Jerry the Plumber....

[IdaBriggs]

Jerry the Plumber has a beautiful truck which he leaves parked so it is clearly visible on a very busy main street. The truck has his phone number, a promise of good service/honest prices, the words "military discounts" clearly posted, and a picture of the Twin Towers burning.

I admit to feeling pretty good about the truck initially. I'm very happy with my plumber at the moment, but he's an older gentleman who hopes to retire soon, and that "military discount" thing frankly impressed me, so I was feeling "warm and fuzzy" about taking the phone number from the truck "just in case" for the future.

Then I saw the Twin Towers. My "warm and fuzzies" went cold.

The verbiage surrounding the large picture went something like this: "DO YOU REMEMBER? LET'S STAND UNITED AND WIN THIS THING!"

Well, Jerry the Plumber wanted an emotional response, and I promptly had one: FURY. How *DARE* someone remind me of those horrific images (which I haven't forgotten, thank you very much) and use them to rally support for "this thing" -- ARGH!!!

But I'm a fair minded person, and just because "this thing" seemed to imply "war on TERROR" and "war on IRAQ" didn't mean it was so. Perhaps I was misjudging Jerry the Plumber. It was a big truck, but there is only so much space, and he was obviously trying to say something important to him. And he offered military discounts. (I'm not military, but I know military families are struggling, and his willingness to take a financial hit to support them impressed me then, and still does now.)

So I called. I got his voice mail. I explained he had provoked an emotional response with his image of the Twin Towers, and that if he was referencing the Hunt for Osama Bin Ladin, then I was in agreement, but if he was talking about Iraq, which had *NOTHING* to do with the events of September 11th, then I did *NOT* agree with him, and found it an INAPPROPRIATE use of a very painful image. I also specified that I hoped I was speaking to him with courtesy and respect, and left my name and home phone number if he wanted to reply. (I'm not big on anonymous, as you can probably tell by my use of my "actual name" on this board.)

He called my cell phone having seen it on his caller id without listening to my message. I won't relay the entire conversation, but I can assure you we were both polite.

He thinks September 11th started World War III. I told him I can't tell the difference between Al Quaida and the current administration since they both hate my constitution and my country.

He thinks my view is sad. So do I. He wants us to "win" in Iraq; I told him I supported invading Afghanistan since they were harboring Osama, and probably would have supported invading Saudi Arabia since 17 of the 19 hijackers were from there, and the attack was funded by their money, but *NOT* invading a country that had nothing to do with September 11th.

He thinks our invading Iraq is the equivalent of fighting Germany in World War II even though Japan was the one who attacked us. I explained that his metaphor was faulty since Germany was allied with Japan, and was attacking our allies England and France. (In retrospect, didn't they also declare war on us first?) Iraq was *NOT* allied with Al Quaida, had *NOT* attacked us, and did *NOT* present a threat to our people *UNTIL* we invaded, and that linking the Twin Towers with them was *INAPPROPRIATE*.

We obviously did not agree on the facts. He told me I wasn't the first phone call like this he had gotten, and the conversation ended shortly thereafter. I am proud of the fact we were both civil.

He got his emotional response. Since I think he's an idiot (and am happy with my current not-yet-retired plumber), I won't use his services, but I have to admire his courage in publicly advertising an unpopular sentiment. In fact, he has inspired me.

Now, which do you think is more appropriate:

DEAD AMERICANS: AL-QUAIDA = 2,970 BUSH/REPUBLICANS = 7,460

or

IF YOU SUPPORT WAR, JESUS DOESN'T WANT YOU IN HEAVEN

ON EDIT: I'm not sure of the actual "dead" numbers -- Bush & Co are getting the soldiers + Katrina. I'd have to look it up, but am convinced most other people don't know the "actual" counts either....

[Lars39]

1. Jerry the Plumber probably reported you to Homeland Security.

He's probably a proud member of the spy-on-your-neighbor program.

[acmavm]

2. You think Jerry's an idiot? I KNOW he's an idiot. An opportunistic

idiot.

[porphyrian]

3. Go with the first one, Jesus would forgive. - n/t

[IdaBriggs]

4. My understanding is that "forgiveness" must be preceded by penitance.

A tad bit more complicated, depending on the sect, but "blessed are the peacemakers" and all that.

[porphyrian]

5. I don't think Jesus was conditional about it, just the people speaking for him.

If there even was a Jesus, that is. Jesus's message, if we are to believe it, wasn't that complicated at all.

[IdaBriggs]

6. I disagree with you. My understanding is that Jesus forgives the people

who acknowledge they have sinned and repent it, asking HIM to forgive their sins. I could be wrong in my interpretation, but I just had a long conversation about sin/forgiveness this weekend, and that was what I left the conversation understanding. The "Lord's Prayer" was brought up as well -- "forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us" -- making it a "conditional" forgiveness.

:shrug:

[porphyrian]

7. I don't begrudge you your opinion.

You aren't the only one who believes the virtues of Christianity should be conditional. We do disagree, though.