Gene Robinson

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CNN.Com: Episcopalians delay vote on gay bishop

I’m not in favor of his consecration as bishop because he is in a same-sex relationship but… I also think that someone is pulling some pretty nasty tricks to keep him from being bishop. If these allegations are true, why were they not brought up in the months between when the people of his diocese first elected him bishop and the General Convention?

From the email alleging the misconduct:

“My personal experience of him is that he … does not maintain appropriate boundaries with men. I believe this is an alarming weakness of character that alone makes Gene unsuitable for the office of bishop.

“When I first encountered Gene at a … convocation a couple of years ago he put his hands on me inappropriately every time I engaged him in conversation. NO GAY MAN HAS EVER BEHAVED TOWARDS ME THIS WAY [capitals in original] — and I have had over 25 years of associations with gay male colleagues in the Boston, New York, Los Angeles, and San Diego show business communities.

“If I were a straight woman reporting heterosexual harassment by a straight male priest, would you hesitate to take the matter seriously? Well, I am a straight man reporting homosexual harassment by a gay male priest from another diocese.”

Out of fairness here, the final vote is being delayed to look into the charges. Still… how exactly did Canon Robinson touch this man inappropriately? Did he hold his hand to long? Did he touch his shoulders? Did this person wait to report it until he found out that Canon Robinson was gay???

I know that given my past I shouldn’t be so skeptical of this man’s allegations because I too was afraid of being believed about this at one point. Still… why did this person wait until the eve of the final vote to report this? That makes it just really suspicious.

The other charge is that a website that the Canon started has links to erotic pictures. Canon Robinson denies having anything to do with the site for a few years. My questions: what made these pictures so erotic? Two men holding hands? Was it straight-up pr0n? Do they really think that someone with that much to lose (I’m talking Canon Robinson) would affiliate himself with a site like that???

I’m really disappointed here. I mean, yeah… I don’t want him consecrated, but give the man a fair shot!

Being a Domesticated Lepicat

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If you want to hear the story behind my nickname of “Lepicat”, let me know in the comments section and if enough people ask, maybe I’ll post it. 🙂

The past few days have seen me baking bread, making lasagna portions to freeze (it’s cheaper than frozen dinners and much healthier), making fruit salad, and doing other miscellaneous things around the kitchen. We got a new blender after our old one (which someone had given to us because they didn’t want to take it when they moved) started smoking while blending my chai shake on Tuesday, so I’ve been having fun with it.

I also finished a lap throw/afghan last night that had been sitting in my crocheting/mending pile for 6 months because my wrists were so worn out from working on it. (Note to self: two-ply afghans are just as bad as three-ply ones and can cause major “carpal afghan syndrome”.) I decided to just finish the row of double crocheting around the edges to make it look pretty and it only took me 45 minutes to finish. I washed it (mostly to get the cat fur off since my cats have both nap-tested it numerous times) and I put it in my big black suitcase to give to Mom when I head to the Promised Land in two weeks. (Well… the icky deserty land surrounding the Promised Land — can you tell that I hate L.A.?)

My next project: squares for a patch work afghan. I’m hopefully going to have it done by Christmas though I think it will be finished when it’s finished.

A Friday Five Wake-Up Call

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Before I answer these could I please request that nobody shoot me?

1. What time do you wake up on weekday mornings?
If I have to be somewhere, it’s an hour before I have to leave. Otherwise, 9:30 or 10 is a fair wake-up time. I’m a night owl and getting up that late compensates for the hour or two of sleep I lose when my thundering horde of cats decides that it’s time to run around the house and over anything in their path or when they decide that anything that moves needs to be killed. (Claws in feet at 7 am = a crabby Jen if she doesn’t get to go back to sleep.)

2. Do you sleep in on the weekends? How late?
Saturday: Again… it depends on if I have to be somewhere. If I do, I get up an hour before I have to leave. Otherwise, I’m up by 10. (see above explanation)
Sunday: I’m up at 6:25 (give or take 10 minutes) so I can shower (and then toss Jon in the shower by his ears) and make myself look pretty for church. Of course, I can always go back to sleep in Jon’s office once we get there because I don’t usually have anything to do for the 8:00 service.

3. Aside from waking up, what is the first thing you do in the morning?
Flip on CNN to see if there’s anything important happening.

4. How long does it take to get ready for your day?
About 35 minutes without breakfast. 45 if I make something to eat on the run.

5. When possible, what is your favorite place to go for breakfast?
A bagel place. It was Posh Bagel when I was living at home and I haven’t quite found a place in Ohio.

What’s In A Name?

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Jennifer is the #6 most common female name.
0.932% of females in the US are named Jennifer.
Around 1188300 US females are named Jennifer!
source namestatistics.com

Yeah… this is why there were 3 of us in my kindergarten class, 5 of us in my high school chem class, and 8 of us in my group of friends in college. It’s why all my college peeps call me “Lepicat”.

Something I Need To Vent On…

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LA Times: A Pastor Accused, a Congregation Torn

**I actually created a new category for this post called Personal Issues because I couldn’t fit it succinctly in just one of the other categories. I’m also quoting a large portion of this article. For my thoughts on it, click on the (more…) at the bottom of the entry.**

I was reading the Christianity Today weblog tonight while Jon was in a Youth Committee meeting and came across this story. Apparently…

Church members contend that Hall, 51, has made jokes about oral sex in front of women and has given unwanted hugs to some congregants, and that five years ago he played a sophomoric prank on a female education minister.

Bishop Dean Nelson, who heads the Southwest California Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, asked Hall to resign in June. Hall refused. And, under the denomination’s rules, there isn’t much church leaders can do about it.

Leaving “may be an easy thing to do, but for the healing of the church I want to be there,” said Hall, who has been pastor at Trinity for nine years. “I don’t think it ever helps to run away from situations.”

That stand has left the congregation divided. Some members say they will leave if Hall stays. Others say they will leave if he leaves.

…

Hall said he regretted making remarks with sexual innuendo and hugging female parishioners who felt uncomfortable with such actions. He acknowledged behaving inappropriately when he gave a “wedgie,” a sharp tug on the waistband, to the former education minister, according to a report from the Oakland-based Center for Ministry, an interdenominational organization that provides training and counseling for evangelical pastors.

…

In April, Nelson asked the church to grant Hall a three-month paid leave of absence while the accusations were investigated. When the bishop asked congregants to comment about Hall, some women such as Cherry felt they could finally share their concerns about his behavior.

Typical of being an abuse victim is you think you’re the only one,” Cherry said of why she didn’t come forward sooner. ” ‘Who would believe me?’ I told the bishop.”

When Nelson told the congregation about the sexual harassment claims, many did not believe them.

…

Cherry, one of a dozen congregants who shared information with Nelson, said she believed the church council listened too passively to her and other women’s grievances.

“I’m assuming since they’re not asking me about my story that they don’t care,” said Cherry, who has since left the church. “To me it seems like a done deal, so those of us who have been damaged ï?? well, I’ll have to find a new home for my faith.”

Despite complaints such as Cherry’s, the council has decided for now to keep Hall as head pastor, provided he undergoes additional training and counseling. Nelson invited him to another hearing with the synod Monday to address the allegations and other concerns about his leadership. Kelley told the bishop that his client would not attend the hearing.

Earlier this month, Hall, who grew up the son of medical missionaries in South Africa, choked back tears as he preached to the congregation for the first time in three months.

“I deeply regret and apologize for any insensitivity I’ve had, for any actions that may have hurt anyone,” he said. “These past few months have been a jail for me.”

  • This is the kind of thing that is really a black eye for Christianity, let alone my denomination (ELCA) because any behavior of a pastor or Christian person in the public eye reflects on the other 150+ million of us in the world in the eyes of non-believers. My denomination has already had one sexual misconduct trial this year (pastor in Texas abused a bunch of kids and is now serving 499 years in prison) and we really didn’t need another one, especially since there’s a huge lawsuit pending from the other one. (The pastor from the Texas case gradauted from my seminary so we’re on the list of defendants and if it settles, it could be very devestating for the seminary.)
  • This person is a pastor. Pastors are held to a high code of conduct by virtue of their profession and also agree to abide by such a moral code at ordination. We also have the double standard that we are somehow better than the average joe because of our work. In addition, ELCA clergy are required to undergo training in sexual boundaries which includes appropriate contact, appropriate language, and basically how to keep one’s boundaries. (I know this because we had a unit on it during our first quarter of seminary which is pretty much required by the church’s insurance companies.) I *KNOW* Pastor Hall went through such training because I know (and am related to) pastors in that synod. (Jon’s family is pretty much a dynasty out there. Extrapolate as you will.) He should have known not to make oral sex comments in the presence of his parishoners, let alone in front of female parishoners.
  • I really wonder why he went out and got an attorney if he’s so innocent in this situation. Correct or not, hiring an attorney kind of put the nail in the coffin as far as his guilt was concerned. There’s also the fact that he has defied his bishop and is refusing to leave a congregation that his actions have divided. It’s an accepted standard that if you are the cause of division in a congregation, that you leave so as to remove the source of division from the congregation and let it heal. In addition, he should be accountable for his actions and in being accountable, he should step down and face the consequences.

    • Continue reading →

    Daily News

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  • Drove down to Springfield today. Jon has some relatives down there that he hadn’t seen in 4 1/2 years and that I hadn’t met. They’ve been wanting to get our wedding gift up to us but haven’t been able to because the sister of one of them was terminally ill and Jon’s aunt is also unable to get in and out of cars because of leg problems. Soo…. it was on us to get the present from them and we finally had a calm day to go down and see them. It was an enjoyable visit and one where we talked church stuff and had a pleasant time. I drove both ways so I have 160 miles more under my belt. Driving isn’t the problem — if I could learn the maneuverability stuff, I could get my license.
  • Found out today that one of my classmates has breast cancer. I’m waiting to hear back from my friend Jill on the details of it. Please keep A in your prayers. I’ll hopefully have the details today or tomorrow. A was one of my classmates/surrogate mothers when I was at Trinity, so this is distressing news.

    • I’ll blog on a news article I found later when I’m a little less tired (i.e. when I won’t get ultra-reactive).