Mercy vs. Tolerance...REALLY?

Mercy vs. Tolerance by Paul Dyal.


For any of you who are interested, the link above will take you to the blog of a prominent minister in the group I grew up in and wrote about in my book. This particular post is written in response to CGT being "disfellowshipped" by the group as a whole, which I wrote about last week. Dyal has played a leading role in this course of action and has blogged about the situation at great length over a long period of time.

As you read, keep in mind that the "judgment" he is advocating and defending is, in his mind, the necessary response to the "crime" of women being allowed to wear pants (and other such freedoms given primarily to women).

Crimes of sexual molestation, cover ups, lying under oath brought no such response or call for judgment. Apparently, only giving women the liberty to choose their own clothing requires this kind of strong action to be taken by those in positions of authority.

If this did not make such a mockery of God's holiness and justice, I would say it was laughable; I would say the whole thing is one big farce. Strong words, I know. But victims of real crimes have been ignored. Nobody in this group has really cared about victims. At least they have not demonstrated their care if they claim to care. None of these men ever bothered to contact or reach out to any of the victims I know when real crimes were exposed.

Where was the stand for holiness in response to real crimes? Could it be that only freedoms given to women to make their own choices offend these men? Could it be that the other more serious crimes have been ignored because they were not committed by women? Is it just about controlling women? You have to wonder...

I have had so many different thoughts come to my mind in the last few days that I have considered writing about. I am sure I will write more on this subject for anyone who cares to read what I think. But for now I just thought I would share the blog comments with you for your own reflection.

Comments

My heart is heavy with the image of women being stoned and churches are pondering pants?!
Jennifer said…
Marcia,
If these "ministers" could get by with stoning women for wearing pants they would!