I want to second Bishop Spong

A Manifesto! The Time Has Come!

I have made a decision. I will no longer debate the issue of homosexuality in the church with anyone. I will no longer engage the biblical ignorance that emanates from so many right-wing Christians about how the Bible condemns homosexuality, as if that point of view still has any credibility.

I will no longer discuss with them or listen to them tell me how homosexuality is "an abomination to God," about how homosexuality is a "chosen lifestyle," or about how through prayer and "spiritual counseling" homosexual persons can be "cured." Those arguments are no longer worthy of my time or energy.

I will no longer dignify by listening to the thoughts of those who advocate "reparative therapy," as if homosexual persons are somehow broken and need to be repaired.

I will no longer talk to those who believe that the unity of the church can or should be achieved by rejecting the presence of, or at least at the expense of, gay and lesbian people.

I will no longer take the time to refute the unlearned and undocumentable claims of certain world religious leaders who call homosexuality "deviant."

I will no longer listen to that pious sentimentality that certain Christian leaders continue to employ, which suggests some version of that strange and overtly dishonest phrase that "we love the sinner but hate the sin." That statement is, I have concluded, nothing more than a self-serving lie designed to cover the fact that these people hate homosexual persons and fear homosexuality itself, but somehow know that hatred is incompatible with the Christ they claim to profess, so they adopt this face-saving and absolutely false statement.

I will no longer temper my understanding of truth in order to pretend that I have even a tiny smidgen of respect for the appalling negativity that continues to emanate from religious circles where the church has for centuries conveniently perfumed its ongoing prejudices against blacks, Jews, women and homosexual persons with what it assumes is "high-sounding, pious rhetoric." The day for that mentality has quite simply come to an end for me. I will personally neither tolerate it nor listen to it any longer.

The world has moved on, leaving these elements of the Christian Church that cannot adjust to new knowledge or a new consciousness lost in a sea of their own irrelevance. They no longer talk to anyone but themselves.

I will no longer seek to slow down the witness to inclusiveness by pretending that there is some middle ground between prejudice and oppression. There isn't. Justice postponed is justice denied. That can be a resting place no longer for anyone. An old civil rights song proclaimed that the only choice awaiting those who cannot adjust to a new understanding was to "Roll on over or we'll roll on over you!" Time waits for no one.

I will particularly ignore those members of my own Episcopal Church who seek to break away from this body to form a "new church," claiming that this new and bigoted instrument alone now represents the Anglican Communion. Such a new ecclesiastical body is designed to allow these pathetic human beings, who are so deeply locked into a world that no longer exists, to form a community in which they can continue to hate gay people, distort gay people with their hopeless rhetoric and to be part of a religious fellowship in which they can continue to feel justified in their homophobic prejudices for the rest of their tortured lives. Church unity can never be a virtue that is preserved by allowing injustice, oppression and psychological tyranny to go unchallenged.

In my personal life, I will no longer listen to televised debates conducted by "fair-minded" channels that seek to give "both sides" of this issue "equal time." I am aware that these stations no longer give equal time to the advocates of treating women as if they are the property of men or to the advocates of reinstating either segregation or slavery, despite the fact that when these evil institutions were coming to an end the Bible was still being quoted frequently on each of these subjects. It is time for the media to announce that there are no longer two sides to the issue of full humanity for gay and lesbian people. There is no way that justice for homosexual people can be compromised any longer.

I will no longer act as if the Papal office is to be respected if the present occupant of that office is either not willing or not able to inform and educate himself on public issues on which he dares to speak with embarrassing ineptitude.

I will no longer be respectful of the leadership of the Archbishop of Canterbury, who seems to believe that rude behavior, intolerance and even killing prejudice is somehow acceptable, so long as it comes from third-world religious leaders, who more than anything else reveal in themselves the price that colonial oppression has required of the minds and hearts of so many of our world's population. I see no way that ignorance and truth can be placed side by side, nor do I believe that evil is somehow less evil if the Bible is quoted to justify it.

I will dismiss as unworthy of any more of my attention the wild, false and uninformed opinions of such would-be religious leaders as Pat Robertson, James Dobson, Jerry Falwell, Jimmy Swaggart, Albert Mohler, and Robert Duncan. My country and my church have both already spent too much time, energy and money trying to accommodate these backward points of view when they are no longer even tolerable.

I make these statements because it is time to move on. The battle is over. The victory has been won. There is no reasonable doubt as to what the final outcome of this struggle will be. Homosexual people will be accepted as equal, full human beings, who have a legitimate claim on every right that both church and society have to offer any of us. Homosexual marriages will become legal, recognized by the state and pronounced holy by the church. "Don't ask, don't tell" will be dismantled as the policy of our armed forces. We will and we must learn that equality of citizenship is not something that should ever be submitted to a referendum. Equality under and before the law is a solemn promise conveyed to all our citizens in the Constitution itself. Can any of us imagine having a public referendum on whether slavery should continue, whether segregation should be dismantled, whether voting privileges should be offered to women? The time has come for politicians to stop hiding behind unjust laws that they themselves helped to enact, and to abandon that convenient shield of demanding a vote on the rights of full citizenship because they do not understand the difference between a constitutional democracy, which this nation has, and a "mobocracy," which this nation rejected when it adopted its constitution. We do not put the civil rights of a minority to the vote of a plebiscite.

I also no longer act as if I need a majority vote of some ecclesiastical body in order to bless, ordain, recognize and celebrate the lives and gifts of gay and lesbian people in the life of the church. No one should ever again be forced to submit the privilege of citizenship in this nation or membership in the Christian Church to the will of a majority vote.

The battle in both our culture and our church to rid our souls of this dying prejudice is finished. A new consciousness has arisen. A decision has quite clearly been made. Inequality for gay and lesbian people is no longer a debatable issue in either church or state. Therefore, I will from this moment on refuse to di gnify the continued public expression of ignorant prejudice by engaging it. I do not tolerate racism or sexism any longer. From this moment on, I will no longer tolerate our culture's various forms of homophobia. I do not care who it is who articulates these attitudes or who tries to make them sound holy with religious jargon.

I have been part of this debate for years, but things do get settled and this issue is now settled for me. I do not debate any longer with members of the "Flat Earth Society" either. I do not debate with people who think we should treat epilepsy by casting demons out of the epileptic person; I do not waste time engaging those medical opinions that suggest that bleeding the patient might release the infection. I do not converse with people who think that Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans as punishment for the sin of being the birthplace of Ellen DeGeneres or that the terrorists hit the United Sates on 9/11 because we tolerated homosexual people, abortions, feminism or the American Civil Liberties Union. I am tired of being embarrassed by so much of my church's participation in causes that are quite unworthy of the Christ I serve or the God whose mystery and wonder I appreciate more each day. Indeed I feel the Christian Church should not only apologize, but do public penance for the way we have treated people of color, women, adherents of other religions and those we designated heretics, as well as gay and lesbian people.

Life moves on. As the poet James Russell Lowell once put it more than a century ago: "New occasions teach new duties, Time makes ancient good uncouth." I am ready now to claim the victory. I will from now on assume it and live into it. I am unwilling to argue about it or to discuss it as if there are two equally valid, competing positions any longer. The day for that mentality has simply gone forever.

This is my manifesto and my creed. I proclaim it today. I invite others to join me in this public declaration. I believe that such a public outpouring will help cleanse both the church and this nation of its own distorting past. It will restore integrity and honor to both church and state. It will signal that a new day has dawned and we are ready not just to embrace it, but also to rejoice in it and to celebrate it.

Hey Harry, your sentences are a total mess!

Senator Harry Reid of Nevada said in ”remarks prepared for delivery” to note the passing Senator Edward Kennedy:

"The impact he etched into our history will long endure. The liberal lion's mighty roar may now fall on deaf ears, but his dream shall never die."

Hey Harry, these sentences are a total mess! I think I am beginning to see why health care reform is getting so jumbled in the Senate debate. You guys can’t think straight.

I hate to be a nitpicker—no that’s a lie—I enjoy it more than you can imagine. I have a pet theory, hatched in the Geo W Bush years: totally mashed up semantics, weird modifiers and misdirected metaphors that paint a dreadful picture reflect mashed up, weird, misdirected and dreadful thinking. QED.

Here we go. Not to leave poor Geo way ahead in the war of malapropisms, the Democrats, with Harry at bat, have scored some whopping points!

"The impact he etched into our history will long endure.” Harry gets off to a slow start. Though “etching an impact” is a bit hard for me to get visually, “to etch in memory” is a common way to say “unforgettable.” Etching is a process in the visual arts that requires the application of acid, mordant or abrasive of some sort to the unprotected areas on a metal to create the negative of an image for reproduction. Doesn’t he just mean that it will be hard to forget Teddy and that his legacy will be equally hard to erase. The use of the word “history” might be trying to sound the sad note that Teddy is no longer with us, but his body is barely cold. But I will give “etched impact” 4 points, but take 2 away for the introduction of Teddy’s death with an weak nuance for “history”–if that is even his meaning.

“The liberal lion's mighty roar may now fall on deaf ears, but his dream shall never die." But here’s where the real fun begins, and Harry racks up real points. These are two great images, the roaring lion and the “I have a dream” rhetoric of any visionary. But in the same sentence? Both images are diminished plus it makes no sense. Minus 10 points for each infraction. The middle phrase, “deaf ears,” must mean that the Republicans in the Senate, those in power, those in the opposition, are so stupid that they cannot hear or understand his strong cogent, articulate arguments. But did this just happen now that Teddy is dead—now that he is no longer around to twist arms in the Senate cloakroom? Hardly. They were deaf long before. So I am going to deduct 40 points for nonsense. I have also heard that one can dream with all the organs, but the ears are not usually regarded as the instrument of dreams in ordinary speech, but then again, people who dream do hear voices, usually ominous warnings of danger. But if this is the meaning, it is very obtuse. I will deduct another 30 points. That leaves Harry with a score of 8 out of a possible 100. George scored 0 on multiple occasions. Keep it up Harry, you can still give him a run for his money.

Political Cartoon by Michael Ramirez

"Give up. The War is lost!"

Healthcare reform may actually be very simple

Healthcare: another view from abroad

I have been talking with Australians, asking questions and listening to their reactions to the continuing debate over the overhaul of our healthcare system in the US.

As they become aware of what we pay and the services we receive, they are for the most part shocked. When they try to understand the debate, public options, death panels, the rationing scare, they are appalled at our greed: that companies that charge such exorbitant prices for what looks like a pretty shoddy delivery system, but also that overstuffed and pampered Americans want to be able to go into a mall for a full body scan so that they can feel good, while there are lines in emergency rooms of working people who cannot afford basic coverage.

Australians have had their fair share of corruption with regards to government contracts and paybacks—they are not naive. But the conversation has allowed me to look at the situation now with fresh eyes, at least as much as I can. There is far too much money floating around in a system with far too many loopholes, and the fat pigs are making a mess of any rational reform so they can keep the money flowing.

It might be that simple, folks. Cut the pigs, and their cronies, out of the conversation.

Our not so slow drift towards fascism?

A view from abroad

Amazing what a new perspective can do for you. I was sitting behind the Queen Victoria Building last night after a concert, waiting for a bus with a friend. She asked me, in a matter of fact way, “Aren’t people concerned about the rise of fascism in the States? That’s what we see, the tea parties, the disruptions during the town hall meetings, the virulent attacks from the Right, the blocking of any meaningful reform, the blind eye turned towards the most hideous forms of torture. Obama seems like a very principled and talented man, but the continued attacks will only increase until the fascists seize power again. They can’t believe they lost it.”

And perhaps we cannot see what we are in danger of losing.

I felt a chill run down my spine. We’re Americans. We beat Hitler. We are also the most poorly educated and misinformed democracy on the face of the globe, and we never experienced anything like the rise of Nazis.

She said that the evidence suggests that it takes at least two generations to recover from fascism. By that time the streets Manhattan and Miami may be rivers and the temperature too hot for human survival. I don’t like sounding alarmist, but I think that we may be plugging along in a very deluded state, hoping that things will turn out. I heard the Dalai Lama in the Greek Theater say, “Hope for the best. Prepare for the worst.” He has some experience with calamity.

The worst is about to get worse. Sometimes you just can’t avoid the evidence. Even if you chose to close your eyes, it will eventually smack you in the face.

clipped from andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com Here's a document from Norway's 1948 war-crimes trial detailing the prosecution of Nazis convicted of "enhanced interrogation techniques" (the phrase in its original German is "verschaerfte Vernehmung)" in the Second World War. Here's a document detailing Nazi bureaucratic description of these techniques. You will note the striking similarities between its content, its legalisms, its bureaucratic tone, and the recent CIA documents pried out of the US government's hands by the ACLU: And they were executed for war crimes. The question Americans have to ask themselves is why they hold the former president and vice-president to lower moral and ethical standards than the United States once held the Gestapo. That's all. And that's everything, isn't it?

Executions in Iraq!

This report is shocking. Please click through to the Amnesty International site. Take action.

clipped from www.amnesty.org.uk Iraq: 1,000 people face execution Posted: 01 September 2009 More than 1,000 people face execution in Iraq, said Amnesty International today (1 September), as it published a new report on the extensive imposition of death sentences in the country. Some 150 of these prisoners have exhausted all means of appeal or clemency and are at immediate risk of death. The majority of the condemned (some 750, including 12 women) are held by the Ministry of Justice, while several hundred are detained by the Interior Ministry. At least seven facing execution are held by the US military at Camp Cropper in Baghdad.

Of Course Marriage Makes a Difference for Gays!

Among my Canadian gay friends, 100% are in stable, loving relationships; among my States side gay friends, I used to be able to say somewhere in the range of 4-5% were married, but now, sadly, that figure is more like 2% as I recently heard of the divorce of some dear friends after 25 years as a couple.

As soon as marriage becomes a real possibility, apparently gay men—at least in greater numbers than one might have supposed—have simply said, "Of course. There is no reason to deny us any of the fundamental rights given to most other men and women."

Instead, here in "the land of the free," burdened (or should I say “cursed”) by the myth of humankind’s fallen state, we are left to throw stones at one another for being more or less sinful, for being hypocrites, for having an “essentially disoriented” nature. Living as an under class, we are susceptible to all the ills of having to make do, to prove ourselves, to justify our loves and our emotions.

Thanks to my friends Bruno and Josetxu from Spain for the great photograph. They will soon be married in a civil ceremony in that Catholic country, and have, obviously, created their own blessing for their relationship from On-High. We can, and will create, our own blessings. Please join me in sending this couple our best wishes. May the Blessings of All the Universe shower on them!

Remembering Harvey!

November 27, 2008 was the 30^th anniversary of the murders of Harvey Milk and George Moscone in San Francisco’s City Hall. Today August 12^th 2009, President Obama honored Harvey posthumously with the Presidential Metal of Freedom.

"He would become after several attempts one of the first openly gay Americans elected to public office. And his message of hope, hope unashamed, hope unafraid could never be silenced," said President Barack Obama. Thank you, Mr. President.

If Harvey were alive today, he would be only 78. Though he didn’t live to see much real effect of the gay revolution, I am sure that if he were still alive, he’d be thrilled to see the massive demonstrations across the country protesting the passage of Proposition 8 here in California. He’d also be raising hell, tempering passions, and organizing a skillful, resolute opposition to the religious faction that opposes the rights of gay, lesbian, bi-sexual and transgender people.

Though I met Harvey face to face many times, I don’t know if I registered in his world. And that doesn't really matter much anyway. I liked him, and supported him in every election—among gay men he was not universally popular—yet I didn’t get as deeply involved in politics as I did after his assassination. In the early 70’s I wasn’t totally out. This middle class kid was not entirely comfortable in the Castro, but I knew that it was as close to gay heaven as I would ever get, and I was having a great time.

Harvey’s desk in the camera shop was in such perpetual disarray that you might have wondered how he could track his customers’ film, but he never lost any of mine. I would sit on the famous beat-up red couch while we did business and then was invited to stay for as long as I wanted. I always felt welcomed and, when I spoke, listened to.

During those times I mostly sat and listened; I sometimes had a hard time following his conversation. In the course of an hour, as customers, political friends, kids from the street, other Castro merchants came and went, he might talk about the flood of gay kids looking for work, experimenting sexually, VD, pumping up rents, leaving litter (and doggie poop!) in the gutter and upsetting the old line merchants, and scaring the Irish widows who still lived in the neighborhood when worked out guys cruised half naked on the corner of 18th and Castro in front of the old Hibernia Bank which became known as Hibernia Beach. I remember one afternoon very well: three older Irish women came in to complain and ask Harvey to do something—his influence was already established—about the open sexuality of their new neighbors (I’d even say provocative judging the Castro of the ‘70’s by today’s standards). He listened to the women’s case attentively and sympathetically, but he also made sure they understood that these men were not violating any laws and had rights.

He could laugh at any topic or take it with complete, serious concern depending on his audience. I always had a sense that he was probing for the deeply felt needs of the neighbors who ultimately became his constituents. When anyone asked him any question, that person became his total focus. It was clear that he had thought long and hard about the issues, and he always linked your concern to the general good. He was a born politician, crafting solutions to all the complexities of our full participation and acceptance in all levels of society.

But no matter how far ranging his conversations, he never lost sight of his primary focus: that gay men and women were entitled to equal rights without having to masquerade or make deals that would push us back in the closet.

On the marquee of the Castro Theater where the movie Milk opened last November 26^th, there was the image of a political button: “Never Blend In.” I don’t remember if I ever heard Harvey say those words, but I do know that he embodied the openness about your gay lives they express. And it was the reason why many gay men didn’t much like him: they truly believed that “blending in” was the only strategy that would allow them to lead the kind of lives they wanted for themselves. [For a very thorough treatment of “blending in” and how it affects out rights as gay men and lesbians, I recommend, Covering: The Hidden Assault on Our Civil Rights by Kenji Yoshino]

I think that today is a good day to remind ourselves of what Harvey taught with his life: Never give in. Never think that you have to be other than you are! Keep up the fight. The only thing you have to lose is your humanity.

Apple Computer advertises on Fox!

Shock and Awe!

I was shocked to learn that Apple Computer pays Fox News for advertising. Breaking into a market niche is one thing, and to support hate mongers is entirely different. Please join me in making your voices heard urging Steve et al to withdraw their advertising.

Apple (Public Relations)
(408) 974-2042
media.help@apple.com
sjobs@apple.com
dowling@apple.com

clipped from foxnewsboycott.com Join the Fox News Boycott! Due to the extremely biased and partisan reporting by Fox News shows including The O'Reilly Factor, Hannity, Fox & Friends, etc., there is a strong public stance against supporting sponsors of these shows. FoxNewsBoycott.com urges you to not only boycott Fox News, its sponsors, but also any stores or restaurants that air the Fox News channel in their place of business.

Mr. President,

Thank you very much.

clipped from www.commondreams.org Published on Thursday, July 30, 2009 by GayPolitics.com Harvey Milk to Receive Presidential Medal of Freedom The Victory Fund has learned President Barack Obama plans to award America's highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, to Harvey Milk, one of the country's first openly gay elected officials. The award will be accepted at a White House ceremony August 12 by Stuart Milk, the nephew of the late San Francisco Supervisor and civil rights activist. Stuart Milk echoed Wolfe's praise, saying, "The President's action today touches the core of our very human hearts and my uncle would be so proud of this high honor. His election was, for him, a beginning-a chance to make real change. That change is happening, but we still have so far to go. I hope this recognition inspires LGBT Americans everywhere to heed Harvey's call to run for office, to serve openly, to live proudly with authenticity and to demand the equality that we all deserve."

Michael se ha ido.

[I am reposting what I wrote about Michael's death in Spanish.]

27 de enero de 2009

Michael se ha ido.

Esta mañana, es difícil no oír hablar de la muerte de Michael Jackson. No tengo un televisor, pero incluso en mi banco veo las noticias de Michael en la CNN, con los subtítulos, por detrás de las ventanillas de los cajeros. No podía escapar. Yo mismo he considerado mucho más inmune a la sensación de un hombre que se encontró en una forma rara - una píldora-popper, un buen cliente para los cirujanos plásticos, y tal vez un hombre gay con un apetito sexual que se acercó al ilegal. No vamos a hacerte un Cartel chico para parejas del mismo sexo en cualquier momento, Michael. Y tú mismo no llegaste ser un Puer aeternus, al menos en esta vida. Después de haber más dinero que Dios no puede comprar todo, como mi madre podría haber dicho, pero tú entiendes esta perogrullada muy bien, ¿no?

Justo cuando mi cinismo empezó a ganarme la parte superior, me ocurrió hacer “click” en un vínculo utube que me llevó a un video homenaje a Michael por unos 1500 hombres en una cárcel de las Filipinas, en su mayoría jóvenes pobres haciendo tiempo para ofensas de drogas. Me acordé una plática de John Tarrant en un reciente retiro Zen. John dijo que todos estamos creando nuestras propias cárceles y, a continuación, pasamos el tiempo y dinero, además toda la energía mental que tenemos disponible, para decorar las paredes. Por supuesto, estos reclusos, algunos poco más que niños, entendieron a Michael. Ellos estaban llorando por Michael. Empecé a llorar. Sí, Michael, nadie mejor que un monstruo para decorar nuestras paredes de la prisión y facilitar la pista de sonido, una canción de esperanza. La vida es un regalo. Tu vida fue un regalo.

Aquí está el enlace a la historia en el Huffington Post.

Es casi 10 minutos de duración por lo que si no desea ver toda la cosa, realmente se va más interesante después de 5-6 minutos. Y sí, es latín que se oye en el comienzo, la invocación de una oración para Michael: "a través de nuestro único Señor, Jesucristo, su único Hijo nacido, que vive con usted (Padre) y el Espíritu Santo, los siglos de los siglos." Existe siempre parece ser la oración oficial, a menudo en latín, antes de cualquier ceremonia en las Islas, incluso el baile en la cárcel. Y el mundo sin fin se refiere a los reinos divinos, no del nuestro o lo de Michael. Añado mi oración de que su cielo sea como el cielo lleno de maravilla como el talento que compartió Michael con nosotros.