Disturbing the Peace

So it's finally beautiful summer weather in San Diego... at least after noon it is... anywho. So I spent a good couple of hours sitting in the backyard finishing off my harry potter book (no judgement here!). It was pretty peaceful and such, except for the neighbor a couple houses over was yelling cuss words, threatening people, and talking smack. (all of which i could pretty much hear word for word... and we live over a canyon so I'm pretty sure most of the people who in live in the area could also hear the f-bomb and other such classy words being thrown around). It was a little scary at first, even though I have heard it from him before, it has never been this bad. I figured he's just been having a rough day or something. So I was a bit distracted for awhile and I just really wanted to creep on him. Mostly because I was a little worried there may be some physical domestic violence or some assaults going on soon. So I casually got up and strolled to the back part of the backyard because you can see their front yard from there. (Our backyard overlooks a cul-de-sac to the South (?) of us... kinda hard to explain). As I was checking out the fruit trees [not] i would glance over at this guys yard and it seemed to me he was just smoking and drinking. please note the time also: it is at this moment 4:45. He's a pretty early drinker, which would explain all the rage, i fear. as i was walking back to my book I heard him and a woman (whom he called "MOTHER!") getting in a row again and the last i heard she called him a "low life son of a b#$%*"... Adam would come out of the house or we would chat out the window about the situation jokingly about how I was prepared to hit the deck in case of gun fire, or it's about the normal time when the police arrive, etc.

But as I was thoroughly distracted from my book I just thought "What an awful way to live!" I can't imagine living a life without love, kindness, compassion, mercy, grace, forgiveness, and PEACE. I can't imagine living a life around such meaningless things and treating others in such a horrible fashion. I'm kinda pretty much scared of that guy. I've seen him around the neighborhood when I've walked around and he's always been nice to me, but when he's other women like his MOTHER! or other females (I'm not quite sure who he lives with) or other humans for that matter he's the exact opposite. I know women who have been abused and taken advantage of by men who play the same games. I've been friends with them, I've had them as clients. It's scary and it really hurts my heart. I don't care what gender, race, ethnicity, religion, age, you are or if you don't identify with any of the above:

NO ONE SHOULD BE TREATED WITH LESS RESPECT THAN YOU WANT TO BE TREATED.

I say that so emphatically because it's true. If you notice I kind of just reworded the golden rule. Because the golden rule doesn't have social boundaries to which it applies. It goes across them. [It's things like Islam (which totally contradicts the golden rule pretty much) which totally baffle me. Not everyone deserves dignity or respect in their beliefs.] And while I'm no feminist/Nazi/tree hugger/whatevs, I do advocate for basic human rights. Because Christ did the same thing. I mean let's take the adulterous woman for one example, John 8:1-11

But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, "Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?" They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him. But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.
At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. Jesus straightened up and asked her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?"
"No one, sir," she said.
"Then neither do I condemn you," Jesus declared. "Go now and leave your life of sin."

Verse 7 always gets me (because I've found I judge others a lot more than I'd like to admit...) "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." It's the verse that's taught quite on a bit in Christian circles. We're taught to put down our stone and love one another, hold hands and sing kumbaya... And while I have learned an awful lot of interesting things about this passage (like scholars really don't know what Jesus was writing in the sand), I mean I think this passage can go a lot deeper than forgiveness and loving each other. Let's talk about how the man who she had an affair with isn't in the picture?? Why isn't HE being punished along with her?? (sound like Islam??) Basic human rights. The woman was going to be stoned while the man roamed free. We all have a right to choose what we do but we all also deserve to be treated with dignity and respect.
No matter how angry someone makes you.
No matter how much someone hurts you.
No matter if they've cost you EVERYTHING.
No matter if they just broke the law.

I know this is a lot of thoughts just from overhearing someones domestic dispute. And I don't have all the answers to the death penalty, abortion, whatever else disputes. Even if i did, I'm not sure i would put them on my blog. But this i know. Jesus loved sinners, tax collectors, pharisees and died for all of them. And he's called me to to love them and treat them with the same respect I want to be treated.

Now we just need to find someone to help save that poor neighbor's lost soul...