On the B033 Bridge to Nowhere & Town Hall Melees

So I got up early (for a vacation day, that is!) to log on to Southwest and do the online check in thing for my flight to Nashville tomorrow morning. Was rewarded with both an "A" boarding pass and the chance to hear Justice Sotomayor from the White House. What a hopeful reminder of who we are at our best -- in contrast to those increasingly absurd "town hall melees."

And as long as I was up, checked out Facebook where my friend Pam had posted this link to this blog post over at the Bilerico Project.

It's called "Cry Me A River:"

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I'm not smiling at the misfortune of the fundies. Really, I'm not.

The good folks over at Amplify got a pleading letter from Focus on the Fundraising... er... "Focus on the Family" whining about the hard economic times and what looks to be a 6 Million Dollar budget shortfall:

"Right now we're facing a serious budget shortfall that threatens our ability to reach out to parents, families and married couples who count on our help. Income is down nearly $6 million from what we expected and planned for this year."

I'm shedding a tear ...

Maybe if they didn't spend so much money on anti-LGBT ballot initiatives or lining the pockets of their founder and board (I wonder what verse in the Bible that comes from), they wouldn't be in such a pickle. They have thrown multi-millions into every ballot battle across the country- from California's Prop 8 to Florida's Amendment 2.

Forgive me if I do a happy dance at their money woes.

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And forgive me if I take this opportunity to "bookmark" this one for the next time someone tells me/emails me/refers-me-to-a-blog that blames budget shortfalls in The Episcopal Church on our "liberal agenda."

Remember that cigar that is sometimes "just a cigar"???? Sometimes a sucky economy is just a sucky economy -- but never underestimate the determination of the misinformation mavens to refuse to allow actual facts to influence their already made up minds. And I'm thinking this morning that there's a parallel between the acting out we've seen in the Town Hall Melees and some of the behavior we've been living with in the Anglican Communion over these last few years.

Every night the news is full of reports on those who show up at meetings designed to discuss solutions to health care in America prepared to shout down solutions with slogans that perpetuate both polarization and misinformation. ("Socialized Medicine" and "Killing Your Grandma" come to mind.)

Substitute the full inclusion of the LGBT baptized in the Body of Christ and you get a similar methodology ("Abandoning the Faith Once Received" and "Undermining the Sanctity of Marriage" come to mind.)

The sad truth is none of these folks want solutions -- to the issues that challenge us as Americans OR as Anglicans. They want to shout down "the opposition" to keep compromise from happening or coalitions from forming.

It took The Episcopal Church awhile to figure that one out -- but what I'm wondering this morning is if B033 won't be looked at in retrospect as "the bridge to nowhere" that finally called the question on continuing to tolerate intolerance. And what I'm hoping this morning is that maybe -- just maybe -- these Town Hall Meetings/Melees will prove the same.

Because I really believe we are better, brighter, stronger and more capable of solving problems as a nation than our recent history has demonstrated. And -- as Justice Sotomayor said from the White House today -- if a Puerto Rican girl from the Bronx can grow up to be a Supreme Court Justice then maybe there's nothing we can't do!

And I'm thinking that includes making health care available to all who need it in this country AND making God's love tangible to all who seek it in this church!
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