Anonymous Active Military Chaplain Appeals for JUSTICE: ALL had ¨the courage to make the supreme sacrifice¨

April 29, 2010

President Barack H. Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest
Washington, DC 20500

Dear Mr. President,

As an active-duty military chaplain who just returned from a 15-month deployment in Iraq, this is my appeal for justice:

Over the years some of us have buried our closest friends -- officers and enlisted, African American, Latinos, Native Americans, Asians, Whites, rich, poor, Protestants, Catholics, Muslims and Jews. They had the courage to make the supreme sacrifice in order for us to reap the bounties of freedom. We owe them a debt of gratitude which can never be repaid.

What is remarkable about these Marines, Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Coastguardsmen is they understood the personal risk when they answered the highest calling of our nation. What could be a nobler act then to give one’s life to one’s country, knowing that in their lives many freedoms would be denied them?

And when their story is told a significant piece of their life would be missing.

As they sleep under the crosses, the stars of David and the crescents there is no bigotry. There is no prejudice. There is no hatred. And within the sacred confines of their resting place there is no law of “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell.”
There is only purest democracy.

When the final cross has been placed in the last cemetery, will it only be then that we as a nation acknowledge our gay brothers and sisters who took the risks of life and truth to answer their nation’s highest calling? How many of these brave men and women lie in military graves and still hide in death?
They are among the unknown soldiers. HERE

FRONTLINES, The Service Members Legal Defense Network, HERE

· Thanks to Stories From the Frontlines, sidebar
· Thanks to The Anonymous Chaplain+
· Thanks to The SLDN, sidebar
· Thanks to Flickr Photo Sharing
· Thanks to Jeff Sheng, military photo

ARIZONA DOWNFALL ALERT: What happened to the bold demand for a citizens ¨individual liberties¨ and the Tradition of WELCOMING Pioneer Hospitality?

ARIZONA and YO
By Leonardo Ricardo

When I was in my mid twenties, in the mid sixties, I became a Buyer at Goldwaters Departments Store, Phoenix, Arizona. Goldwaters had branch stores in Scottsdale, Prescott and Park Central (sort of mid-town Phoenix) at that time. Goldwaters then was just sold by the Goldwater family to Associated Dry Goods (Lord and Taylor, JW Robinson, The Denver, Stix Baer and Fuller, Joseph Horne, and many ¨better¨ nationwide Department Stores as was Goldwaters).

I had been well-recommended for this job at Goldwaters as I had already been successful as a young Retail Buyer at a Department Store in the San Francisco Bay Area in Northern California. It seemed a perfect progression for me to move from San Francisco to Arizona because the Goldwaters management were known to be ¨quality¨ folks who had a reputation for hiring ¨quality¨ folks for their fast growing ¨quality¨ department store chain that would quickly expand into many other parts of Arizona, Nevada and New Mexico. They, the Goldwaters management and staff, also treated employees like REAL Ladies and Gentlemen and paid us well. Curiously, the buying staff, were ALL Anglo-Saxon, Protestant/Catholic (Episcopalians included) types (with the exception of the Fur Salon Buyer who was Jewish) and very, very, clean cut and quite a well ¨turned out¨ appearing, and being, exclusive cluster of retail talent.

Robert Goldwater, Barry´s Brother, was Chairman of the Board of Goldwaters (a honorary title that allowed him a fine office in the Executive ¨wing¨ and no doubt other ¨perks¨ that I was unaware of).

The reason I´m sharing this little part of my real life journey with you is that Goldwater´s was the first time in my life that I intermingled with VERY CONSERVATIVE political people (even though I came from a family of Republicans). What could that possibly mean to a young, OUT, Democrat and Gay person like me direct from San Francisco during the ¨Make Love Not War¨ sixties? It meant that very soon I would find my first taste of REAL freedom to be the INDIVIDUAL that God made me to be without worrying about ¨covering¨ myself. Even after living in San Francisco, who would have thought it in CONSERVATIVE ARIZONA?. I was FREE! Yes, that´s right, there in the midst of Goldwaterland (Senator Barry´s house was very close to the smallish, yet wonderful, house I leased that was accross from Camelback Inn in Scottsdale), and Barry Goldwaters lifelong supporters, family and friends and I WAS FULLY ACCEPTED as GAY and nobody blinked! That turned my head! It was made clear to me that I was a fullfledged gentleman, a full fledged well-paid equal standing employee whom they trusted and a valued as a friend too...my ¨individual rights¨ were to be honored/respected and I was on a level playing field with EVERYONE else (and I received a large promotion within a year). True, the hub in this Goldwaters ¨club¨ was made up of mostly WHITE PEOPLE (and so were our wealthy clients) at the time but there was a distinct, and obvious fondness for Latinos and Native American people too (there were Latinos and Native Americans amongst the executive staff although mostly lifelong employees and only a few).

The Phoenix/Scottsdale of those years was very clearly divided by income (as it probably still is) with lots of medium income WHITE retirement people in Sun City and on the ¨Avenue¨ side of Phoenix. Some people of color lived in ¨South Phoenix¨ and around downtown...Mesa and Tempe were populated by many Mormons and Scottsdale side of town was well-to-do White people and Jewish people from Chicago (who mostly were in residence in the Winter and named ¨Snow Birds¨)...many international ¨notable citizens¨ visited Arizona in the Winter as well as celebrities of every stripe. Sammy Davis Jr. was in concert in Scottsdale and Lady Pamela Mountbatten (the Queens cousin) and David Hicks her husband actually made a personal promotional visit to my departments at Goldwaters...on and on it went with Joseph Stalins pregnant daughter, Svetlana, a regular customer too (she was married to Arq. Green from Frank Lloyd Wrights) to Miss Kitty from Gunsmoke fame.

THIS ALL BRINGS ME TO THE BIG QUESTION: Why the arrogance, exclusion, discrimination and racism in Arizona? Who are these out-of-control white people who decades later wish to humiliate others in the name of a God and Nation that NEED NO DEFENSE (especially by demonizers of others)? What happened to the REAL conservatives, the REAL quality people and when were they replaced by, greedy bigots, political opportunists, religious supremists and common haters?


ARIZONA POLITICS HITS A LOW POINT
The Arizona Republic

¨A fundamental principle of law is that it should protect the innocent. Of all the damage made possible by Gov. Jan Brewer's signature on Friday to Senate Bill 1070, the worst is not the harm to the world's judgment of Arizona or to this law's economic consequences.

The worst effect is its grave potential for causing harm to innocent, taxpaying American citizens who no longer can feel certain of the law's blindness.
That is the terrible harm of it. SB 1070 lifts the blindfold of Lady Justice and commands her to see one different from the other, irrespective of innocence. Brewer's televised signing ceremony for this harsh, unnecessary legislation constitutes the low point of an administration we have come to admire for its often surprising grit in the face of hard times. We held out hope for more.

Whether Arizona pays a price for indulging the whims of state Sen. Russell Pearce, R-Mesa, is no longer the issue. We are paying a price. Not since the dismal days of our nationally infamous fight over a holiday to honor the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., has the profile of Arizona descended this low...¨ HERE

ARIZONA GOVERNOR JAN BREWER IS ON THE WAR PATH. IN A NOT-SO-SUBTLE WAY, SHE IS MARGINALIZING AND DISCRIMINATING AGAINST NEARLY EVERY MINORITY GROUP IN HER STATE.
By Ruth Schneider

To start the week off, Brewer cut domestic partner benefits for state employees and their dependents – on the pretense of saving a few bucks. She saves $3 million by cutting the benefits of roughly 800 affected employees. How much does she spend on benefits for everyone else? About $625 million. Looking at it that way, $3 million is merely a drop in the budgetary bucket.

The Arizona Daily Star reported: “Gov. Jan Brewer said Wednesday that she believes ‘God has placed me in this powerful position as Arizona’s governor’ to help the state weather its troubles.”

Somebody please remind Brewer and her ilk of the phrase “separation of church and state.” It’s in the Constitution. HERE

TRAVESTIES IN ARIZONA
By Lisa Fox

¨Let’s face it. In the U.S., we are a nation of mutts. With the exception of the Native Americans, we’re all immigrants or the descendants of immigrants. The only way that Arizona police and sheriffs can exercise this law fairly is to pull over every person who isn’t obviously Native American.¨ HERE

MEXICAN PRESIDENT WARNS HE WILL NOT SIT IDLY
By El Universal

MEXICO CITY -- Mexican President Felipe Calderón condemned the new Arizona law on Monday, saying it “opens the door to intolerance, hate, discrimination, and abuse in law enforcement,” El Universal reports. Calderón said no one should stand idly by as the rights of Mexican citizens are under attack. He promised to help Mexican citizens -– whether they have papers or not -– address any rights violations. The Mexican president welcomed President Obama's rejection of the Arizona law, but affirmed that the new law -- which he called “opportunistic legislation" driven by election politics -- "affects the bonds of friendship, commerce, tourism and culture with Arizona.” HERE

UPDATE ON WEDNESDAY:

ARIZONA´S LOOMING TOURISM DISASTER
by kos

Backers of the ethnic cleansing law in Arizona claim that nationwide calls for boycotts of Arizona won't amount to much. Maybe they will, or maybe they won't, but this won't be so easy to laugh off.

The Mexican government warned its citizens Tuesday to use extreme caution if visiting Arizona because of a tough new law that requires all immigrants and visitors to carry U.S.-issued documents or risk arrest.

Why should this worry Arizona? Because Arizona is heavily dependent (PDF) on the tourism industry. From the state's tourism board 2008 annual report (the last year they have available):

The total (direct and secondary) impact of the Arizona travel industry in 2008 was 310,000 jobs and $10.2 billion earnings. Of that amount, Mexico is a huge percentage.

The total (direct and secondary).¨ see all the disasterous numbers for Arizona, click HERE

· Thanks to Counterlight, sidebar
· Thanks to The Arizona Republic
· Thanks to Barry and Robert Goldwater
· Thanks to Goldwaters Department Store (now Macy´s Group)
· Thanks to The Formerly WELCOMING Arizona
· Thanks to The Individuals Liberty
· Thanks to Flickr Photo Sharing
· Thanks to The Arizona Star
· Thanks to 365 Gay, sidebar
· Thanks to Ruth Schneider
· Thanks to My Manner of Life, sidebar
· Thanks to Lisa Fox
· Thanks to President Felipe Calderón, Mexico
· Thanks to El Universal
· Thanks to Daily Kos, sidebar

SAY WHAT? Ignoring and trampling the rights of heterosexual servicemembers serving in the U.S. military advances the Gay agenda of immorality?

SOME STRAIGHT FACTS ABOUT GAYS by Leonardo Ricardo, Citizen of The United States of America


¨DON´T ASK, DON´T TELL or DO ASK, DO TELL?¨

This morning I turned on my computer before going to Church to find a ¨letter to the editor¨ of ¨Stars and Stripes¨ Magazine (below)...I was immediately puzzled as to the ¨agenda of immorality¨ that is wildly imagined by Chief Warrant Officer 4 Dean Bailey and Nathaniel Frank in their ¨Do ask, do tell¨ feardriven outburst against fellow LGBT soldiers and everyday citizens.

First--Brother Nathaniel/CWO4DB, I would like to remind YOU that YOU are already sharing ¨bedrooms and housing facilities¨ with Gay people. Most likely you always have been (knowingly or not). In my life experience I was fully integrated into Cub/Boy Scouts, schools at every level of education, service clubs, athletic programs (I even served two terms as Student Director of Athletics), Lived with full toilet/shower exposure at my ¨live in¨ Fraternity at College, Summer Camp (of all types), thrived amongst my FAMILY, my Church and EVERYDAY BUSINESS LIFE (I was President of a large import company) without ¨trampling the rights¨ of anyone (or sexually molesting them either). What in the World has become of your common sense? The TRUTH is that my equal rights have been trampled a bit as I paid/pay my full measure of Local, State, Federal taxes during my lifetime as to insure that my Community and Nation are stronger, wiser, non-discriminating (and that your kids, if you have them, get a quality education and a chance at quality Health Care and FREEDOM ¨to be¨ the authentic/equal citizens that God and OUR Constitution has encouraged them to be).

Second--YOUR EMOTIONAL, PHYSICAL and SPIRITUAL good health in military service remain important to me but unfortunately under George Bush, Dick Cheney (proud father/grandfather of ¨out¨ Lesbian Mary Cheney and her partner and child) Don Rumsfeld and the very issue of YOUR WELL BEING was ¨trampled upon.¨ Violanted in favor of International, and ¨counterproductive¨ greed, pay-back, seat of the pants bad judgment and loathsome deceit. So be it, our leaders made a mistake, our country made a grave mistake by beliving them but we, you and I and others, will endeavor to turn-around a ¨moral¨ disaster and strive for human dignity, security and integrity for ALL in the ongoing face of possible defeat (or inability to win a clean victory). This is the mess that you and OUR fellow citizens find ourselves in and it is horrible and FRUSTRATING but it has NOTHING to do with you being worried about the personal conduct of LGBT´s soldiers in the military... please be reminded that WE gladly and willingly join in with OUR brothers and sisters to pay for OUR defense and the personnel to do that same defending! WE are responsible Americans and we support YOU/US!

Third--LGBT service people are now and have always been ¨in your face¨ and most probably haven´t been especially interested in YOUR morals or private sexual antics, intimacies or whatever it is that you find so especially NOTABLE about being heterosexual. Frankly, I´ve never noticed much difference between the ¨morals¨ of ANY of my brothers and sisters. I know I can´t control the ongoing sadness in the lives of some heterosexuals who marry/reproduce, divorce/reproduce, remarry/reproduce remain single/reproduce in the full view of ¨a wide variance of issues and negative environments a young person may face while going through adolescence and sexual development.¨ In addition, family destroying Drug and Alcohol addictions, abusive relationships/codependency, sexual addictions and other various forms of mental illness/delusional behavior, exaggerated pride and DENIAL are not selective amongst ANY OF US--Gay, Straight, Bisexual, Transgender, Soldier or regular Citizen!

Fourth--Brother Nathaniel/CWO4DB, ¨Take the log out of your eye¨ and observe the World around you, it´s not as frightening as you may think because we are ALL in it together regardless of ¨skin color,¨ specific religious/moral belief, or any rationalized or Scripturally SELECTIVE/Misunderstood and hatedriven false standard for discrimination or flat out bigotry. Love God and Love thy NEIGHBOR as SELF...all of us as WE have loved you (even in the face of blind injustice, absurd intolerance and hate-mongering).


GET THE FACTS STRAIGHT ON GAYS
by Chief Warrant Officer 4 Dean Bailey
Al Asad Air Base, Iraq

¨In response to the articles under the "Do ask, do tell" headline (April 21), I find it ironic that the nonmilitary advocates in favor of removing the "don’t ask, don’t tell" law and policy are so quick to ignore and trample the rights of heterosexual servicemembers serving in our military, to not only attempt to advance their own agenda of immorality upon us, but to force it upon those servicemembers who most object to it, as well.

Nathaniel Frank of the Palm Center insists that moving a "straight" servicemember forced to room with an open homosexual would be "counterproductive" to the idea of homosexual integration ("Will gay and straight soldiers be forced to room together?")

Lawrence Korb of the Center for American Progress insists that commanders should clearly state that "housing and bathroom facilities won’t be segregated, and those who don’t like it will just have to lump it — as they do when sharing facilities with troops who have contrasting personality traits and habits."

Homosexuality is much more than a mere contrast of personality traits and habits! It is an "in-our-face" conflict of morality and behavior! Homosexuality, unlike the color of one’s skin, seems to me to have connections to a wide variance of issues and negative environments a young person may face while going through adolescence and sexual development...¨ HERE




UPDATE: “Stories from the Frontlines¨

¨Letters to President Barack Obama” is a new media campaign launched to underscore the urgent need for congressional action and presidential leadership at this critical point in the fight to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT). Every weekday morning as we approach the markup of the Defense Authorization bill in the Senate and House Armed Services Committees, SLDN and a coalition of voices supporting repeal, will share an open letter to the President from a person impacted by this discriminatory law. We are urging the President to include repeal in the Administration’s defense budget recommendations, but also to voice his support as we work to muster the 15 critical votes needed on the Senate Armed Services Committee to include repeal. The Defense Authorization bill represents the best legislative vehicle to bring repeal to the president’s desk. It also was the same vehicle used to pass DADT in 1993. By working together, we can help build momentum to get the votes! We ask that you forward and post these personal stories.¨ The Personal Story of Former Air Force Major Mike Almy, HERE

· Thanks to Mike Ransdell, photo
· Thanks to Kansas City Star
· Thanks to Stars and Stripes
· Thanks to Nathaniel Frank, Palm Center
· Thanks to Chief Warrant Officer 4 Dean Bailey
· Thanks to ALL U.S. Military (wherever/whoever you are)
· Thanks to Tips-Q, sidebar
· Thanks to Stories From The Frontlines
· Thanks to Former Air Force Major Mike Almy

BURUNDI ´GAY HERO´ GEORGES KANUMA: ¨Mentor and dedicated Friend to many¨ R.I.P.

¨His dream was that gay people feel free¨




FAREWELL TO LGBTI ACTIVIST GEORGES KANUMA IN BURUNDI

By Jerina Messie (BTM French Reporter)

BURUNDI- 20 April 2010: The LGBTI community in Burundi has lost one of its most committed activists and defender, Georges Kanuma who passed away in Bujumbura, on Wednesday 14 April after a kidney failure and malaria complications.

Kanuma was an activist and founder of Association for Respect of Homosexuals’ Rights (ARDHO) in 2003, the first LGBTI organization in the country, which was latter renamed HUMURE.

Those who knew him say he was a committed and fervent activist, who became one of the few out gay men in Burundi in the early 2000s.

“He used to go to radio stations to speak out and raise awareness about issues affecting the LGBTI community. Before we had a proper organization, we used to met and worked at his house. Georges really wanted to mobilize the LGBTI community. Every time he knew that someone was gay he would go to him or her and invited them to attend our meetings and to organize themselves in order to be powerful”, said Nestor Hakizimana, a friend.

Hakizimana added that Kanuma was not only the focal point of LGBTI activism in Burundi but also “a mentor and a dedicated friend for the members of the LGBTI community he served.”

Théophile Habonimana, a member of HUMURE said “I met him in 2004 after he created HUMURE. He was always there when someone in the community needed help. His dream was that gay people feel free. I met him at a time when I was very depressed because of my sexual orientation and he taught me how to be courageous,”

“He will be sorely missed in the LGBTI community. It will be difficult for us to cope without him. He was our hero,” Habonimana said.

At the time of his death, Kanuma worked as MSM Project Manager for ANSS (National Association for HIV Positive and Aids Patients in Burundi) in Bujumbura. HERE


May his soul rest in peace and rise in GLORY!

· Thanks to Behind the Mask, sidebar, HOME
· Thanks to Jerina Messie
· Thanks to ANSS, National Association for HIV Positive and Aids Patients in Burundi
· Thanks to HUMURE, First LGBTI Organization in Burundi
· Thanks to Nestor Hakizimana
· Thanks to Théophile Habonimana

GLOBAL SOUTH ALERT: Bishops in Singapore fear impurity and avoid anything that will 'contaminate' them (doorknobs, puddles, embracing LGBT Anglicans)

Nicholas Okoh, Archbishop of Nigeria, Treasurer of The Global South, Anglican Communion Sexual Worries Contamination Cohort.

·ANGLICAN CONTAMINATION·RELIGIOUS ILLNESS·SEXUAL WORRIES·PENDING DOOM·

¨Typical obsessive themes center on contamination, illness, worries about disaster, and orderliness. However, people with OCD also obsess about violence, religious questions, and sexual experiences. Up to a quarter of people with OCD may experience sexual obsessions (Grant et al., 2006). Repetitive sexual thoughts are seen in many disorders in addition to OCD. For example, sexual thoughts are common to people with paraphilias, post-traumatic stress disorder, sexual dysfunction, sexual addiction and as part of the normal fantasy life of the general population. The recurrent sexual thoughts and feelings in these situations are sometimes referred to as sexual obsessions. However, their content, form, and meaning vary depending on the disorder (Gordon 2002).¨

Archbishop Henri Orombi, Uganda, Vice Chairman of The Global South, Anglican Communion Sexual Worries Contamination Cohort.

·ANGLICAN CONTAMINATION·RELIGIOUS ILLNESS·SEXUAL OBSESSION·EXAGGERATED FEAR·

¨Sexual obsessions take many forms. For example, a father might obsess about sexually abusing his daughter. He might wonder if these thoughts mean that he is a pedophile and worry that he could act them out, despite the fact that he has never sexually abused anyone and feels disgusted by the idea. Another example is a man who worries that he may accidentally impregnate a woman by shaking her hand because he was not careful enough in washing his hands after touching his genitals (Williams 2007). A patient may also experience fears that their obsession has already been carried out.¨

Archbishop Mouneer Anis, Egypt, Global South Vice Chairman, Anglican Communion Sexual Worries Contamination Cohort.

·ANGLICAN CONTAMINATION·POOR RELIGIOUS INSIGHT·SEXUAL OBSESSION·EXAGGERATED THINKING·UNREALISTIC FEAR·

¨In the midst of the thoughts, the sexual obsessions may seem real. Occasionally, individuals with OCD believe that their obsession is true, and in such a case they would be said to have "poor insight." But the vast majority of people with OCD recognize at some point that their fears are extreme and unrealistic. The problem is that even though they know the obsession is false, it feels real. These individuals can't understand why they are unable to dismiss the obsession from their minds. The obsession may temporarily subside in the face of a logical argument or reassurance from others, but may spike when caught off guard by a sexual trigger (Gordon 2002).¨

Archbishops Peter Akinola and John Chew, Past and Present Chairmen of The Global South, Anglican Communion Sexual Worries Contamination Cohorts

·ANGLICAN CONTAMINATION·SEXUAL RELIGIOUS FOCUS·SEXUAL RELIGIOUS IMPORTANCE·EXAGGERATED THINKING·COMBINING RELIGION AND SEX·

¨Because sex carries significant emotional, moral, and religious importance, it easily becomes a magnet for obsessions in people predisposed to OCD. Common themes include unfaithfulness, deviant behaviors, pedophilia, AIDS, the unfaithfulness or suitability of one's partner, and profane thoughts combining religion and sex. People with sexual obsessions may have legitimate concerns about their attractiveness, potency, or partner, which can serve as an unconscious catalyst for the obsessions.¨

Global South Bishops with a U.S. ¨Communion Partner,¨ a schismatic poacher/thief and assorted excluders and opportunists Anglican Communion Sexual Worries Contamination Cohorts

·ANGLICAN CONTAMINATION·SEXUAL OBSESSIONS ARE TROUBLING·DIRTY MINDS AT CHURCH·CO-OCCURRING DISORDERS·COMBINING RELIGION AND SEX·

¨Sexual obsessions can be particularly troubling to the individual with OCD, as something important and cherished becomes twisted into its nightmarish opposite. People with sexual obsessions are particularly likely to have co-occurring aggressive and religious obsessions, clinical depression, and higher rates of impulse control disorders (Grant et al., 2006).¨

Archbishop Drexel Gomez, Global South Bishop, West Indies and author of The Anglican Covenant, Anglican Communion Sexual Worries Contamination Cohort

·ANGLICAN AVOIDANCE·OVERWHELMING NEED FOR PURITY· SOCIAL PROBLEMS WITH OTHERS·CHERISHED BECOMES TWISTED·CO-OCCURRING DISORDERS·NO TOUCHING OR HUGGING·

¨In the same way that those who have OCD fears of contamination avoid anything that will 'contaminate' them (i.e., doorknobs, puddles, shaking hands), those who are suffering from such sexual obsessions may feel an overpowering need to avoid all contact with anything that can cause them to have anxiety, or 'spike'. Such avoidance may be: Not looking at (for instance) another member of the same sex in the face, avoiding locker rooms, showers, and beaches, etc. It can also mean avoiding sexual situations with members of the opposite sex, for fear of what a particular circumstance (not being aroused enough, intrusive thoughts, etc.) might mean. A sufferer may also avoid hugging children, including their own, a compulsion which may cause severe damage to the well-being of the child. It may cause social problems as the sufferer avoids being with gay, or straight, friends, or people with children. The social isolation feeds the anxiety, and therefore the OCD.¨ HERE

· Thanks to Wikipedia
· Thanks to Flickr Photo Sharing
· Thanks to Global South/Photos
· Thanks to Father Christian Troll/Photo

TAKE ACTION AGAINST BIGOTRY, IGNORANCE and SOCIAL ISOLATION: The ANGLICAN UN, United Nations, HUMAN RIGHTS Observer, Mrs Hellen Grace Wangusa from Uganda, has an office and staff provided by the Episcopal Church (USA) at the Church Center 815 Second Avenue, New York, 10017. The direct office line is (001) 212-716- 6263 and the email address unoffice@episcopalchurch.org


Lionel Deimel, Anglican HERO, click HERE,¨No Anglican Covenant¨

Healthy/sexually intact religious leaders aren't OBSESSED with the private/intimate lives/gender of inclusive Christians!

The Global South--read exclusive gang of crackpot mitred people who outcast/exclude others at The Anglican Communion--are having a First Class, pre-paid, Jamboree at the Police State of Singapore this week to blow their own horns and minds. Dismay and anger in the Central African Province at a profligate waste of money by acting Dean Albert Chama and others as they jet off to a Conference, HERE

The Self Proclaimed ¨God Loving¨ Anglican Global South thieving, deceiving, grandstanding and pre-paid (American puritan handlers) pricksters meet at the underbelly of Churchlife to examine their ¨holier¨ version of the REAL ¨excluding¨ orthodoxlike poop (most of their home countries indulge in civl war, female abuse, exploitation of the poor, crimes of hate, vertical corruption in culture and government, sex slavery and child witchburning). These deadly and often ignornant ¨big man¨ jokers find it obnoxious to Ordain Women as Bishops or to share Holy Orders with LGBT Anglicans, they are Queer haters, abusers and persecuters of others at Church...meanwhile their priests are unpaid, ignored, scrounge to feed their families and are generally considered their servants. This week it´s First Class everything for these overdraped bishops who discriminate and abuse their Church Provinces, their donors, both at home and abroad.

Sudan’s Archbishop and three other Sudanese bishops are attending the “Global South Encounter” in Singapore:


the Most Rev. Dr. Daniel Deng Bul Yak

the Rt. Rev. Francis Loyo
the Rt. Rev. Anthony Poggo
the Rt. Rev. Alapayo Manyang Kuctiel

¨Since his consecration, Archbishop Daniel has been whining all over the U.S. that his province is so poor that he cannot even afford to pay his clergy. He has told us that many clergy are due significant amounts of backpay. He has asked the Episcopal Church and the dioceses in relationship with Sudanese dioceses to raise tens of thousands of dollars to pay back-pay for the bishops in Sudan. He has spoken powerfully, asking us to give money that will support the bishops, agricultural needs, and much more.

One of TEC's bishops and at least one of our priests [neither of them from my diocese] have been working very hard to raise tens of thousands of dollars for the Episcopal Church in Sudan. I believed those funds would go to back-pay. I'm not so sure now. If Archbishop Daniel can afford to go to Singapore with three of his bishops, purportedly in first-class seats, why in the world does he need any financial support?? Right now, I'm not sure I'd believe Sudan's Archbishop Daniel if he told me the sun rises in the east...¨ HERE

Archbishop Henry Orombi of ¨Moral¨ Uganda ia a leading anti-LGBT schismatic at the Anglican Communion.

Hot ¨Red Pepper¨ off the Press in ¨Moral Uganda¨ (Note the female stripper, right, isn´t being rebuked or outted but admired on the cover and the Tabloid is owned by the brother of the Pentecostal President/Dictator Yoweri Kaguta Museveni)

· Thanks to Flickr Photo Sharing
· Thanks to Not the Same Stream, sidebar
· Thanks to Manner of Life, sidebar
· Thanks to Lisa Fox

The Archbishop of Canterbury: Rowan Williams ¨Sees Glory in each others faces¨...Selectively that is!

Rowan Williams, ¨First amongst Equals¨ at The Anglican Communion (illustration by Adrian Worsfold, ¨The Pluralist¨)
HERE

I have just viewed Archbishop Rowan Williams delivering his video address to the collected schismatic Anglicans who are also the self-named ¨holy orthodox believers¨ of The Global South.HERE This exclusive conclave, is made up of a specifically ¨invited¨ hostile group of strivers from various Provinces of The Anglican Communion and are meeting in the City/Police State of Singapore/Asia this week (money is not a issue for these instruments of colussion who are often well funded by angry American puritans). This Global South group is a ¨restricted¨ membership fellowship made up of ¨religiouslike¨ folk who often share notions of demonizing, marginalizing, persecuting and EXCLUDING LGBT ANGLICANS and others at all levels of Church and Anglican Communionlife. They also often promote persecution and discrimination against LGBT Christians in everyday society on their home turf. Abusing fellow Anglicans/others in the name of a God whose SOUL/SOLE demand is they read their Scriptures SELECTIVELY and deny equality, justice, religious and other, to OUR worldwide loving religious extended families!

Dr. Williams offers them/us elaborately inclusive wordings such as ¨We see Glory in each others Faces¨ and offers them/us the hope of the ¨Renewed Gift of the Holy Spirit¨ through careful LISTENING and attentive, and prayerfilled fellowship at The Anglican Communion. Sounds right? Don´t be silly, ¨don´t do as I say, do as I do!¨

Dr. Williams clearly doesn´t see Glory in the face of Bishop V.Gene Robinson of New Hampshire nor in the Bishop-elect for the diocese of Los Angeles, Canon Mary Douglas Glasspool of Maryland. In fact Dr. Williams refused to invite Bishop Robinson to the Lambeth Conference in Canterbury to share his life spiritual journey and 30+ year experience as a Priest. No, Dr. Williams is a intolerant listener (Lambeth 1.10), and has no interest in viewing ALL FACES who hold GLORY within them. Apparently it´s not essential for Dr. Williams to view faces if they are attached to open, honorable and much trusted and admired LGBT Gay Women and Men in Holy Orders and OUR loved ones, our friends and families...Dr. Williams believes that ¨facelessness¨ is a good thing (deception is often far more convenient than reality) and LIVING TRUTH ought be insulted, punished and ignored. Pity.


Archbishop Rowan further goes on to point out in his pandering video address to the Global South version of the Anglican Communion that there is a ¨deep divide between the Episcopal Church and THE REST OF THE ANGLICAN COMMUNION.¨ Here is his reasoning:

¨In all your minds there will be questions around the election and consecration of Mary Glasspool in Los Angeles. All of us share the concern that in this decision and action the Episcopal Church has deepened the divide between itself and the rest of the Anglican family. And as I speak to you now, I am in discussion with a number of people around the world about what consequences might follow from that decision, and how we express the sense that most Anglicans will want to express, that this decision cannot speak for our common mind.¨

Oh my, the Archbishop of Canterbury has taken a leap into the damaged world of codependency and probably believes HE IS MOST OF THE WE´S--meaning he speaks for the majority of Anglicans (who would no doubt, in his mind, agree with him even though there is NO document that backs his ¨damning of others¨ attitude up). Now the Anglican Communion has a ¨common mind¨ and +ROWAN KNOWS OUR COMMON MIND and speaks for US carelessly and without restraint! Such confusion and spiritual weakness is hard to believe coming from a person who´s title is ¨first amongst equals¨ and not ¨infallible dictator¨ nor ¨untouchable high priest-pope.¨

Rowan, you are a servant of a loving and inclusive God who Commands us to love God and one another too. No exceptions. Sorry, +Rowan, no exceptions, none.

Dear Dr. Williams,

WE DON´T HAVE A ¨COMMON MIND¨ at The Anglican Communion. Even in regard to YOUR much ¨touted/pushed¨ Anglican Covenant we have no majority of thinking/beliving. The Anglican Covenant, a covenant that would no doubt strengthen your ability to speak for OUR ¨common mind,¨ may not be agreed upon by even your Church of England, The Episcopal Church of Scotland, The Church in Wales nor Ireland! In fact, there is much evidence and resistance to the Covenant, enough to believe that it will not gain support by a majority of The Provinces at The Anglican Communion. What WORLD are you living in Dr. Williams? It is YOU who is politicing, pandering to divisive/schismatic Provincial Primates and you who is ¨deepening the divide¨ between OUR brothers and sisters at The Anglican Communion...ALL OF OUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS at The Anglican Communion. All means ALL (in a more healthy codependent sense) and that would include Bishop Robinson, Bishop-elect Glasspool, The Very Reverend Jeffery John and hundreds of thousands of LGBT people and Heterosexual Female clergy and laity--Anglicans with whom you could experience the willingness to allow the necessary healing amongst US through the ¨renewed GIFTS of the Holy Spirit.¨ There is no other way!

The Gifts of God are for ALL the people of God--please don´t exclude anyone at OUR Communion rail and please do not make a shameful and cowardly ¨peace¨ with those who would destroy LGBT Christians at the Anglican Communion and abuse and outcast US in everyday life.

Leonardo Ricardo

UPDATE: MIDDAY IN CENTRAL AMERICA--The Real Video

¨I would say greetings to some of you, anyway, in the name of our risen Lord and Saviour, but as you already exclude those I might have to exclude, I can indeed say greetings to you all.

I suppose if I was honest, I could say you are able to meet at any time of the year and you just happen to be meeting now. But to give it additional meaningless gloss I'll say that you are meeting in this most precious season of the Christian year - the Easter season and then the obvious point is Pentecost comes next, and that's when we can get out the bubbly.

In fact, to really up the bullshit, I can say I am delighted. I am delighted you are meeting now, subject to the remarks already made, and that I am delighted you are meeting at this time in our Communion. Why I should be delighted when the thing seems to be falling apart, in part due to your efforts and in part due to mine, I haven't the foggiest. But it sounds good and religiously good and that will do for now.¨ read it all, HERE By Adrian Worsfold

· Thanks to The Pluralist, sidebar
· Thanks to Adrian Worsfold
· Thanks to Preludium, sidebar
· Thanks to The Reverend Canon Mark Harris
· Thanks to Thinking Anglicans
· Thanks to Leave it where Jesus flang it, sidebar
· Thanks to Margaret the beloved

Become an Anglican HERO and fight BIGOTRY, EXCLUSION, DEMONZING, MARGINALIZING and FEAR and HATE directed against LGBT Christians/others at The Anglican Communion and beyond!

TAKE ACTION: The ANGLICAN UN, United Nations, HUMAN RIGHTS Observer, Mrs Hellen Grace Wangusa from Uganda, has an office and staff provided by the Episcopal Church (USA) at the Church Center 815 Second Avenue, New York, 10017. The direct office line is (001) 212-716- 6263 and the email address unoffice@episcopalchurch.org


Lionel Deimel, HERO, click HERE,¨No Anglican Covenant¨

BISHOP AKINOLA HARANGUES: The Global South lacks ¨dicipline¨ and the ¨courage to call a spade a spade¨

The Global South Obedience to God is ¨Selective¨ +Peter Akinola

BISHOP AKINOLA, NO DOUBT ABOUT IT! YOU´VE GOT IT! PREACHING EXCLUSION, MARGINALIZING and the FLAT OUT REJECTION of PROGRESSIVE ANGLICANS AMONGST ALL OF GODS CHILDREN is SIMPLY WRONG!

GODS INCLUSIVE LOVE and the GREAT COMMANDMENT is that WE LOVE GOD and ONE ANOTHER. THAT WOULD MEAN ALL ONE ANOTHERS!

LOVING ONE ANOTHER WON´T HAPPEN AT THE BODY OF CHRIST IF THERE CONTINUES TO BE BOYCOTTING AT COMMUNION, DISCRIMINATION, LOATHING and DIFFERENCE PREACHED AGAINST LGBT CHRISTIANS/others at your homeland of NIGERIA or Orombi´s UGANDA nor at Drexel Gomezs´ JAMAICA. WE´LL HAVE NO UNITY IF THERE CONTINUES TO BE A CAMPAIGN FOR SCHISMATIC, RESTRICTED, SPRITUALLY DECEPTIVE, HOLIER-THAN-THOU, PRIVATE PROVINCIAL GATHERINGS of THE GLOBAL SOUTH! Leonardo Ricardo

Amongst the ¨invited¨ Glober Southers some line up to pay their respects to Archbishop Chew

¨This, sadly, is the eighth year since we have not all been in communion with one another, globally, in the same Anglican Church. It appears that some of our leaders value the ageing structures of the communion much more than anything else, hence, the illusion that with more meetings, organisations and networks the crises will disappear. How wrong.

We all know that signing the covenant will not stop TEC from pursuing its own agenda. In fact only recently, it elected and confirmed another openly practicing lesbian priest to the episcopate. The Communion is still unable to exercise discipline. We are God’s Covenant to the world, yes, but we are divided. We lack discipline. We lack the courage to call ‘a spade a spade’. Our obedience to God is selective.¨ Retired Archbishop, Peter Akinola, Nigeria HERE


· Thanks to Thinking Anglicans
· Thanks to Flckr Photo Sharing
· Thanks to Anglican Heros throughout The Anglican Communion

Become an Anglican HERO and fight BIGOTRY, EXCLUSION, DEMONZING, MARGINALIZING and FEAR and HATE directed against LGBT Christians/others at The Anglican Communion and beyond!

TAKE ACTION: The ANGLICAN UN, United Nations, HUMAN RIGHTS Observer, Mrs Hellen Grace Wangusa from Uganda, has an office and staff provided by the Episcopal Church (USA) at the Church Center 815 Second Avenue, New York, 10017. The direct office line is (001) 212-716- 6263 and the email address unoffice@episcopalchurch.org


Lionel Deimel, HERO, click HERE,¨No Anglican Covenant¨

THE VATICAN GAY LIE: ¨Worst of all, it isn’t even the gay community who is hurt the worst — it is the children who have been molested¨

St. Peters Basilica, Roma

Ending the Gay Pedophile Myth, Once and For All

Here we go again ... officials inside the Catholic Church have once more deemed the seemingly endless instances of child molestation and pedophilia in the Church as a “gay problem." Frankly, I’m surprised it took this long for someone to blame it squarely and explicitly on us considering the stereotype “gay person as child molester” continues to creep behind the LGBT community, always lurking in the shadow of our shared consciousness, waiting to pop out and make us look like we’re despicable fiends, easily capable of the worst crime in the world.

It is the cross to bear of subjugated groups, an assignation of some sort of fundamental fault or flaw that bigots hang their hats on when making the case against us. Racists often characterize African-American men as beastly rapists, a ubiquitous threat to all white women. Women must counteract the notion that we are lascivious Jezebels, Delilahs who will ruin people’s lives if we’re left to our own malevolent devices. And on and on it goes throughout history and across racial, gender and ethnic bounds; oppressors tell the world a lie, usually centered on some sexual perversion or malfunction, and the world makes the lie a shared reality.

All too often, we in the gay community mistakenly believe that no rational human being could possibly believe that because we have same-sex attraction it means that we want to enact them on children. Because we know how ridiculous it is, we often don’t raise hell as often or as much as possible, believing that other people see the bad logic. Or, for many of us, being characterized as evil pedophiles curbs us from defending ourselves; the shame they’ve placed on us becomes a part of who we are as a culture, it silences us because in our darkest hour, we’re terrified that those around us really believe on some level that we have the capacity to molest children. Once and for all, we need to proactively, rigorously and consistently dispel this rumor.


If we wait to defend ourselves, we’re only running on a treadmill, never able to get ahead of it. And worst of all, it isn’t even the gay community who is hurt the worst — it is the children who have been molested. HERE

· Thanks to Change.Org, sidebar
· Thanks to Abbie Kopf
· Thanks to Tips-Q, sidebar
· Thanks to Flickr Photo Sharing

FELICIDADES Bishop Guerra/Guatemala, and THANK YOU Archbishop Martin Barahona/San Salvador at The Anglican Province of Central America (IARCA)

Primate-elect Bishop Armando Guerra, Guatemala and ¨Padre Mickey¨ of The Diocese of Panama.

FELICIDADES to Bishop Guerra Primado-elect de la Iglesia Anglicana de la Región Central de America. HERE

Bishop Guerra´s election by the House of Bishops and confirmation by the House of Deputies at the Synod meeting in Panama for the Anglican Church Region of Central America signals a great opportunity arriving for Bishop Guerra and the Anglican Province and the Country of Guatemala.

Guatemala is a wonderful, multi-ethnic culture, artistic/colorful environment that is also a profoundly spiritual country that fills the largest land mass in Central America (all of Central America once was Guatemala). Guatemala and Central America are also deeply need of continued nurturing done by realistic/responsible HEALTHY religious leadership. Central America longs to shine even brighter after years of recession (both financial and moral). Archbishop-elect Guerra will no doubt lead a healing outreach ministry and also offer even more stewardship at all levels of society both in Guatemala and by example throughout the Province as PRIMATE.

Progress, health (both spiritual and physical/mental) and ¨progressiveness¨ remains the key. Crime and murder have run rampant for decades and now with a better understanding of desperation amongst the most vulnerable and poor most seek to decrease the human daily difficulties for many innocents victims of abuse. Remittances from the U.S.A., the number one domestic National income in Guatemala/beyond, are down 20%. Violence against Women (often domestic and drunken) is brutal, grisly and unthinkable. Murder of busdrivers (and their adjudantes/helpers) via extortion rings is epidemic. HIV-AIDS (amongst sex workers and amongst the lowest income people, less educated folk/others) grows. Bold robberies/muggings, kidnapping and extreme poverty/thieving (near and around the Cathedral of Santiago at la ¨terminal¨ and in every other Zona in the City and in surrounding countries too) fluorish. Ruthless gangs are running out-of-control. Vigilantes in the smaller pueblos out in the ¨campo¨ and up in Highlands are trying to keep ¨order¨ while rounding out the urgent craving for NATIONAL HONESTY, serenity, generosity of spirit/otherwise, inspiration, wisdom and sanity to be further inspired by religious leaders, teachers and others. The National police are not fully equipped to handle so many multi-level confrontations in most Central American countries so there are few other options than to educate and offer spiritual and well-thought-out/responsible helping hands directed toward Loving thy Neighbor and against thievery, murder, coveting etc..

Although there are many people at ALL levels of society who are LGBT citizens, they are mostly very private and have ¨low profile¨ intimacies and socializing. In Latin America no matter ¨Gay¨ or ¨Straight¨ personal intimacies are most often very discreet. However, there is a huge ¨open¨ LGBT Community throughout Central America and even Gay Pride Parades too. There are HIV-SIDA support groups for LGBT people, Straight People and all who seek HELP. Much ¨openess¨ is helping relieve the lies that harm innocent accessories to family deceit.

Most of the NGO´s in Central America as well as Guatemala are suffering from large cutbacks in funding except for the very most reliable and dependable/transparent ones such as Caminos Seguro (Safe Passages, quite a fabulous out-from-under project for families and their children who live at the HUGE Guatemala City dump). HERE

Yes, again, GOOD NEWS! No doubt Bishop Guerra and the comfortably endowed Anglican Episcopal Church of Guatemala have been delivered a grand opportunity to SHINE as they guide all of Central America through their noble stewardship projects in Guatemala during the coming four years.

THANK YOU! MIL GRACIAS! The Most Reverend Martin Barahona, Bishop of El Salvador and Primate of IARCA--YOU DID A WONDERFUL JOB AND YOU ARE BELOVED throughout the PROVINCE!

Rvdmo. Obispo de la Iglesia Episcopal de El Salvador Y Primado de la Iglesia Anglicana de la Región Central de America (IARCA) Martin Barahona, y Padre Mickey of the Diocese of Panama.

· Thanks to Anglican Church Region of Central America
· Thanks to Archbishop Martin Barahona, Primate
· Thanks to The Anglican/Episcopal diocese of San Salvador
· Thanks to The Anglican/Episcopal diocese of Guatemala
· Thanks to Father Mickey´s Dance Party, sidebar
· Thanks to Father Mickey and The Lovely Mona
· Thanks to Bishop Armando Guerra, Primate-elect
· Thanks to The House of Bishops of the Anglican Province of Central America
· Thanks to The House of Deputies of the Anglican Province of Central America
· Thanks to Grandmere Mimi
· Thanks to Wounded Bird, sidebar

¨STRAIGHT FRIENDLY¨ Tim scheduled for the DREW MARSHALL SHOW: "Living messy lives with a real God in the middle of it"

¨Next Saturday, April 24, I'll be a guest on "The Drew Marshall Show," the most listened-to spiritual talk show on Canadian radio. I like the show's tag line very much: "Living messy lives with a real God in the middle of it." (It could be my personal motto!)

Tim in Chicago, Illinois

¨I was asked to be interviewed after Grant, a regular reader here who's become a great friend, emailed the program about Straight-Friendly and me. While I'm extremely humbled by this, I'm also very grateful to Grant (and, of course, God) for making this possible. Please pray with me this week that something I say will encourage GLBT and other wounded believers to start making their way back home--as well as inspire all listeners to embrace everyone as equals in Christ.¨

My interview, slated to run 35 minutes, is scheduled between 2 and 4 PM EDT. Live streaming audio will be available at the show's Website: HERE

About OUR Gay and Straight FRIENDLY Tim:

¨I'm a gay Pentecostal preacher's kid who gratefully managed to survive coming out of the closet with my faith intact. Over the years, I've met dozens of other GLBT friends who were less fortunate. This blog is for them--and tens of thousands like them. I pray that something here will encourage all of us to renew or strengthen our commitment to Christ. This starts by looking to Him for acceptance, not those claiming to speak for Him. Instead of waiting for fellow Christians who reject us to become "gay-friendly," I hope and believe that we can overcome our issues by becoming "straight-friendly"--loving them as Jesus told us to do. On the personal side, I'm a writer who lives in Chicago with Walt, my partner of 18 years. Cody, our mischievous yellow longhaired cat, knows no end of ways to keep things hopping around our house.¨ HERE


· Thanks to Straight Friendly, sidebar
· Thanks to The Drew Marshall Show, Canada
· Thanks to ¨Straight Friendly¨ Tim´s NEW Book ¨The Gay Believer´s Life In Christ¨

An Un-Holy, Holy Week with ¨Locker Room Gossip¨

¨In a truly disgusting display during Holy Week, the Vatican has attempted to cast itself as the “victim” in all of this comparing itself with those who suffered the Holocaust.¨ Father Geoff Farrow


¨Imagine for one moment that the Cover-Up scandal involving Catholic bishops was about superintendents of schools instead of bishops. What if it were grammar school teachers who were pedophiles? Imagine the offending teachers being transferred from one school to another and parents/guardians being given financial settlements with provisions that effectively prevented the victims from making public statements regarding the abuse. Can you imagine what would happen to the Superintendent of a school district who obstructed justice? How long would it take before the local District Attorney pressed criminal charges?

Here is where the analogy fails. Unlike the Public School System, Roman Catholic Diocese are corporations. Corporations enjoy all the legal rights of individuals without the legal responsibilities of individuals. Add to that the social/political clout of the bishops and their extensive financial power and you begin to understand why not one bishop has been prosecuted for obstruction of justice in criminal cases. These are not “white collar” (no pun intended) financial crimes, but crimes in which minors have been sexually abused.

This is why the Cover-Up is actually as bad as the pedophilia itself. The Cover-Up not only is an obstruction of justice in which victims and their families are marginalized and left to fend for themselves. The Cover-Up actually facilitates new case of abuse because bishops/superiors who knew of the abuse transferred the pedophile to new parishes. In several cases, the pedophile was moved across international boarders, thereby undermining any judicial action. All of this has been done to protect not the pedophile priest, but the institution and its reputation and wealth.

In a truly disgusting display during Holy Week, the Vatican has attempted to cast itself as the “victim” in all of this comparing itself with those who suffered the Holocaust. Cardinal Angelo Sodano then dismissed countless legal cases as “rumor.” As if the testimony of thousands of victims and the judicial proceedings of many countries are comparable to coffeehouse and locker room gossip.¨ HERE


Pope Benedict has made worse just about everything that is wrong with the Roman Catholic Church and is directly responsible for engineering the global cover-up of child rape perpetrated by priests, according to this open letter to all Catholic bishops by HANS KÜNG

¨Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, and I were the youngest theologians at the Second Vatican Council from 1962 to 1965. Now we are the oldest and the only ones still fully active. I have always understood my theological work as a service to the Roman Catholic Church. For this reason, on the occasion of the fifth anniversary of the election of Pope Benedict XVI, I am making this appeal to you in an open letter. In doing so, I am motivated by my profound concern for our church, which now finds itself in the worst credibility crisis since the Reformation. Please excuse the form of an open letter; unfortunately, I have no other way of reaching you.¨

CHURCH IN WORST CREDIBILITY CRISIS SINCE THE REFORMATION HERE


¨Call for a council: Just as the achievement of liturgical reform, religious freedom, ecumenism and inter-religious dialogue required an ecumenical council, so now a council is needed to solve the dramatically escalating problems calling for reform. In the century before the Reformation, the Council of Constance decreed that councils should be held every five years. Yet the Roman Curia successfully managed to circumvent this ruling. There is no question that the Curia, fearing a limitation of its power, would do everything in its power to prevent a council coming together in the present situation. Thus it is up to you to push through the calling of a council or at least a representative assembly of bishops.

With the church in deep crisis, this is my appeal to you, venerable bishops: Put to use the episcopal authority that was reaffirmed by the Second Vatican Council. In this urgent situation, the eyes of the world turn to you. Innumerable people have lost their trust in the Catholic Church. Only by openly and honestly reckoning with these problems and resolutely carrying out needed reforms can their trust be regained. With all due respect, I beg you to do your part – together with your fellow bishops as far as possible, but also alone if necessary – in apostolic “fearlessness” (Acts 4:29, 31). Give your faithful signs of hope and encouragement and give our church a perspective for the future.¨ HERE

· Thanks to Father Geoff Farrow, sidebar
· Thanks to HANS KÜNG
· Thanks to The Irish Times
· Thanks to Thalamus Center, sidebar
· Thanks to Flickr Photo Sharing

PERVERSION WARNING: Emotionally and sexually intact people aren't particularly concerned with the emotional and sexual lives of other adults!

THE IRRATIONALITY OF HOMOPHOBIA: A DEFECT IN MENTAL HEALTH

¨Emotionally and sexually intact people aren't particularly concerned with the emotional and sexual lives of other adults! They are likely to have a "live and let live" approach to such matters!

However, when someone has an inordinate fascination with condemning others, that condemnation betrays an emotional deficiency that makes compassion very difficult, if not impossible, to have or sustain.

And if a Christian (or any other decent person) can be characterized by any one characteristic, that characteristic is "compassion!"

Christians are to be agents of God's grace in this world; we are to preach and live out the Gospel of grace, faith, love, peace, reconciliation, and inclusiveness! And those who condemn others, those who seek to deprive others of civil rights, those who help create a climate of fear and hatred of others, have shown by their words and/or deeds that they are neither Christians nor even decent people!

WE ARE TO MAKE NO MISTAKE HOMOPHOBES ARE ABSOLUTELY NO DIFFERENT IN THE MIND-SET AND IN THEIR EMOTIONAL DEFICIENCIES THAT WERE AND ARE WHITE SUPREMACISTS!


We are to make no mistake: homophobes are absolutely no different in their mind-set and in their emotional deficiencies than were and are White Supremacists! Both groups partake of the need to discriminate and hate in order for the awareness of their own emotional deficiencies to be overridden by their condemnation of others!

"Condemnation" acts as an imperfect and temporary band-aid to help heal the haters' own emotional woundedness, a woundedness that they don't have the courage to bring themselves to face, confront, and overcome! So, they take the coward's way out and, rather than deal with "the beam in their own eye," they feel the need to manufacture a beam in a minority group whom they perceive it is safe to persecute.

And when that particular minority group is no longer considered safe to persecute, they will search for another minority group upon which to vent their anger, an anger borne of their own emotional deficiencies that they cloak in religious trappings, so that they can try and stake a claim on "godliness," "virtue" and "morality" when, in fact, their own rhetoric and actions show them to manifest the greatest form of ungodliness, lack of virtue, and immorality: the sin of pride in their oppression of others!


Jesus never condemned Gay people, but He sure spent quite a bit of time condemning the proud, the haughty, the legalists who condemned and discriminated against others and put yokes of bondage onto others, all the while claiming to impose those yokes in the name of God.

If haters didn't have an object to hate, they would be forced to confront their own emotional blemishes, crippled natures, incompleteness, insecurities, deficiencies and frailties. And that is the last thing a moral coward feels he/she can afford.¨ HERE

· Thanks to Heavy Artillery 'Haters' show in Brighton, England
· Thanks to Odisy's Alice in Wonderland
· Thanks to Flickr Photo Sharing
· Thanks to The Reverend Jerry Maneker
· Thanks to A Christian Voice for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Rights

Become an Anglican HERO and fight BIGOTRY, EXCLUSION, DEMONZING, MARGINALIZING and FEAR and HATE directed against LGBT Christians/others at The Anglican Communion and beyond!

TAKE ACTION: The ANGLICAN UN, United Nations, HUMAN RIGHTS Observer, Mrs Hellen Grace Wangusa from Uganda, has an office and staff provided by the Episcopal Church (USA) at the Church Center 815 Second Avenue, New York, 10017. The direct office line is (001) 212-716- 6263 and the email address unoffice@episcopalchurch.org


Lionel Deimel, HERO, click HERE,¨No Anglican Covenant¨

CARING FOR THE PEOPLE OF HAITI: The Episcopal Church Diocese of Haiti´s College St. Pierre receives First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden

"Haitians helping Haitians"

The Rev. Lucas Rigal with Dr. Biden, M. Joseph Harry Anglade and Mrs. Obama. In the background is the one of the surviving classrooms of the old College St. Pierre. Photo by Eddy Alcindor.

Diocesan photographer Eddy Alcindor was present at College St. Pierre on Tuesday when First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden, wife of Vice President Joe Biden, visited both the senior secondary school and the Tent City at the futbol field behind it.

Mrs. Obama and Dr. Biden wanted to see "Haitians helping Haitians," as well as education efforts. The U.S. Embassy chose College St. Pierre because of the Episcopal Church's efforts to care for the people of Haiti, and to rebuild the country. HERE

As many as 200 students may have died at the school during the Jan. 12 magnitude-7 earthquake, according to Stanley, who said that university students were taking tests at the high school when the quake hit.

¨First Lady Michelle Obama and Jill Biden, the wife of the U.S. vice president, April 13 visited a Port-au-Prince earthquake survivor settlement run by the Episcopal Diocese of Haiti.

The two women walked to College Ste. Pierre, a wrecked diocesan high school, as part of their one-day surprise tour of the Haitian capital.

U.S. Embassy personnel told the Rev. Lauren Stanley, Episcopal Church-appointed missionary in Haiti and liaison to Bishop of Haiti Jean Zaché Duracin in the U.S., that Obama and Biden visited the site because they wanted to see an actual survivor camp where Haitians were helping Haitians recover in the quake's aftermath. Stanley said the embassy personnel told her that they knew such work was being facilitated by the diocese.

Obama and Biden arrived at College Ste. Pierre about 12:30 p.m. and were greeted by head of school the Rev. Lucas Rigal; Joseph Harry Anglade, College Ste. Pierre academic director; and the Rev. Canon Oge Beauvoir, dean of the diocese's nearby seminary and executive director of its Bureau of Anglican Education of Haiti. The men, whom Stanley said learned 90 minutes before Obama and Biden arrived that they would be visiting, briefed the two women on the situation at the camp. HERE

DONATE TO THE EPISCOPAL RELIEF AND DEVELOPMENT FUND FOR HAITI HERE

· Thanks to Episcopal News Service
· Thanks to Episcopal Cafe, sidebar
· Thanks to First Lady, Michelle Obama
· Thanks to Dr. Jill Biden
· Thanks to The Episcopal Church College St. Pierre
· Thanks to Eddy Alcindor, photos
· Thanks to The Reverend Lucas Rigal
· Thanks to The Rev. Lauren Stanley, Episcopal Church-appointed missionary in Haiti
· Thanks to Bishop of Haiti Jean Zaché Duracin
· Thanks to The Rev. Canon Oge Beauvoir
· Thanks to The Episcopal Church U.S.A. Relief and Development Fund

DEVASTATING MISTAKES: Benedict XVI and his hierarchy failed to protect children from child sexual abuse for decades. Father Marty Kurylowicz

No “Checks and Balances”--WHEN DO WE START PROTECTING CHILDREN?

¨A major problem with the hierarchical structure of the Roman Catholic Church is that there are no “checks and balances.” When the necessary “checks and balances” are not in place to protect any organization, it leaves “not making waves” the rule that governs the hierarchy and opens the way to many devastating mistakes harmful to everyone and allows corruption to grow. The following statements are harsh statements, but unfortunately they are heavily documented.

(1) Benedict XVI and his hierarchy failed to protect children from child sexual abuse for decades.

(2) They mistreated and intimidated the victims and their families who came to report the child sexual abuse, in order to cover up publicity of any child sexual abuse.

(3) They failed to protect children by repeatedly reassigning the child sexual abusers to assignments where children would be present.

(4) When the hierarchy’s criminal negligence failing to protect children became public, globally, in 2002 they shifted the blame wrongfully onto gay priests.

(5) By falsely, against known research to the contrary, blaming gay priests they implicated the entire LGBT community and how they are fighting against Marriage Equality. When the scientific facts known for decades about human sexuality have been discounted with no substantiated facts given to explain why, it causes many questions whether Benedict XVI and the hierarchy’s fight against Marriage Equality is more a fight to maintained the cover-up of the hierarchy’s criminal negligence failing to protect children? Benedict XVI and his hierarchy need to clearly offer substantiated reasons why they are against Marriage Equality. This statement needs to be spelled out in great detail and follow Pope John Paul II’s test of truth of not separating science and religion.

(6) Benedict XVI and the hierarchy’s continuous public propaganda against homosexuality encourages public intolerance towards LGBTQ&I adults and children. They continue to do this even though this summer 2 major Christian denominations approved LGBT single and partnered people for all forms of ordained ministries.

(7) Benedict XVI and the hierarchy’s continuous promulgation of the Vatican’s unsubstantiated antigay teachings are harmful to children in their early childhood psychological developmental years, harm that is crippling throughout their lives. They have continued this even after the beginning of the year, 2009, the Family Acceptance Project research studies had shown the negative effects caused to youths, when their sexual orientation is not accepted, having health problems, suicidal ideation, etc. They ignore all the major medical, psychiatric, psychological and social workers national and international professional associations regarding their findings regarding human sexuality and sexual orientation. HERE


UPDATE

The Catholic Church Needs Its Gay Priests

¨...But when the institutional Catholic Church looks for scapegoats they must be found. And the quick and easy answer coming from the Vatican will be to simply not ordain gay priests.

Such an order, of course, makes the assumption that all gay priests are pedophiles or, if not active pedophiles, are predisposed to it.

However, in the face of overwhelming evidence by behavioral scientists to refute such a harmful and homophobic claim, the Catholic Church, nonetheless, believes that a homosocial and celibate atmosphere of gay men produces a preponderance of pedophilic priests.

But studies have proved over and over again that the overwhelming majority of pedophiles are heterosexuals. And most of these pedophiles are not only married heterosexual men, but are married heterosexual men with children.

The Catholic Church, however, will think it can solve its problem of both pedophilia and homosexuality if it rids itself of gay priests. With the Catholic Church rid of both social cancers, the spiritual and religious life of its hallowed sanctuaries can now go on with life as normal.

However, if the Catholic Church is to go on with life as normal, it couldn't possibly ban gay priests. It needs its gay priests.

The Rev. Donald B. Cozens, author of The Changing Face of the Priesthood, wrote that with more than half the priests and seminarians being gay, the priesthood is becoming a gay profession. Many who know the interior of the Catholic Church would argue that the priesthood has for centuries been a gay profession, and not to ordain gay priests or to defrock them would drastically alter the spiritual life and daily livelihood of the church.

"If they were to eliminate all those who were homosexually oriented, the number would be so staggering that it would be like an atomic bomb; it would do damage to the church's operation," says A.W. Richard Sipe, a former priest and psychotherapist who has been studying the sexuality of priests for decades. Sipe also points out that to do away with gay priests "would mean the resignation of at least a third of the bishops of the world. And it's very much against the tradition of the church; many saints have gay orientation and many popes had gay orientations."

The reality here is that as quietly as the Church has tried to keep it, the Catholic Church is a gay institution. And that is not a bad thing!
The problem in the Catholic Church is not its gay priests, and its solution to the problem is not the removal of them. The problem in the Catholic Church is its transgressions against gay priests. And I ask: Who will remove the church from itself?

Years of homophobia and years of church laws to maintain the homophobia have made the church unsafe for us all, young and old, straight and gay, adult and child.

Eugene Kennedy, a specialist on sexuality and the priesthood and a former priest, wrote in his book, The Unhealed Wound: The Church and Human Sexuality, that the Catholic Church “...had always had gay priests, and they have often been models of what priests should be. To say that these men should be kept from the priesthood is in itself a challenge to the grace of God and an insult to them and the people they serve."

The Church's edicts against LGBTQ people is a farce in light of its reality and of the gifts gay priests have given and continue to give to the Catholic Church. If the Catholic Church wants to solve its problem of pedophilia, it should not look at a priest's sexual orientation but instead at his overall personality development.

Right now, the Catholic Church stands in the need of prayer.

Scapegoating all gay priests as pedophiles is a cheap and easy solution. It gives the Catholic Church an easy escape hatch that allows the Church to not own up to the reality that the reason the Catholic Church exists and will continue to exist in perpetuity is because of the gifts, and dedicated service of its gay priests.¨ HERE

GAY PRIESTS ARE NOT PAEDOPHILES

Cardinal Bertone's attempt to blame gay priests for the church's scandals is foolish and wrong

¨Prudence is a cardinal virtue, but not a virtue always shown by cardinals in Rome. Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, Vatican secretary of state, recently refuted a link between clerical sex abuse and celibacy, but then claimed "a relationship between homosexuality and pedophilia" which, he said, "many psychologists and psychiatrists have shown". His remarks were greeted with horror, as well they should have been, for they implied that homosexuals were more inclined to sex abuse of minors than heterosexuals, which is simply false.¨ HERE


Victims slam ¨blame-shifting¨ Vatican

¨A US support group for victims of predator priests slammed the Vatican for allegedly seeking to shift blame for the now global child sex abuse scandal away from the church.

Remarks made earlier this week by Pope Benedict XVI's top aide, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, which linked pedophilia and homosexuality, were "distracting, blame-shifting" and very calculated, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) said on Wednesday.

"They were calculated, as are so many similarly misguided, distracting, blame-shifting, finger-pointing comments by so many church staff seeking to scapegoat others, among them journalists, prosecutors, lawmakers, victims, lawyers, liberals and gay people," the victims' group said.

Bertone's remarks "rub even more salt into the already deep and still-fresh wounds of hundreds of thousands of men and women who have been assaulted by clerics and betrayed by bishops, especially women and girls," SNAP said.

· Thanks to Fr. Marty Kurylowicz
· Thanks to Thalamus Center, sidebar
· Thanks to A Quest for Checks and Balances at the RC Church
· Thanks to ¨Shatter the Silence¨
· Thanks to Change.Org
· Thanks to The Reverend Irene Monroe
· Thanks to Eugene Kennedy
· Thanks to A.W. Richard Sipe
· Thanks to The Reverend Donald B. Cozens
· Thanks to The Guardian, U.K.
· Thanks to Austen Ivereigh
· Thanks to The Sydney Morning Herald
· Thanks to SNAP