Healthcare Reform

Confused about healthcare reform?  Six months after the bill passed, someone has finally turned it into a cartoon.  Schoolhouse Rock Aficionados, enjoy: Kaiser Family Foundation Health Care Reform

For the Bible Tells Me So

In the American evangelical church, no issue ignites emotions more than homosexuality.  At the first mention of the word, good Baptists reach for Leviticus, immediately dismissing any discussion of room for gays within the Church.  While I cannot profess to have many answers about God's perspectives on an openly gay Episcopal bishop, I did take a step of entering into the conversation a few nights ago by turning on For the Bible Tells Me So, a documentary questioning the legitimacy of the anti-gay fervor within the evangelical world.

I can say firstly that I don't get it.  I don't get why a man is attracted sexually to another man.  I can't relate.  It does not make sense in terms of evolutionary survival.  I have heard some promote a concept that "our sexuality is fluid," and whatever that means, I don't think I buy it.  But I do understand attraction, and I know what it is to yearn for lifelong companionship.  Personally, as long as the person you want to take on as your spouse or partner is not my wife (or myself), I am not all too concerned with your choice.  If you are a man and want to marry a man, so be it.  I can't imagine anyone would want to suffer the ridicule and scorn endured by gays and lesbians if he or she did not have at least some legitimate desire for sex with someone of the same gender.

However, in the scope of Christianity, I have always been taught that gay sex is sin.  The documentary did an excellent job of promoting thoughtful and insightful challenges to that belief.  The producers certainly had an agenda, which they well executed.  But it was one of the first times I recognized the struggles endured by gays who earnestly and honestly long for communion with the church.  Whereas before I couldn't even entertain the possibility that a Christian could be a lesbian, now I struggle to entertain why a lesbian would want to be a Christian.  We have been hateful and stubborn to anyone professing both homosexuality and the cross.

While we cloak our condemnations of homosexuality in bible versus, I do believe that our disdain for gays and lesbians is rooted much deeper in our macho psyche and disdain for women than our theology.  I admit that the idea of a man being with another man makes me uncomfortable.  But our faith calls us clearly and definitely to be more so repulsed by the idea of hate-mongers and terrorists who, in the name of Jesus, threaten death to gay Christians.

But what about scripture?  I cannot overlook or dismiss words that seem to specifically warn as God's children of the evils of sexual perversion.  And so I don't know exactly where I stand on all of this.  But I do know this: Christ has called us to stand with the oppressed, to fight for justice and to be vessels of mercy.  And so I will stand up for gays when they are put down, be it by Christians or not.  And I will likewise call gay brothers and lesbian sisters in Christ to live lives of dignity - not given to orgies or random hook-ups - in the same way I call my straight brothers and sisters.  I will continue to ask questions and I will not tolerate hatred in the name of Jesus.

While I cannot find a mention of homosexuality by Jesus, I can certainly find stark condemnations he preaches against the luxuries enjoyed by the American church.  Should we fail to repent of our inhospitality to members of the gay/lesbian/transgender communities, we are indicted "to a fate worse than Sodom."

From the library...

Currently off of the shelf and into my hands, a pair of books:

The Souls of Black Folk by W.E.B. Du Bois is one of the seminal works on African-American Studies.  Written in the early years of the previous century, Du Bois focuses on the problems of the "color line" in the US, with particular attention to the South.  Many of the issues that existed at that time have built the foundation for modern racial disparities; Du Bois's famous "Veil" has yet to lift.


Binding the Strong Man: A Political Reading of Mark's Story of Jesus by Ched Meyers is my first venture into Liberation Theology.  Meyer's book, a Catholic Book Award winner, demands a socio-political reading of the gospel, with particular attention to who was writing (a Jew oppressed by Roman colonialization during the Jewish revolt in 66 A.D), to whom he was writing (other oppressed Jews and Christians) and about whom he was writing (a non-violent, and thus unwelcome, Messiah who demanded a new social order).  The book is heavy and academic, but with a penchant for history and revolution, I have eaten it up thus far.  Reading it as part of a book club, I am eager to discuss it with a group with a variety of theological and political backgrounds.

As the semester's end approaches quickly, I am looking for another book or two to help me through December.  I am considering some writings of Martin Luther King, Jr., and perhaps a long-overdue reunion with my good friend Wendell Berry.  Your suggestions are welcome.

Remember, remember

Remember, remember the Fifth of November,

The Gunpowder Treason and Plot,

I know of no reason

Why the Gunpowder Treason

Should ever be forgot.


A joyous Guy Fawkes Night to everyone.  Hopefully you will celebrate in the revolutionary vein by watching V for Vendetta.

The Third of November

Remember, remember

The Education Manifesto

Outgoing Washington, D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty (D) and Michelle Rhees, the Chancellor of Schools in his administration, implemented radical changes in the system's schools during his term in office.  Resistance from unions and old-guard Democrats led to his ouster in a primary election earlier this fall.  Together they authored this article entitled, "The Education Manifesto."  Here's to politicians willing to make good decisions that risk their careers.  Click on the post title to see the article.

On the legality of marriage