Wednesday, March 14, 2007

News Briefs

PRESIDING BISHOP SPEAKS OUT IN SOUTH AFRICA

Presiding Bishop Jefferts Schori addresses TEAM conference, saying (in part):
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"The Incarnation means that God took the human condition seriously enough to join it ''in all its complexity and organic messiness. Salvation is for all humanity and it is for the whole person, however much we might like to divide that being up into parts that we label physical, moral, psychological, sexual, intellectual, or spiritual.''
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Churches ''where we gather week by week are the most remarkable nexus of possibility for delivering abundant life possible,'' Jefferts Schori said. ''We already have the delivery system on the ground that can feed people, encourage education, provide vaccinations and disease prevention, organize people to address water needs, and partner with others.''Jefferts Schori praised Anglicanism's ''heritage of prophets,'' naming, among others, Elizabeth I, Richard Hooker and Hilda of Whitby, ''all of whom spoke for unity in diversity.''

Read the whole ENS article here
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SENATOR ALAN SIMPSON SPEAKS UP ABOUT "DON'T ASK, DON'T TELL"
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As a lifelong Republican who served in the Army in Germany, I believe it is critical that we review—and overturn—the ban on gay service in the military. I voted for “don’t ask, don’t tell.” But much has changed since 1993.
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My thinking shifted when I read that the military was firing translators because they are gay. According to the Government Accountability Office, more than 300 language experts have been fired under “don’t ask, don’t tell,” including more than 50 who are fluent in Arabic. This when even Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice recently acknowledged the nation’s “foreign language deficit” and how much our government needs Farsi and Arabic speakers.
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Is there a “straight” way to translate Arabic? Is there a “gay” Farsi? My God, we’d better start talking sense before it is too late. We need every able-bodied, smart patriot to help us win this war.
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In today’s perilous global security situation, the real question is whether allowing homosexuals to serve openly would enhance or degrade our readiness. The best way to answer this is to reconsider the original points of opposition to open service.
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Read the whole Washington Post op-ed here.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

What Schori and others sometimes do is use the Incarnation to mean that all are fused to God via Jesus assumption of human nature. They reverse, really, the ancient dictum--that which was NOT assumed is NOT healed (used against docetism primarily)--to that which is assumed is healed and then, confident in the universalism that this implies, go on to pay very little attention to cross and atonement and the subjective reception of the same. That's how I see it, anyhow.

Anonymous said...

Yes, Katharine, CARE, VSO, Doctors Without Borders, and numerous relief agencies can do the same thing. So, big deal. Why don't you spend your money and attention on the real issue of GLBT oppression in the world, especially in the U.S. where you like to live and work, and get off your duff about "fasting" and "pausing for a season." Enough obfuscation already.

Anonymous said...

Elizabeth I was no saint. The Elizabethan settlement was imposed at the point of the sword. Now that the sword is gone, the settlement will not hold. I hope the PB does not really envision a new Elizabethan settlement. That would be the wrong way to go about solving this problem, and it would not work in any case.

JimB said...

Why is it so difficult for the supposed traditionalists who should, one might expect thing well of good manners to get the presiding bishop's name right? She is not "Shori."

Surely even "Anonymous" should be able to handle, "Dr" if he is unable to type a simple double cross or spell "PB." And how hard is her whole name?

Demonize lesbians and gays, and disrespect women. Wait, that is traditional isn't it? Suddenly the direction is clear.

;;sigh;;

FWIW
jimB