Another rant

I started this blog a few years ago to journal our life on our small homestead we call Outlaw Farm. But it has developed into a page of rants. Not something I wanted or intended to happen.
But my wife and children are Outlaw Farm as much as the grass, the trees, the animals and all the wildlife that surround us. So when my children have been treated badly, then the whole farm is treated badly.

Recently, the girls were invited to a sleepover at the weekend. As we already had plans they politely declined the invitation, as did their other friend.

It was then disclosed that the reason for the invitation was to recruit new members for their church and to convert any non church going heathens.

When the parents were informed that my girls are half Mexican and the other girl was Jewish, they stated that they wouldn't have been made welcome in their house anyway. So apparently this church only accepts you into their fold if you are white. That there are bigotry and hypocrisy at their finest.

I'm white. I'm whiter than white. I'm Anglo-Saxon. You can't get any whiter. But if we're going to use color to judge, then those people are as black as the preacher's robe.

I am proud of my kids, and of their Jewish friend. They are all A honor students. Good musicians. Accomplished in sports. They show responsibility in their community. They are kind, thoughtful and caring for others. They mentor children younger than themselves. All in all, they are really good kids.

I will tell you why I am not a fan of the organized church. When I was a small boy back in England, I attended a Church of England run primary school. There were two schools in town. That one and a county council run school. My mother decided to send me to the church school, thinking it would be the best school although we were not CofE and were Methodists. I went to Sunday School every week and chapel once a month. Every day we would have a school assembly where we would sing hymns and pray. I was even in the school choir.  But once a month the local vicar would come to school and lead the assembly and serve communion. All of a sudden, the Methodist kid and his Roman Catholic buddy would be asked to sit in the classroom and read a book. At the age of six I discovered the hypocritical world of the organized church.
Don't get me wrong. There are a lot of very good people who go to church and believe in the unity of the organization. Some of my closest friends are devoted church goers. But these people are truly good people. If you took the church away tomorrow, they would still be truly good people. They don't wear the church as a badge of honor. They live their lives with honor. You won't hear them quote scriptures while interpreting it to suit their needs.

What kind of cult is the church these other people attend, that send kids out to recruit other kids? If the church was such a great place to go then surely reputation would fill the pews rather than subterfuge.

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First of all, I can't believe it's been so long since I posted on here. I promise to do better in the future.
The reason I am posting is because of a comment I was told about yesterday that involved my son.
He is a freshman at High School and currently enjoying all the new social horizons that come with moving from a small to a bigger school.
Even if I say so myself, he is a great kid. He is polite, intelligent, caring, funny, considerate and basically an all round nice guy. But there are two things about him that make him less than socially perfect. Well at least to a few people that live around here.
The first one is that he does not 'belong' to a church. But that is not his fault, it is mine and his mother's. We do not believe in the ideal of a structured church style Christianity. The only time Jesus went into his Father's house was to kick the merchants and moneylenders out. He was more concerned with making sure people lived a good life rather than spouting praise and scripture once a week to make up for all the shortcomings throughout the week.
My son lives his life following the rules and guidelines of Christianity without knowing it because that is the way we have raised him and his sisters.
The second reason he is not socially perfect is that his skin has a tint of brown. Yes, he is not of the Aryan race. He is actually my step son. His natural father is Mexican, although my wife, his mother, is caucasian American. I look at him and see my son, not someone else's son, my son. We raised him, we taught him his ethics, and manners. He is the result of our forming and moulding.
Those few people that find my son less than perfect are themselves, upstanding pillars of the community. They hold responsible roles and go to church regularly. They are fully paid up members of their social club (church).
Well I have a message for these upstanding people. I find you less than socially perfect yourselves. You are bigots and hypocrits. You looked at his skin and saw someone less than you. You did not see an A honors student or an acclomplished musician. You did not see a well mannered young man who would speak quietly and politely when spoken to. You saw an Hispanic kid that did not go to your church, therefore a punk. Well let me tell you something. You are all descended from immigrants that failed to make it work in their home country. Unless you are pure blood Native American, you are all less than perfect. But wait a minute. If you were pure NA, that would make you brown skinned. Is there an ammendment to your social rules if that occurs? Afterall, some of the biggest business folk in this area are NA. It is at moments like that, when your hypocracy shines like a beacon.