The Fair Mother City (or Sodom and Gomorrah)

Ezekiel 16:49-50 - Sodom & Gomorrah "...were arrogant, overfed, and unconcerned: they did not help the poor and needy. They were haughty and did detestable things before me. Therefore I did away with them as you have seen"

Sodom and Gomorrah are infamous for their sexual perversions and heavenly destruction. It is assumed that they were destroyed because of their sexual sins. But I guess the above obscure passage says otherwise...

The fair mother city can be a real cheap-ass town at times.

I suppose I have yet to give proper introduction to the homeland. A quick historical reference:

Abilene was founded in 1881. After 1875 many settlements in west Texas were created when the local Comanches were sentenced to hell (Oklahoma) due to their food & clothing source (buffalo) being slaughtered to extinction for white man's profit. The (then) Taylor County seat of Buffalo Gap, TX heard news that the Texas & Pacific Railroad was being built through the area connecting Ft. Worth with El Paso. So they rejoiced and sat on their asses assuming the train would come through town. Meanwhile, cattle ranchers who owned a field 12 miles north secretly met with and successfully bribed a rail road executive, persuading him to build through their vacant field. A town quickly sprang up in this field when the tracks were built...bringing commerce and good times. The unoriginal name Abilene was granted in honor of Abilene, Kansas (and mentioned somewhere in the CEO's handbook). She grew fast and won the coveted county seat title. Thus...the mother city was founded on trickery, bribes and deceit.

Like a lot of people in those days, the founders of Abilene were into secret societies (masons, etc). That kind of ritualistic, religious spirit ushered in the church people and their church culture, which could permeate most areas of citizenry like commerce, social outings, government, etc.

Then the pillars of higher education was established. Not a state-run school either. The mother city has not one, not two, but THREE private, christian-run universities. The Baptists have Hardin-Simmons. The Methodists have McMurry. And the church of Christ (coc) has Abilene Christian University, making the mother city the Mecca of the coc world. You should see the town's population bulge during ACU's Lectureship week every February. I've nicknamed that week Ramadan.

The cost of living is much lower here than larger cities, but so is the average income. I have never done a study on this, but I truly suspect religious church culture somehow goes hand in hand with low, suck-ass wages. Keepin' the man down. Just a conspiracy theory of mine, of course.

The average pay around here for most anyone is between $7 and $8 an hour with no benefits. Trust me...I KNOW. We're talking like...$16k a year before taxes. I've worked many of these jobs since 1994. As a college grad, I could go to Dallas and make $32k/year without even trying. Maybe $40k/year.

The mother city is divided by the east/west railroad tracks it was founded on. Traditionally, the north side of the city is the older section (and thus the "poor" side) while the southern half is the newer section (rich side). I'd argue that the poor section begins at S 14th and heads north to I-20 and up into Impact. And of course there's exceptions to everything...as there are several nice neighborhoods sprinkled throughout.

Because of lackluster city counsel decisions of past generations, there has never been a strict building code/appearance restrictions. Thus the north side is chock full of dilapidated buildings, homes, and sluggish economy. The far south end by the Winters freeway and Buffalo Gap Rd is where the new economy grows. It has all the mega commerce, shopping malls, nice neighborhoods, etc. I call it "Little Dallas".

I'm sure the mother city has the same or similar wealth/poverty statistics as any other US city. But being hunkered down within the poverty culture like I have for about 8 years, I'd have to assume Abilene has more folks in poverty than average.

I love the mother city. And I love the poor people that dwell within it. I love the north side neighborhoods, old cruddy houses with asbestos siding, and kids playing in the dry creek beds that flood these neighborhoods once every few years.

I don't see the fair mother city receiving the same doom as her sisters Sodom and Gomorrah. She can be fairly "arrogant" in an educationally religious sense. And the fair mother city is DEFINITELY "overfed" (she's a fat-ass town too - everybody goes out to eat...a LOT). But I don't know about "unconcerned". A fair amount of people do something for the poor. This can be noticed with a local ministry's "Mission Thanksgiving" yearly drive, as well as the numerous outlets for the needy

And besides...it's hard to be unconcerned about a large segment of a city's population. There are a LOT of poor folks around here.