Feb 21, 2009
This was intended to be an on-line ritual, but there were enough
words to say that they deserved their own episode.
Tempest Smith died on February 20, 2001. She died by her own
hand because she could no longer deal with the daily harassment and
bullying she was receiving from her classmates. At her
funeral, there were numerous statements from those who should have
been her friends about how sorry they were. Well, words are
like arrows: Once they've hit the mark, how much good does
taking them back accomplish?
And in her honor, some words of warning, and words of promise as
well. And they come right from the Christians' own
Bible. They might not be verses which some folks know, but
they are there, waiting for those who want to learn. Three
words of warning and promise, in plain sight.
If The Divine is as infinite as if must be, there is a whole lot
which we simply do not know. But, we can begin by knowing
that we do not know everything. And we can know that what we
grasp of The Divine is one small part of one small corner.
And that's regardless of what name or names we use for addressing
The Divine.
And when our minds are grown to the point that we might be able to
grasp more, then we'll see things differently. And things
that seemed so terribly important today will become so terribly
trivial!
And the warnings contain promises of what can be ours if we grasp
the lesson to be found in Tempest Smith's story.
Blessed Be!
I have been the victim of religious bullying as well, in college. Thankfully, we were vindicated and the Campus Bible Fellowship who instigated their reign of endless harassment against us was told by the Dean of Students to either leave us alone or be permanently banned from campus. She witnessed some of the heckling. The CBF would set up their table in the student center within a few feet of us and then start preaching to everyone of the evils of pagans and witchcraft. We often would pick up and move, but they would also follow us across campus, leave religious pamphlets on our vehicles, send us letters to convert or our families would suffer. They tried to set us up for vandalism and other petty things, but ultimately, common sense prevailed.
No one should EVER have to be driven to suicide to escape bullying. No one deserves to be abused so cruelly like Tempest was, or Phoebe, or Megan.