Fiction
THE YOUTH MOVEMENT, PART ONE: TOO MUCH STRICTNESS
My name is Vinnie Johnson. I am sixteen years old and live with my dad and my mom, Joe and Francesca. I've got three younger siblings--Arthur, who is fifteen, Mardi, who is eleven, and Warren, who is eight. We live in Cincinnati, so we're basically big city people in a lot of ways, but we're very strong Christians and go to church every Sunday. We're Baptists, and our reverend, George Bowmer, is, without a doubt, probably the strictest minister in the world. He's a widower and very protective of his kids--Phyllis, who is my age and goes to school with Arthur and me, and James, who is three and enrolled in preschool. I have been in love with Phyllis since we were in kindergarten, but I never had the guts to tell that to her when we were younger, and I still don't now. Now that Phyllis is at the age when most kids start dating, her dad has said more than once during sermons on what Jesus said about lust that he would pray that if anyone so much as cast a glance at Phyllis, he'd pray for hellfire to come upon them. I don't know what his deal is. I know you need to respect your church leaders, and I have a lot of respect for the man, because I know that he just wants to live a life that is pleasing to God and wants his kids to do the same, but for Pete's sake, it is possible to be overly strict to the point of being weird.
He shouldn't be too hard on boys who look at Phyllis. Who can help but look at her? She's got beautiful, long blonde hair that swings as she walks and gorgeous blue eyes. Her teeth are as white as ivory. It's only human to look at her. But every single boy in the church will do their best not to look at her so as not to risk having Reverend Bowmer pray for hellfire to come upon them.
It's not just the matter of Phyllis. He's so strict about EVERYTHING! If people so much as whisper to each other in church, he'll yell at them right in front of everyone and say they're being used by Satan to disturb his sermons. If they are dressed the least bit casually, he'll accuse them of lacking respect for God, even though what people wear is never revealing and there are several churches in Cincinnati that permit casual dress. I don't know what his problem is. No one does.
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