[CS-FSLUG] Humor me a moment

[Don Parris]

On Fri, 07 Jan 2005 22:52:02 -0600, Ed Hurst <ehurst at asisaid.com> wrote:
> I don't wish to post here about politics; this about my crazy life.
> Please humor me for reposting here from my blog. I want to make sure
> this is on the record, in case something unpleasant happens. This is not
> fiction.
> -------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> They're At It Again
> 
> I wrote once how the US Marshals ruined my work at a local church not
> too far from where I now live.
> 
<SNIP>

> Well, they are at it again. This past week, they returned to harass my
> friend's family some more. They have contacted people who attended our
> Bible studies, characterizing me as a sort of Anton LeVey, leading a
> weird religious cult. They describe me as a bald, evil-looking fellow
> who often wears a black robe. I suppose if you visit a couple of forums
> of which I am a member and look at some of my posts, you will see an
> avatar I made from an old picture of me. At that point I was shaving my
> hair close and had a mustache and goatee. Yes, perhaps I do look "evil"
> -- as do a large number of men living out this way, who also shave their
> heads and sport similar facial hair. However, I do not own a black robe,
> nor even a good choir robe of any color. I once had a brown costume,
> with a hood and rope belt to resemble a medieval friar, but that was
> before I was stationed in Europe in 1988.
> 
Well, you should show them my pic and tell 'em you saw Anton headed
for NC! :D  I have hadrly any hair on my head, and my beard varies,
depending on whether I feel like shaving again this week.  Most people
take me for kind of  a cross between a skin-head, a Harvard law school
graduate, and an Amish elder.  Oh well...

> When I first opened this blog a year ago, I posted a large amount of
> material that could be fairly characterized as hostile to my national
> government. Make of it what you will. Federal agents have worked hard to
> earn my hostility, and I continue to see it as a much larger pattern of
> an growing police state. I called a truce a while back, because I really
> had better things to do. Still, do not be surprised if they come to
> visit me again and I disappear from the Net for awhile.
> 
> --
> Ed Hurst
> -----------
> 
When I first moved into Charlotte's Belmont neighborhood, I woke up to
a knock on my door, and discovered two officers wanting to verify that
I actually lived there.  Shortly afterwards, I got frisked at the bus
stop, because I "looked out of place" (read only white dude in the
hood).  While my neighbors took their time to get to know me, at least
one threatened to shoot me (again while at the bus stop) for being the
"wrong color" for the nieghborhood.

The Cops thought I was either a dealer or an addict.  The neighbors
thought I was a "police spy" (one of the local church members later
admitted to my wife that most folks thought I was a narc).  Of course,
the problem with that is that anyone would think I was a narc, so it
wouldn't make any sense for the police to send someone looking like me
into a situation like that.  Meanwhile, the dealers live across the
street.

I think most people who know me know very well that I am neither cop
nor outlaw, and that I generally side with the law.  However, I saw
things in that hood that gave me a new perspective on local police
officers - including a healthy mistrust of local law enforcement.  The
reason we have the right to bear arms is a healthy mistrust of
governmental authority.  Everyone should have this healthy mistrust. 
Not paranoia, mind you, but the awareness that governments have the
tendency to abuse power.

I know a guy that works for a state law enforcement agency.  He
advised me that, if I ever needed to report drug related stuff, to
simply contact the local Sheriff's office or, at most, the state
folks.  He told me not to trust the Feds.  Considering he has worked
with them on cases, I'll take his advice.  I don't know what all went
down at Ruby Ridge, and I definitely don't share anything in common
with Weaver or the folks he associates with.  But I do believe we need
to be very careful about trusting the government too far.

You're in my prayers as well, Ed.

-- 
DC Parris GNU Evangelist
http://matheteuo.org/
gnumathetes at gmail.com
Free software is like God's love - 
you can share it with anyone anywhere anytime!