This is a really good commentary from CNN.Com on why Joe Wilson’s outburst was unacceptable.
Category Archives: Politics
Repulsive Preaching
East Valley Tribune: Group rallies to protest pastor’s message
The gist of this is that there’s a pastor in Tempe who is praying that Obama dies and goes to hell and is being very vocal about it. One of his parishioners is the person who showed up at an Obama rally in Arizona last month with an assault rifle on his back. This is also apparently the pastor who got tasered after he refused to let Border Patrol agents search his car.
This man disgusts me. I will readily admit that I wanted to see Bush 2.0 leave office during his presidency and would have loved to see him impeached but… I NEVER PRAYED FOR HIM TO DIE OR GO TO HELL!!!!! Hello? This guy is serious breaching the commandment against killing and he’s also completely forgetting Romans 13:1 which states that “everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.”
The amount of seriously malicious hate that has cropped up since Obama’s inauguration is just scaring me. There was serious polarization during Bush 2.0’s terms but his detractors were all liberals and believed in self-control and gun laws. You would NEVER have seen parents keeping their kids home from school or the heads of the state Democratic parties decrying Bush 2.0 addressing kids on the first day of school. We’ve either seriously deteriorated as a society in terms of reason and civility or the media is just showing the right-wing nut jobs. In the case of the latter, I wish they’d stop giving them so much press.
Why I Am Not Flipping Out At The Moment
New York Times: Lutheran Group Eases Limits on Gay Clergy
Yes, I am a conservative Christian. Yes, I would have voted against this. (All my GLBTQ peeps know this.) However, I’m not having a massive hissy fit over this.
Why you ask?
1.) I’ve got too much going on in my life to flip out over anything else at the moment. Jon is in the process of finding another call, I have a 4 1/2 month old baby who is teething, I’m working 3 days a week, I’m still dealing with the emotional and mental schtuff from Daniel’s birth and stay in the NICU, and I’m tired to the point where sleeping all day would be sooooo nice. While I’m aware of the implications of this, I’m really having a hard time caring right now.
2.) The language of the decision is as such:
The first step asks the assembly whether it is committed “to finding ways to allow congregations and synods that choose to do so to recognize, support, and hold publicly accountable lifelong, monogamous, same-gender relationships,” said the report.
The second step asks the assembly whether it is committed to finding a way for Lutherans in committed, same-gender relationships to serve as ELCA professional leaders — clergy, associates in ministry, diaconal ministers and deaconesses.
If steps one and two are accepted, step three asks the assembly to commit to implementing steps one and two “in such a way that all this church bear the burdens of the other, love the neighbor, and respect the bound conscience of any with whom they disagree.” According to the report, “decisions about policy that serve only the interests of one or another group will not be acceptable.”
Step four presents a proposal for how the ELCA could move toward change “in a way that respects the bound conscience of all,” said the report. The fourth step is different from the previous steps in that it is “not simply a commitment in principle, but makes a specific recommendation for flexibility within existing structures and practices of this church to allow for people in publicly accountable, lifelong, monogamous, same-gender relationships to be approved” for professional service in the ELCA, stated the report.
In none of the bolded passages does it state that members will be forced to call a gay or lesbian pastor to their congregation. My bishop (the most awesome Jessica Crist) actually states it best:
The resolution on Ministry Policies is actually a series of 4 resolutions, moving from committing the ELCA to begin the process of finding ways to recognize and support life-long, monogamous, same-gender relationships, to finding ways for rostering appropriately prepared and qualified persons. Even if all 4 parts of the resolution pass, there will be a lengthy process for implementation. The resolution makes possible in certain instances the rostering of people who happen to be in same-gender relationships. It is important to note that the intent of this is to open possibilities for ministry. Congregations have a lot of leeway in the call process now. They can accept or reject a candidate proposed by the Synod Office. That will not change. The intent of these resolutions is not to force congregations to accept pastors who do not fit. Rather it is to allow congregations to call pastors who do fit.
In other words, this isn’t something that will take place overnight and it isn’t something that will be binding on every congregation and every person. Congregations are always allowed to reject a candidate given to them just as candidates can reject a congregation profile given to them. If it were binding that a congregation had to consider every candidate given, that would be a different story.
3.) This issue has been talked to death for the last 8 years. I swear that some of the “yes” votes were cast on the condition that we could stop talking about sex at Synod Assembly. (At least… this is what my Lutheran peeps on Facebook are saying.) In the words of one of them, “one of these days, we might be able to get past sex and the church roof and onto the issue of Christ being crucified and raised from the dead.” At least there’s a decision on the horizon and we can stop dialoguing ourselves to death!!!
So… this is why I’m not flipping out like I normally would be.
This Distresses Me Greatly
Miami Herald: Man carrying assault weapon attends Obama protest
You know… it really makes me NOT want to respect your 2nd Amendment rights even more when you do something so callous and dangerous.
If this had been done during the previous administration, there would have been a massive outcry, the guy might have been turned into Swiss cheese by the Secret Service, and would have been sent to Gitmo. Why is it suddenly acceptable to do now????
Again… We’re Apparently On Crack
CNN.Com: Ahmadinejad accuses Obama of interfering in election
Apparently, telling Iran that the world is watching them as they slaughter their people in the streets was a vast conspiracy by the US to interfere in Iran’s elections. About the only thing that could even *COUNT* was telling Twitter to delay site maintenance so that Iranians could continue to communicate after the government started shutting things down. I mean, Obama was chastized by Republicans for not doing MORE.
Stupid right-wing nutjobs!
Chill Out Already!
There’s been a fair amount of flipping out about Obama doing the commencement address at Notre Dame because Obama is pro-choice and Notre Dame is a Catholic school. Apparently, there are protesters pushing baby carriages with bloody baby dolls and I’m sure Operation Rescue has set up banners of aborted fetuses. (Then again, Operation Rescue also picketed Urbana in 2000 so their logic and judgment is a little questionable.)
My word on all this:
CHILL OUT ALREADY!!!!!!
Everyone is acting like his commencement speech is going to promote killing babies and eating them or something. Pro-choice does not mean that you support abortion in every circumstance nor that you *LIKE* that abortion exists. For many people, it means that you do not believe that you have the right to make a decision like that for someone else. And yes, I realize that my stated stance of “pro-life/pro-legal” is essentially equivalent to being “pro-choice” in the eyes of most people. Deal with it.
To all the protesters out there: why don’t you put your money and your time where your mouth is and help to fund Crisis Pregnancy Centers so that women who are in a really tough circumstance can *get* the care they need and have some education about their options.