Speaking of clergy ...

The question about clergy is my favorite. Or, at least, the one I feel most strongly about. I cannot tolerate the kind of "religion" or "devotion" that causes one person to shun another. Especially another in need. There is nothing Christlike or godly about refusing to help someone.

I remember once in high school a friend of mine mentioned they couldn't believe I was friends with them.

"What do you mean?" I asked her.

"Well, you know ________ ? She would never even talk to me. I figured since you're Mormon too you'd ignore me like she does. But you and I are actually friends."

This made me so mad. I still haven't forgiven that other Mormon girl for being so self-righteous that she made girls like my friend feel like they were beneath her. Whenever I see her that's all I can think about ... the fact that in the name of religion (or said differently, for the sake of Christ?) she shunned someone whose behavior she judged to be unworthy of even polite attention. I should get over it, since it's been over a decade, huh? :)

But who did Jesus spend His time with when He was here? He hung out with sinners! "The whole need not a physician ..." Right? The New Testament is full of His conversations and interactions with prostitutes, social rejects, adulterers, liars, and thieves. It isn't to say He condoned their choices. Obviously He didn't. But  He didn't add His own rejection to their list of misfortunes. He still offered a hand of loving kindness.

That's the biggest thing that bothered me while reading Tess. I felt like Hardy was screaming at the clergy for being hypocritical and missing the whole point of Christianity. The first priest who wouldn't allow Tess' illegitimate child a Christian burial, even after saying her makeshift baptism would be  acceptable in the sight of God. A funeral, however, would not be acceptable in the eyes of the community and was therefore impossible. Clearly Hardy had an opinion about whose opinion mattered most to that Priest. It wasn't God's.

The part of the book that made me cry, though, was when Tess was rejected by her pious love because of her past. I wanted to shake that kid and ask him if he had any idea what the Atonement even is. When we don't allow people to repent, when we treat them as if they are the same sinner they were when they made their mistakes, it's as if we're saying we have no faith in Christ's power to heal and cleanse sins. If someone is penitent, truly trying to get their life back in harmony with God's will, they deserve nothing less than love and support from those who claim to love God. Tess was betrayed for religion's sake, and that makes me sick.

Some of the worst things people do are for religion's sake ... And all I can think is that Heavenly Father watches us and weeps over our lack of understanding. I judge too harshly and expect too much of people in my own life. But I'm learning just how wrong that really is, and it comforts me that God doesn't do those things. Because I'm often the one in need of His understanding and mercy. I think Hardy saw that in people.