An Inch At A Time: Reflections on the Journey: It was an eclectic day ...

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

It was an eclectic day ...

Today was a real "Heinz 57" kind of day.

It's a birthday for me, so I enjoyed lots of good wishes and nice notes from fun people from all over different parts of my life. (Thanks, everybody!) And I still have dinner out with my sweetie to look forward to.

There was the regular kind of stuff like conference calls, communication meetings, finishing up details for EfM graduation and a memorial service on Saturday and -- oh yeah -- editing scripts for YouTube segments for IntegriTV.

Then Oprah re-ran Ed Bacon's "gay is a gift from God" segment on her TV show today so I spent some time answering phone calls and emails about THAT all over again. (Note to Oprah: A "heads up" next time would be nice! Thanks!)

And then I started an archelogical dig through old General Convention files ... looking for one particular piece I never DID find ... but found some other treasures instead.

How about this ENS archives piece from the LAST time General Convention met in Anaheim -- 1985!

Or this piece from Soulforce when they showed up in Denver to picket us?

But best of all were the pictures ... so here's my birthday present to YOU all ... a little walk down Memory Lane of the Ghosts of General Conventions past ... starting with the All Saints, Pasadena booth in the 1985 Anaheim Convention Center Exhibit Hall:

3 comments:

Elizabeth Kaeton said...: HAPPY, HAPPY Birthday, Baby! You get better with every passing year!

Word verification: "skyhoide".

Well, and there it is, then.; 7:16 PM
JimB said...: Happy Birthday!

FWIW
jimB; 8:03 PM
BJ said...: Happy Birthday (a day late now). And thanks for the walk down memory lane through convention photos -- the times, they are a-changin', aren't they?; 6:24 AM

... where I try to be really clear about what I'm clear about. For example:

Religious persecution is when you're prevented from exercising your beliefs, not when you're prevented from IMPOSING your beliefs.

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Using "biblical standards" to condemn those who understand that sexual orientation is morally neutral makes as much sense as using "biblical standards" to condemn astronomers who understand that the earth revolves around the sun. The Bible may have said it but that doesn't always settle it.

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It's liberty and justice for all -- not some. It's respect the dignity of every human being -- not just straight ones. Got it? Great. Let's do it.

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In order to keep moving forward toward liberty and justice for all we can't just be right about what the 1st Amendment protects. We have to be smart about how we respond to those who skipped the 9th Commandment and think lying is a Traditional Family Value.

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Jesus said "Love your neighbor." Not "Love your neighbor unless your neighbor is gay."

Smart things other people have said you should know about

“Faith in action is called politics. Spirituality without action is fruitless and social action without spirituality is heartless. We are boldly political without being partisan. Having a partisan-free place to stand liberates the religious patriot to see clearly, speak courageously, and act daringly.” -- Ed Bacon

“Power at its best is love implementing the demands of justice. Justice at its best is love correcting everything that stands against love.” – Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

"It's time for "tolerant" religious people to acknowledge the straight line between the official anti-gay theologies of their denominations and the deaths of these young people. Nothing short of changing our theology of human sexuality will save these young and precious lives." -- The Rt Rev Gene Robinson

"How can you initiate someone into the Body of Christ and then treat them like they’re half-assed baptized?" - The Rt Rev Barbara Harris

“I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation. We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.” ~ Elie Wiesel, 1986 Nobel Peace Prize

"Resolve to be tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving and tolerant with the weak and wrong. Sometime in your life, you will have been all of these." — Siddhārtha Gautama

"I'm so glad Mary didn't wait for the formulation of a Doctrine of the Incarnation before she said 'Yes' to God." -- Ed Bacon

"The great Easter truth is not that we will be born again someday but that we are to be alive here and now by the power of the resurrection." -- Philips Brooks (paraphrase)

"History belongs to the intercessors, who believe the future into being.” -- Walter Wink

“Patience, a quality of holiness may be sloth in the soul when associated with the lack of righteous indignation.” -- Abraham Heschel

"Don't tell me what you believe. Tell me what difference it makes that you believe!" -- Verna Dozier

“We establish no religion in this country, we command no worship, we mandate no belief. Nor will we ever. Church and state are, and must remain, separate. All are free to believe or not believe, all are free to practice a faith or not, and those who believe are free and should be free, to speak of and act on their belief. At the same time as our constitution prohibits state religion, establishment of it protects the free exercise of all religions. And walking this fine line requires government to be strictly neutral.” -- Ronald Reagan

Let's be clear. The fact that the State authorizes a marriage in no way compels any Church to perform or recognize it. Marriage equality merely guarantees equality under the law to all citizens; it does not compel churches to do anything.-- Katherine Ragsdale