"The Family" Condemns The Ugandan "Kill Gays" Bill

In my sermon last Sunday--see link below. I just wanted to make sure and update you on The Family and their stance on the bill.

http://www.colomaucc.org/Sermondec132009.html

Recently, they have come out against it. Like Jeff Sharlet, I have deep suspicion about this organization, but even they realized how incredibly harmful this bill is...see this article from the blog, Box Turtle Bulletin. I just wanted to make sure they got a fair shake, and that their backpedaling on this issue needed to be acknowledged.

“The Family” Opposes Uganda’s “Kill Gays” Bill
Jim Burroway
December 16th, 2009

Jeff Sharlet, of The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power, wrote a guest post on Warren Throckmorton’s web site which updates his November appearance on NPR’s Fresh Air where he revealed ties between the secretive Evangelical movement known as “The Family” and Uganda’s politicians behind the proposed Anti-Homosexuality Bill. In this latest guest post, Sharlet says that The Family opposes the bill and key members are working behind the scenes to stop it from becoming law.

In Sharlet’s book, he identified Bob Hunter as a key organizer for The Family in Uganda during the 1980’s becoming friends with Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni and helping him establish the Ugandan Prayer Breakfast. Sharlet was finally able to get in contact with Hunter and spent an afternoon detailing the events in Uganda. Sharlet writes:

We agreed that the first step was a statement making clear Bob’s opposition to the bill. Moreover, Bob adds “I know of no one involved in Uganda with the Fellowship here in America, including the most conservative among them, that supports such things as killing homosexuals or draconian reporting requirements, much less has gone over to Uganda to push such positions.”

That’s very, very good news. The Fellowship prefers to avoid the limelight; Bob has forsaken that to make clear his position and that of his American associates: The Fellowship, AKA the Family, opposes the Ugandan Anti-Homosexuality Bill. [Emphases in the original.]

In his book, Sharlet pointed out that while the Family has a strongly conservative bent, they do not exclude liberals or moderates from their ranks. Hunter had previously served in the Ford and Carter administrations, and had a strong background in consumer advocacy. Sharlet writes:

Over the course of the afternoon he [Hunter] shared with me his experience working with the Fellowship in Burundi, Rwanda, and South Africa. While I may take issue with the Fellowship’s behind-the-scenes approach, there’s no denying that in each of these cases Bob and his associates were working toward extremely admirable ends, and that in the case of Burundi Bob’s efforts helped make the difference that brought a truce to that country’s warring factions. Bob did what he did with the best of intentions, and, in several instances, achieved the best of outcomes.

While Sharlet exonerates Hunter’s role in the development of the Anti-Homosexuality Bill, and further says that no American Family member has played a direct role in it’s promotion. But he notes the religious revival that has taken place in Uganda since the 1980’s and the prominent role Americans, including Family members, have played in shaping the rhetorical nature of that revival including its anti-gay aspects. And he believes that those Family members have a special responsibility, which many of them are not living up to:

I’d add that through the Fellowship, a number of anti-gay American politicians have involved themselves with Ugandan affairs, most notably Senator James Inhofe, who has spoken of having “adopted” Uganda and who has been a guest at multiple Ugandan National Prayer Breakfasts. I don’t believe James Inhofe told David Bahati to push this legislation. I believe Inhofe when he says – under pressure – that he’s opposed to it. But the fact is, these powerful politicians, representatives of the most powerful nation on the world and its foreign aid generosity, are clear and candid in their opposition to homosexuality. That’s their right. But I believe they should therefore be even more clear and candid in their opposition to its criminalization. Theirs is a personal, religious position. They should extra precautions to make clear that these positions are in absolutely no way linked to the relationships between the United States and foreign aid recipients. Not only have they not done that, they resisted even condemning the bill.

On The Lighter Side...

Finally, an explanation of why there were no dinosaurs on the ark! (I thought this might be amusing in light of our study and evolution and faith the last few months...)

Thoughts From Sandi Nesbit

Sandi Nesbit recently responded to an email I sent out to the congregation a week or so ago. Sandi was the pastor of this congregation in the mid-nineties, and still has a farm in the area, though she now lives in Chicago. Her husband Bob passed away last year...below are her thoughts, reminders of our inner strength for those of us who have lost friends recently in our family and in this congregation.

I loved being married to Bob. I miss the intimacy, the sharing, the companionship. Ours was not always an easy relationship, though in many ways it was that too, but it was absolutely committed. I learned that I like living life with another in that way. I learned that I can be a pain in the posterior and need forgiveness. I learned that I can forgive. I learned that the decision to be true to the commitment is the key. I learned that being known, so totally known, is not frightening but one of the most secure and loving feelings one can feel. I learned that, even if my mate has a terrible problem, I can and will hang in there. I learned that I am loveable. I learned, most of all, that in spite of whatever difficulties may arise, it's worth it as long as both of us are trying with all we have and are.


Pax,

Sandi

The Art Of Blessing The Day by Marge Piercy

The Art of Blessing the Day
from THE ART OF BLESSING THE DAY


This is the blessing for rain after drought:
Come down, wash the air so it shimmers,
a perfumed shawl of lavender chiffon.
Let the parched leaves suckle and swell.
Enter my skin, wash me for the little
chrysalis of sleep rocked in your plashing.
In the morning the world is peeled to shining.

This is the blessing for sun after long rain:
Now everything shakes itself free and rises.
The trees are bright as pushcart ices.
Every last lily opens its satin thighs.
The bees dance and roll in pollen
and the cardinal at the top of the pine
sings at full throttle, fountaining.

This is the blessing for a ripe peach:
This is luck made round. Frost can nip
the blossom, kill the bee. It can drop,
a hard green useless nut. Brown fungus,
the burrowing worm that coils in rot can
blemish it and wind crush it on the ground.
Yet this peach fills my mouth with juicy sun.

This is the blessing for the first garden tomato:
Those green boxes of tasteless acid the store
sells in January, those red things with the savor
of wet chalk, they mock your fragrant name.
How fat and sweet you are weighing down my palm,
warm as the flank of a cow in the sun.
You are the savor of summer in a thin red skin.

This is the blessing for a political victory:
Although I shall not forget that things
work in increments and epicycles and sometime
leaps that half the time fall back down,
let's not relinquish dancing while the music
fits into our hips and bounces our heels.
We must never forget, pleasure is real as pain.

The blessing for the return of a favorite cat,
the blessing for love returned, for friends'
return, for money received unexpected,
the blessing for the rising of the bread,
the sun, the oppressed. I am not sentimental
about old men mumbling the Hebrew by rote
with no more feeling than one says gesundheit.

But the discipline of blessings is to taste
each moment, the bitter, the sour, the sweet
and the salty, and be glad for what does not
hurt. The art is in compressing attention
to each little and big blossom of the tree

of life, to let the tongue sing each fruit,
its savor, its aroma and its use.

Attention is love, what we must give
children, mothers, fathers, pets,
our friends, the news, the woes of others.
What we want to change we curse and then
pick up a tool. Bless whatever you can
with eyes and hands and tongue. If you
can't bless it, get ready to make it new.

School Yanks Band T-Shirt Over Evolution

Folks, this one is hard to believe...


SEDALIA, Mo. — T-shirts promoting the Smith-Cotton High School band's fall program have been recalled because of concerns about the shirt's evolution theme.

Assistant Superintendent Brad Pollitt said parents complained to him after the band marched in the Missouri State Fair parade. Though the shirts don't violate the school's dress code, Pollitt noted that the district is required by law to remain neutral on religion.

The light gray shirts feature an image of a monkey progressing through various stages of evolution until eventually becoming a human. Each figure holds a brass instrument that also evolves, illustrating the theme "Brass Evolutions."

"I was disappointed with the image on the shirt," said Sherry Melby, a band parent who teaches in the district. "I don't think evolution should be associated with our school."

But other parents were just as dismayed that the shirts were taken away from students at the Sedalia school.

Sophomore band member Denyel Luke said the reaction by some to the evolution theme was a little extreme.

"It's not like we are saying God is bad," Luke said. "We aren't promoting evolution."

The district will have to absorb the $700 cost of the shirts, which will be replaced as soon as administrators approve a design for the new ones.

New York Times Opinion Piece on Evolution

Check out this interesting piece by Richard Wright on evolution, natural selection and development of the moral sense. It was just published in the New York Times.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/23/opinion/23wright.html?emc=eta1

I will have printed copies of this piece for our meeting this Wednesday.

Much peace,

Pastor Kevin

"Monkey Girl" author's personal website

Hi everyone,

Below is a link to the personal website of the author whose book we will be studying in a few days. Included is an excerpt from the book, and a slew of links from organizations, persons, and legal decisions. Good stuff!

http://www.edwardhumes.com/books/monkey-girl/


I'll be posting more links and stuff as our study goes forward.

However, don't worry about reading, or finishing the book--just join us for discussion on the intersection of faith and religion.

La Pieta--A Meditation on Good Friday

Below is the text of a Good Friday meditation I once did on the Michelangelo's La Pieta. This Sunday I'll be revisiting La Pieta once again, but in a different context.

Can God grieve? And if God can, how does God grieve? How does the
creator of all that is, of all that will ever be, experience grief? The events
of the day find their conclusion in Michelangelo’s Pieta, Mary cradling her
now dead son for the last time. The death of her son must have found
Mary breathless with sorrow, as it does to us all who have experienced
the wrenching pain of loss.

The stories found in the Scriptures tell of the sky growing heavy with
dark clouds, the temple veil that separated the holiest of the holies from
the world being ripped into two—signs of the grief of God, signs that
even God can shudder with the pain that comes from losing someone.
There is God, seeing Mary holding her eldest son; this is a God who now
knows of Mary’s grief, who knows human grief in ways that before this
moment were never possible—human grief has now become divine grief,
in this moment. This God knows loss, this God knows how deeply the
human heart can weep for a loved one, especially for a child taken too
early to the grave. The heavy stone of grief now rattles inside the
broken heart of God, like it does in our own hearts when we lose
someone we love—a lover, a mother, a father, a friend, a child to the
dark night of death.

And its not that God’s doesn’t know how the story will end; its not that
God doesn’t know that days from now, death itself will be broken in that
empty grave outside the city of Jerusalem. But just because God knows
how it all ends, it doesn’t take away the truth that death haunts even
God, that its power can even make the heart of God shudder with pain.
Certainly, that is true for us as well—we know how the story ends for us,
for others, for those we have loss to the grave—we know that it isn’t the
end of the story—but even though we know that life is the end of the
story, death still haunts us. Its sting may have been loss, as the
Scriptures tell us, but the one who stings, death, remains, and he
continues to inflict his awful damage upon the world, damage felt even by
the heavens. Even if you know the end of the story, like we do, like God
does, that more life follows life, and though the power of death has been
forever broken, it does not take away the pain of loss. We have only
known the ones we love the way we have always loved them, as flesh
and blood, bodied selves we could touch and feel, hold and kiss, and so
we grieve for the loss of these gifts of the body.

The heavens grew dark with mourning on that day two thousands years
ago, as Mary holds her son—like God, her loss seems insurmountable,
as Mary grieves the loss of the one she loves, the loss of the way of the
way that she had known him, warm flesh, warm blood, becoming colder
even as she held him. Grief changes you, sorrow takes its toll; so it true
of Mary, of us, and certainly of God. We Christians believe that the
cross means something, that what happened on that day two thousand
years ago changed everything—and we believe that it even changed
God—how could grief not change the heart of God?! Deep sorrow will
do that, it make you see the world differently, the shadows become
deeper, and the light becomes brighter, and because of Jesus, God saw
all of creation through new eyes, through the eyes of this divine child,
who now lays across the legs of his mother.

The deep and powerful grief of God has saved us, you and I, and the
whole world—God’s deep sorrow for this child Jesus has changed God,
and we are in midst of being made different because of that deep pain
found within the heart of God. Grieving reminds us that we are alive,
that we are connected to each other, sometimes in surprising ways—
Mary knew that truth, certainly—and so too it is with God. On that day, in
that stark moment on the cross, God understood us, God knew human
despair and sorrow, human grief and pain, and because of it, God saw
us differently, and we are given hope because we know now that we
have been known, deeply known, by our Creator. Still, the grief remains,
the sorrow still aches—how could it not?—even though we all know how
the story ends, we must experience this death to know the power of the
life that meets us on Sunday. It is the way of the universe, death and
life, life and death, forever dancing with each other, until that one day
when life will dance on its own—and all grief will melt away, and the first
one whose grief will fully give way to life is God, whose broken heart has
changed us all. So let it be, Amen

Review of Bart Ehrman's book God's Problem

I will be interacting with the following review of Bart Ehrman's new book God's Problem for this week's sermon. For those so interested, check out the link below. I had a particularly negative reaction to Willimon's review, as did many others, who wrote later in the form of "letters to the editor." Thoughts?

http://www.christiancentury.org/article.lasso?id=6046

See you on Sunday

Neil White's book IN THE SANCTUARY OF OUTCASTS: A MEMOIR

Hi everyone,

Some of you may be curious about the story of Neil White, whom I referenced in this past Sunday's sermon. Below is a link to hear an interview of him discussing his new book with NPR radio host Diane Rehm. Its worth the listen!

http://wamu.org/programs/dr/09/06/03.php#25937

You may have to cut and paste it into your browser.

Pastor Kevin

Toronto Blessing

Now, why in the world would a pastor in the mainstream church be blogging about the Toronto Blessing, a charismatic phenomenon of the mid to late nineties? Why, to illustrate a point, of course! Sunday is Pentecost, a time when we celebrate the giving of the Spirit to the church. Ever since that moment we've been trying to get back to that moment of spiritual power, and the Toronto Blessing is simply part of the church's quest to relive that moment, as it has done for centuries, in different ways. I don't think that's the way to do it, to try to relive this experience, but that is for the sermon on Sunday...hope to see you there Here is an explanation of the Toronto Blessing

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toronto_Blessing

And here is a link to a YouTube to give a sense of the movement (you will need to cut and paste this into your browser):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSyj2pZisG0

Would love your response...

Gay Marriage And The Free Exercise of Religion

Friends,

With the recent spate of states legalizing same-sex marriage, questions always arise about the free exercise of religion for those who might disagree with "gay marriage." As an Open and Affirming congregation, my guess is that most of our members are not too concerned about this issue, but its important to address it, especially in conversations with others who might disagree with us.

The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life is a great website, and it has recently published a nicely even handed look at the issue. Check out the link below to get more information"

http://pewforum.org/events/?EventID=216

See you Sunday,

Mean Moms

Hi everyone,

This is the poem--minus the formatting--that Karen Chronister shared with us last year...a great poem about mean moms and their importance in our lives. Great stuff, though a little late, I know, for Mother's Day.


Mean Moms

Someday when my children are old enough tounderstand the logic that motivates a parent, I willtell them, as my Mean Mom told me: I loved you enough . . . to ask where you were going, with whom,and what time you would be home.I loved you enough to be silent and let you discover that your new best friend was a creep. I loved you enough to stand over you for two hourswhile you cleaned your room, a job that should have taken 15 minutes. I loved you enough to let you see anger, disappointment, and tears in my eyes. Children mustlearn that their parents aren't perfect.I loved you enough to let you assume theresponsibility for your actions even when the penalties were so harsh they almost broke my heart.But most of all, I loved you enough . . . to sayNO when I knew you would hate me for it.Those were the most difficult battles of all. I'm glad I won them, because in the end you won, too.And someday when your children are old enough tounderstand the logic that motivates parents, you will tell them.Was your Mom mean? I know mine was. We had the meanest mother in the whole world! While other kidsate candy for breakfast, we had to have cereal, eggs, and toast. When others had a Pepsi and a Twinkie for lunch, we had to eat sandwiches. And you can guess our mother fixed us a dinner that was different from what other kids had, too.Mother insisted on knowing where we were at alltimes. You'd think we were convicts in a prison. Shehad to know who our friends were, and what we were doing with them. She insisted that if we said wewould be gone for an hour, we would be gone for an hour or less.We were ashamed to admit it, but she had the nerveto break the Child Labor Laws by making us work. We had to wash the dishes, make the beds, learn to cook, vacuum the floor, do laundry, empty the trash and all sorts of cruel jobs. I think she would lie awake at night thinking of more things for us to do. She always insisted on us telling the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. By the time we were teenagers, she could read our minds and had eyes in the back of her head. Then, life was really tough! Mother wouldn't let our friends just honk the hornwhen they drove up. They had to come up to the door so she could meet them. While everyone else could date when they were 12 or 13, we had to wait until we were 16. Because of our mother we missed out on lots ofthings other kids experienced. None of us have everbeen caught shoplifting, vandalizing other's property or ever arrested for any crime. It was all her fault. Now that we have left home, we are all educated,honest adults.We are doing our best to be meanparents just like Mom was.I think that is what's wrong with the world today. It just doesn't have enough mean moms

More on the torture debate

Barb recommended this great article on the issue of torture and people of Christian faith. Leonard Pitts is a UCC member, I believe. Check it out.

http://www.miamiherald.com/living/columnists/leonard-pitts/story/1034170.html

Much peace,
Pastor Kevin

Torture and Us...

Folks,

See this article, and note that the more likely one is to go to church, the more likely one is endorse the use of torture.

http://cnnwire.blogs.cnn.com/2009/04/30/churchgoers-more-likely-to-back-torture-survey-finds/

This is kind of scary. I can't imagine that Christ, the one who suffered torture at the hands of the Romans, would endorse the same tactics be used against others.

I doubt it will, but this should cause us some soul seaching on the part of us Christians.

Pastor Kevin

The Power of Friendships

While visiting some of our home and nursing home bound members, I heard a discussion on the radio about a fascinating book called The Girls From Ames: A Story of Women and A Forty Year Friendship. Its going to be a part of my sermon for this Sunday, but I wanted to give you a chance to check out the website...its a fascinating look at women's friendships, and a particular set of friendships "grown" in the midwest.

The other thing I found interesting was the fact that around the age of forty women begin to revalue their friendships, perhaps after years of raising a family and tending to a marriage. During the ages of 25-40 women tend to lose sight of those friendships, but later re-focus on those important relationsips. Interestingly, men have a much more difficult time of making friends after their youth, and tend not to take care of the ones they do have...which is something I can personally attest to.

Check out the website for the book at: http://www.girlsfromames.com/

Thoughts?

Pastor Kevin

Jesus Kills Mohammed? Article In New Harper's Magazine

Hi everyone,

My latest Harper's magazine showed up the other day with a really interesting article on the attempt by some to "christianize" US Military. Jeff Sharlet, one of the writers of the really great website www.therevealer.com is the author.

Here is my attempt to at linking to it, but it might be blocked by a suscriber wall...

http://harpers.org/archive/2009/05/0082488

Of course, you know that I grew up in Muslim country, so the relationship between Christians and Muslims is an especially important topic for me. I had such a good experience growing up in Indonesia and interacting with others of different faiths, though primarily Muslim, since Indonesia, which is about 90% Muslim, and the largest primarily Muslim country in the world.

It should concern us that there are those who are using our armed forces as a way of trying to convert our own soldiers and others throughout the world.

Thoughts?

Pastor Kevin

Some good silliness for Holy Week - Plus, Times for Holy Week Services

Nope, this fun video has nothing to do with Easter directly, except that it does what Easter should do for us--bring a smile to our face, and joy to our heart. Check it out below!

See you at the Maundy Thursday service at St. Paul's UCC Thursday night at 7 PM and Good Friday service at 7 PM at Coloma Methodist!

Youtube link

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vq6b9bMBXpg

The End of Christianity In America?

Newsweek has a cover article about the lessening of religiosity in our country, something I am not sure I mourn too much. Civil religion, religion that is hitched to a culture, is a dangerous thing--to those who are not affiliated with the religion being tactily endorsed by the government, but also to the church, who often cannot distinquish between the concerns of the state, and the concerns of the church.

See link to article below

http://www.newsweek.com/id/192583?tid=relatedcl


Thoughts?

Gary Dorrien - The Remaking of Evangelical Theology

First, Gary Dorrien is one of the best synthesizers of theological material I've ever read. I had picked up his three part "The Making of American Liberal Theology" and plowed through the first book. It was excellent--broad and readable and incredibly interesting, especially for those of us in the Congregational tradition and the United Church of Christ. In many ways, you can trace the beginnings of American liberal church tradition right back to our Congregational roots.

Dorrien taught at Kalamazoo College for many years before finding a new home at Union Theological Seminary in New York, truly the home of the liberal Christian tradition.

Back to the title of this post: I've been reading his "Remaking of Evangelical Theology" which is another excellent read--a balanced and accesible look at evangelical theology through the eyes of someone from the more liberal Christian tradition.

Why am I reading it? Well, because its important to know what is going on outside one's own theological traditions and milieu. And its a reminder that though we at this church find our selves left of center when it comes to theology, its important to understand our sisters and brothers who don't agree with us, and why issues like biblical inerrancy matter deeply to them. Keeping the conversation going is important for us as people of Christian faith, and Dorrien does a great job of synthesizing the works of the great evangelical thinkers of the last 5o years, making it easier to understand a tradition that is not my own.

Charter of Compassion

Hi everyone, and to the thousands that visit this site daily... ;)

The scholar Karen Armstrong has put together a project she calls the CHARTER FOR COMPASSION, arguing that each of the world's great religions endorses compassion as a key element in its beliefs. She was on Bill Moyer's Journal show on PBS talking about this idea, which intrigues me. Here is a link to the website.

http://charterforcompassion.com

Check it out

Great Website On Religion--Check it Out!

Friends,

Check out the following website...its a great resource on contemporary topics on faith and culture! I appreciate the commentaries, and the slant that is given, something that one does not usually see in the religious press.

http://www.religiondispatches.org/

Funniest Jab At Praise Songs...and Hymns!

I heard this at a recent continuing ed event...and just fell off my chair laughing.

http://deefs.net/humor/differences_between_hymns_and_praise_songs.html

Funny stuff, ya'll!

Welcome To Our Church Blog!

Yep, I think its time...to start blogging. Check this site out for various ruminations, etc, and respond if you like.