An Inch At A Time: Reflections on the Journey: In the news ...

Thursday, February 24, 2011

In the news ...

Today's going to be a busy day getting ready for our annual vestry/staff retreat where we'll be off campus for two days together -- welcoming new vestry members and working on program and budget issues for the year ahead. But here's a quick look at some of the news this morning on the still-happening marriage equality front:

Andrew Sullivan has what looks to me to be a great analysis of the legal implications of yesterday's White House DOMA policy shift. You can read that here --and I'm interested in what legal-beagle types think about his assessment.

USA Today has a piece in their online edition entitled "Gay marriage advances: Overdue justice or moral chaos?"Clearly I come down on the "overdue justice" side of the equation, and appreciated getting this quote in:

It is good news for those who support Family Values that Value All Families. And it is great news for those who are part of a growing Protect Marriage Movement committed to Protecting All Marriages... What the White House said today is that it is unconstitutional to defend some marriages and not others."

The article ends with this question:

THINK ABOUT IT: What difference does your neighbor's marriage make in your life? Are your marriage -- or divorce or live-together -- choices up for scrutiny?

You can follow this link to go weigh in if you've got a few minutes to spare.

Finally, I started the morning with an interview with Barbara Bradley Hagerty (one of my favorite NPR people!) on reactions to the DOMA decision as well as to the marriage equality momentum we're seeing. It's slated to air this afternoon on All Things Considered. Tune in if you have time! And now ... back to my regularly scheduled life!

1 comment:

Will J said...: "What difference does your neighbor's marriage make in your life? Are your marriage -- or divorce or live-together"

I want my neighbors to be secure in their abilities to honor their commitments to each other as they work towards creating lives that are larger than them as two individuals. I want the economic and emotional security of their children and family to be protected so that it may be nurtured into a living and thriving part of the community. I want this for Ted and Liz and their sons; I want this for David and Joel and their 3 children; I want this for Janet and Nancy; I want this for Bill and Alan; I want this for Ann and Bob. I want all committed and mutually respectful and willfully consenting marriages and partnerships to thrive so that these neighbors and my community can live into it's creation.

Oh my, I guess I just believe in old fashioned family values. I'm such a middle aged fuddy-duddy.; 3:05 PM

... 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