Bible Quoting Pharisees

My posts on the recent actions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church ("ELCA") in voting to allowed partnered clergy in committed same sex relationships have garnered some of the usual hate e-mails and nasty comments that goes with the territory of the freeper crowd which (a) seems obsessed with turning the Gospel message into one of exclusion and hate and (b) is extremely selective in terms of what Bible passages must be applied literally as written and which ones can be blithely ignored when convenient. I also wonder at times why these folks are reading a gay blog in the first place - might it be the male beauty photos? In any event, an example of this is the following message:
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This [the ELCA action] is just appalling. If Luther, the late German Christian protester, would still be here…where the denomination “Lutherans” derived from, he would be stunned and completely disappointed in this horrible abomination to the Word of God and the Gospel. I totally am against this election. When God created “man” he created Adam and Eve, NOT Adam and STEVE!!! Hello people. This is a direct form of disobedience to God. And this is happening in a Church, a denomination that professes to know the Word of God???? Please, God will have to deal with you guys…and it won’t be pretty.
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Frankly, what I believe will not be pretty is how God deals with people like the author of the comment who certainly seem to have totally missed Christ's directive to love one's neighbor as one's self. As for Bible verses being applied literally, I would ask the author of the quoted comment how he/she justifies literal application of purported anti-gay passages yet it is fine that other apparently unequivocal passages are regularly ignored by the Bible thumper crowd, e.g., the prohibitions on divorce; the approval of slavery; the subordination and discrimination against blacks, the supposed descendants of Ham; the subordination and treatment of women as chattel; the murder of whole cities of women and children. Why is it only passages that are cited as justifying anti-gay bigotry must be still construed literally? Or does the author of the comment also condone slavery, anti-black bigotry and the mistreatment of women? Those who pick and choose what passages to enforce literally are no better than the Pharisees so berated by Christ.
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Speaking of gay affirming denominations, 365gay had a run down on the positions of a number of denominations on this issue. Those looking for spiritual homes might do well to review the varied stances on gays and same sex relationships:
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UNITED METHODIST CHURCH: 7.9 million U.S. members. The most conservative of the largest mainline denominations on gay clergy. An effort to repeal a ban on non-celibate gay clergy failed at the church’s last General Conference, in 2008.
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EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH IN AMERICA: 4.7 million U.S. members. The church voted Friday to strike down a policy that required celibacy of gay clergy, becoming the largest U.S. denomination to take that stance. The change allows those in committed same-gender relationships to be on official ELCA church rosters and serve as pastors at congregations that want them.
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PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH (USA): 2.9 million U.S. members. Ministers must live in “fidelity within the covenant of marriage between and a man and a woman, or chastity in singleness.” The church’s General Assembly voted last year to drop that requirement, but the move did not receive required approval from presbyteries.
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EPISCOPAL CHURCH: 2.1 million U.S. members. The splintering global Anglican fellowship has moved to the brink of a full schism since the 2003 consecration of the first openly gay Episcopal bishop. Last month, the Episcopal General Convention approved a resolution saying “God has called and may call” gays in committed relationships to any ordained ministry in the church.
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AMERICAN BAPTIST CHURCHES IN THE USA: 1.3 million U.S. members. Holds that “the practice of homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching.” The Baptist tradition emphasizes local autonomy, and some churches have appointed openly gay ministers, creating tensions.
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UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST: 1.1 million U.S. members. Boasts a long track record of welcoming gay clergy. Allowed ordination of an openly gay man and openly lesbian woman in the 1970s. Ordination of practicing homosexuals was officially accepted in 1980.
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Not listed are the Roman Catholic Church which views gays as "inherently disordered" and would impose life long celibacy and the Southern Baptist Convention which would basically stone gays to death if Richard Land and the SBC leadership though they they could get away with it.

Monday Male Beauty

Meet Bob "Dubya" McDonnell - Fooled Again?

The Virginia Democrat has a post from yesterday that looks at the parallels between the Chimperator's 2000 campaign and what is happening in the current race for governor of Virginia. The piece correctly places some of the blame on the lazy MSM which is failing to look at the substance of McDonnell's past record and instead focus on political maneuvering and running stories without substance - basically the same bullshit that helped get the Chimperator elected in 2000 and allowed the country to be sucked into the Iraq War. Since the MSM is once again NOT doing its job, it is imperative that the Deeds team change the storyline to put the focus on the real Bob McDonnell - not the carefully packaged one show by his disingenuous campaign. I recommend Virginians read the full post. Here are some highlights:

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Bob McDonnell’s love of George W. Bush’s economic policies is not the only thing Bob has in common with our 43rd president, perhaps the worst in our history. In fact, if Bob McDonnell is elected governor, odds are he will do for Virginia what Dubya did for the United States. So, I guess, if you liked George W. Bush, you will probably love Bob McDonnell. As for me and all other sentient Virginians, however, it scares the Bejesus out of us.

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All of this was easily foreseen from Bush’s record. And it is not as if this record was hidden; the mainstream media reported it all, even if they did not embrace it as a theme for their campaign coverage. The reason is that Bush ran a brilliant campaign in 2000 that showed an uncanny knack for manipulating media coverage to his benefit. Times were good. After eight years of good management under Bill Clinton, the country was doing well, and it was hard for people to envision how a President could screw it up so royally.

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There were two reasons for this state of affairs. First, The Bush campaign did an excellent job of keeping the focus during the 2000 campaign on the political process rather than substance. Was Al Gore telling another white lie? Was he changing the color of his clothes? Are the Clintons against him? Was his kiss with Tipper at the convention in poor taste? And on and on. Second, for a variety of reasons the MSM far preferred writing stories about these process issues rather than do serious and more difficult reporting, reporting that admittedly may have been arguably less appealing to readers generally, but without question more useful to informing voters. (If you have time and want to take a fascinating look at the press’s performance in this election, go check out the incomparable archives, circa 1999-2000, of legendary web site The Daily Howler.)

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In 2009 in Virginia, Bob seems to have the very same problem that Dubya had in 2000, nationally. He has a record as a legislator – anti-choice, anti-public education, obstructing efforts to create jobs, anti-worker, anti-Southside, and gay – that were it fully understood and evaluate would be troubling to Virginia’s growing purple population. That is why Bob is working very hard to obfuscate his record in this election. So far, so good -- for him, at least. The press has not shown an inclination to really probe into Bob’s record and let voters know what that record may say about what kind of governor Bob McDonnell might make. And like George W. Bush, McDonnell has (so far) successfully sought to keep the campaign's focus firmly on process, not the issues. For example, when Creigh raised the issue of Bob’s record on choice, the MSM covered is mainly as a process story, evaluating it as a campaign tactic, rather than getting to the substance of the charge that Bob's rhetoric was at odds with his record. The MSM didn't even flinch when Bob simply refused to discuss it, because as a matter of process, it was a brilliant strategy. And when McDonnell falsely charges that Creigh promised not to bring up social issues in the campaign, well, yee-ha, we got us another process story!

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Faced with a record of hostility toward gay Virginians and a consistent record of supporting discrimination again gay people throughout society, Bob simply says, “I won’t discriminate.” Oh, all right then -- a good tactical move, even if it is totally inconsistent with his entire career. Creigh made a major speech this past week defining the differences between himself and Bob. The McDonnell campaign falsely alleged it was just another is a series of restarts, when everyone knew that the real campaign has not even begun yet – that will happen on Labor Day. And, of course, the MSM was only too willing to cover the speech as a process story, reporting on, but eschewing any serious discussion of the issues Creigh’s speech raised. Rather, we got a process story about Creigh and NoVA, right out the McDonnell/Bush playbook. The story is the same on virtually every substantive area.

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On transportation, Bob proposes a funding plan so absurd it is difficult to think someone as smart as him actually believes it. But, he sure expects us to buy into it. On education, Bob has been singularly uninterested in public education his entire public career, but somehow expects us to believe it will be a priority for him if elected governor. Anyone who has looked at Bob’s record, however, knows this is just so much hooey. It goes on and on.

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But here is the cold, hard truth. Records matter. More than the rhetoric candidates utter in the crucible of an election, records are much better indicators of what a politician may do once they get into office than anything else, particularly campaign rhetoric. Bob can try to run from his extreme Conservative record and from his clear focus on narrow, ideologically driven responses to critical issues in the Commonwealth. He may even succeed as a candidate. But the fact is that Bob’s record is a much more accurate indicator of the kind of Governor he will be, and that is why it is important that he be forced to respond to questions raised on social issues; questions raised on his non-existent record on supporting public education; questions raised on his drill, baby, drill certitude on off-shore drilling even though the science is unclear; and questions raised by his clear ideologically-driven record on the economy,

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One way or another, voters need to see and comprehend Bob’s record, or we could be seeing the Third Bush Term in Virginia for the next four years.I can only quote, ironically enough, former President Bush’s own words of warning: “Fool me once, shame on me. Fool me twice, and, uh, we won’t get fooled again.”

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I am not sure how to get the media and the talking heads to focus on the real Bob McDonnell rather than mindlessly repeating the drivel his campaign puts out. Virginia is headed for serious trouble if McDonnell is elected. As I have said before, it would be tantamount to handing the direction of the state to Pat Robertson and The Family Foundation. That prospect should terrify all thinking Virginians.

In Real Estate, A Scrambles to Survive

Many people, the ex-wife include and judges who are safely isolated from the larger economic reality living off of the public sector, truly have no concept as to just what has happened to business that made the bulk of the revenues off of the residential real estate market. It has been brutal and revenues are down drastically leaving title companies, realtors, and real estate based law firms, surveyors struggling to survive. I visited the regional office of a large national title insurance recently, and half the employees that worked there in the boom days are gone. The same holds true in other real estate related businesses. A story in the Arizona republic looks at the case of realtors. Previously, a Long Island New York story looked at laid off attorneys - over 5,000 have been let go by large firms - seeking jobs as legal secretaries and paralegals mostly without success. It is grim and until residential real estate really recovers, do not expect a bounce back in the larger economy in my view. Here are some highlights from the Arizona Republic story:

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Real-estate agents have been among those hardest hit by the housing collapse. As the entire Phoenix real-estate industry remakes itself in pursuit of a recovery, agents who once sold 10 homes a week and earned six-figure salaries now tend foreclosure properties for little more than gas money while they hope for a listing. Brett Barry is a well-known north Phoenix agent who has gone from selling dream homes to handling evictions and open houses for foreclosure homes. He moved his office into his living room, works much longer hours for far less money but still makes his living selling homes.

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Former Valley real-estate agents are working at restaurants, grocery and clothing stores, and temporary office jobs. Some plan to go back to selling homes when the market recovers, while others have given up on the business. "I was recently at a restaurant, and the guy serving us used to be one of my big competitors," Barry said. "It's humbling for all of us. I told him not to feel bad about being a waiter because I am basically a runner for lenders these days, dealing with many unhappy people for not much money."

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In 2006, the typical commission for a local real-estate agent was 3 percent on a $270,000 home. Now, it's more like 2 percent on an $80,000 foreclosure home that requires a lot more work and up-front costs to sell.

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About 60 percent of all Valley home sales now are foreclosures. About 15 percent are short sales. Even if a home isn't in some stage of foreclosure, a seller must compete with foreclosure price levels.

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Of course, this huge decline in income has a ripple effect as purchase of other items drop drastically and those losing their homes to foreclosure have the credit destroyed - and the downward spiral continues in far too many localities.

More Sunday Male Beauty

GOP House of Delegates Contender Embraces Gay-Rights Positions

I am sure that this story will get the Christo-fascists at The Family Foundation ("TFF") hopping mad and cause its executive director, Victoria Cobb, to start foaming at the mouth and convulsing on the floor. A GOP candidate for the Virginia House of Delegates has - oh the horror - taken a pro-gay rights stand on several issues that are an obsession with TFF. Republican Eric Brescia is running for a district in Arlington, Virginia, historically one of the most progressive areas in the state, so an anti-gay position would not be well received by the voters of that demographically diverse district. This obviously partially explains his positions. However, what I find really interesting is that Brescia says that his pro-gay positions are in keeping with true Republican principles. And you know what? As a member of the GOP in its days before the Christianists took over the party, Republican principles of that time would support a pro-gay rights mindset. Here are some highlights from the Sun Gazette:

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A candidate for office in Arlington who wants to get rid of the state constitutional amendment banning gay marriage, eliminate the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy and allow the county government to give domestic-partner benefits to unmarried members of the government workforce?Sounds like it’s pretty standard stuff for a Democrat. But coming from a Republican, it might raise some eyebrows.

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And yet that’s where Republican Eric Brescia stands. Brescia, seeking to succeed retiring Democratic Del. Albert Eisenberg, has made gay rights a theme prominent enough in his campaign to be featured, if in generalities only, on his Web site. “If I’m elected, I will actively fight for full equality under the law for gays and lesbians,” Brescia told the Sun Gazette.

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“Religious organizations should continue to be free to recognize marriages according to their own teachings, but the principles of separation of church and state and equality under the law demand that we allow consenting adults, whether gay or straight, to enter into civil marriage,” he said.

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Brescia, an economist who was drafted to run earlier this year, said he supports ending prohibitions on service in the military by openly gay individuals; supports adding sexual orientation to protected classes in Virginia’s hate-crimes and fair-housing rules; and supports allowing local governments in Virginia to give certain benefits to unmarried partners of government workers, something Arlington officials have been seeking since 1997. Brescia said it all boils down to basic Republican core values. “I’m a Republican because I believe in individual freedom, the right to contract and equality under the law,” he said.

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Both contenders not only find themselves to the left of Republican gubernatorial candidate Robert McDonnell on the issue, but also to the left of Democratic gubernatorial candidate Creigh Deeds, who relatively consistently opposed gay-rights measures when they came before the state Senate. That doesn’t concern Mark Kelly, chairman of the Arlington County Republican Committee.“Eric’s candidacy has been met with enthusiasm by Arlington Republicans, even though some may differ with him on some of the issues,” Kelly said.

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The Arlington Gay and Lesbian Alliance (AGLA) hadn’t been aware of Brescia’s positions until queried by the media, but the organization’s president said she was pleased to hear of them. Beth Kozlow said AGLA planned an October candidate forum in which Brescia, Hope and Ruebner - plus candidates for other offices - could lay out their positions on issues of concern to the local gay and lesbian community. Kozlow said it is a savvy move on Brescia’s part to stake out inclusive positions on issues of importance to the gay community.“If he wants to appeal to where Arlington County is on this issue, it’s a wise position to take, [and] not entirely surprising,” she said.

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The reality is that as the older homophobic generations die off, to win elections politicians will have to face the fact that younger generations of voters favor gay equality. Thus, it will be a case of changing with society or getting defeated at the polls. True, this change will take far longer to occur in backwards areas of Virginia such as Martinsville and backwaters in the far southwest of the state. Nonetheless, the change WILL come eventually.

Weekend Reflections and Re-Energizing One's Self

The boyfriend and I are back home after a trip to Charlottesville to visit my mom. My mental state is much improved over that of Friday following the post divorce court hearing when I was truly to the point of ending it all. The trip was interesting for several reasons. First, it is interesting to note the difference in how the boyfriend treats my mother as compared to the ex-wife - he treats her (and me) far better. Second, with it being the weekend that incoming First Year students arrive to start the fall semester - at UVA the terms freshman, sophomore, etc. are NOT used - it made me think back to my arrival at UVA more than 35 years ago (looking pretty much like in the photo at left) and I could not help but wonder how my life might have differed if I had had the courage to accept myself back then. While I would in no way give up my children and would repeat everything again to have them as part of my life, one still finds the mind wondering about the "what ifs." What if, for example I had responded to friends who I think in retrospect may have been having the same feelings as myself.

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The other thing that got me thinking was going to church with my mom at the Catholic parish at the University - a true sacrifice for my mom's sake - where I attended daily mass for years trying to pray myself away for attraction to other guys. As I've done before, I look out at the young students and wonder how many are going through the same religious brainwashing and religious based self-hate as I did at that point in my life. Don't get me wrong, the University parish does much good and being run by the Dominicans, it is nowhere near as reactionary and gay hating as are typical Catholic parishes. I was, however, disheartened to see the Knights of Columbus trying to recruit students for a student council - the same Knights who have NEVER gone after the Church hierarchy on the sex abuse scandal while continuing to brown nose the hierarchy to the point of near suffocation. The same Knights who have donated huge amounts of money to support anti-gay marriage initiatives. The ultimate hypocrisy was the piece in the bulletin how the Knights "fill your hearts and minds with the joy of helping others." The knights have done nothing to support families of victims of sexual abuse by priests and nothing to help gay Catholics.

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Despite such thoughts and reflections, it was a good weekend and I believe that my mom truly enjoyed our visit and being squired around and waited on. As for me, it was a much needed change of scenery. One of the projects we took on was restoring her wedding album which is showing its 59 years of age. While we have it, I want to make some copies of the photos and share a few her on the blog. In her younger days, my mother was a real beauty and my dad quite handsome.

Sunday Male Beauty

Lutheran Gay Clergy Vote Tests Mainline Churches

As I have previously noted, I am very happy with the vote by the ELCA to adopt both the social statement on human sexuality and the resolution allowing partnered clergy in same sex relationships because at last I feel that I am fully welcomed and part of the church. I will certainly encourage friends who lack church homes because of the sexual orientation to check out the ELCA. But I am also happy with the vote for another reason - it will challenge other churches to accept modern knowledge on sexual orientation and move into the 21st century or remain among the ignorant backward denominations that in time will become increasingly marginalized in time by the younger generations that favor gay marriage. If a denomination wants to become the stronghold for the old and uneducated so be it, but there will ultimately be a cost to be paid. My own children have stated that they will not go to a church that is not gay friendly and up until now have had limited options. A column in the Washington Post looks at the challenge the ELCA has laid down:

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In breaking down barriers restricting gays and lesbians from the pulpit, the nation's largest Lutheran denomination has laid down a new marker in a debate over the direction of mainline Protestant Christianity, a tradition that once dominated American religious life.

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By voting Friday to allow gays and lesbians in committed relationships to serve as clergy, the 4.7-million member Evangelical Lutheran Church in America will either show how a church can stand together amid differences, or become another casualty of division over sexual morality and the Bible, observers say. "We're going to be living in tension and ambiguity for a longer time, partly because the culture has shifted," said David Steinmetz, a Duke Divinity School professor of Christian history.

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The ELCA - the nation's seventh largest Christian church - reached its conclusion after eight years of study and deliberation. That culminated Friday when the church's national assembly in Minneapolis struck down a policy that required any gay and lesbian clergy to remain celibate.

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The assembly also signed off on finding ways for willing congregations to "recognize, support and hold publicly accountable lifelong, monogamous, same gender relationships." The church fell short of calling that gay marriage, but conservatives see that as the next step. While congregations will not be forced to hire gay clergy, conservative ELCA members decried the decisions as straying from clear Scriptural direction and warned that defections are likely.

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The ELCA's move is especially jarring and significant because "it is viewed by all of us as one of the more Reformation-rooted, broadly orthodox denominations" and takes its theology seriously, said Richard Mouw, president of the multi-denominational and evangelical Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, Calif.

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Barbara Wheeler, a former president of Auburn Theological Seminary in New York who is now director of the school's Center for the Study of Theological Education, praised the ELCA for laying a theological foundation for Friday's vote by first approving a broad social statement on sexuality. . . . "What you're seeing is two things: The society is in the process of changing its collective mind about the moral status of same-sex relationships, and there's a parallel theological movement."

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Conservative ELCA members have warned of damaged relationships with Lutherans in other countries. While Lutherans in Europe and Scandinavia are to the left of the ELCA on homosexuality, African and Asian Lutherans have been taught a more conservative line by missionaries and theologians, said the Rev. Conrad Braaten, senior pastor of Church of the Reformation, an ELCA congregation in Washington, D.C. Braaten is optimistic the ELCA can hold together through the sexuality tensions.

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Braaten is optimistic the ELCA can hold together through the sexuality tensions. "This particular discussion has been going on with a lot of deep feelings in the Lutheran church, but not a lot of acrimony and not a lot of bridges being burnt," he said. "I think that's going to make a difference."

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For readers in search of a church home, please consider the ELCA - I would love to have the church expand because of this bold decision and further pressure other denominations to move into the 21st century or run the risk of dying out.

Why Are Republicans - And Conservative Christians in Particular - Against Health Care Reform?

The New York Times has a main editorial today that looks at the consequences of millions of Americans not having health insurance coverage. Among them ar 18,000 needlessdeaths each year, inefficient and costly use of emergency rooms in lieu primary care givers, and late diagnosis of problems that could have been addressed earlier thereby saving huge costs later. As I have said before, the irony is that the principal opponents of a public option are conservative Republians - who constantly proclaim that they are pro-life and Christian - and their evangelical Christian base. 18,000 needless deaths and the sick going untreated certainly do not strike me as something that Christ would have approved of based on the Gospels which so many of these opponents of health care reform claim are inerrant. The hypocrisy of it all is most telling and further demonstrates that fundamentalism is turing the Christian message into something truly evil. As for the GOP elected officials, they obviously honor the money they receive from drug companies and the insurance industry more than the Gospel message. I wish the MSM would challenge these hypocrites on this issue. Here are some highlights from the editorial:

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No matter how you slice the numbers, there are tens of millions of people without insurance, often for extended periods, and there is good evidence that lack of insurance is harmful to their health. Scores of well-designed studies have shown that uninsured people are more likely than insured people to die prematurely, to have their cancers diagnosed too late, or to die from heart failure, a heart attack, a stroke or a severe injury. The Institute of Medicine estimated in 2004 that perhaps 18,000 deaths a year among adults could be attributed to lack of insurance.

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The oft-voiced suggestion that the uninsured can always go to an emergency room also badly misunderstands what is happening. By the time they do go, many of these people are much sicker than they would have been had insurance given them access to routine and preventive care. Emergency rooms are costly, and if uninsured patients cannot pay for their care, the hospital or the government ends up footing the bill.

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The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality in the Department of Health and Human Services estimates that 28 million people were uninsured for all of 2005 and 2006 and that 18.5 million of them were uninsured for at least four straight years. That does not sound like a “temporary” problem, and the picture today is almost certainly bleaker.

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THE WORKING POOR The Kaiser Family Foundation estimates that about two-thirds of the uninsured — 30 million people — earn less than twice the poverty level, or about $44,000 for a family of four. It also estimates that more than 80 percent of the uninsured come from families with full-time or part-time workers. They often cannot get coverage at work or find it too expensive to buy. They surely deserve a helping hand.
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THE UNDERINSURED The Commonwealth Fund estimates that 25 million Americans who had health insurance in 2007 had woefully inadequate policies with high deductibles and restrictions that stuck them with large amounts of uncovered expenses. Many postponed needed treatments or went into debt to pay medical bills.

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If nothing is done to slow current trends, the number of people in this country without insurance or with inadequate coverage will continue to spiral upward. That would be a personal tragedy for many and a moral disgrace for the nation. It is also by no means cost-free. Any nation as rich as ours ought to guarantee health coverage for all of its residents.