Obey the Law

Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.

Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation.

Romans 13:1-2

            If you grow up hearing the same things from your parents and other adults, you just assume those things are facts. I grew up hearing my mom quote Walter, who I just assumed was quoting scripture, saying, “Obey the laws of the land.” But I can’t find that Bible verse. If someone else can, please leave me a message.

            I always say that I never had any medical care at all, not one pill, no vaccinations, nobody took my blood pressure. Nothing at all until I was twenty-one and had left church. I remember the first Advil I took – believe it or not, it was one of those life-changing moments. I spent my late teenage years in excruciating pain every twenty-eight days. I mean this pain was akin to labor pains – I would crawl around on the floor of my bedroom trying to find a position that would offer some relief. I begged God to take me out of my misery. I later learned that these severe cramps were due to my tilted cervix. The first cycle I went through after I ran off with that stranger, Randy, he offered me an Advil. Just one. I thought, yeah, like this is gonna help. And let me tell you: the angels came down from heaven and lifted that pain right out of me. It was a miracle if there ever was one. I love Advil. It’s my drug of choice.

            But I have recently realized that Advil was not my first medical intervention. I had others. I even had surgery. But I never realized it was medical care. Let me explain. People who are from Oregon City often comment that the Kissers have great teeth – most had braces. Yep, I was in that brace-faced pack in junior high. I got shots of Novocain from the dentist. And my parents were informed that I would need to have my wisdom teeth removed before they started to come in or my perfect smile would be ruined. So I had oral surgery. Shots were given to numb me. And get this, I had a prescription for Vicadin! I was eighteen when I got my wisdom teeth out and I got a bottle of thirty pills. Man I loved those pills.

            So why do Followers get dental care, but not life-saving medical care? It’s the law. Well, I don’t know if that’s true, but if I’m wrong and you know it, kindly post a reply to that effect. So, this is one of those times that I took my mother’s word and accepted it as fact, and as far as I know it is. I asked my mom why we went to the dentist and she said it was because back when Walter was alive (some time before 1969) someone had died due to an oral infection and a law was passed in Oregon that kids should have dental preventive care. Alright, I realize this doesn’t sound plausible.

            New laws have been passed in Oregon in the past decade or so, removing the religious exemption for parents who allow their children to die by refusing medical care. Why don’t the Followers obey these new laws? It’s because they have no leader to tell them to. They are trying to stick with the only truth they know. They’re doing a terrible job of it, but they are a big group of lost sheep who do not even want a shepherd to lead them and wouldn’t accept one if it was dropped by the divine hand of God into their midst. Plenty of preachers and evangelists have tried to infiltrate and help lead this group back to the Straight and Narrow. It’s a hopeless cause. They won’t allow an outsider in, and they won’t accept leadership from within – a prophet is without honor in his own home. What will become of them?

            Here are some links to the Followers in the recent news:

http://www.kgw.com/news/Faith-healing-trial-underway-in-Oregon-City-129825038.html

http://www.oregonlive.com/oregon-city/index.ssf/2011/09/defense_accuses_prosecutors_of_religious_bias_in_followers_of_christ_trial.html

And here is a Wikipedia article about the Followers (note: this is about 75% accurate, but it’s interesting fodder)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Followers_of_Christ

Dogs & Swine

Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.

-         Matthew 7:6

You are the dogs; you are the swine. And these are my pearls.

I’m told I will soon die if I talk publicly about the Followers. Not exactly a death threat, but Followers believe that when someone leaves church, bad things will follow. Worse yet for those who dare tell the church’s business to outsiders.

I’ve upset my mother by writing about the church. She says there will be repercussions to our family. We will be cursed. Someone I love will die.

When I was a teen, a woman left church and then referred to the Followers as a "cult." Gasp! Her family said that she had committed the ultimate, unforgivable sin of blasphemy by speaking out against the church. They asked her how it felt knowing she was going to Hell.

Two women (mother and daughter) once abandoned their husbands and children and left church. A few years later, the daughter, who was in her early thirties, stepped into her shower and dropped dead. This may happen to me, so if I don’t post any more entries, you’ll know.

I'll Drink the Cool-Aid!

Earlier this evening (August 29, 2011), someone responded to my blog by posting this comment on one of my Facebook groups:

“interesting.. since I don’t belong to your cult, I am going to hell? dude thats f--ed up!! will you drink the punch if asked too?”

This is my response: yes, you're going to Hell and yes, I will drink the punch.

In middle school (mid-1980s) we have the Rajneeshee cult here in Oregon. It is a big deal on the news. Many of their members wear red and we all joke that our vice-principal is a member because she has a red suit she wears once a week.

In high school I write a paper about the Jonestown cult. I know what a cult is. I have even heard it whispered that the Followers are a cult. But it doesn’t matter what we’re called. This is the only truth I know.

There are two ways to get into heaven and I would take either one without blinking an eye. The first is to be baptized by a prophet. Since the last living prophet died four years before I was born, I am stuck with door number two: martyrdom.

People want to know why the Followers allow their children to die. Why not take them to a doctor? Let me tell you why: we are told that the only option we have to absolutely ensure salvation is martyrdom.

If a woman dies in childbirth, it has been proven (I cannot give the details of this proof here because I want you to read my memoir) that she is assured salvation. If a child dies and his family has the faith and trust to allow God’s will to be done, then that child is also on his way to the streets paved in gold.

I don’t know if you can understand this, but fear is a powerful thing. I do not want to go to Hell. If there is a temporary suffering – even if that means two days of hard child-birthing followed by a slow and painful death with my baby still unborn – I choose to take that route over an eternity of Hell Fire and Damnation where there will be weeping an gnashing of teeth. If watching my two year old child die because she needs an insulin shot will mean she gets a free ticket in, well, thank God I am not faced with that choice. We all know that God sent His son to die a horrible death. God even asked Abraham to sacrifice Isaac. Why should our children be spared?

I think about Hell all the time. I obsess about it. I imagine the day I am thrown in. I picture the weeping and gnashing of teeth. I’m not sure what gnashing is, but I think it involves a demon bashing my teeth in with a sledgehammer; new teeth replace the old and the process repeats for all of eternity. I suppose this teeth bashing happens inside a pool of boiling lava. My skin melts off and regenerates in endless torture.

            So, yes, if drinking the punch keeps me out of Hell, then bottoms up, baby!