Okay, folks. My grandmother was mortified when Kennedy became President. "What? A Catholic in the White House? Our Country will be run by the Pope! We're doomed for sure!" She had great difficulty accepting the lady who has been my wife for over 50 years because of what? My wife is Lutheran! That was almost as bad as being Catholic! After all, we were the "conservative" Christians and anyone who worshipped differently was not to be associated with! She passed in 1975.
Flip to today. Imagine if she were still alive and I was trying to explain TRF to her.
"Grandma, I communicate with some really great people on something that resembles an electric typewriter. The people are located across the United States, in Europe, Canada... many places."
"You send them letters?"
"Oh, no! As I type it they read it instantly, as far away as Scotland and Thailand and... "
"Thailand? Where's that?"
"And, Grandma, the person who owns one of the formats where many of us visit is a Pagan."
"Oh, my heart! Please bring me one of my nitroglycerin pills. A PAGAN!! You talk to a PAGAN!!"
"Yes, Grandma. She's really a very nice person. You should... "
"A PAGAN!"
"Grandma, there are a lot of other great folks in on this group discussion. Some are lesbians. One of the lesbians is actually of Chinese heritage."
"What the heck is a Lesbian? Is that like a Methodist or a Presbyterian?"
"Ummm.... No. It's not really like a denomination of the Christian religion."
"Is it another strange place like this Thailand? Is it a country called Lesbia or something?"
"Grandma, lets just say these are really caring people. People genuinely concerned about our Country and concerned about their fellow human beings."
"Surely, these 'Lebonians' or whatever you call them aren't related to this Pagan are they?"
"Grandma, would you like another cup of tea? Can I get you something from the kitchen? The snow outside is certainly pretty, isn't it?"