¨We must fight for equal rights for LGBT people, just as we must fight for the rights of the poor...¨

"We're enveloped in a national debate about insurance mandates and the political leanings of nine Supreme Court Justices. That's all well and good, but entirely beside the point. A nation that does not care for its sick and infirm is a nation that does not deserve to exist. A nation that actively profits from the pain and suffering of those sick and infirm deserves to burn in Hell. A nation that throws those sick and infirm to the wolves is so far beneath contempt as to beggar description."

William Rivers Pitt, Journalist, Truthout

¨I'm in full agreement with Pitt's assessment of our country which is the only developed country where people are afraid of their medical bills; many of whom can't even afford to get needed medical care. Only a country that believes in the Darwinian concept of "Survival of the Fittest," and views others as mere inconveniences or wastes, can embrace and extol wealth as the major, if not sole, criterion of being worthy of having a full life and enjoying the fruits of equality granted to all citizens in the Constitution.

It is not a great leap to see that our contempt for the poor is equivalent for many people's contempt for LGBT people! Both groups are minorities, both groups are devalued, both groups are denied basic human rights, and both groups are assaulted and murdered by people who disparage and/or hate those whom they perceive as "weak."

We must fight for equal rights for LGBT people, just as we must fight for the rights of the poor, for to do anything less is to be in league with those who "deserve to burn in Hell."  The Reverend Doctor Jerry Maneker, A Christian Voice for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Rights   HERE

DOMINGO de RAMOS: La Merced Church, Antigua, Guatemala, 2012



La Merced, Domingo de Ramos, 2012, Antigua, Guatemala

 Salmo 24

Del Señor es la tierra y su plenitud, *
el mundo y los que en él habitan;
Porque él la fundó sobre los mares, *
y la afirmó sobre los ríos del abismo.
"¿Quién subirá al monte del Señor? *
Y ¿quién estará en su santo lugar?"
"El limpio de manos, y puro de corazón, *
el que no ha elevado su mente a un ídolo,
ni jurado por dios falso.
Recibirá bendición del Señor, *
y recompensa merecida del Dios de su salvación".
Tal es la generación de los que le buscan, *
de los que buscan tu rostro, oh Dios de Jacob.
Alcen, oh puertas, sus cabezas;
álcense, oh puertas del Eterno; *
y entrará el Rey de gloria.
"¿Quién es este Rey de gloria?" *
"El Señor, fuerte y valiente,
el Señor, poderoso en batalla".
Alcen, oh puertas, sus cabezas;
álcense, oh puertas del Eterno; *
y entrará el Rey de gloria.
"¿Quién es él, el Rey de gloria?" *
"El Señor de las huestes,él es el Rey de gloria"

Salmo 29

Den al Señor, oh seres celestiales, *
den al Señor la gloria y la fortaleza.
Den al Señor la gloria debida a su Nombre; *
adoren al Señor en la hermosura de su santidad.
La voz del Señor sobre las aguas;
truena el Dios de gloria; *
el Señor sobre las grandes aguas.
La voz del Señor es voz potente; *
la voz del Señor es voz gloriosa.
La voz del Señor quebranta los cedros; *
el Señor quebranta los cedros del Líbano.
Hace saltar al Líbano como becerro, *
al Hermón como hijuelo de búfalo.
La voz del Señor divide las llamas de fuego;
la voz del Señor hace temblar el desierto; *
hace temblar el Señor el desierto de Cades.
La voz del Señor tuerce las encinas, *
y desnuda los bosques.
Mientras, en el templo del Señor *
todo proclama su gloria.
El Señor se sienta por encima del diluvio; *
el Señor se sienta como Rey por siempre jamas.
El Señor dará fortaleza a su pueblo; *
el Señor bendecirá a su pueblo con la paz.
Gloria al Padre, y al Hijo y al Espíritu Santo: *
como era en el principio, ahora y siempre,
por los siglos de los siglos. Amén.

Oración Matutina Diaria

Si decimos que no tenemos pecado, nos engañamos a nosotros mismos, y la verdad no está en nosotros. Si confesamos nuestros pecados, él es fiel y justo para perdonar nuestros pecados, y limpiarnos de toda maldad. 1 San Juan 1:8, 9 TODO, AQUI

·  Thanks to Luis Hernandez, photo
·  Thanks to Oficio Diario del Libro, sidebar

YES TO COMPREHENSIVE UNITY: The Anglican Covenant defeated in the diocese of Manchester, Church of England

NO ANGLICAN COVENANT:  Manchester Diocesan Synod

The motion in favour of the covenant was defeated in all three houses.

Bishops: 1 for / 2 against / 0 abstentions
Clergy: 15 for / 25 against / 0 abstentions
Laity: 12 for / 23 against / 7 abstentions

With this result the current figures are 25 diocesan synods against and 15 in favour of the Covenant.

The remaining four dioceses will vote after Easter: Southwell & Nottingham (12 April), Chichester (21 April), Newcastle and York (28 April).

·  Thanks to Thinking Anglicans, HERE
·  Thanks to Peter Owen

Attention Archbishop Datuk Bolly anak Lapok/S.E. Asia: HATE CRIMES TARGETED AGAINST LESBIANS IN THAILAND!

Anglican Bishop Datuk Bolly anak Lapok -- where is the pastoral care for LGBT Anglicans/others in South East Asia?

¨It’s the first report of its kind that draws attention to what activists have described as hate crimes against lesbians and masculine-presenting women in Thailand – a country commonly regarded to be one of the most LGBT-friendly in Southeast Asia.

In a statement published by the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) on Mar 27, 2012, the commission – in association with local LGBT human rights advocates – wrote to the government of Thailand to “express shock and outrage and demand an immediate investigation into the pattern of gruesome murders of lesbians and gender variant women – those who identify as toms [derived from 'tomboy' to mean butch lesbians], between 2006 and 2012.”

The IGLHRC say the murders have been dismissed by the police as 'crimes of passion, love gone wrong, or the fault of the victims' and were not investigated as hate crimes. Thailand however does not have hate crime legislation or legal provisions to protect anyone facing discrimination based on any grounds.

The New-York-based NGO sent a list of eight demands, including an immediate investigation of the killings and rapes of lesbians, the implementation of a national monitoring system of homophobic crimes, and to train and sensitise all law enforcement personnel about equality before the law regardless of sexual orientation and gender identity.

The letter was sent to Thailand’s Inspector General of Women’s Affairs and Family Development (which comes under the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security), the Commissioner General of the Royal Thai Police, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

The IGLHRC reports that in all cases the deaths have been verified, and most victims identified. HERE

A Word About Human Sexuality from Archbishop Datuk Bolly anak Lapok -- Thailand and South East Asia*

"The frustration resulting from the acrimonious debates over the issue of human sexuality and about the future of the Communion has not abated in any way. I was hoping that the Anglican Primates have all gone tired and exhausted and running out of steam over it, and have begun to focus their minds on something else more urgent and more relevant like the task of presenting the Gospel to a burdened church and an unbelieving world that is groaning in pain and suffering.

"But unfortunately that is not to be; and I should be despairing and panicking as the Israelites were that day. But strangely I am not!"

The Archbishop, whom God enabled to move on after the painful episode of the untimely death of his wife, is confident of the Gospel's power to secure the future of Anglicanism, of which the presence, at his installation, of friends and representatives from across the Anglican Communion is a sign.

"We should not be despairing," he exhorted them, "because the joy of the gift of the Gospel outweighs by far the burden and the pain caused by the failure with which the Church handles her mission." HERE

*Datuk Bolly anak Lapok (born 10 August 1952) is currently the fourth Metropolitan Archbishop and Primate of the Anglican Church of the Province of South East Asia as well as the Bishop of Kuching.

NO ANGLICAN COVENANT

·  Thanks to Fridae Asia, sidebar
·  Thanks to Wikipedia
·  Thanks to IGLHRC
·  Thanks to The Christian Post, Singapore Edition

Attention Bishop Héctor Zavala Muñoz: HATE CRIME MURDER IN CHILE -- President Sebastián Piñera pledges anti-discrimination bill after brutal murder of Daniel Zamudio

Murder Of Daniel Zamudio Moves Chile Toward Hate Crimes Law

¨The brutal murder of Danile Zamundio, a young gay man, has prompted a national debate in Chile over hate crimes, the AP reported.

Zamundio died Tuesday night from injuries he received during an attack in a park in Santiago on March 3. Police have arrested 4 suspects who have been charged with beating Zamundio for an hour, burning him with cigarettes and carving Nazi symbols into his body.

On Wednesday, prosecutor Ernesto Vazquez requested that the charges against the jailed suspects be changed from attempted murder to premeditated murder. If convinced, the men, whose ages range from 19 to 26, face life in prison.

Hundreds of people attended daily vigils outside the hospital where Zamudio lost his fight for life after 25 days.

Zamudio's death, which has been described as a clear case of homophobia, prompted President Sebastián Piñera to pledge passage of an anti-discrimination bill which was first proposed in 2005.

“His death will not remain unpunished and reinforces the complete commitment of the government against all arbitrary discrimination and for a more tolerant country,” President Sebastián Piñera  tweeted from South Korea.

Evangelical churches have lobbied heavily against the proposed measure, arguing it would lead to the eventual legalization of gay marriage.¨  HERE



NO ANGLICAN COVENANT


·  Thanks to On Top Magazine, sidebar
·  Thanks to President Sebastián Piñera , Chile
·  Thanks to AP

YES TO COMPREHENSIVE UNITY: The Anglican Covenant defeated in the diocese of London, Church of England

Report from London Diocesan Synod: Anglican Communion Covenant

MOTION DEFEATED

Bishops: 2 for / 1 against / 0 abstentions
Clergy: 17 for / 32 against / 1 abstention
Laity: 26 for / 33 against / 2 abstentions
 
·  Thanks to Thinking Anglicans, HERE
·  Thanks to Peter Owen

The Coward of Canterbury: Fixation with gay rights can “fragment” society, says Rowan Williams. Oh dear!

Dr. Rowan Williams

After losing a campaign to ¨fragment¨ the Church of England, and well on the way to losing a  ¨sexual identity deceiving¨ campaign at the Anglican Communion it appears Rowan Williams, outgoing Archbishop of Canterbury,  thinks he now has the knowledge and expertise on how to cure social/equality issues in Britain.  


Dr. Williams preaches/speeches that in order to solve the abuse, injustice and everyday slander and exploitation directed against LGBT and heterosexual women, we must believe that the victims, who are currently marginalized and despised, are simply ¨fixated¨ with equality and therefore threaten to ¨fragment¨ society.  


Once again, instead of actually ¨doing something¨ positive to promote a healthier and more full bodied and loving  inclusive ¨society¨ at Church and beyond Church, Rowan Williams ducks, hides, threatens, talks/talks/talks and scoffs.  The Archbishop of Canterbury tells us all about how society doesn´t work but avoids mentioning  the real, and dangerous everyday living/hiding circumstances of millions of Anglicans/others living as a persecuted people in Britain, in Uganda, in Jamaica, in Nigeria/beyond.


The coward ¨fragmentor¨ of Canterbury adds nothing positive, or even realistic, or new, to a very sad and dishonorable ¨discrimination¨ situation that has been going on for lifetimes (ours) .   Dr. Williams chats about nusance and cultural incovenience...oh, dang, what a pain.

The embarassing, for him,  sexual orientation issue has been badly dealt with by Rowan Williams because he can´t or won´t face the human reality of ALL his fellow Anglicans/others.  The Anglican Communion is in danger of  ¨fragmenting¨ at this very moment because Dr. Williams has allowed ignorance, fear and hate to fester and grow.  Lies and wrongs against oppressed heterosexual women and LGBT have been allowed perpetuate themselves by going unchallenged at various provinces of the worldwide communion during his term as Archbishop of Canterbury.

Rowan Williams of Canterbury seems to have hid from the incovenient truth regarding the critical need for equality for everyone...during his decade at Lambeth Palace .  Now, at last, he notes that he was aware of  the including=fragmenting all along...just what did he think was going on while society has been excluding too?  

Rowan Williams and his ten years of destructive wrong action(s) at the Anglican Communion have left us with only a fragment of  ¨acceptance¨ and little unity...and that acceptance reflected little of his doing.    Leonardo Ricardo

¨Addressing a group of teenagers during a visit to the Welsh Assembly in Cardiff, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, has claimed that a fixation with gay rights, race and feminism threatens to “fragment” the British society.


The Telegraph, which has campaigned against equality in marriage, also reports that the Archbishop has signalled an intention to become more vocal in the coming weeks, as he prepares to step down from his post, and take over the mastership of Magdalene College, Cambridge.

In debating the idea of “identity politics” with teenagers, he said it amounted to saying: “This is who I am, these are my rights, I demand that you recognise me.” He also added: “Identity politics, whether it is the politics of feminism, whether it is the politics of ethnic minorities or the politics of sexual minorities, has been a very important part of the last 10 or 20 years because before that I think there was a sense that diversity was not really welcome.

“And so minorities of various kinds and … women began to say ‘actually we need to say who we are in our terms not yours’ and that led to identity politics of a very strong kind and legislation that followed it.

“We are now, I think, beginning to see the pendulum swinging back and saying identity politics is all very well but we have to have some way of putting it all back together again and discovering what is good for all of us and share something of who we are with each other so as to discover more about who we are...¨ there is more, HERE

·  Thanks to Pink News, sidebar
·  Thanks to News Editor

Semana Santa is coming -- preparations are underway in Guatemala

In and outside of church

The Colorsplashed Spirit of Holy Week is starting to fill the air

·  Thanks to Joan Fuetsch, photos

PLEASE MEET MARIELA CASTRO: Internationationally known champion of the lesbian, gay, bisexual transgender and intersex right in Cuba

Bachelor of Psychology-Pedagogy and Master of Sexuality, Mariela Castro

¨Bachelor of Psychology-Pedagogy and Master of Sexuality, Mariela Castro is known internationally as a champion of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) rights in Cuba.


Mariela joined social networks and created an account on twitter, @CastroEspinM and the blog  HERE in order to dismantle the prejudices that have been historically established and banish homophobia.

“the Revolution has changed not only the lives of Cubans but also their sexuality”   Why?

The Cuban Revolution meant not only the achievement of the long-awaited national sovereignty, but also a complex process of creating and implementing the project of justice, social equity and solidarity that has been built and defended during these 53 years.


This scenario led to the confrontation and dialogue between generations, cultural patterns, classes and social strata. Old paradigms of power based on domination and exploitation, inherited from Spanish colonial system and the U.S. neocolonialism, were questioned.


Undoubtedly, this process has generated radical and deep changes in our culture, our prejudices about sexuality, in the relation of domination of men over women, in the reconfiguration of courting, in sexual politics that privilege heterosexual relationships and exclude other forms of erotic and love relationships between human beings, which deny certain rights to those who do not meet these parameters.


Cuban cinematography and other artistic expressions have portrayed from a very creative point of view the vicissitudes of men and women for the development of these changes. For example, the overrated criteria of virginity and its contributing factor to marriage have been transformed. The same has happened with the imposition of a couple for the rest of our life, the sole responsibility of men as head of family, the loyalty standard of women and infidelity in men, the rejection of race relations, the myths of menstruation, the disqualification for single mothers and single women, women's rights, a disapproval to transgender people, gay and bisexual, among others...¨ please read it all, HERE

·  Thanks to Mariela Castro, National Center for Sex Education (CENESEX)
· Thanks to Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer Jamaica, sidebar
· Thanks to Aday del Sol Reyes
· Thanks to CubaSi

YES TO COMPREHENSIVE UNITY: The Anglican Covenant defeated in the Church of England

NEWS RELEASE
MARCH 24, 2012
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE


COALITION STATEMENT ON THE DEFEAT OF THE PROPOSED ANGLICAN COVENANT IN THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND


LONDON – No Anglican Covenant Coalition Moderator, the Revd Dr Lesley Crawley, has issued the following statement on the defeat of the proposed Anglican Communion Covenant in the Church of England.


“With today’s results from the dioceses of Oxford and Lincoln, the proposed Anglican Covenant is now dead in the water in the Church of England. This also poses serious problems for the Covenant in other Provinces as it seems nonsensical to have the Archbishop of Canterbury in the second tier of the Anglican Communion and excluded from the central committees.

“When we launched the No Anglican Covenant Coalition 18 months ago, we were assured that the Anglican Covenant was an unstoppable juggernaut. We started as simply a band of bloggers, but we would like to thank the hundreds of supporters and our patrons for their dedication to promoting debate. The Covenant needed the approval of 23 diocesan synods, as of today, that result is no longer possible.


“Especially we would like to congratulate people in Diocesan Synods across the Church of England who, despite attempts in many dioceses to silence or marginalize dissenting voices, endeavoured to promote debate, ensuring that the Anglican Covenant was subjected to significant and meaningful scrutiny. We found, as the debate went on, that the more people read and studied the Covenant, the less they liked it.


“Under Church of England procedures , this proposal to centralize Communion-wide authority in the hands of a small, self-selecting group cannot return to the agenda of General Synod for at least three years.


“We are seeing the momentum turning internationally as well. The Episcopal Church of the Philippines has officially rejected the Covenant, the opposition of the Tikanga Maori virtually assures that the Covenant will be rejected in the Anglican Church of Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia, and we are seeing increasing opposition in other Provinces of the Communion.


“While today’s diocesan synod results are exciting and gratifying, we are well aware that there is still work to do. However, if the proposed Anglican Covenant does not stand up to scrutiny in the Church of England, we are confident that it will not stand up to scrutiny elsewhere.


“We hope that the Church of England will now look to bring reconciliation within the Anglican Communion by means of strengthening relationships rather than punitive legislation.” HERE