10:31am, Sunday, November 5, 2006...At that very moment, two things were happening...
One:
I was holding high the Word of God as I walked down the aisle of St. Joseph's Church. I was the 10:30 am Mass lector and as such had the responsibility of bring the book that contains the Gospel readings into the church and place it on the altar as Mass begins. Protestants may not fully appreciate this part of the ceremony that is Mass but it is nonetheless important in its own right.
Two:
The phone in my house was ringing. At 10:31 a call was placed from Pennsylvania... Herndon to be exact. And why Herndon, PA? Beats me. Why don't we ask Jim Talent's campaign posse... Oh, never mind... Couldn't ask if we wanted to. I was a recording telling me how terrible a person Claire McCaskill is and how positively EXCELLENT Mr. Talent will be when he returns to the Senate.
12:30 pm (approx), Sunday, November 5, 2006... At that approximate moment, two more things were happening....
One:
After church we decided against going home for lunch so that we could pick up some things we needed from a local big box retailer. Having made this decision, we would normally have went home and started fixing Sunday Dinner and would probably been sitting down about this time to enjoy our lunch.
Two:
The phone in my house was ringing again. This time the caller ID said OUT OF AREA and the message was from "Progress for America". The message they are leaving doesn't mention anyone in particular but they just want to remind us that the Islamic peoples are out to get us. They want to kill us, destroy out country and way of life... oh, and they want to just let us know that on this rainy Sunday, we are still in danger.
WTF?
What is wrong with people today? Especially the Conservative Christian Right Wing? Does the fact that I typically vote Democratic and have liberal tendencies absolve me from the fact that I might be a "church-going", "family-time loving", "love-my-quiet-Sunday" American?
Does the fact that I got not one call from any Democratic candidates elude them? Does the fact that nobody from the Amendment Two or Three support camps called to interrupt my quiet, rainy Sunday give them pause?
Does the fact that this is the Lord's Day and that we should be able to have some semblance of rest get tossed simply because they discovered that there is a very good chance that their ballot issues of concern and candidates may win or lose not in their favor?
I guess not since I got a call from John Ashcroft himself later on around 4:30 pm. Not a personal call. No that would be too much work. It was, like most of the others I have gotten over the past week from every political camp and ethical view, a recording.
And, unlike if a real person would have answered my polite, "Hello," with an equally nice, "Good morning (afternoon, evening, whatever....)," the call was easily dismissed. During the past two weeks, if a real person doesn't answer within 5 seconds of my greeting... I hang up. I don't want to listen. I don't be berated, or insulted and beat over the head with the proverbial stick with lies and twists of facts. I hang up on all recordings no matter who it comes from regardless of the political leanings of message. I hang even sooner if the call doesn't even bother to come from my own state or cowardly puts an "Out of Area" message on the caller ID.
But this was different. These people intruded on the ground that is supposedly sacred to them. This was the Sabbath day for Christians. The third Commandment (or fourth for you Protestants) says Remember the Sabbath day, and keep it Holy.
They remembered it all right, it just doesn't feel very holy.
Technorati Tags: Political Calls, Sabbath Day
One:
I was holding high the Word of God as I walked down the aisle of St. Joseph's Church. I was the 10:30 am Mass lector and as such had the responsibility of bring the book that contains the Gospel readings into the church and place it on the altar as Mass begins. Protestants may not fully appreciate this part of the ceremony that is Mass but it is nonetheless important in its own right.
Two:
The phone in my house was ringing. At 10:31 a call was placed from Pennsylvania... Herndon to be exact. And why Herndon, PA? Beats me. Why don't we ask Jim Talent's campaign posse... Oh, never mind... Couldn't ask if we wanted to. I was a recording telling me how terrible a person Claire McCaskill is and how positively EXCELLENT Mr. Talent will be when he returns to the Senate.
12:30 pm (approx), Sunday, November 5, 2006... At that approximate moment, two more things were happening....
One:
After church we decided against going home for lunch so that we could pick up some things we needed from a local big box retailer. Having made this decision, we would normally have went home and started fixing Sunday Dinner and would probably been sitting down about this time to enjoy our lunch.
Two:
The phone in my house was ringing again. This time the caller ID said OUT OF AREA and the message was from "Progress for America". The message they are leaving doesn't mention anyone in particular but they just want to remind us that the Islamic peoples are out to get us. They want to kill us, destroy out country and way of life... oh, and they want to just let us know that on this rainy Sunday, we are still in danger.
WTF?
What is wrong with people today? Especially the Conservative Christian Right Wing? Does the fact that I typically vote Democratic and have liberal tendencies absolve me from the fact that I might be a "church-going", "family-time loving", "love-my-quiet-Sunday" American?
Does the fact that I got not one call from any Democratic candidates elude them? Does the fact that nobody from the Amendment Two or Three support camps called to interrupt my quiet, rainy Sunday give them pause?
Does the fact that this is the Lord's Day and that we should be able to have some semblance of rest get tossed simply because they discovered that there is a very good chance that their ballot issues of concern and candidates may win or lose not in their favor?
I guess not since I got a call from John Ashcroft himself later on around 4:30 pm. Not a personal call. No that would be too much work. It was, like most of the others I have gotten over the past week from every political camp and ethical view, a recording.
And, unlike if a real person would have answered my polite, "Hello," with an equally nice, "Good morning (afternoon, evening, whatever....)," the call was easily dismissed. During the past two weeks, if a real person doesn't answer within 5 seconds of my greeting... I hang up. I don't want to listen. I don't be berated, or insulted and beat over the head with the proverbial stick with lies and twists of facts. I hang up on all recordings no matter who it comes from regardless of the political leanings of message. I hang even sooner if the call doesn't even bother to come from my own state or cowardly puts an "Out of Area" message on the caller ID.
But this was different. These people intruded on the ground that is supposedly sacred to them. This was the Sabbath day for Christians. The third Commandment (or fourth for you Protestants) says Remember the Sabbath day, and keep it Holy.
They remembered it all right, it just doesn't feel very holy.
Technorati Tags: Political Calls, Sabbath Day
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Comments
I not only got a call from Asscroft, (I tried to ask him about those drapes over the statues, but he wasn't listening). I got a call from the Big Dawg hisself ... Bill Clinton.
Nixon says he is going to try to close the loophole ... yeah, right ... I'm holding my breath.
I didn't know that Nixon was looking to close that part of the law.
If he can pull that off, he will have even more votes on his side for Governor.