Saturday, May 24, 2008
Uttering the Unspeakable
Friday, May 23, 2008
Validation at Last? Gay Marriage Question
Penny Patterson, a young woman who writes a column for the Santa Barbara Independent, on issues facing the LGBT Community, offers a moving testimony to what the recent California Supreme Court decision means to her as a lesbian in a committed relationship. I met Penny at a showing of the documentary For the Bible Tells Me So. I am a Christian who finds strength in the revolutionary aspect of Jesus’ teachings; as such, I believe that were he to walk on the Earth today, this would be his fight. Contrary to what right-wing fundamentalists want you to believe, Jesus’ message was one of radical inclusion. And while my knowing that gets me through the hateful and homophobic rhetoric of the Dobsons and Falwells of the world, hearing Asman reiterate the message reminded me why I became a
Christian in the first place.
There Will Be Blood -- DVD Review
10 Favorite Movies Meme
Favorite movies as a meme is back in vogue. Danny Bradfield tagged me and suggested I write mine. So, here goes -- in no particular order:
1. About Schmidt -- wonderful piece with Jack Nicholson.
2. Field of Dreams -- "Build it and he will come." Indeed -- one of Costner's best (along with Bull Durham)
3. Star Wars -- Episode IV -- The special effects may have improved, but this was the original!
4. Elephant Man -- the story of a man thought to be a monster and an imbecile, simply because of his looks, but underneath was a man of tender intellect.
5. Star Trek IV: Voyage Home -- you can't beat Spock on a San Francisco trolley.
6. Star Trek: First Contact -- How the Earth was saved from the Borg and itself
7. Casablanca -- Play it again Sam!
8. Hotel Rwanda -- heroism amidst violent and dehumanizing tribalism
9. Gold Finger -- Bond, James Bond -- the Bond series never died!
10 Raiders of the Lost Ark -- On the weekend that Indiana Jones returns, we must celebrate the first of the series!
And I'm supposed to tag 5 people:
Mike Leaptrott
Roy Donkin
Rustin Smith
Michael Westmoreland-White
Brett Younger
Father Virgil Dies
Rejecting "Agents of Intolerance"
Thursday, May 22, 2008
John McCain, Rod Parsely, and Anti-Islam sentiment
Here is a video that links McCain and Parsley. I post this, though I was troubled by the postings about Wright, because Parsley poses a danger to our nation. Don't think that this stuff doesn't find its way into the Middle East. If uttered by an imam about America, people here would have a fit. Is this not the same thing and isn't it much worse than anything Jeremiah Wright said?
Note too that McCain speaks of him as a spiritual guide and a moral compass for America. Has John listened to Parsley?
My Son the Radical
Here's a brief run down.
Hillary's Hypocrisy
Listen to her statement about Michigan not counting:
Remember that essentially all the other candidates pulled their names off, and she still only took about 54% of the vote. In essence she beat noncommitted by about 10%. If Barack Obama had been on the ballot, wouldn't he have pushed that margin?
Give it up Hillary.
Hagee--McCain break up
When Prosecutors Grapple with Prayer -- Sightings
Sightings 5/22/08
When Prosecutors Grapple with Prayer
-- Shawn F. Peters
In recent months, prosecutors in both Oregon and Wisconsin have been confronted with a complex problem: Should parents who choose to treat their children's illnesses with prayer rather than medicine be charged with abuse, neglect, or even manslaughter when their children die? As these cases begin to play out in the courts, it has become apparent that their task in answering that question is going to be anything but straightforward, thanks in part to the ambiguity of laws that might be applied to spiritual healing practices
The Oregon case involves members of the Followers of Christ Church, whose faith healing practices generated an intense statewide outcry in the late 1990's. Church members Carl and Raylene Worthington currently face manslaughter and criminal mistreatment charges stemming from the death of their fifteen-month-old daughter, Ava. The toddler died on March 2 from bacterial pneumonia and a blood infection – ailments that her parents, citing the tenets of their religious faith, had chosen to treat with prayer rather medicine.
The Worthingtons appear ready to mount a vigorous defense. Their attorneys already have launched a website dedicated to both outlining the contours of their defense strategy and raising money to fund it. But, legally, this promises to be an uphill climb, thanks to changes in Oregon law that eliminated apparent exemptions from criminal charges for parents who engaged in faith healing practices. They most likely will fall back on the claim that their religious practices are shielded from regulation by the First Amendment and analogous provisions in Oregon's constitution.
The Wisconsin case is every bit as tragic, but it might proceed slightly differently in the legal arena. On Easter Sunday, an 11-year old girl named Kara Neumann died from diabetic ketoacidosis. Treatments of insulin almost certainly would have controlled the ailment, but Kara's parents – their beliefs about physical healing shaped in part by a Flordia-based online ministry – chose to treat her with prayer in lieu of medical science. Dale and Leilani Neumann later told police that their daughter had not been examined by a physician in more than seven years.
In late April, authorities charged the couple with second-degree reckless homicide, a felony punishable by up to twenty-five years in prison. But several observers have cautioned that the prosecution of the Neumanns is bound to be complicated, if not simply derailed, by the apparent exemption for faith healing practices that remains in place in the state's child abuse and neglect laws. The couple is likely to claim that this conflict in the laws (spiritual healing practices appear to be protected under one part of the criminal code but not under another) violates their right to due process of law.
Wisconsin's "treatment through prayer" provision is not unique: More than thirty other states offer similar kinds of apparent legal protections for devout parents who reject medicine and turn to prayer when their children are ailing. A number of groups have lobbied for the repeal of such religious exemptions, chief among them the advocacy organization Children's Healthcare Is a Legal Duty (CHILD). Its head, Rita Swan, has argued that these stipulations, while safeguarding the religious liberty of parents, endanger the health of children and violate several different interrelated constitutional standards.
Groups ranging from the United Methodist Church to the National District Attorneys Association also have called for the repeal of religious exemptions to child-abuse and neglect laws. Several prominent medical organizations – among them the American Medical Association and the Bioethics Committee of the American Academy of Pediatrics – have echoed those calls. In 1988, the latter body issued a statement declaring that "all child abuse, neglect, and medical neglect statutes should be applied without potential or actual exemption for [the] religious beliefs" of parents. Deeply committed to "the basic moral principles of justice and of protection of children as vulnerable citizens," the members of the bioethics committee called upon state legislatures to remove religious exemption clauses and thereby ensure "equal treatment for all abusive parents."
A decade after that call for reform, however, a majority of states, including Wisconsin, have failed to act. Unfortunately, it seems that legislators might only lurch into action and address the law's shortcomings if the prosecution of the Neumanns misfires.
Shawn Francis Peters' latest book, When Prayer Fails: Faith Healing, Children, and the Law, was published in November by Oxford University Press. He teaches at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
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Recycling Energy -- what an idea
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Future Deficits -- of the Bushian kind
But that’s not all. Two compelling new books have just been published that describe two other big power shifts: “The Post-American World,” by Fareed Zakaria, the editor of Newsweek International, and “Superclass” by David Rothkopf, a visiting scholar at the Carnegie Endowment.
Mr. Zakaria’s central thesis is that while the U.S. still has many unique assets, “the rise of the rest” — the Chinas, the Indias, the Brazils and even smaller nonstate actors — is creating a world where many other countries are slowly moving up to America’s level of economic clout and self-assertion, in every realm. “Today, India has 18 all-news channels of its own,” notes Zakaria. “And the perspectives they provide are very different from those you will get in the Western media. The rest now has the confidence to present its own narrative, where it is at the center.”
Israel and Syria -- Talking!
Day After Election Post Mortem
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Change we can believe in -- Obama speaks in Iowa
Here is his speech tonight:
Reflections on Ted Kennedy
Obama Wins Oregon

I won't guarantee, but I'm confident that Barack Obama will do quite well in Oregon come November! Tonight will be a grand win.
Clinton Wins Kentucky
Justice, peace in complicated Times
Published originally at the Lompoc Record -- Sunday, May 20, 2008. The event announced occurred last evening.
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Faith in the Public Square
Lompoc Record
May 20, 2008
As a Christian, I look to this region with a sense of spiritual longing. I’ve never been to the region, but this land has a strong hold on me spiritually, for it’s the land of Abraham and David. It’s where Jesus was born, lived, and died. Jerusalem, which is a sacred site for three religions, holds my attention. As consider the situation, I have conflicting loyalties and concerns. I understand the compelling need for a homeland that led to the creation of the state of Israel in 1948. My sympathies for this cause are reinforced by the legacy of anti-Semitism that has plagued the Christian faith for centuries, a legacy that enabled the horrors of the Holocaust.
I also understand that this wasn’t a land without a people when that nation was formed. Many of those people we call Palestinians lost their land, their homes, and their livelihood, and long to return to their ancestral homes. And many of those who have been displaced are Christians. And so, as sympathetic as I am to the Jewish claims to the land, I’m also sympathetic to those of the Palestinians. Indeed, it has been my constant prayer that these peoples, whatever their faith or national aspirations may be, might find a way to live together in peace.
Although seemingly far away, the US is deeply involved in the region’s disputes. Israel is a leading ally, but much of our imported oil comes from the region. We’re involved in a hot war nearby and in a war of words with another. It’s not an issue that can be taken lightly. Because we have a stake in this region, we need to educate ourselves as to the players and their concerns. As we do so, my hope is that we will commit ourselves to the cause of justice and peace for all of this region’s people.
The land of Israel and Palestine has been in a state of conflict for more than sixty years, and no just settlement to the competing claims to the land is in sight. The contemporary reality is this: There’s a state of Israel, and they’re Palestinian territories in Gaza and the West Bank under Israeli occupation. That situation cannot go on indefinitely, and the situation as it stands is both unjust and will not lead to peace. Although the US has a role to play, ultimately the residents of this land must find a solution that recognizes the rights and the freedoms and the responsibilities of all involved.
Understanding the issue requires listing to more than one voice. One of those voices is Ann Baltzer, a young Jewish American whose encounter with the Palestinian people led to her becoming an activist for the Palestinian cause. Anna will be speaking at the Lompoc Library tomorrow evening at 7 P.M. While I’m not able to be at that meeting, I had the opportunity to interview her. She talked about her eye-opening encounter with the realities of the Israeli occupation, an encounter that forms the basis of her presentation. In her mind, the occupation isn't only unjust, it runs counter to historic Jewish ethical understandings. While she understands the Jewish felt need for security and safety – needs that led to the establishment of Israel and prolongs its occupation – she doesn’t believe that the occupation really serves that purpose. To her, the denial of human rights doesn’t make her people any safer.
Dr. Bob Cornwall is Pastor of First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) of Lompoc. He blogs at http://pastorbobcornwall.blogspot.com and may be contacted at faithinthepublicsquare@gmail.com.
Messages of Fear
James Baker -- Talking to Enemies not Appeasement
Two years ago, former Secretary of State James Baker stated clearly that talking to those we consider enemies -- like Syria -- isn't appeasement. Here's video:
Note: James Baker served under the first George Bush and is a Republican. He's also a fairly well respected diplomat, so perhaps Mr. McCain should take a listen. From the Washington Post.
Monday, May 19, 2008
Robert Byrd gives OK to Obama
“After a great deal of thought, consideration and prayer over the situation in Iraq, I have decided that, as a superdelegate to the Democratic National Convention, I will cast my vote for Senator Barack Obama for President,” Mr. Byrd said in a statement. “Both Senators Clinton and Obama are extraordinary individuals, whose integrity, honor, love for this country and strong belief in our Constitution I deeply respect.”
“I believe Barack Obama is a shining young statesman, who possesses the personal temperament and courage necessary to extricate our country from this costly misadventure in Iraq, and to lead our nation at this challenging time in history,” added Mr. Byrd, who voted against giving President Bush the authorization to go to war in Iraq in 2002 and has been a vociferous opponent of the war. “Barack Obama is a noble-hearted patriot and humble Christian, and he has my full faith and support.”
On the IRS -- Sightings
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Sightings 5/19/08
On the IRS
-- Martin E. Marty
Billy James Hargis, a now forgotten but once towering figure on the not yet couth religious right, built a radio ministry and developed an anti-Communist front that has to be remembered as rabid. The preacher of righteousness was so overtly political that the Internal Revenue Service tabbed him for violating revenue regulations. Having to pay taxes for a year is not what did him in. What weakened his empire and led to his demise was the standard brand "over the top moralist" syndrome. As the press delighted in telling, a female alum of his American Christian College, on her wedding night, confessed to her groom that she had had sexual relations with their college president. On fairness grounds he responded, "So did I!"
Hargis wanted to take others down with him and fingered The Christian Century as a violator. The year was 1964, and in the Goldwater-Johnson campaign the magazine's cover bannered "Goldwater No!" So far so good. Then it followed, in a momentary fit of affirmation, with a cover, "Johnson Yes!" No, no, and no! Hargis inspired the I.R.S to pursue the magazine, which, knowing it was guilty, lost its tax-exemption that year.
The IRS regulation does not permit a 501 (c) (3) tax exempt organization to deploy major energies or resources in support of specific candidates or legislation up for debate. The topic has become urgent in 2008, because religion has become ever more prominent in partisan politics, clerics have backed or fronted for candidates, candidates have sought church leadership support, some borderline-violators are being sought out and some of them are fighting back—strenuously.
Some years ago the IRS pursued a Texas Catholic diocese, whose bishop had the diocesan paper respond in a headline which, if I recall correctly, reduced everything to one word: "Nuts!" What IRS person is going to pursue the question further? Presidential candidates have regularly trouped to churches to give inspirational messages which could not not be partisan and vote-seeking. The IRS is closely watched by those who discern selective enforcement. Watch for more.
Some of the intentional violators are fighting back through legal fronts. Thus Suzanne Sataline told in the Wall Street Journal (May 9) how "Pastors May Defy IRS Gag Rule," and that a "Legal Group Urges Ministers to Preach About Candidates." The group is the Alliance Defense Fund, which aggressively promotes preachers of politics in pulpits so overtly that the IRS will some day have to swoop and the ADF can showcase government suppression of religious freedom. We are going to have a very busy set of enforcers. The black churches advertise nothing new in their actions: Great numbers of them have turned their pulpits over to politicians. "Justice Sunday" promoters work at the borders of legality as they instruct churches how to use their power to get votes for favored candidates and policies.
How stay clean and legal? You will hear preachers on the left, muzzled by tax law, telling you that no prophets in the Hebrew Scriptures could have survived the new scrutiny. (All Democrats?!?) But, then, they were acting within overt theocratic bounds. Few are sure as to where the bounds are now. Be thankful you are not a judge in these matters and enjoy the campaigns (more outside the sanctuary than in it, one hopes), and that churchly voices then find ways to be heard and be in the thick of things. Meanwhile, "501 (c) (3)" comes to view more frequently than "John 3: 16."
Martin E. Marty's biography, current projects, upcoming events, publications, and contact information can be found at www.illuminos.com.
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This month, the Marty Center's Religion and Culture Web Forum features an essay by John Witte, Jr. of Emory Law School: "More than a Mere Contract: Marriage as Contract and Covenant in Law and Theology"
Commentary from Brian Bix (University of Minnesota), Don Browning (University of Chicago), Christine Hayes (Yale University), David Novak (University of Toronto), and Charles Reid, Jr. (University of St. Thomas) can be found on the forum's discussion board, where readers may also post responses.
Access this month's forum at:
http://marty-center.uchicago.edu/webforum/index.shtml.
Access the discussion board at:
https://cforum.uchicago.edu/viewforum.php?f=1
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Sightings comes from the Martin Marty Center at the University of Chicago Divinity School
Oregon for Obama
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Mount St. Helens Day






