The knock on the door came at 4:50 am. Jenny woke me and told me to go see who it was. I rolled out of bed and bleary eyed I stumbled down the stairs to find a police officer at my door. Through the fog of sleep my first thought was, "I don't have a cat." You see the last time an officer was on my doorstep in the middle of the night was some 25 years ago in Belfast and they had killed the family cat on the way down our street.
What did he want? Someone had spray painted our garage door with, "F#$% McCain." Great, that's all I needed. Apparently about 20 homes in our neighborhood were hit with either this tag or "666" and a pentagram. Target, Burger King, the Untied Pentecostal Church and DSW shoes were also hit.
I spent part of the morning ruining the paint job on my garage so the words would no longer be visible. It was and is a nuisance.
What really irritated me was the way this negativity spread to the community. What was probably the work of a group of teenagers caused one person to stop and tell me they were sorry that I was hit and that it simply represented the way "liberals" think and behave. This whole campaign, they suggested, we centered on this type of activity. Give me a break! The polarization continues to grow.
Another woman stopped and also said she was sorry I was hit and that it was most likely motivated by racism! Give me a break. Racism would hardly be a reason to write this on our garage and it appears to be a completely random act other than at this point it appears that the only people tagged were people without political yard signs.
A third guy stopped waving a CD with pictures of the "art work" on his house that he was taking over to the police station. "I hope they get all they deserve!" where his words. I thought, "I hope they catch them so they have a chance to repent and experience the power of grace in their lives." I'm not opposed to justice, indeed justice is very important for both individuals and society, but grace is just so much more powerful and brings about real transformation.
My frustration is not that I was tagged (that might surprise some) but rather with the negativity and reactionary positions that others have taken.
Please, treat others with respect at all times. Don't participate in activities that mock, disparage or dehumanize another person created in the image of God. Sure, humor and satire have a place but we must be careful not to cross the fine line that turns satire into defamation of character.
It's been quite a day, Marine Corps Marathon tomorrow;)
