Biblical Twister! - Making It Justify Marriage Immediately After Being Widowed?
The worst things in life get somehow magically justified by belief without Biblical scriptures.
Yesterday while randomly scrolling on Facebook I came across something that reminded me so much of things that went down at my old church PCC back in the 1990s. Back then we had a couple and their two children visit our church, and during the visit the husband stood up during our prayer and testimony time to ask for prayer for his wife Cheryl. She had breast cancer, he stated. After the service I ran into them in the hallway and told Cheryl not to worry, that the treatments had gotten much better since I had treatment, that her odds of beating this wicked thing had never been higher! A positive affirmation, or so I thought. Later I was getting a cup of coffee in the church kitchen when the husband, Tom, approached me. What did he want? He told me NEVER speak to Cheryl of those DEMONIC toxic treatments and medication AGAIN! They were praying for God to heal her, using natural medications, and if God took her then that was His right and it was her time! I was taken aback by this, but I managed to squeak out, “Okay..” and back away. I completely backed away from the couple from that point on, smiling and nodding when I ran into them but never uttering another word about their lack of treatment for a serious condition.
How did this play out? How do you think? Cheryl died about a year later in horrific agony if the accounts I heard were accurate and within six months Tom had a bright shiny red brand new Corvette from the insurance money, and he was marrying a younger, bouncier “cool girl". It always struck me as so wrong on every level. Tom was hardly the only one to remarry around the six month mark either, I distinctly remember one fellow that lost his wife sighing out right before his six month wedding that he was happy he’d never have to eat a fast foot meal ever again.
Here’s the very bad ideas being flogged about by the husband on this Facebook page Trev and Olivia. Originally named “Bad Then Good”
Immediate remarriage, arranged marriages and divorce
The joint Facebook account I discovered yesterday is this and more, a complete tsunami of extra-Biblical codswallop that the man is wrapping in Bible when there are literally zero scriptures in support of his nonsense. Here’s the kicker, his wife died around 6 weeks, yes 6 weeks not 6 months, and he’s making noise about marrying again immediately, trying to say that to be an adult and be unmarried is a hideous sin. I guess he’s fully ignoring what Paul had to say on that matter in 1 Corinthians 7-9 where he states that being unmarried is a preferred state for believers.
I’ve never liked this idea in Evangelical Town that one must marry quickly after losing a spouse. Yes, I am married for many years now, and I cannot imagine any circumstance that would tempt me out of my mourning to remarry that quickly. Reading a book right now by dancer Alison Holker dealing with the devastating loss of her husband Steven Boss called “This Far.” It’s only a few years after she lost her husband to suicide, but in no way is she trying to remarry immediately like most of the guys in Evangelical high demand non-denominational churches.
In my many years on this planet I’ve never seen arranged marriages in the USA work out, not my parents, not those piles of courtship only crowds at the old church. I have seen piles of divorces. Starting off a lifetime relationship with zero chemistry or spark is always a miserable idea. Don’t believe me? Just take a gander at how much digital ink guys like the disgusting Larry Solomon of Biblical Gender Roles spill trying to justify sexual abuse in these marriages. I never link to Larry because no one should be exposed to his ideas.
Interestingly both the late Elly and the surviving Trevor are divorced. While I’m not usually one that tosses rocks at the divorced I find it a tad hypocritical that he’s whinging about wanting to remarry immediately because singleness is somehow a sin, but he is divorced. I know tons of people in these type groups that consider remarriage after divorce to be adultery.
No medical treatment for women
Just like Tom in the story above this man, Trevor of Trev and Olivia now, stopped his wife’s traditional cancer treatment for some silly “all natural” treatments and clean eating. While I am a huge fan of clean eating because it helps my own disability, I hate when these “Good Patriarchal” types decide to browbeat their wives into stopping legitimate medical treatments. I could do a roll call here of the many ladies I have known to die because some man pressures them into stopping treatments, or they leave medical care too long and die of some easily treatable condition had it just been caught earlier.
But these guys? Toilet paper cut on the rump and they’re the first ones off to the emergency room demanding morphine and treatment. Now, I admit I don’t know this about Trevor because his timeline is a free-floating stew of vaccine-denialism, masking-nonsense, Covid-denial and just about every other idea being floated right now by Mr. Brain Worm himself - our head of “Make America Healthy Again” But if I were a betting woman I’d still bet the toilet paper cut scenario would go down that way.
A Theology of hate, control and tossing rocks at others
A few screen caps I pulled off the page:
I guess they never heard you can catch more flies with honey than vinegar. Their Jesus seems to be more about making everyone grovel about screeching that they aren’t worthy than any amount of peace, love and mercy. Some of their targets amaze me. These are people that not only stand outside abortion clinics with hateful signs yelling at folks, but also they seem to hate everyone connected to the pro-life movement. Make that make sense. I’ve always wondered why the abortion is wrong crowd never thought to offer love and support to those around the clinic. Offering a way for a teenager to keep her baby with support, opportunities, counseling and acceptance, and the same to others. Tailor the approach and offer real help instead of hate. I would have no problem with people doing just that.
Today Trevor is proposing violent illegal opposition to abortion and calling The Gospel Coalition Marxist feminists.
Attention prostitution and money-grab
In the video towards the end of this poor woman’s life I linked to above she haltingly lisps out that she hopes people will continue to financially support her husband after her demise. Everything that Trevor has posted since is either searching for (and sometimes failing!) to get Evangelical derriere pats, or seems gamed to generate enough outrage to go viral, farming those clicks and coins for big bucks.
This is also a thing in high demand religious groups. So many wives forbidden to work, or stuck in that mind set that they must never do anything outside of the home seek to reinvent themselves as cultural enforcers and climb to the heights of monetization achieved by so many. But it’s when the men of the group discover the potential for passive home-bound income that things can take some very silly turns.
Trevor has posted so many videos and photos of his wife in her final days that completely violate her own privacy mixed with videos of the memorial service, her burial, ad infinitum, that seem less about celebrating his wife, and more about seeking attention and hit numbers. Reduced to a money-making device poor Elly never gets the chance to rest in peace.
They will know we are Christians by our love, NOT!
To be continued…