a rant about the evils of the government like you wouldn't believe, saying that we had to destroy it all because government was unbiblical and all it did was take your money for taxes. Pastor Brown stood up laughing and quoted Matthew 22:15-21 at him:

Then the Pharisees went and plotted to entrap him in what he said. So they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, 'Teacher, we know that you are sincere, and teach the way of God in accordance with truth, and show deference to no one; for you do not regard people with partiality. Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?' But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, 'Why are you putting me to the test, you hypocrites? Show me the coin used for the tax.' And they brought him a denarius. Then he said to them, 'Whose head is this, and whose title?' They answered, 'The emperor's.' Then he said to them, 'Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor's, and to God the things that are God's.'

"Then he called them a bunch of Pharisees and invited them out of his church, saying that anyone who wanted to be a Pharisee could just go with them. We had two families leave that day but no more."

"What happened to those families?" Fran asked.

"They both moved away this past month." Uncle Roger said, "Funny how that works. Now, I didn't realize it then but afterward I got to thinking, and I went on line and I looked these people up. They spent a lot of time quoting Paul, used him to justify a lot of things, and a lot from the Old Testament, Leviticus and Deuteronomy, mostly, and some Revelations, of course. But you almost never heard them quoting the gospels, you never heard them quoting Christ. In fact a lot of the time you found them directly contradicting Christ. So they can stand up there and shake a bible at you and tell you that they have found the magical solution that will solve every problem from the bedroom up to the halls of Congress but if they are not following the words of Christ then I cannot call them Christians. No sir."

Fran reached over and took his hand. "Amen."