I am not a Christian.

I dunno, to me that is about like some people saying since all the muslims we hear most often about are terrorists, then islam equates to terrorism. There's something in there if I recall about calling bad good and good bad. By granting them the title you are smearing the title, imho.

You get the title of "true Christian". It's not about talking the talk, it's about walking the walk. "You will know them by their fruits".

I dunno, to me that is about like some people saying since all the muslims we hear most often about are terrorists, then islam equates to terrorism. There's something in there if I recall about calling bad good and good bad. By granting them the title you are smearing the title, imho.

Everybody I talk to says that if someone wears the label Christian I'm supposed to accept it. I'm gonna let Democracy rule here, Baker.

I do hope you can tell I'm being a little facetious. But I'm seriously wondering where the church is, Baker. And I know from what I read that I'm not the only one.

Well, there are two types of Christian. The real Christian cares for his fellow man; the hypocrite Christian is so self-riteous that he thinks he's a Christian, but more often than not he
does zilch for his fellow man and is likely to be sneaky, uncaring and plain negative. However, he may attend church so that makes him even more self-riteous. There are thousands out there--some are even Evangelists!

Can't exist without them labels, you know

I think I've decided that all labels are destructive, but necessary. I'm sorry to hear of your struggles in my little town, but I can't say I'm not surprised.

People are watching how you live your life. What kind of father are you? Are your kids clean and well fed? Is education a priority in your home? Perhaps these are questions you consider personal business, but in a tiny place like Lefors, it's everyone's business. That will never change. Appearances matter in a place that small, so you either move (my choice) or resign yourself to a life of scrutiny. Perception rules, even if it's all one big lie.

Just some thoughts.

In my experience most of the people who claim to be Christians, go to church regularly, and all of that are anything but Christians. They just like belonging to a club but in reality don't have a clue as to what being a Christian actually means.

I blame the churches as they don't bother to teach it any more. They put together a nice sermon in the hopes of drawing financial contributions but don't actually teach anything of merit.

To Lobsterhunter:
Pity people can't leave others alone. Anyone who wonders (nosily), whether my kids are clean or well-fed and whether education is a priority in the home is a plain darn snoop! I don't know how small towns in America behave but if someone did that in South Africa, they could end up on our famous barbeque. This is not normal behaviour, small town or not. Don't these people have anything better to do? Sorry, this town is Amish, right?

What kind of father are you? Are your kids clean and well fed? Is education a priority in your home? Perhaps these are questions you consider personal business, but in a tiny place like Lefors, it's everyone's business.

You really don't think they'd FIND something to dislike about me, lobster?

So, you're suggesting I have an open house and invite everyone in the city of Lefors? You're suggesting I submit an education plan to the school board? What, precisely ARE you suggesting?

To suggest that the city of Lefors has a right to inspect MY home at whim is completely against everything this country has EVER stood for, lobster. Doesn't the fact that I have held a job ever since I arrived here, that I work 80+ hours a week between school, work and civic obligations, the fact that my children go to church every Sunday (until now, that is) count for SOMETHING? I know you want to justify the actions of the community, lobster, but when one of the allegations levelled by a prominent member of the church is a bald faced LIE (my wife and children have been at MANY church functions where I wasn't present; how, pray tell, could I be locking them in their home), it's clear that their agenda isn't about ensuring our children are properly cared for, but about hurting us...about striking out at us.

And as for the church, lobster, please tell me what the Christian response is (hint: it's spelled out in the Bible, and it has NOTHING to do with bearing false witness against one's neighbour, I'll tell you that much!) My point is, either the people in this church are Christians, or I am. Both truths can't be simultaneously true. Because there are more of them than there are of me, I will give them the label.

Anyway, you're right. I will do the will of the people of Lefors and leave the city. But I will make DAMN sure that everyone knows what kind of community it is. And what kinds of "Christians" inhabit those churches.

Sorry, this town is Amish, right?

Nope, Baptist. I'd much prefer if it WERE Amish, frankly. Amish would take care of the needs, they wouldn't involve outsiders.

I know you want to justify the actions of the community, lobster, but when one of the allegations levelled by a prominent member of the church is a bald faced LIE (my wife and children have been at MANY church functions where I wasn't present; how, pray tell, could I be locking them in their home), it's clear that their agenda isn't about ensuring our children are properly cared for, but about hurting us...about striking out at us.

Not trying to justify anything. Just stating the obvious. Living a tiny town means folks will be in your business.

What kinds of Christians inhabit any church? A bunch of broken, fallen people who will screw it up everytime. I myself, am battling this very issue, and I've decided to take a break from intitutionalized religion. It's threatening my faith, so I've declared a self-imposed sabbatical. Am I still a believer? Sure. Do I live my life like Jesus? Not exactly.

The Christian response is to love God and love people. Is it happening in your home? Only you can decide. Is this happening in Lefors? Probably not. Is it happening in the world? A resounding NO!

Maybe some of the folks are out to hurt you. If you have nothing to hide, then the truth will set you free. God speed.

lobster, first of all, please take my words in context. I'm very hurt right now, and through absolutely no fault of your own, you happen to be closer to those that are striking out at us than most. So my words are not as kind or measured as they should be. My sincere apologies.

What hurt me about this latest round the worst was the outright, boldfaced lie that was part of the report. The particular woman who lodged the report has been to different church functions with my wife and children without me present. She knows better. She deliberately lied because she knew that it would get the attention of CPS. False imprisonment tends to do that.

As to proving myself, what do I have to do? I'd have thought being on the front of the trucks when the wildfires swept across the Panhandle would do something to establish who I am. I would have thought that arranging the donation of 12 computers to the school district, reformatting, and repairing all of those computers, would have said something about my character. I would have thought that being involved with every single city function since we arrived here would have given some witness. But these people aren't looking for proof of my character, lobster...they've already come to their conclusions. They're looking to hurt us, or drive us out of town, one of the two. And neither action is Christian.

As you know, the majority of the people in this town really are good people. The problem is, they do nothing while the majority who aren't run rampant. And right now, they are DEFINITELY running rampant.

In all of the reporting I've done on CPS, lobster, I have never seen a case where a caseworker literally shook her head and said she knew the report was full of beans. The CPS worker asked us simply to visit a dr. about the one concern so that she could close the case, and admitted outloud that both of the other reports are bogus. In this case, the reporter hurt their case more than helped it.

I know you've read "The Ragamuffin Gospel", lobster, and I know it was an influential book on your life. While I admittedly have some problems with some of its theology, the fact is, it presents a God who is real, who loves, and who cares. Now, you also know the city of Lefors. Can you honestly tell me that you've seen that kind of love lived out here?

At first I thought maybe it was my mission to teach them, lobster. But my first and foremost duty is to my family, and I said long ago that when my wife said she couldn't take it anymore we would leave. Well, we've reached that point.

The irony of the report is, my wife is a very private and shy woman. She doesn't take direct criticism very easily. All of the time we've been married, I've tried to encourage her to get out more. Situations like this, where the women she's fellowshipping with are striking out at us, do not help the matter at all.

Again, lobster, I know you have a good heart and mean what you say with the best of intentions. But I also know that nothing we ever do will be good enough for this town. Hate is a hard thing to erase, and they DO hate us, pretty passionately.

Since I've been here, I've tried to reach out to those who have been affected by the town's hatred. And, for the most part, I've been successful. If I were the only target of their venom, I might question whether or not there was something in MY life that needed changing. But I'm NOT the only target. Not by a longshot.

A Christian cares about what God wants, a non-Christian doesn't. What actions are taken at any specific time is never an issue. But, christian or not, these actions are very poor and hurtful. The hardest place to have a mission field is where there's a dead church.

I blame the churches as they don't bother to teach it any more. They put together a nice sermon in the hopes of drawing financial contributions but don't actually teach anything of merit

I agree...I think that there may be a few diamonds in the rough out there, but I've yet to see one.

~Zoo

so you either move (my choice) or resign yourself to a life of scrutiny.

For the record, scrutiny I could deal with. Out and out persecution is another matter.

I WILL be shopping this out to the ACLU to see if they nibble. More likely, I'll just have to find myself another place to live. Not to worry, I have my friends in low places and will get by somehow.

Can you honestly tell me that you've seen that kind of love lived out here?

Yes. Nora Franks lived it out everyday of her life by providing me with stability and unconditional love. She protected me from the poor choices of my parents and sacrificially gave of herself. She fleshed out Jesus in our home and in her work. She wasn't perfect, but she never claimed to be.

I really am sorry about your current situation. I hope you find the peace you seek.

Yes. Nora Franks lived it out everyday of her life by providing me with stability and unconditional love. She protected me from the poor choices of my parents and sacrificially gave of hereself. She fleshed out Jesus in our home and in her work. She wasn't perfect, but she never claimed to be.

I was meaning on a larger scale, not an individual one. But you do bring up a good point. Thanks for the gentle reminder that there are still some mighty good people here

BTW, most of your family's been very nice to us. Just so you know .

you can join my house of worship gid.. it's called

I Ain't religious, I just LOVE THE LORD

There is just a few rules to join, you must love your fellow man or woman.

Treat everyone with respect.

Spread 'HIS" love.

Never say anything about someone that you would not said about you.

From what I've seen, most people in small town America go to church on Sundays because it's there and it's open. They go because that's what they've been doing their whole lives. Their parents did it, their grandparents did it...and so on, ad infinitum. It has less to do with being Christian and more to do with tradition. It's just what good people do, and they consider themselves good people, so they go.

You've pissed them off Gid. You've come into their town, an outsider, and from their point of view you've done nothing but cause trouble ever since you got there (the following is NOT my personal opinion, it's my take on what small town people are like; it's my interpretation of how they think and the conclusions they jump to):

You came and proclaimed yourself a Libertarian and an activist and you said that you were thinking about running for office - you challenged the status quo politically when you had no right to do that. You've got 5 children but you don't have what they consider to be a 'proper' job to support your family and they all wonder how you're making ends meet. You don't even have a TV for crying out loud; you're depriving your children from having a 'normal' lifestyle by keeping them at home all the time. Normal familes have TV's and send their kids to public school, didn't you know that? Because you're low income but refuse to apply for food stamps you're depriving your children adequate nutrition, so now in addition to depriving your kids a 'normal' lifestyle you're also starving them. Your wife is a timid little mouse who has difficulty participating in things without you being present, which must mean that you're abusing her too. You wanted to bring black hurricane refugees into town after the whole world saw them looting and rioting and raping and pillaging on national TV, so you obviously have NO respect or concern for the community of Lefors. Yeah, you do a lot in the community with the Fire Separtment and whatnot, but as far as they're concerned you're a long haired wife beating child starving hippie who thinks he's all that and then some. You came into town and decided that you were going to do what you wanted, when you wanted to do it and by gawd they're not going to stand for that. They're tired of your attitude and they want you out of town.

You're trouble as far as they're concerned, Gid. They don't want you there, and no amount of public service on your part is going to change that. I would say that the only way they're going to leave you alone is if you conform, but I'm afraid that it's too late for that as well.

Sorry.

I prefer my method Gideon. Even though I have accepted Christ as my personal savior, as you know, there are many who don't consider me (or any other member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints) a Christian.

My answer to that is, I'll just not worry about it and let Christ be the judge of who is "really Christian" and who isn't. Something tells me that we will all be surprised to see who is and who isn't. ;~D

Gid I am so sorry for your suffering.

Peace brother.

(the following is NOT my personal opinion, it's my take on what small town people are like; it's my interpretation of how they think and the conclusions they jump to):

Oh, I understand that, dharma, and you're spot on.

Matter of fact, if Jesus Christ were here right now, they'd be buying lumber and a rope to have themselves a first class hangin'

Unfortunately, I ain't Jesus Christ, not by a longshot, and I have to think of my wife and family first. Things are going about as good for us in Pampa as they are bad for us in Lefors, so i'm going to chat with a few friends to see if we can't just move on up the road. Lefors can have their little Peyton Place, and continue to complain that their little town is dying.

From the blog and the comments, it seems most has already been said.  I am sorry that these hypocrites have the ability to ruin lives.  Best to you Gideon.