The greeters tried to smile to welcome me in, but it was evident by their body language that they were judging me with every step I took. As I entered the threshold of the sanctuary, I could feel their religious tongues wagging around me, as if to immerse me in their eternal damnation and send me to the deepest depths below. I continued to walk, as the woman in the third row from the back glanced at me, turned away, looked back and proceeded to pull her husband’s hand more tightly around her, certainly in an attempt to protect her from the visual evil which I evoked in the pulpit. The pastor stood in front of the congregation, smiling and glowing, the religious aura practically oozing from between his white, pearly teeth. These teeth were inevitably the untainted steps which guide his pulpit directly to heaven. I sat down, slightly surprised by the ease with which my body sank in my seat and took note of the way the light hit the pastor’s wife sitting in the front row, a veritable halo reflecting off of her perfectly straightened golden locks.
The sanctified music began to down fade and the Pastor stood up a little straighter, fixing his blazer and tie and clearing his throat in an attempt to draw attention to himself. “Thank ya’ll for comin’ here today to celebrate the rebirth of our very own Allison _____. Allison’s family has been an integral part of our church congregation since 1994. She is the daughter of Pam and Michael _____ and now can also be called a daughter of the lamb.”

“Do you know why you’re here?”
I didn’t reply.
“Look at me you bastard.”
After many minutes, I allowed my eyes to rise to his level and lock with his yellow, gaunt glare.
“Let me ask you again. Do you know why you’re here?”
I shook my head no.
“You’re a lying son of a…”
He raised his camouflage-laden arm up and I immediately flinched. The other man in the room stepped forward and stopped his hand from hitting me.
The second man quickly tried to calm the first down, which I later learned to be Sgt. Bigsby.
Bigsby began again saying “You are here because you have been classified as an enemy of the state. Do you have anything to say about this?”
I opened my mouth to speak but he immediately turned his back to make a statement to the other man.
“As god is our witness here this man was unwilling to share any information or deny any charges made against him on this Thursday the sixth of June, two thousand and six.”
“This is a celebration time when we commemorate the baptism of a beautiful young woman who has recently taken Jesus Christ into her heart and life as her lord and savior and the forgiver of her sins. According to Romans 6:4, ‘We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.’ What this means is that from this point forward, Allison and anyone else in this congregation who chooses to make Jesus Christ the leader of their life and forgiver of their sins is a new person. A changed person. You must give up your old ways and lifestyle and live a pure life, being the salt and the light of the world.”
He turned to her, covered up his mic and said “Are you ready?”