Posted on 08/01/2007 4:32:16 AM PDT by TornadoAlley3
A Denham Springs man showed up at his uncle's funeral only to be kicked out by the pastor of the church. The reason? The man was wearing a dress. The pastor says he did the right thing. The transvestite insists he's heartbroken. WAFB's Caroline Moses reports on Dermaine and his dress.
Dermaine Johnson says he feels more like a woman than a man, and has for a while. He is attracted to men, and on most any day, he looks more like a woman. Johnson says, "This is who I am. I can't change that, that's me. Take me or leave me."
Dermaine put on a black dress and headed to his uncle's funeral earlier this month, only to be told he would have to leave. He says, "There wasn't no doubt they were judging me." Dermaine says both the pastor of New Zion Baptist Church in Denham Springs, and the pastor's wife, kicked him out of the church. He says, "He's like, 'Cause of the way you dress.' I was like, 'Hmmm, the way I'm dressed.'"
A woman says, "I was mad 'cause that's my best friend. I was mad." The woman did not want to give her name, but she says it was her father, Randolf Johnson's funeral, and he would have wanted his entire family to be there. She says, "I felt hurt, you know, it wasn't right and humiliating to us 'cause we are so big and people be trying to hate on us."
Johnson says he was close to his Uncle Randolf, too close not to go to his funeral. He says, "There is no way in heaven that God would want somebody to do this to somebody, just hurtful. I didn't like it at all."
Before Reverend Leroy Alvin Taylor of New Zion drove away from our cameras, he told us he did ask Dermaine to leave because he was wearing a dress. The reverend said, "You got to do what you got to do." Johnson says, "It made me feel like I was an infant baby, just left alone in the world with nobody to care for me." He says, "I came back home and I felt so bad, I just cried probably for like two hours."
He adds, "I wanted to be strong, so for my family, so I didn't hold my head down. I held it up." "I say, 'Come as you are, not to be judged when you get to the door,'" says Johnson.
Dermaine Johnson shows the dress he wore to his uncle's funeral
The ridiculing of a democrat gets you 10 to life depending on good behavior and how well you are programmed for dependence on the “progressives”.
I salute this Pastors backbone.
"Hell, even I ain't buyin' THAT one!"
The church is for sinners.
Never said it wasn't. We all sin, but believers should repent their sins and try to improve. The church should not condone sinning within their walls. Where do you draw the line, perhaps have an orgy in the church would be OK? The man should not be condemn, but the church should not be an enabler either.
I disagree. It was a funeral, not a worship service. It was about the man who died, not the cross dresser and/or his sexual preferences.
His purpose was to shock, whether it be showing up in a skimpy dress at the funeral, or hopefully everyone in the media afterward. Show some respect is all he needed to do.
But not for sinning.
The Church is where Believers gather to worship God, and to learn of Him. It is NOT a place for sinners to flaunt their sin. Believers are sinners saved by Grace, and that salvation does not mean one can go on sinning. This nutjob has made it clear that "it's all about him", and he wants people to "accept" his sin, and not make him feel guilty. Believers are under no obligation to accept or approve of another's sin. Believers should not hate the sinner, but love does not mean you let them do what they want, with no consequences. A sinner flaunting his sin in the Church is offensive to Believers, and to God. The Pastor was right to throw the bum out, and the subsequent "victim" reaction of the sinner underscores that the pastor made exactly the right call.
Sin should not be tolerated in the House of God.
I don’t agree. There are some things, like money traders and perverts, that have no business in a church, especially in a disciplineless time like now.
I would strongly disagree. Funerals are for the family and friends of the deceased. The pastor's purpose was to provide comfort to them, not to judge and decide who can and who cannot attend. I expect that kind of bigotry from the left, not from conservatives.
In church you follow the rules, you do not make the rules.
Christians are sinners who repent of their sins. This guy had no intention of repentance and a funeral isn’t the place to castigate an individual. Jesus threw the money changers out of the temple, he didn’t preach at them.
I don't go to church anymore. When I did, tolerance was the order of the day.
Did he come to mock? If so then the pastor was right. If he merely came with his sin showing, then the pastor was wrong.
Tough to know which unless you were there.
No compassion for the family? This was not a church service. it was a funeral for a grieving family. One person shows up and trys to make it about himself. He should have been asked to leave.
“There is no way in heaven that God would want somebody to do this to somebody,
If we could go back in time we could ask Christ what he did to the money changers in the temple and, WHY?
Christ saves us form ours sins, not in them.
My prayer would be for this person to change his “HER” life style, it is possible you know.
Sin should not be tolerated ANYWHERE!
Exactly!
This pastor and his wife, may have lost any chance to witness salvation to this man/woman.
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