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
Which commandment is this? Also please show me an explicit passage in the bible that states this exact sin. no bloviating!!!!!
That'll be easy.
I agree that it needn’t be done in public to cause an embarrassment to anyone. The transvestite freak should have shown respect to the deceased and the family, however.
Considering the sheer specificity of Deut 22:5 and the precise nature of those things that are forbidden, Deut 22:5 is most likely ceremonial law rather than moral law, which would mean that it would have little, if any, implications for Christians today.
They put more credence into that passage...
Im not sure what to think about this one.
On one hand the pastor and his church has every right to deny admittance to anyone they choose not to allow into their church based on whatever they choose acceptable or non-acceptable but then again it was a private funeral not a regular church service.
On the other hand, the article seemed to imply that it wasnt the family who objected to his/her presence and him/her did not seem to be there to make a statement other than to pay respect to a family member at his funeral. It didnt become an issue until the pastor threw Dermaine out. And the dress didnt look all that bad BTW.
Some say Sin should not be tolerated in the House of God. But I also understood that Christians are supposed to hate the sin but love the sinner. If sinners are never allowed in Church, I would suspect that attendance would go down considerably and even a lot of priests and pastors would have to stay home on that account.
This pastor perhaps missed an opportunity to reach out to this person and open a dialogue but instead showed such intolerance that Mr./Ms.Dermaine now has such a bitter experience and feeling no love there, will most likely never come back.
When my mother died, she requested a traditional Latin Mass. Im not a Catholic, in fact I am an Agnostic/semi-Atheist. I respected her wishes and out of respect for her, not her church, I covered my head with a chapel veil. Ive also attended funeral services at a Jewish Temple and a Mosque and no body threw me out because I didnt believe the same.
Right on. And the chances of this one going and sinning no more are about slim to none. From his comments, he is “rolling in it”, looking for people to condone his behavior.
Where is this a rule in the Bible? Maybe in the koran, but not in the Bible. I wonder if God would say that all His children are welcome. Geez, I feel like I'm debating liberals on this one.
I’m not a religious man, so I would have no problem with the circus clown being sent the hell back home.
Never mind the man in the box. Look at me!
My question is: what will Dermaine wear to his own funeral? If there ever was anyone who needed to make his wishes known, it’s Dermaine. The mourners may be commenting on how beautiful she looks (never better), but the embalmer knows...
No kidding. "Zero Tolerance" policies, anyone? The entire concept of Precedence has been taking to a stupid extreme in America.
Take me or leave me.”
Your poor sense of discernment is showing.
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Read the thread much? Read the bible much?
I would have let him stay. A funeral is for the family. The “church” could have handled this ONE occurance of a transvestite in their midst. Given the opportunity, we can rise to the occasion, and be gracious.
While I agree the man was most likely craving attention, the pastor gave him that attention, and he could have been discreetly ignored.
I wrestle with this attitude now, as I’m watching a lovely man transform himself into a woman - a very ugly woman - and am appalled. It’s hard to look him in th eyes as he lets his hair grow into a woman’s cut, see his dangling earrings, and notice the pink nail polish. What does one say to that? “Hey-guy, you becoming a woman?”
Or do I avoid eye contact and ignore him/her altogether?
Luckily, I do not encounter him every day, but if I were his close friend, I’d say - “you were once a very attractive man - what are you thinking?”
But then, I know, he doesn’t care what I think.
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