As a mother in today's society why would you put a picture of your little boy on your site? Is he really your son? Or are you one of those sick men who look for their jollies on line. Will Stone Phillips show up when you least expect it? -- Anonymous Comment on my site.
Wow, anonymous mother thanks for the comments. As a writer and blogger, it is always good to know that you are reaching people and being read. Plus, better than just being read by you, I have illicited an emotional reaction in you. And not just an emotional response, but enough for you to act. Your acted out by posting a comment on my blog. Thank you for your response.
Well, guess what? Your comment has done the same for me.
You are a mother, you say? Well, I will accept your assertion that you are a parent at face value (something that you have not done me the courtesy of).
Dear anonymous mother, let me tell you something as a father. (Yes, I am indeed a father). You know what scares me?
It scares me that we are in an unwinnable war on terror. And if you think the "War on Terror" is just about Iraq or Muslims, you are part of the problem.
We have created a War on Terror Industrial Complex in this country. There are men and women who are becoming rich on playing on the fears of others. Woman and men who have become powerful by being neosegregationists by drawing lines between us and them. They are the new rich and powerful, who are fueled by the fears of others.
The fear of the other.
The fear of the other.
The fear of the other.
I’m a Christian, or at least I try to be. I fail. I fall down, but what you accused me of so vile and offensive to me that I can’t not respond to it. Yet to respond to it would say it is worthy of a response. That is the catch-22 of the War on Terror.
If you really think those things are true, make your anonymous comment to the Division of Child Protection Services. If you live in the Missouri, you can thank the party in power for not providing enough resources to help the brave social workers that work day in and day out to protect our children.
If you want to deal with me directly, please send me an e-mail. Here, let me give you my gmail e-mail address, and you can correspond with me privately: toddmelkins+waronterror@gmail.com.
Anonymous, I don’t know if you are a Christian or not. So if you aren’t, you are ignore this next part as just crazy religious talk. But one of the things that Jesus kept repeating over and over in this ministry was: “Fear Not.”
Fear Not.
Fear Not.
Fear Not.
Jesus knew the world was a scary place. He knew that better than most of us. They hung that man on a tree, courtsey of the Roman War on Terror Industrial Complex for what he said and what he knew. Jesus scared the Roman authorities and they executed him, for just proclaiming the gospel (as he understood it).
(Oh yeah, there were some Jewish collaborators that helped, but they were not the really faithful Jews, they were puppets of the dominant power who gave the nominally Jewish citizenry a false sense of security that their religious way of life was being protected. There is no correlation to our present culture in the last assertion.)
Yeah, Stone Phillips doesn’t scare me, Anonymous Mother. Right now you know what scares me? Over protective mothers who hide behind the comfort of an anonymous comment and try to tell other people how to raise their children.
My name is Todd Michael Elkins. I am Carter’s father and I believe I’m a good father. I am a Christian, and I can’t seem to shake the feeling that you think you are a Christian too.
God, that thought really scares me too.
Dear God, please help me with my fears and anxiety (both real and imagined). May your angels be present in this world (in both real and imagined ways). Please be with my family (in both real and imagined ways). Help me to be an instrument of your peace and shalom (in both real and imagined ways). And please be with us all as we seek to repair this world.
In the real name of Jesus, who is called the Christ.
Amen.
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