The other day I was laying on the couch when I saw Dave (that's my human) get down the suit case. That means a road trip, but he also got out my back pack and started loading leashes and brushes,and... AND! Squeaky the Mouse! That means I'm going too.
I hoped it would be California again. I love running on the beach and biting at the waves,. Or maybe we were going to the mountains. I love barking at squirrels almost as much as biting at waves. But no. We drove two whole days and ended up in Topeka , Kansas.
Dave is the editor of the Religions section of a national newspaper and travels quite a bit, some times he takes me along. When I don't go I stay at the kennel club, which is nice to. There's a cute thing I've been sweet talking. She's soooo exotic. She's Dalmatian. Spots are hot!
So Dave and I spent the weekend in Topeka. He's working on a story about this Westboro Baptist Church place. It seems they send people out to picket at funerals and clinics and stuff. I've heard Dave talk about some of the stuff they've said and done. Sounds pretty sick to me. I mean I understand that Christianity is about love and acceptance and forgiveness, and here are these church folks doing these hateful things when people are going through their most painful grief. I don't see Jesus in that.
After we check into our motel (a nice place, some of the freshest toilet water I've ever drank, and I had my own queen size bed) we drive out to this church place. It's this sort of dumpy looking Tudor style thing with a big iron fence around it.
There's this big Bubba looking guy by the gate, Dave goes up to him and asks to see the preacher, Fred Phelps. The guy says "No". Dave asks again and shows his press card. The guy says "No" again.
Then this other guy comes up with a Pit Bull on a chain. This PB looks like a mutant and he's barking' and jumping' at me as soon as he comes into sight. He's saying' stuff like "Hay, look at the nancy pup" and "You're roastin ' in hell fag".
I'm standing there in disbelief, looking at this monster with little pig eyes and jaws that would make a grizzly mouth look like a cloths pin. But he gets me a little riled up and i say "Put a cork in it, you over-bred, inter-bred bigot! Don't let this "Pom-Pom haircut fool you, II'm a bird dog and you're just a rat chaser!"
Well this really set the mutant off. I won't dignify him by repeating what he said. Suffice it that he was trained by his human.
All and all it was an enjoyable trip, but there was this one really sad part. As part of the story Dave was writing he went to interview the family of a soldier that the Westboro Cult had picketed. Low and behold the soldiers dog, now living with the mother and father, was a distant cousin of mine.
Bobby is from the Cockapoo side of the family and really a sweet guy. His human died in Afghanistan and Bobby loved him dearly but these ghouls from Westboro show up at the funeral with these signs saying that Bobby's human was going to hell. Bobby's new humans were very upset and were hurt even more. Bobby tried to comfort them but he was so sad himself he feels he wasn't able to do much good.
What is it about these people. They claim they are doing the work of God but all they do is spread hate. That is not what Jesus teaches about love; loving your neighbor and even your enemies.
I guess it's up to us to love even more. Go out today and show kindness to a stranger, volunteer some place that will impact someone else's life. Since I got back from Kansas I got Dave to take me up to an retirement home and visit with the residents. It's funny; you start out doing something for someone else and you end up getting the gift. When I go to the retirement home I get a lot of pets and ear scratches. Pretty cool.
Maybe if we spread more love around we can over shadow and even over come the vile actions of Westboro and those like them. Till next time, Peace be with you.
