Fremont Presbyterian Church joins the haters

The congregation at Fremont Presbyterian Church in Sacramento has voted to leave the Presbyterian Church USA because the latter has endorsed the ordination of gays and lesbians.

Fremont has a special place in my history. I was a member. Both of my sisters were members and my youngest sister was married in the church. The youth pastor at Fremont officiated at my first wedding.

When the Fremont leadership was first considering this step, I was coincidentally watching a documentary on the civil rights movement called Eyes on the Prize. In it there are clips from the 1950s and 60s of political and religious leaders defending their bigotry and hate by quoting the Bible. I'm sure a hundred years before there were ministers quoting Colossians (or Ephesians or 1 Peter) to endorse slavery in America and to argue against the slaves' freedom. Chose a position, you can find scripture to defend it.

Fortunately history is against the sad, bigoted stand Fremont has taken. Fremont has become less inclusive and more insular.

People found a way to be Christian in post-slavery America. Fremont will, hopefully, one day look back on their action as a sad misstep.

The reason 1984 wasn't like "1984"

Me,  in 1984, with the first Mac I purchased. Which, coincidentally, was the first model shipped.

One of the things I didn't know is that Steve Jobs had four kids. I knew of Lisa, his first, but not the others. And going forward, when I think of Steve, what will come to mind is this quote recounted by Eric Schmidt, about kids:

Steve and I were talking about children one time, and he said the problem with children is that they carry your heart with them. The exact phrase was, “It’s your heart running around outside your body.” That’s a Steve Jobs quote. 

What I want to say here, in case one of Steve's kids runs across this by googling his dad, is that I am sitting where I'm sitting, doing what I'm doing because of Steve Jobs. And I couldn't be more grateful to someone whom I've never met or seen. My professional life now started with that computer in 1984.

The sign on lower right corner of the bulletin board behind me says "Lee Hinde, Computer Consultant. By Appointment Only." It lives on, with this picture attached, on a different bulletin board in my current office. You don't need an appointment. Come on by anytime.