I recently had an article sent to me, via a link to “channel 10 news” about a pastor and his wife who are being fined for holding a weekly Bible Study in their home. Being a skeptic, I went to the link and thoroughly read up on the story. I was somewhat shocked to find out that it was actually true. These people are being required to take out some sort of a special use permit to continue to meet in their home with their friends to study the Bible. That got me to thinking. Who on earth would do such a thing? What is it about a Bible study that is a cause for alarm? I’m quite sure this would never have happened if this were a weekly book club meeting. So, then, what’s the difference? Or, what if it were a football club, getting together regularly to watch the game, or just a group of neighbors who really like to barbeque together? Would they have been approached, and required to take out a special use permit? We all know, of course, that they would not have. OK, so then, why? What is it about a Bible Study, specifically, that apparently stirs up an animosity in some people? OK, it involves religion. But, wait a minute, don’t I remember right, that the country we live in was founded based on a desire to have the freedom to worship and meet together to Study the Bible? Let me see here….yup:

Bill of Rights
Amendment I
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.”

Thought so. OK then, first, let’s make sure that we have the facts straight. What, specifically, spurred on the opposition to this particular group’s meeting? Was it a neighbor, irritated by parked cars? Was the gathering noisy? Were they collecting money at the door? None of these things are mentioned in the article, which is, unfortunately a little bit vague. Bible Study groups meet all over the country, not just in San Diego County. Churches encourage participation in these groups as a means of building relationships with other people (healthy for social and personal development), and studying the literature (if the Bible can be called that) upon which their faith is based. So, assuming that the complaint which gave rise to issue was not about parking, or noise, or an illegal business, the only conclusion that I can see which remains is:

a) an excuse to collect some more revenue for California to spend stupidly, or
b) a distaste of, hate of, or fear of what, exactly, is written in that Bible, or an impression of what is thought to be in it.

I suppose it could simply be a matter of some official being zealous to be the most creative revenue collector. But I dunno, it still smacks of some mean spirited bias. I don’t think I’m going into an irrational point of view in saying that, or being an alarmist.

Well, then, what’s so scary about the Bible? Do the words inside this book, considered as Holy to many christians worldwide, encourage dominion over the known world? Does it inspire suicide bombers? Does it, in any way, set out to infringe upon the freedom and rights of your fellow man? Well, unlike the Koran, and contrary to a strongly held popular belief, the answer to these questions is “no”. The Bible simply tells us about a creator, God, who set forth a race of beings with free will, and with that free will comes the choice to either respect and follow Him, or to go our own way and try to derive some kind of meaning and purpose out of this existence without Him. In the Bible, He lays out a clear set of rules about what and what not to do. Those things are based, not, as some claim, upon His bossy desire to control and judge specific people, but rather, upon His divine knowledge of how we are made, and what will benefit or harm us, either physically, or spiritually. The assumption is that He knows quite a bit more than we do. But it gets better! The second half of the Bible presents Him as not only the designer of our universe and knower of all things, but also as the one who was willing to take on the consequence of all our misdeeds. Then, He encourages all His followers to treat their fellow man with this same, self sacrificial love. The New Testament teaches love and forgiveness.

It takes some pretty creative thinking to find something wrong with all that, but people do. Why? Simply, (well, in my opinion anyway) it’s because they want to do whatever they desire without anyone telling them that there are moral absolutes, and that their behavior is “wrong”. (gasp!)

Well, OK, so let’s ask then, just for clarity, how exactly these issues of “right and wrong” are infringing on the “rights” of those who don’t believe in, or don’t want to be bothered by God.

I suppose that the first one to come to mind is the issue of ‘gay marriage’. The institution of ‘marriage’ itself, is something set into place by God himself. So right off the bat, I see a problem. It is a spiritual/physical union, witnessed by heaven itself. I often wonder why a ‘domestic partnership’ is not a perfectly appropriate way for people who want to live this way to seal their union? Why do they want to stand under the umbrella of “marriage”, which, by it’s very title, represents the act of standing before God himself and making an oath. Are they demanding that God bless what He has made clear to be an unholy union? Frankly, even if it sounds a little bit brash, I think this is the case. Because, under the title of ‘domestic partnership’, gay couples enjoy all the rights of a married couple, and are not discriminated against in any way. Can this then boil down to this group of people not wanting to be told that what they are doing is ‘wrong’? Why, if God does not exist, are the beliefs of His followers so incredibly threatening? So what if someone (who doesn’t exist) says that something you are doing is wrong? Who cares? But care they do. I challenge you to unbiasedly consider ‘why’?

There are other issues that agnostics and atheists have against christians, like ‘abortion’. They scream and parade over their ‘right to choose’. But if ever they are asked to phisically witness what takes place during the process of an actual abortion, they shut their eyes and cry ‘morbid! distasteful!’ and they demand ‘what evil, wretched person would present such smutt!?’ but…shouldn’t they make their ‘choice’, as we make all other choices in life, even other surgeries, with their eyes open to exactly what it involves? Why is this one specific thing different? This particular point I personally see as ‘insanity at it’s finest’. The miraculous ability of the human brain to justify itself in irrational belief.

In other areas of psychology we see this type of behavior and call it what it is: denial. Denial takes place when the truth is too painful accept. Abortion is painful; physically unimaginably painful to the fetus, and emotionally scarring to every woman who I have ever met who has personally experienced one. And yet, those who say ‘there is no God’, insist on their right to ‘choose’ this barbaric means of birth control. I remember how horrified I was as a child when I saw the mother and father guppy eat their own children, and how I labored to isolate the innocent little creatures in a separate part of the aquarium for their own safety, desperate to spare every precious little life. As a child we see it realistically; life is precious. life is a miracle. life is to be revered and protected. Only as people get older and become more sophisticated in their thinking processes and justifications does that clear vision blur into a deep fog. That’s because children are innocent, and evil is a real thing, not just some dumb ‘christian concept’.

OK, but back to the Bible Study and why it is a threat. I boldly venture to put forth that it is a threat to those who have their fingers in their ears yelling ‘lalalalala there is no God!’ (I can see people coming unglued reading that statement). But get real with me for a minute folks! Apart from the extremist christians who go around doing stupid things (yes, they exist, and I don’t care WHAT group you’re talking about, they ALL have this segment), the Bible itself gives a picture of a loving God who does NOT want anyone to perish. Nobody! And the things outlined as ‘wrong’ in the pages of the Bible are meant for our good, our health, our wholeness, and NOT our exclusion of certain people groups.

Here’s a little silly story; let’s say you have a small child who is playing near the edge of a volcano, and he is arguing that it is perfectly safe to do so. What kinds of things might you say or do to prevent your child from naiively falling to their death? This picture might be simplistic and OK, a little dumb, but still a good perspective to take when considering some of the seemingly harsh warnings in the Bible. Now, picture gathering all the little children in the village, which is near the volcano, to a room for a lesson on ‘the dangers of volcanos’. I see the people trying to stop Bible studies as the rebellious children outside, demanding their right to play not only on the edge of the volcano, but even to venture inside. ‘Volcano spelunkers’ waving angry signs in protest. I want to say to them; ‘go play! No one is stopping you! Go play where ever you want to play! But before you do, please take just a moment and listen to a point of view that differs from your own. ‘

I would also venture to challenge those in opposition to home Bible studies to question their actions; are you BECOMING exactly what it is that you are trying so hard to destroy?

Finally I had a minute to download the video of the long, long, long, long trip across the country! If only I had a little more time, I would edit it to include the sound track, which is nothing but birds singing all day long, but pretty funny background music to a long drive!
We’ve been here a few weeks now, I don’t know exactly since I haven’t kept track of time. But as you can see a little bit of by the videos, the house was a ‘house of many colors’ when we moved in! No insult to the previous owner, but nothing matched any of our things. So I started with the intention of painting two rooms, and finally stopped (had to stop, the movers got here!) after I’d painted everything BUT two rooms! It looks much more like home now! I’ll take some video once I get all the curtains and pictures up on the walls.
Boy, every time I move I wonder how on earth anyone can take something this big on! I’m still wondering… So far we’ve had mostly rain to introduce to our new weather accommodations. I hear it’s going to get nice and warm and toasty in the summer. We have a fully shaded backyard by mid day though, thanks to the woods behind the house. So that will hopefully help.
This little house is nothing like our Vista house. It’s smaller, and it’s not anything close to the quality of that beautiful home we had. But I’m thankful. Genuinely. Things could have gone a lot worse and are going a lot worse for many people in this economy. Right now, for us, things are looking nothing but promising here in ‘music city’. The town has been very warm and welcoming to us. (well, except for that one lady around the corner who has some kind of a bone to pick, but that’s another story).
It does put a bit of a pit in my stomach to stop and realize how far away we are from everybody. Driving that entire way without stopping except to sleep really revealed to us just how far away this really is! My precious little dogs were sooo good in the car! Day after day of unending boredom, and they just held up like little soldiers! The birds actually did the same. They are quite cozy and familiar with the doggies now.
Hope the little video clip fills you in on a bit. I sure do miss everyone!