PREMISE: THE SECTARIAN: The Story of a Lovable, Religious Bigot

THE SECTARIAN: The story of a lovable, religious bigot is about a girl who was brought up in Bible Belt America. Being brought up in such an environment, she becomes a Holy Roller herself. That means she becomes uber religious, or as in my Tale of Two Romneys, she becomes a Religigo. 

Funny thing is, our sectarian, had she not been adopted, would have been raised in Asia where religion doesn't play the type of uptight, fire-and-brimstone, scared sexless role that religion in America plays on the fearful. As a matter of fact, had our Sectarian been raised in Japan, she wouldn't even had had a soul to worry about.

To make things even more unlikely, the Sectarian is the adopted child of two Hippies, flower children to the core. Why would they raise a child like the Sectarian? They didn't mean to. Her parents lived in California and were called to Georgia (or was it Mississippi, I wrote it such a long time ago) to care for the Sectarian's adopted mother's aunt, who is ailing. That is, the parents' aunt (on the wife's side). 

The Sectarian's parents at that time, are unable to have their own child and believe they are infertile (I hate blaming it on the woman). So, they adopt a child from Asia, or it might have been from Africa and there was a mixup with the adoption agency. The thought of adopting an African child horrifies the all-white neighbors of course. This type of attitude was felt keenly by our poor Sectarian growing up, being the ONLY Asian within a few hundred miles. 

The young Asian girl tries her best to fit it, even trying to talk with a Southern accent but she keeps switching from a Georgia accent to a Bayou accent to a Mississippi accent, bless her little heart! Trying to fit in meant she went to church every Sunday and excelled at Sunday school. She was prim, proper, prudish, and wore high-collar neck dresses with puff sleeves. She did not like to bare her arms, lol.

The Sectarian's parents realize that yes, indeed, they can have children and have one of their own. This child, also a girl, resembles her parents' liberated lifestyle more than the Sectarian because she is white and isn't stared at the way the poor Asian girl was always stared at growing up: "as if I were a monkey in a cage" the Sectarian complains. 

You can see the potential for conflict. I'll stop now so you can read the actual short story, which has not been converted to a prose from its screenplay form. Believe me, the screenplay reads like a short story and even easier. 

(Hello, Swedish friend, hope you like the story. Hold a sec as I post my adventures in a swing state on election day!)