Oh, not all of them, mind you. Just the 8th Commandment: bearing false witness. She writes:
The first time Pastor contacted me was a few days after the Halloween post. He wanted to discuss my “spiritual care.” It was immediately clear that I was being viewed as having done something very wrong. Our initial conversation was me being called “defensive,” “vindictive,” “disrespectful,” “prideful,” and told that I “crossed a line.” I was told I needed to do penance. I was not asked about how Boo was doing.
Just to be clear: This was in response to a mother’s outrage after her 5-year-old son was slammed by adults for dressing up like a girl on a holiday which involves dressing up.
At a meeting with her Pastor, Cop’s Wife states:
I was handed a printout of the church’s response. There had been a meeting with some Elders, and they decided I’d broken the 8th Commandment and not followed Matthew 18. I was told that some members were worried that I was “promoting gayness.” I don’t even know what that means.
That’s not all! In another meeting, the Pastor insisted that Cop’s Wife apologize to the moms she had written about — although they were never named in her blog — and also suggested she take the Halloween post down. If she didn’t?
My punishment was to be disallowed from receiving Communion, and if I were to continue to not seek forgiveness, I may be removed from the congregation and not be able to transfer to another church in our denomination in good standing…
Harsh. And, frankly, inappropriate on so many levels. How is it that a mother, attempting to nurture and support her child, could get possibly kicked out of her place of worship?
Cop’s Wife sighs:
This is not the church that I grew up in. This is not the God that I know.
And again I say to you that bullying is not okay, even if you wrap it in a bow and call it ‘spiritual care.’
Epilogue [Nerdy Apple Bottom]
My son is gay [Nerdy Apple Bottom]
Earlier: Mom Defends 5-Year-Old Son’s Cross-Dressing Costume
