Friday morning, July 10, 2015 I was eating breakfast and enjoying my usual irreverent reading of the St. Petersburg, Florida Tribune. Two stories caught my attention. The first concerned the lawsuit by the Georgia ACLU on behalf of the Ku Klux Clan to adopt a highway. The ACLU is alleging that Georgia violated the free speech of the Klan when they refused their request to adopt a highway. The second story described the current visit of Pope Francis to Santa Cruz, Bolivia. The story reports Pope Francis saying “I humbly ask forgiveness of the church herself, but also for crimes committed against the native peoples during the so-called conquest of America.” Although not surprised by this act of contrition by Pope Francis I was touched and impressed when I read it. In the very same article there is also mention of the fact “In a blending of the native and the new, the famously unpretentious pope changed into his vestments for the mass in a nearby Burger King.”
Unbeknown to the pope’s security detail already making use of the Burger King bathroom facilities were the two male Georgia Klan members, K and H who, along with H’s wife attempt to adopt a highway in Georgia. They happened to be laying low for a time in Bolivia. With the entire flap about the flag in South Carolina a lot of people were giving the clan members a difficult time. They immediately took notice of the funny man putting on what seemed to them a dress and scarf. Not ones to miss the opportunity Harley approached Francis with:
“This is a men’s bathroom. We don’t allow any funny people in here. Don’t be looking at me when I am taking a piss! ? See what this creature is doing K?’
Pope Francis: Good morning. God bless you.
K: Don’t be doing nothing funny. We decide who God blesses.
Pope Francis: I am sure that God blesses you.
H: Didn’t Knighthawk tell you that we decide whom God blesses? He sure don’t bless you.
Pope Francis: Allow me to introduce myself. I am Francis, the current Pope of the Catholic Church. I just need to change to get ready for Mass.
H: That is fine. If you want to think you are the pope, be my guest but there will be none of your kind in this bathroom. Now get the F out!
Pope Francis: My son. My son
K: You don’t know whom you are dealing with.
Pope Francis: No I do not. I am Francis. You may kiss my ring. (Francis then extends his hand for them to kiss the ring.)
H: roughly pushes away the pope’s hand while zipping up his pants.
H: You little Faggot. Get that hand away from me. My buddy and me are members of the Klan in Georgia.
Pope Francis: What clan in the country of Georgia are you members of? I am hoping to make a trip to that country.
Kn: Country? George is a state you idiot.
Pope Francis: A state?
H: Yes. A state in America.
Pope Francis: We are in America. This is South America.
H: Get out of here. I live in America and this ain’t it.
Pope Francis: My son. My son.
Knighthawk: We told you to stop that son shit! You are probably one of those people who think it is okay for black people to marry white people.
Pope: Excuse me!
Pope Francis is now putting on his cap and is ready to leave.
Pope Francis: I would like to invite you to mass. I can get you a seat even though the church is already full.
K: A mass what. A mass hanging would be good. Can you get us a seat to one of those?
Pope Francis: God loves us and wants us to love each other.
H: There you go again with that loving stuff. Stay the F away from us. We know whom God loves and he loves the white man.
Pope Francis: Actually we are all the same. We all came from Africa.
Knighthawk: You calling me black? I have just about had it with you.
Pope Francis: Why so angry my child?
Harley: You would be angry too if people kept saying mean things about you. They would not even let us “adopt a highway”.
Pope Francis: Adopt a highway?
H: Oh God. You really are dumb. If you would spend a little less time shopping for dresses and matching hats you might know something. Black people throw trash on the highway and people adopt a section of highway to clean it up.
Pope Francis: How do you know only black people throw trash on the highway?
K sighs
Pope Francis: I have to go now my sons. Bless you my brothers.
H: We ain’t your brothers or your sons. Get out of here.
Obviously, this is done in fun with no intention of being disrespectful to anyone. Learning to hear each other when we speak a different language which we may think is the same is going to have to be our first step. Well, perhaps that is the second step. The first may be admitting, as did the pope, that we can be very ignorant because of what we have learned to think about each other. We treat what we have learned as facts which then prohibits hearing any new or different information.
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