The orthodox response

I was advised over at Northern Plains Anglicans that

the orthodox define the church by its fidelity to the whole Biblical message.

My response:

Against a self-styled "orthodox" scorecard.

Couldn't disagree more.

I find the combative rhetoric and exceptionalist theology of the ACN and AAC reflective sometimes of pieces of scripture at times, but in contrast to my incomplete concept of "the whole Biblical message."

Jesus's message and an overarching theme in Scripture, to me, is:

Get over it (your rules, your tradition, your doctrines, your divisions and lines in the sand) and get on with it. Knock it off--turn yourself around, and love one another and love God.

But I'm a liberal and a presumed theological and biblical illiterate. Sorry.

South Dakota Bishop responds to a letter

The Bishop of the Episcopal Church in South Dakota has sent out a statement summarizing our recent convention and also has some reaction to a letter that went out to some Episcopalians in the state. From what I've heard from Episcopal friends, the mailing list was a (apparently) little scatter-shot; some congregations got their whole membership mailed, other congregations had letters sent to just a subset of members. The letter (so I'm told; I didn't get on myself and have not seen one yet) was an invitation to join with other "traditional Anglicans" who need "safe haven" from the "persecution" they feel as conservatives.

Personally I need to pray for patience when members of the white, conservative majority cry that they are "oppressed" or don't feel "welcome" in the Church. Try being female--or gay--or both--in Nigeria for even ten minutes. Try being Native American in Rapid City. Give me a friggin break!

Anyway, +Creighton said on the Diocesan Information Exchange yesterday:

Some of the clergy, some lay folks as well, were upset that a letter had been mailed out from a group of folks at Good Shepherd Episcopal Church in Sioux Falls, asking folks to leave the Episcopal Church and join their Anglican group. The usual reasons were cited for their leaving, the issue of human sexuality, same sex union blessings, our failure to interpret scripture as narrowly as they do, and they ask all of us to consider leaving the Episcopal Church and join their splinter group. I spoke about some of their concerns in my convention address.

He made it very clear how he feels about the whole thing:

As I said at the convention, this whole splinter conversation is not about being the church, it is about power, authority, biblical interpretation or rather the holding of everyone to one interpretation, and it is about control. It is about dishonesty and it's about holding one group accountable to one standard and another accountable to a different standard.

Bishop +Creighton promised more on his response to the Bishop's New Orleans meeting later, in a letter to be shared, but not read from pulpit... presumably because there are many of us putting our efforts to the work of the church and the work of God in our lives... a silent majority that is committed to the Church and really don't want to spend more time on this "crisis."

Another story, another reason to care about this issue

It's all about humanity.


Aging and Gay, and Facing Prejudice in Twilight - New York Times

A story for Native American Day

This Native American Day, I'm reflecting that LGBT people have been here in Dakota Territory for a very long time, and have earned our respect and deserve dignity.


There are lots of important ways to observe Native American Day from this long-ignored viewpoint...

1. Buy some cool stuff to support NativeOut.
2. Support The Center's Two Spirit program in Rapid City. Just email info@thecenterwest.org for more details.
3. If you have the knowledge, please add to the Wikipedia entry for Two Spirit. It needs some loving attention!
4. Read a story: We'wha: Zuni Man/Woman by Laura Darlene Lansberry

In the words of a Crow traditionalist, "We don't waste people the way white society does. Every person has their gift." --
Roscoe, Will, ed. Living the Spirit: A Gay American Indian Anthology. p. 47

Blessings to all!

Comments and links are welcome...

Why is Roger Hunt's case still important?

There are those that feel the 2006 election is over, and asking the question "why won't people just drop this."

An excellent post describing exactly why our Republican AG and Sec of State still care has been posted on Daily Kos. This isn't about abortion, it isn't about party... it's about transparency--a critical need if our democracy will have any relevance, especially when for-profit media exposure is a critical part of political success...

Who is it? Maybe it's Hyperion. Or the people making the oil pipeline. Or maybe its someone who doesn't like abortion and isn't malicious at all. The point is that the public's faith in the system is undermined because of this. So the attorney general pressed charges to force them to disclose.

This could go both ways -- these underhanded tactics could just as well be used against Republicans, with similar corrosive effects to the public trust.

I'm hoping someone will just leak the answer. It would sure save us all a lot of taxpayer money.

Rep. Herseth Sandlin... please please please

Things are looking pretty grim for the Republicans in the Congress. C'mon Rep. Herseth Sandlin, please please please... for our South Dakota guys and gals...

Just say it...

"Our soldiers have done well and fulfilled their mission. And, it's become crystal clear that it's time to redeploy from Iraq. Now."

Please!!!

SCHIP vetoed by President Bush

Here is HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt defending this policy on c-span.

Family income of $75,000 -- isn't what it used to be. Bush and Leavitt are playing on people's perceptions, formed years ago when $1 bought a gallon of milk. (Note to non-parents -- it's pushing $4 now).

More on that 75K number Bush is afraid that someone, somewhere, might get their children insured without paying a big slice of their income for it. More on that number here. A hint, just a few states with high costs of living actually have extended SCHIP to these "fat cats." Certainly not South Dakota.

It isn't like the health care is free for those $75k "fat cats" -- remember that's total family income... the SCHIP plan would protect families from a child's cancer or something utterly throwing them to the credit card wolves and sinking them financially for the rest of their lives. If they get to keep their kid with the minimal care they can get without insurance.

Of course, the credit card companies, now protected from middle-income bankruptcies by Congress, are the big winners here if this veto isn't overriden.

The enormity of this problem and its brutality is brought home by this photographic art piece by Chris Jordan. Every kid without health insurance has a whole family around them affected.

Credit card and insurance industry profits, or basic health care for kids? Is it really that brutal a choice?

Jerry Sanders--hero... and ENDA

If you hadn't seen this video clip, please do. Have a kleenex handy though, I'm warning you.

Mayor Jerry Sanders came around to support gay marriage in San Diego a couple of weeks ago. This video is priceless. He got it... this isn't about weirdos outside our experience---it's about fairness for people close to us and folks like them.

I think most of us allies are the same way... there are people who totally turned us around on the issue, and not only people we know.

Joan Walsh wrote about this speech in Salon. She has come around too.

I myself [Walsh] was a cowardly civil unions supporter, until San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom started marrying gay couples at City Hall three years ago, and the sight of thousands of gay people, from all over the world, lining up to exercise this basic human right changed my mind forever.

I am wrestling myself with the currently active federal employment discrimination legislation, (ENDA), thinking whether its worth leaving out the transgender, who are a smaller minority and much less accepted, so we can pass this thing, and then return to help them later.

Mayor Sanders words (and his emotions) convinced me to support ENDA for GLB and T.

I just could not bring myself to tell an entire group of people in our community that they were less important, less worthy and less deserving...

Please contact Rep. Herseth this week about this issue. It's important.

Canon David Anderson, tell us what you REALLY think

Canon David Anderson, former rector of Emmanuel Episcopal Church, Rapid City (where I hear he was a very divisive figure), pulls no punches.

The real test for the orthodox in TEC is to NOT be pulled into a Vichy-type collaborationist relationship with a regime of corrupted faith and theology.

Wow.

Conservatives who maintain working relationships with the Episcopal Church are... Nazi collaborators.

Wow.

Black Hills AIDS Walk a success!

Even with all the other (great) events going on last Saturday, the Black Hills AIDS Walk was a huge success--100 walkers; and more than $2000 raised. It looks like we may have done even better than the one held in Sioux Falls for several years.

Too bad neither the RCJ or the RC Weekly News have done a post-AIDS Walk story that I can find. I hope they step forward soon, as I think it's pretty newsworthy that the first walk finished so string!

There's was a story in the Argus Leader about the Sioux Falls edition of the 2007 AIDS walk (held the same day in East River) that lays out the basics of what the whole enterprise was about.

More on the Black Hills walk can be read here.