Bob Lonsberry is a radio personality with an early morning talk show in Utah and New York. He lives and works out of Rodchester, NY and simultcasts to both markets for part of the show.
What are you incensed about? Is it the fact of the essay or the conclusion reached??? I thought it a good and thoughtful piece that expresses a very valid point. George ----- Original Message ----- From: "Grampa Bill in Savannah" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Wednesday, October 15, 2003 5:27 AM Subject: [ZION] Breaking the charter? > Dear ones, > I received the following by email. It probably violates the charter > for me to forward it... but does anyone know the truth of this? I am > incensed! > =========================== > HOW ABOUT TOLERANCE FOR ALL? > > Some Muslims wear sacred clothing. So do some Jews. The same for > Native Americans and some Hindus and others. Bits of cloth or string > that are physical reminders of God and his bond > with man. Sacred things, really, prayer shawls or beads, head > coverings or aprons, medicine bags. Things that are special to people, > honorable and good things. > > Things that should be respected. > > One would not, for example, rip the yarmulke from a Jewish man's head > and mockingly fling it like a Frisbee. Nor would you wear a yarmulke as > a spoof or joke. Certainly not as an attack on Judaism. Not as a > mockery of Jews and their faith. > > Yet something like that happened this weekend. In front of thousands > of people in one of America's great cities. An act of religious > desecration, bigotry and discrimination. And the perpetrators boast of > it to the press. It was in Salt Lake City. And it was against Mormons. > And somehow that makes it acceptable. > > Here's what happened. Over the weekend, Mormons gathered for what they > call "general conference." It is a twice-a-year meeting that draws tens > of thousands to Salt Lake City and is broadcast around the world to an > audience in the low millions. It is a worship service. It is sacred and > special to them. And each year it is protested. > > So-called Christian evangelists stand on the sidewalk outside the > Mormon meetings and shout rude condemnations of the religion to the > thousands who pass in and out. It is an odd spectacle, unmatched in > American society. To think that crude protesters would stand outside a > mosque or synagogue, or a cathedral or church, and harass worshipers and > denounce a religion is just beyond the pale. > > It is an act of indefensible religious bigotry. And yet it happens, > and is often applauded and boasted of. > > This column started with a mention of sacred clothing. Well, Mormons > have sacred clothing, too. Like a variety of religious garments, it is > worn against the skin. It is a type of underclothing. They don't talk > about it. They don't show it to people. They keep it sacred. Like > virtually all-religious clothing, it is a specific reminder of promises > made to God. Like virtually all religious clothing, it is precious and > significant to the people who wear it. > > Well, Sunday the evangelists had some. Maybe six guys, Baptist > ministers, mocking the Mormons as they came out of a meeting. Shouting > rude things to people coming out of church. And they had these sacred > garments. And one supposed minister of the gospel was wiping his > backside with them, laughingly treating them like toilet paper as > thousands who held them sacred walked by. > > Can you see that being done to a prayer shawl in front of a Synagogue, > or a prayer rug in front of a mosque? Wouldn't all decent people > publicly denounce that sacrilege? > > He also draped them around his neck, and pretended over and over to > sneeze into them. And loudly blow his nose into them. While families and > children walked past. > > Stop for a moment. > > Lay aside what you do or don't think about Mormons. But was that right? > > More to the point, was that Christian? Is that what Jesus would do? Is > that what any decent person of any faith would do? Absolutely not. It > is wrong, bigoted and un-American. No matter who it's against. > > It was an affront. It smelled like the bigotry of the Klan and the > Third Reich. And yet the ministers boasted of it to reporters and posed > for pictures and no one in the Utah or American religious, media or > civil rights communities has condemned it. > > And, oddly, two worshipers were taken away in handcuffs. One man, > dressed in his church clothes, walked past in the crowd, saw the insults > and desecrations, and grabbed the piece of clothing. To protect it. He > was charged with robbery and taken to jail. Half an hour later another > worshiper similarly grabbed a molested garment and attempted to take it > away. He was unsuccessful and waiting police stepped in to take him into > custody. > > And that's the world we live in. You are harangued for your beliefs and > arrested for defending them. And the bigotry of our society is > illustrated by how selectively we practice tolerance. > > - by Bob Lonsberry C 2003 > > //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// // > /// ZION LIST CHARTER: Please read it at /// > /// http://www.zionsbest.com/charter.html /// > //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// / > > > > ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// /// ZION LIST CHARTER: Please read it at /// /// http://www.zionsbest.com/charter.html /// ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// --^---------------------------------------------------------------- This email was sent to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?aaP9AU.bWix1n.YXJjaGl2 Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] TOPICA - Start your own email discussion group. 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