Several other people yelled their agreement, jumping to their feet and calling for what amounted to a lynching.
Mary cringed. Would these God-fearing people actually try to hurt anyone? She seriously hoped not. For her own sake as well as those who were at the bad end of today’s ranting mob.
One woman raised her hand and then stood, visibly shaking. Her small voice rang out, hushing everyone. “What are you planning to do? These are human beings. We can’t ruin people’s lives just because we disagree with them. What happened to ‘love they neighbor’?”
Mary watched as the woman’s husband tugged on her arm, trying to get her to shut up and sit down.
Ada straightened her spine in the front of the room and cleared her throat. “Have you noticed how many strange things are happening right here under our noses in this town?”
“What are you talking about?” Brock asked.
“Earthquakes, fires, unexplained snowstorms, weird rain fall. These events are all warnings we need to heed. Messages from God that we need to clean up our acts or suffer the consequences. Do you suppose everyone who lived on the planet when Noah walked the Earth was a sinner? Maybe if the people of that time had spoken up and put an end to the sinners instead of quietly accepting their fate, things would have turned out differently. We have to stop this sinning. If we don’t, God is liable to wipe us off the face of the Earth.
“And let’s not forget Sodom and Gomorrah. God brought fire among the people of those towns and killed every person in the area. Why? Because they were sinners. Do you people want us to succumb to the same fate?” Her voice shook as she finished.
Several people yelled “Amen!” and pumped their fists in the air.
Mary’s mouth fell open, but she said nothing. Sodom and Gomorrah? Was it really necessary to bring up a story from the Old Testament to prove that God was trying to send them a message?
A few people, with tears in their eyes, fled the room. Were they in disagreement?
Another man jumped up. “This is all speculation. We have no idea what the Masters kids are actually doing. There’s no place in the Bible that insinuates races should not intermix, so that’s purely ignorant talk. And as for the possibility of polygamy, it’s all conjecture. The Bible actually did in fact have polygamy.
“Now, if you want to argue against homosexuality, that’s another thing, but just because one person thinks they saw this Laurie woman at the resort with two men means nothing. Maybe they’re all friends? Has anyone ever seen any of the Masters kids in a compromising position with another man?”
A hush fell. No one said a word.
Finally Florence stood. “The Bible does argue against interracial marriage, in Deuteronomy.” She pointed a finger at the man who’d spoken.
He rolled his eyes. “Come on. You know good and well the issue there was believers and non-believers, not race. Don’t even start on that rant.”
Ada spoke up next. “I disagree, and as for polygamy? Are you kidding? The Bible clearly states in 1 Corinthians that a man shall have his own wife and a woman her own husband.”
Pastor Edmund responded to his wife. “Sit down, Ada. You know better than anyone there are dozens of mentions in the Bible of men marrying two or more women.” He turned toward the congregation. “What the Bible does not mention is a woman marrying two or more men. We can’t presume anything with regard to that scenario and God’s intentions.”
Mary swallowed hard. This was going too far. Too close to home. She wanted to fall through a crack in the floor and die.
Pastor Edmund spoke again. “We need to calm down.”
Someone shouted over the pastor, “What we need to do is eradicate this vermin from our town. If we do not, we’ll all die an ugly death. Ada is right. The Lord is giving us a chance. He’s sending repeated warnings. It is up to us to stop this madness before we succumb to a fate none of us can imagine. Death. God has shown us He is a powerful being with many options—fire, earthquake, snow, rain… We will not be able to escape his wrath. We must act now and act fast. It’s only a matter of time before we are overrun with locusts.”
“We need to set up a committee. Decide how to handle this,” Florence proposed.
“I second that idea,” Ada added. “I think this meeting has run its course. Anyone interested in joining the committee can stay. Anyone who’d rather get home, may go.”
Pastor Edmund nodded agreement.
Several people got up to leave. Most in fact. Apparently it was all fun and games until a committee was formed.
About two dozen people stayed. She noticed Brock Henson was among them.