Jul 31, 2011

THE GOD GULF: ¨...religious people and secular people alike do fantastic work on humanitarian issues — but they often don’t work together because of mutual suspicions.

Evangelicals Without Blowhards
¨...Centuries ago, serious religious study was extraordinarily demanding and rigorous; in contrast, anyone could declare himself a scientist and go in the business of, say, alchemy. These days, it’s the reverse. A Ph.D. in chemistry is a rigorous degree, while a preacher can explain the Bible on television without mastering Hebrew or Greek — or even showing interest in the nuances of the original texts.

Those self-appointed evangelical leaders come across as hypocrites, monetizing Jesus rather than emulating him. Some seem homophobic, and many who claim to be “pro-life” seem little concerned with human life post-uterus. Those are the preachers who won headlines and disdain...¨   please read it allHERE

·  Thanks to End Bigotry in Venango County, sidebar
·  Thanks to  Nicholas Kristof

Jul 13, 2011

ARIZONA HERE I COME: I´m returning to the scene of the non-crime -- well, mostly non-crimes!

The Grand Canyon (the real reason David Hicks and Lady Pamela came to see us at all)
Once upon a time I lived in Arizona (a truly hot story)

I once lived behind Camelback Mountain and accross the road from the Camelback Inn in Scottsdale in the mid to late 1960´s.  I leased a lovely desert house, with a little bridge over a dry (mostly) arroyo running behind, from a nifty lady named Dorothy Sterner who lived in Oklahoma (most of the time).  Sometimes , Dorothy, the landlady, popped in and used part of the house, the attached ¨Guest House¨ (really just a added on room with a kitchenette and bath with it´s own entrance), whenever she felt Arizona inclined.  Dorothy was fun, no problema. 

We were all fun in those days of lots of parties (even one with our very own Spanish Marquis houseguest featured--who made our own brand of ¨Wild, Wild West¨ seem very, very tame).  Anyway, I made lots of wonderful friends in those Arizona daze as I worked at Goldwaters Department Store which was a very fancy place HERE to work as a Buyer. I gradually, moment by moment, became very fond of the desertlife and even Arizona (I´d moved there from San Francisco and spent the first year+ going through a sort of young/Gay mans cultural shock as I tried to see flowers when they said the desert was in full bloom in the Spring)!  Good thing there were plenty of New York and Los Angeles buying trips to keep me from drying up and blowing away! Yikes, it was boring to a 20something kid from ¨The City!¨

Every year, year after year, in the Summertime the locals would say ¨I don´t remember it ever being this hot!¨ One time the guy who was cleaning my windows (yes, they did that then) at the Gasoline Station wiped off my face with his spong when I rolled down my window to pay!  Ole´ It was hot as airborne Chili Peppers all day and night every day and night!

Tomorrow I´ll be returning to Arizona for a visit to the Summertime land of my ¨it´s never been this hot¨ young adulthood. No really, I´ll be saying by tomorrow night, ¨I never remembered it being this hot!¨
No doubt I´ll also be remembering lots of smiling faces and identifying a few special places but it´s edging toward fifty years ago since I lived there...quite a long time ago and I know for sure that Barry Goldwater no longer lives down the road and David Hicks and Lady Pamela Mountbatten, won´t be dropping by (for a ¨design¨ promotion I created at our Scottsdale Store where Lady Pamela told me to ¨go drink some champagne¨ when I was nervously twitching when posing with her for a trade magazine photo).  I liked her, my kind of Royal Family. I haven´t  forgotten much of the real life ¨Valley of the Sun¨  petina that added so much to my young working life-- happy recollections today--and then of course there will no longer be Miss Kitty from T.V.´s Gunsmoke and the pregnant Svetlana (daughter of Joseph Stalin) coming into the store to be waited upon and served with style (with an extra broad smile) regularly--they are doing their hob-nobbing and shopping elsewhere these days.

My most favorite of all the many memories of Arizona is when ¨tubing¨ down the ¨Verde¨ River on Sunday afternoons and our many BBQ´s afterward (bottoms up)...we were often joined by the lovely, retired executive from ATT&T/NYC, lively, white haired and ever-glad and spirited, Miss Clara Ursula O´Donnell.  Clara was great friend who was a tireless member of our ¨running¨ pack (she was in her late 70´s at the time) and we shared many adventures with dear Clara during the four years I lived there---I will pay Clara a little visit at the Saint Francis Cemetery one day soon...I know she will be glad when we have our get-together again...think I´ll take a little bouquet of flowers along to add to the festivities.

Off I go.  I´ll check in with you along the way...thanks be to God for another joyous today.

Leonardo Ricardo/Len
No Anglican Covenant

Jul 12, 2011

ALARMING: 2010 Statics Report 23% Increase In Number Of Confirmed LGBTQ Murders!


DOCUMENTS REPORT SECOND HIGHEST INCREASE IN ANTI-GAY MURDER IN THE ORGANIZATION´S HISTORY

New York – ¨Alarming 2010 statistics from the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs (NCAVP) released today show a 23% increase in the number of confirmed murders of LGBTQ and HIV-Positive people in the United States. The report documents the second highest increase in anti-gay murder in the organization’s history. Transgender people and queer people of color are the most targeted populations in America for “severe hate violence,”according to the media summary. In addition to these staggering statistics for hate crimes murders, there has been a documented increase of hate violence against LGBTQ communities of 13% over 2009. The NCAVP is the most comprehensive aggregator of anti-gay hate crimes statistics in the nation, serving as an important counterpoint to the Federal Bureau of Investigation stats issued annually as well.

In a national audio press conference today, the NCAVP released its report Hate Violence Against Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and HIV-Affected Communities in the United States in 2010. NCAVP collected data concerning hate violence against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer (LGBTQ) and HIV-affected people, from 17 anti-violence programs in 15 states across the country including: Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Illinois, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New York, Ohio, Texas, Vermont and Wisconsin. While the report shows the crisis of violence against sexual minority communities in the United States, the numbers of non-reporting states indicates that the actual number of cases of hate crimes against LGBTQ people is much, much higher than these statistics alone.

The NCAVP report quoted anti-violence experts from around the nation to highlight the severity of the losses for the last year: “This increase in murders signals a pattern of severe, ongoing violence against LGBTQ and HIV-affected communities,” said Jake Finney from L.A. Gay and Lesbian Center in Los Angeles, California. “Transgender individuals and people of color face multiple forms of discrimination on the basis of race, gender identity and other factors, which can make them more vulnerable to severe violence,” said Maria Carolina Morales from Community United Against Violence in San Francisco, California. “Additionally, the general public, law enforcement, and the media may be less inclined to address, prevent and respond to violence against these communities, making this violence seem invisible and ignored.”  please read detailed statistics  HERE

·  Thanks to Unfinished Lives, sidebar
·  Thanks to Stephen V. Sprinkle

LURKING IN THE SHADOW OF DR. ROWAN WILLIAMS: ¨There are some dark corners in the Church of England where activity, unhealthy in terms of human wholeness and flourishing, takes place...¨

ATTN Archbishop Rowan Williams: ¨When people are not able to bring their full selves into the presence of other people (and into the divine presence), as happens in the House of Bishops, the fruits of their labours are going to be less creative and less inclined to human flourishing... ¨
How will the House of Bishops take discussions about human sexuality forward?

¨It has been very difficult to get an accurate picture of life inside the House of Bishops. One thought that a gay bishop was open about his sexuality in the House, but no other bishops confirmed this, and most were unaware that there were any gay bishops. I’ve learnt things that I’m not going to make public, but reinforce the danger to human lives, wives, children and partners when the conservative lobby groups in the church force people to hide their true selves and deny their sexuality, with the result that they act out in inappropriate and abusive ways.

I’ve thought a lot about what has happened in the Murdoch empire and the revelations about the News of the World. There are some dark corners in the Church of England where activity, unhealthy in terms of human wholeness and flourishing, takes place. When people are not able to bring their full selves into the presence of other people (and into the divine presence), as happens in the House of Bishops, the fruits of their labours are going to be less creative and less inclined to human flourishing...¨ please read it all, HERE

·  Thanks to Changing Attitude, Church of England
·  Thanks to The Reverend Colin Coward

Jul 11, 2011

SLEAZE MOGUL GETTING RICHER FROM CHRISTIAN MORALIZERS: Rupert Murdoch is one of America’s number one publishers of evangelical and other religious books...¨


No more excuses. We all know about Murdoch now.

By Frank Schaeffer

¨From here on out it’s time to out those who choose to stay in bed with the sleazy man from down under who elbowed his way into America and the UK, damaged our political systems, perhaps fatally, all the while insulting our intelligence and aiding and abetting our war machine.


We can’t boycott every dubious corporation on earth. But with Murdoch’s sleaze-infested ambition to control the politics of so much of the world a reality a line’s been crossed. It is time to pull an “Arab Spring” on the whole Murdoch empire and overthrow it. And we of the outraged “street” can do it at last because so many political and media leaders, who have sucked up to Murdoch for decades, are running for cover.

I know it’s not considered polite to be judgmental but I’ll say it: to work for any part of News Corp, Murdoch, Fox and/or any or all of his companies, let alone to publish books with him makes you an accomplice to a very bad person...¨ please read it all, HERE


News Corporation: Statement from the Church of England's Ethical Investment Advisory Group

¨The behaviour of the News of the World has been utterly reprehensible and unethical.

While the EIAG welcomes the decision to close the News of the World, this action is not a sufficient response to the revelations of malpractice at the paper. Nor does it address the failure of News International and News Corporation executives to undertake a proper investigation and take decisive remedial action as soon as the police uncovered illegal phone hacking in 2006.

The EIAG Chairman has written to Rupert Murdoch today (8/7/11) to insist that the Board of News Corporation takes all necessary measures to instil investor confidence in the ethical and governance standards of News Corporation.

We cannot imagine circumstances in which we would be satisfied with any outcome that does not hold senior executives to account at News Corporation for the gross failures of management at the News of the World.
HERE

· Thanks to Frank Schaeffer, sidebar HERE
· Thanks to Alernet
· Thanks to Thinking Anglicans, sidebar
· Thanks to The Anglican Church, Media Center

NO TO DEMONIZING, BIGOTRY AND MURDER AT CHURCH: ¨...the history of genocide worldwide where religious and political leaders decide that certain groups are simply not deserving of recognition as human beings...¨

2008 Lambeth Conference inhumanity: To Dr. Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury (and other reality pretenders and dangerous excluders),  YOU must stop isolating, demeaning and excluding LGBTI Anglicans at the Anglican Communon!
¨You did not hear or read much about it, but the arc of justice stretched far and wide on June 17, 2011, when the United Nations Human Rights Council passed a resolution affirming that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons are entitled to the same protections afforded other human beings around the world.

I have never been more proud to be an American and a global citizen of the United Nations than on the day the United States and the majority of nation-members of the U.N. issued this declaration...

The Reverend Dr. Cindi Love,  Executive Director, Soulforce
¨...For my family -- my spouse of 31 years, my son and my daughter and me, the most important aspect of the resolution was its recognition that we are human beings, blood and bone just like everyone else.

When that simple recognition is not present in the hearts and minds of leaders of churches and nations, people die -- we've seen it again and again in the history of genocide worldwide where religious   history of horrors  and political leaders decide that certain groups are simply not deserving of recognition as human beings.

Alex McFarland of ¨The American Family¨ Association
Sadly, the politicians most often take up their killing ways based on the convincing bully pulpits of fundamentalist Christians and Muslims. Case in point -- Alex McFarland of the American Family Association, the group co-hosting Texas Governor Rick Perry's The Response Prayer Rally.

McFarland says that Perry's event is needed more than ever after marriage equality passed in New York. He claims that the world is now in The Latter Days and that we shouldn't confuse LGBT rights with human rights because LGBT equality means that immorality [will] become the law of the land.   HERE

·  Thanks to Mad Priest, Rowan Williams/V. Gene Robinson illustration   HERE
·  Thanks to The Reverend Dr. Cindi Love, Soulforce
·  Thanks to The Huffington Post, sidebar
·  Thanks to Father Jake Stops The World, sidebar HERE

Jul 9, 2011

Sort of a Music Hall Joke: ¨What are Archbishop Rowan's thoughts on lay ministry? Archbishop Rowan doesn´t have any thoughts on lay ministry, does he? Does he? Boom-Boom¨ Lay Anglicana


The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, delivered his Presidential Address today at the General Synod's July 2011 Group of Sessions, held at York University. The full text  HERE

¨Archbishop Rowan is a gifted orator, and it is clear from the twitter reactions to his speech that it was well-received overall. For the bishops and clergy present, I can see that 'heart spoke unto heart'. But what about his listeners from the House of Laity? What about other lay people, looking on? What about the LGBT community, as David Goss reminded us on twitter?

I see nothing here for any of us except a desert and waste land.

Luckily, my experience of God is more or less the opposite of what ++Rowan appears to have in mind as the 'correct' way for lay people to experience Him, and that is solely as demonstrated by the ordained. Kindly meant, no doubt, but if, after 60 years of Christian worship, I had to rely on the priesthood to explain to me what was meant by Christianity, it wouldn't say much for their effectiveness over a lifetime, now would it?... please read it all By Lay AnglicanaHERE

...One priest who has shown, and continues to show me the way is the Revd Lesley Fellows. Here is an extract from a recent post of hers¨:

¨...The church sometimes draws me towards God and sometimes away from God. Sometimes I wonder whether there is more darkness than light in the church. However, I find myself connected to God through the Eucharist and even if it is that one sacrament alone that the church offers as light, that still leaves me committed to the church for my spiritual refreshment, however infuriated I sometimes get the Reverend Dr. Lesley FellowsHERE

·  Thanks to Lay Anglicana, sidebar HERE
·  Thanks to Lesley´s Blog, sidebar
·  Thanks to The Archbishop of Canterbury, HERE

Jul 8, 2011

HETEROSEXUAL ¨LORD¨ MURDERS INNOCENTS: ¨A Durham man who led a religious group killed a 4-year-old boy who he feared was GAY and a 28-year-old WOMAN who couldn't have children...¨

Jadon Higganbothan ¨feared Gay¨
Antoinetta Yvonne McKoy  ¨childless¨
Prayers ascending
Durham, N.C. — A Durham man who led a religious group killed a 4-year-old boy who he feared was gay and a 28-year-old woman who couldn't have children and wanted to leave the group, prosecutors said in a court hearing Friday.

¨Lord¨ Peter Lucas Moses
Prosecutors laid out evidence they believe justifies the death penalty against Peter Lucas Moses, 27, who faces two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Jadon Higganbothan, 4, and Antoinetta Yvonne McKoy, 28. Defense attorneys didn't speak in his behalf at a court hearing Friday. HERE

· Thanks to WRAL, Raleigh, North Carolina
· Thanks to Joe.My.God., sidebar

THE SADISTIC HUMAN RIGHTS LEGACY OF ARCHBISHOP DREXEL GOMEZ: LGBTI bloodrenched Jamaica/Anglican Province of the West Indies goes ignored by many bigotted Anglican bishops and corrupt public officials!

Homophobic Anglican Archbishop Drexel Gomez, not-retired-enough,  remains chairperson of the ¨punitive¨ Anglican Covenant ¨design group¨  HERE
The LGBTI Bloodrenched Flag of Jamaica
Kingston, Jamaica ---July 7, 2011

More than fifty men and women who identify as lesbian, gay or bisexual have faced various human rights violations between January and June 2011.

¨Jamaicans continue to experience human rights violations at the hands of their family, friends, neighbours, landlord, police or mobs because of their sexual orientation. Since January 2011, fifty-one incidents, including mob attacks, physical abuse, home evictions, and discrimination were reported with forty-seven of these meted out to males. Similar to national statistics on crime and violence, young people, 18 to 29 years, continue to be the main victims of violence based on sexual orientation. Young people made more than 30 of the 51 reports.

JFLAG says homophobic violence is on the increase across Jamaica. More than 50 cases reported

“On average, J-FLAG has documented between 30 and 40 cases annually over the past three years, but we have seen an increase in the number of reports which shows that homophobia based harassment and discrimination continues because of the lack of protection of the human rights of homosexuals living in Jamaica by the state,” says Dane Lewis, Executive Director at J-FLAG...¨  please read it all,
HERE

·  Thanks to Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer Jamaica, sidebar   HERE

Jul 7, 2011

THE GREAT AMERICAN RELIGIOUS FRAUDSTERS: ¨...wrap themselves in the flag, but when push comes to shove, their religious values, theocratic values, they are not talking about the same America the rest of us are looking at...¨

Michele Bachmann is a Minnesota Congresswoman and the sweetheart of the Tea Party. She has ignorantly riled up thousands of people with barrels of lies and propaganda against Obama and the Democratic party. Her actions have been at best irresponsible and at worst, criminal. All the while, she has smiled and made some of the most hysterical comments ever made in a political arena HERE
Governor Rick Perry of Texas
¨....any guy that starts a national run by calling a prayer meeting and mixing the issues of church and state as he has in Texas is someone who has his eye on this little group. But I say one more time just before we go. It's total hypocrisy because these people know that group helps them win the primary but when the Republicans get into office it's about serving corporate Wall Street interests.

It has nothing to do with the social agenda they get elected on so it's a scam, but it's a scam that keeps working. Forty years of Republican domination of the American political process based on abortion, gay rights, these other things they wave around, but actually it's really about corporate America.¨  By Frank Schaeffer, HERE

Congresswoman Bachmann comes from the ¨literal understanding of the Bible¨ evangelical movement
Her own anti-gay views have been well-documented and her allies in the fight against us are some of the most violently homophobic people we have seen in this decade. The Reverend Bradlee Dean/pictured (who has defended the execution of gay people) is her pal. HERE
¨...It will be a liability with the general public when they learn how radical she is.
She comes from a wing of the evangelical movement where takes the Bible literally, and that includes the old testament that has passages about stoning gay people to death and all the rest of it...

Half-term Governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin is a member of the far ¨religious right¨
...And, of course, Michele Bachmann, like Sarah Palin and others on the far religious right is too politically savvy to express clearly what she believes...

Husband Marcus Bachmann’s Ex-Gay Problem is part of Michele Bachmann´s secret hypocrisy, HERE
...But the fact of the matter is, the part of Christianity she comes from is radical even for evangelical Bible believers. And so I think- I think gradually, it will become apparent to American voters that she could not win the general election. And Republicans are going to have to make a choice to either be a normal political party or, really, theocracy in waiting with people like Michele Bachmann, who in the best of all possible worlds, as far as she would see it, would produce a theocracy in the country where the Bible would be paramount and no longer the Constitution or the Bill of Rights...¨ By Frank Schaeffer, HERE

Former ALASKAN Governor Sarah Palin and Todd Palin are linked to ¨secessionists¨
¨...Well, you know when you mentioned her husband talking about gay people being barbarians and if you look, for instance at Sarah Palin's family, they've had a lot to do with the secessionist movement in Alaska. You're not part of a movement that says it wants to secede from the union in the United States if you like this country...¨ By Frank Schaeffer, HERE

·  Thanks to Frank Schaeffer*, sidebar
·  Thanks to Crooks and Liars, sidebar
·  Thanks to Video Cafe
·  Thanks to MSNBC's Richard Lui
·  Thanks to Box Turtle Bulletin, sidebar
·  Thanks to Jim Burroway
·  Thanks to City Pages, Minneapolis HERE
·  Thanks to Illustration by Robin Eley for City Pages
·  Thanks to G.R. Anderson Jr.
·  Thanks to Talk About Equality,  HERE
·  Thanks to Anna Grau, Nueva York    HERE

* For anyone not already familiar with Frank Schaeffer, I posted this interview back in 2009 just after Schaeffer came out with his book, Crazy for God -- Frank Schaeffer, Author of "Crazy for God" on What's Left of the GOP: Today the Republican Party is rooting for doom. Schaeffer has a new book out, this time focusing on his mother rather than his father as the previous book did and MSNBC's Richard Lui brought him on to discuss the current crop of GOP presidential candidates and whether Michele Bachmann or Rick Perry should he get in, would actually have a chance at winning the nomination.  Heather

Jul 6, 2011

¨GRACE and GOODWILL¨ at the ANGLICAN COMMUNION: Bishops John Saxbee, Peter Selby to be Patrons of No Anglican Covenant Coalition

The Right Reverend Dr John Saxbee
LONDON – The Right Reverend Dr John Saxbee and the Right Reverend Dr Peter Selby have been appointed Episcopal Patrons of the international No Anglican Covenant Coalition.

“The Anglican Communion doesn’t need a Covenant because Anglicanism is a Covenant, predicated on grace and goodwill,” Dr Saxbee said. “If there is grace and goodwill, a Covenant is unnecessary. If there is no grace or goodwill, a Covenant will be unavailing.” Dr Saxbee was Bishop of Lincoln from 2001 until his retirement in January of this year.

The Right Reverend Peter Selby
Dr Selby, Bishop of Worcester from 1997 to 2007, has been a supporter of the Coalition since its launch last November. “This proposed Covenant is not the solution to the tensions in the Anglican Communion,” he said. “It will inevitably create a litigious Communion where every serious disagreement will become a possible occasion to seek a province’s exclusion.”

“More and more questions are being raised about the potential pitfalls of the proposed Anglican Covenant,” said the Reverend Dr Lesley Fellows, Moderator of the No Anglican Covenant Coalition. “We have consistently seen that support for the Covenant tends to collapse in the face of full and fair discussion and analysis. We are very pleased to welcome Bishops Selby and Saxbee as our first Episcopal Patrons. They are well respected in the Church of England and throughout the Anglican Communion. We expect that their views on the Covenant will persuade many more people to take a harder look at the risks inherent in this radical proposal.”

HERE

Jul 4, 2011

PICK AND PACK: The Archbishops of The Church of England conspire to harm others and cover their own deceitfullness and disgrace!


The Archbishops of Canterbury and York continue to cower and cover-up as they scurry under their dark caper of delay!
Self-deceiving and the not-so-great-art of sloppy/mutual ¨postponement¨ regarding spiritual/sexual issues that are urgent and vital to the well-being of LGBTI Anglicans are unacceptable!

Dr. Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury is currently the ¨driving force¨ behind the ¨validation¨ of Anglican Covenant which is pending ratification before the Church of England.  Each diocese is ¨deciding¨ to endorse, or not, the Anglican Covenant and then the document will be returned to The Church of England Synod for final acceptance (no doubt accepted because Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury insists it be so and doesn´t allow ¨open¨ debate on the issue).  In other words, Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury, is ramrodding through a YES vote that most would, and do, consider a FIXED ELECTION.

 Few in England realize the ¨relational consequences¨ for their very own province at the Anglican Communion are at stake...but Rowan does.  Should the Church of England elevate an openly Gay Bishop in the meantime or even after endorsing the so called ¨Covenant¨ the Church of England could be held accountable for being in violation of the punishing, Drexel Gomez authored The Punitive Anglican Covenant , but wait, but of course, the Church of England ALREADY has several/many Gay and Bisexual secretly serving Bishops amongst it´s collection of Episcopal stock and several are currently IN THE HOUSE OF BISHOPS the well-known Hypocrisy at the Church of Englands House of Bishops .  Is there no end to the political hypocrisy of Rowan Williams and his doubletalking accomplices?  Must the Archbishop of Canterbury AGAIN been called down to answer for his latest attack against the election of The Very Reverend Jeffery John (a celibate/partnered gay man) The Graceless Face of Dr. Rowan Williams
 as the ever faithful Archbishop of York serves as his validating accomplice and enforcer?  The deceitfilled games of these not-so-holy men is wearing very THIN at The Church of England and beyond.

Rowan Williams archbishop of Canterbury prefers to live in a world of PRETEND and therefore saves his very own face when it comes to the REALITY of sexual orientation of those around him at The Church of England...those abounding around him both honest and not.   These vain, pridefilled, stubborn and demeaning and dishonest cowardly/self-preening men...ought resign immediately.  No more pretending right from wrong or up from down or truth from untruth. 

Addressing sexuality truthfully in the Church of England

¨...In recent months, there has been much publicity over leaks revealing that during a selection process for a bishop’s position, the archbishops were desperate to block an outstanding gay candidate, even though he obeyed the Church of England’s guidelines of celibacy for gay clergy. Legal opinion was sought on how to restrict further the possibility of someone openly gay being chosen as a bishop.

According to the Church of England bishops’ announcement, the wider review will take account of a motion of General Synod (the church’s parliament) commending “continuing efforts to prevent the diversity of opinion about human sexuality creating further division and impaired fellowship within the Church of England and the Anglican Communion.” It will “draw together material from the listening process which has been undertaken within the Church of England over the recent years in the light of the 1998 Lambeth Conference resolution”, which involved a commitment “to listen to the experience of homosexual persons “ while “rejecting homosexual practice as incompatible with Scripture”.

At the same time, many in the Church of England are keen for greater inclusion. I, and numerous others, believe this more faithfully reflects God’s will for a church where all should be valued and encouraged to adopt the same standards of faithful and self-giving love whether in same-sex or opposite-sex relationships. It will also help the church to reach out to non-churchgoers who are drawn to Christ but morally offended by what they regard as unjust treatment of LGBT people. Many theologians, Anglican and from other denominations, have come to believe that same-sex partnerships should be accepted. LGBT people (clergy and lay) play a vital part in the life of the Church of England, but this often goes unacknowledged, leaving many feeling alienated.

How can the bishops – an all-male group in which gays are closeted, and under heavy political pressure not to offend those most passionately opposed to full inclusion – take this matter forward in a constructive way? In this context, what does it mean to “love one another as I have loved you” and be guided by the Spirit of truth (John 15.12, 26)? ...¨ HERE

·  Thanks to Thinking Anglicans, sidebar
·  Thanks to Changing Attitudes, U.K., sidebar
·  Thanks to Ekklesia, England, sidebar
·  Thanks to Savi Hensman

Jul 3, 2011

VIVA MEXICO! Just had a little visit Norte of the Border up Mexico Way! Ole´


Dear Friends,

We´ve been away.  We went on a little trip North to check on Mexico and to be certain they hadn´t lost their cooking skills-- they hadn´t and the Chicken con Mole was heaven (or very close to it and only upstaged slightly by the BIG shrimp in BIG shrimp cocktails that we ate doubles of everyday).

You were missed and our best thoughts and prayers are with you always.

Life is quite an amazing thing.  Upside down, rightside up, North, South, East and West, it´s always fascinating.

Tucked back under the volcano we remain,

Los Amigos de todo y  feliz dia del FOURTH OF JULY!

Leonardo y Juan Carlos