Category Archives: Racism

Activists Sue U.S. Evangelical Pastor Over Gay Rights Grievances–A Reblog and Some Added Reflections

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FIRST MY OWN THOUGHTS:

Cover of DVD The Gay Agenda: March on Washington

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I WOULD LIKE TO ADD HERE THAT, WHILE I STRONGLY DISAGREE WITH MUCH OF THE CURRENT SO-CALLED “GAY AGENDA,” I AM EQUALLY CONCERNED WHEN CHRISTIANS REMAIN SILENT ON THE INJUSTICE OF SITUATIONS SUCH AS THIS IN UGANDA BUT INSTEAD DEFEND THEIR ASSOCIATIONS WITH THE CORRUPT LEADERSHIP WHO ATTEMPT TO PASS SUCH LAWS.

I DO NOT IN ANY WAY SUPPORT THE REDEFINITION OF MARRIAGE, AND HAVE IN FACT POSTED EXTENSIVELY ON THIS ALREADY (I WILL PLACE A LINK TO ONE OR TWO ARTICLES I HAVE WRITTEN ON THE TOPIC AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS PAGE) BUT NEITHER DO I SUPPORT ANY PASTOR OR RELIGIOUS GROUP WHO WOULD “GET INTO BED,” QUITE LITERALLY, WITH LEADERS OF A NATION THAT HAS NO PROBLEM WITH HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES AGAINST ACTIVELY LGBT PERSONS OR ANY OTHER GROUPS FOR THAT MATTER, AND PARTICULARLY IN THE NAME OF RELIGION.

THE BALANCE WITHIN THE CATHOLIC APPROACH IS THAT BOTH ARE WRONG. QUOTING OUR OWN CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH AND WHAT OUR ATTITUDE TOWARDS HOMOSEXUALITY AND LGBT BROTHERS AND SISTERS SHOULD BE IS SUMMED UP BELOW:

2358 The number of men and women who have deep-seated homosexual tendencies is not negligible. This inclination, which is objectively disordered, constitutes for most of them a trial. They must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity. Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided (EMPHASIS MINE).These persons are called to fulfill God’s will in their lives and, if they are Christians, to unite to the sacrifice of the Lord’s Cross the difficulties they may encounter from their condition.

(Courtesy of Vatican Website)

IN A TIME WHEN WE ALREADY HAVE SUCH SEVERE TENSION BETWEEN ACTIVISTS ON THE LEFT AND THE CHURCH, PEOPLE SUCH AS THIS PASTOR HAVE ONLY AGGRAVATED THE ISSUE AND ADDED TO WHAT IS ALREADY A SADLY TENSE RELATIONSHIP. WE SHOULD BE MORE CONCERNED ABOUT WINNING SINNERS TO CHRIST THAN HANGING THEM FOR GOD’S SAKE–LITERALLY!!!  WE ONLY NEED TO LOOK TO THE EXAMPLE OF JESUS AND THE WOMAN CAUGHT IN ADULTERY. THEY WISHED TO STONE HER AND IT WAS WITHIN THEIR LEGAL RIGHT TO DO SO TECHNICALLY. SEE JOHN 8: 2-11

(Courtesy USCCB website):

2 But early in the morning he arrived again in the temple area, and all the people started coming to him, and he sat down and taught them.3 Then the scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery and made her stand in the middle.4 They said to him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery.5 Now in the law, Moses commanded us to stone such women.* So what do you say?”b6 They said this to test him, so that they could have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and began to write on the ground with his finger.*7* But when they continued asking him, he straightened up and said to them,c “Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.”8 Again he bent down and wrote on the ground.9 And in response, they went away one by one, beginning with the elders. So he was left alone with the woman before him.10 Then Jesus straightened up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”d11 She replied, “No one, sir.” Then Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go, [and] from now on do not sin any more.”]e

 From The New American Bible, Revised Edition (NABRE)

Christ and the Woman taken in adultery

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 OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST NEITHER CONDEMNED HER NOR APPROVED OF HER LIFESTYLE, AND LED HER TO SOMETHING BETTER. WHY CANNOT HIS FOLLOWERS DO THE SAME?  GOD HELP US ALL. THIS MIGHT HAVE BEEN ME. OR YOU.

HERE IS THE ARTICLE REPOST:

A new development today on a story “Nightline” first covered back in 2010, when we traveled to Uganda to investigate a pending law in a far-away land that had ignited a firestorm of criticism here in the United States.   Dubbed the “Kill the Gays” bill…

via Activists Sue U.S. Evangelical Pastor Over Gay Rights Grievances.

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Blogging, Arabia, Dark Shadows and Heaven…

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Blogging Heroes

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When I was debating last week about continuing my blog, I received many wonderful comments from people who I had never met, as well as friends both online and off. So I guess will stick around as long as my fingers can operate this crazy keyboard  hehe. I realized something just today from another person’s post too–this blog can and should be my legacy for others and will likely outlast me if I choose it to.

One day when I pass, be it sooner or in 30 years, these writings, good, bad, ugly or other, will still exist somewhere and be a record of my life and why as well as how I lived it. So I am writing my memoirs and didn’t even realize it! Kind of a humbling thought very honestly. But it also means some great-niece or nephew or whoever will get the big money too when it becomes a made-for-TV movie (fairly unlikely!)…because I do not expect to see that day hehe. But blogging or various other internet contacts are potentially a gift for us all to benefit from.

English: Stats on Cross-ideological Blogging

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Some say that the online community prevents us from reaching out to our local neighbors–I disagree.  Since the earliest days of American Online (I first signed on 17 years ago in 1995), and in more recent years with Face Book and now blogging I have connected with friends from over 100 nations, virtually every US state, and priests and ministers (and an Archbishop or two such as Chaput and now-Cardinal Burke!) who I may never myself meet but who have met or who have known such greats as the Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI or Blessed John Paul II–or others who personally  knew Blessed Mother Teresa or hosts of other amazing persons or potential saints who will live forever in this world and the next.

Pope in Fatima

Pope in Fatima (Photo credit: Catholic Church (England and Wales))

I have been privileged (as well as chastised at times!) to chronicle my own changes in both my religious and political leanings, and have been challenged strongly at every juncture but have learned (and hopefully helped others to grow as well) during that evolutionary process which still goes on towards the final gift of a life with the God we all one day will face.

Português: Funeral do papa João Paulo II.

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I have been gifted with–just today in fact–a two-hour conversation with a new FB friend from Michigan, two states over from MN where I live, where we shared in-depth about things absolutely no one among my “face to face” family or friends has taken the time or energy to even learn about me. And I hopefully helped and encouraged him too. I think I did.  I “walked” online with and later by many phone conversations another friend, also from Michigan, for 3 full years who was confirmed a Catholic in 2006 on the same evening I was, from the moment we met in a Catholic chatroom on Yahoo until his untimely death from cancer at age 29. And I still miss Rich so very much. Our lives indeed touched each other and now I know that he prays for me from beyond. The simple crucifix I sent to his widow when he died was used on the casket during his wake and funeral. His lovely wife now has a new love in her life and a beautiful baby on the way, after having experienced more pain than any one young woman deserves at such an age. I am happy for her.  Rich is too.

I have discovered old friends from high school and college who I had wondered about for over 30 years. I have also interacted with not one, but 4 or 5 of my favorite actors or actresses from my childhood favorite television show “Dark Shadows,” among others, and who have personally at least said at very least a hello or two, one even wishing me a happy birthday this year (thanks Marie Wallace!), and another (Christopher Pennock) praying (well in his case chanting, as he is Tibetan Buddhist) for the recovery of a dear loved one from cancer. To think that they actually cared enough to do so is utterly mind-boggling to my brain and heart. I have an email or note from one not one but two of the actors from the greatest movie of all time “The Sound of Music.” I have even connected with people from worlds I am no longer a part of, but whose lives still mattered to me then and now, such as two (be scandalized if you must!) who bared it all in PLAYGIRL in the 1980s when I was a young man struggling to work through my SSA sexuality while still hanging on to a traditional marriage. Who would dream that one day I would be in contact with any of the above-mentioned people–priests to porn stars, actors to old friends from school days, and almost daily a new person who shares the Faith which is now more important to me than all of the past–my Catholic Christian journey.

Dark Shadows

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English: Marie Wallace in fall 2001.

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Because of certain health issues of my own I do not get out “on the town” a lot other than work, sleep, work, and more sleep. Plus in between I study a lot and live alone so my life is somewhat reticent-leaning, you might say.  But I have a world-wide family and I can talk to them day or night. You cannot sign on to the computer at any given hour without at least someone, somewhere, who is readily available to chat if you wish to do so.

Yes it is true it can be misused or overdone. And I have done both at times. It can also replace the “face to face” and we should not ever allow it to. But why choose between the two, when we can have such a great gift at our literal fingertips? A young man, a bright and brave teen who is a devout Christian from the primarily Muslim Pakistan called me and sang “HAPPY BIRTHDAY” to me last year when I turned 55, when most of my siblings or other friends and relatives and even my dad forgot to do so! I have a Christmas birthday and it is easy for it to get lost among the shuffle of other events that time of year so I am not complaining. But I saved his message to CD and will always have it and treasure it. Thank you Chris Michael.  A similar thing happened from India a few years ago with another Catholic Christian friend named John.

And, speaking of Muslim brothers and sisters, I have a FB friend who produced an I-MAX movie “Arabia” (which just came out on DVD/Blu Ray–so get to Amazon and buy it for an amazing treat!) and who I have had many warm contacts with. Many worry, and rightly so, that Muslim extremists are on the increase. They are. That however is all the more reason for us to learn from those beautiful Muslims who, like Hamzah Jamjoom, have chosen instead to be “bridge builders” and do so in such a brilliant way. And who would guess I would be able to one day speak, at least online, to this extraordinary young man who loves God and humanity.

Really a forgotten place - 1000 years ago it w...

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The entire world is ours right now. We should enjoy it while we can. One day it may not be. But today–TODAY–whatever faults FB or “Al Gore‘s Internet” may have, we still have an online community made up of real people and a world that I would not have dreamed of knowing or connecting with as a child or young adult. Even early rock stars or those in Hollywood did not have the opportunity for contacts that the average person can have today at the flip of a switch.

So yes let’s use it–just don’t abuse it. And to each of you and to those I may not have specifically mentioned,  I have a feeling this short answer may develop into a much longer post one day…so much more to say.  But the short answer is this…we would not have touched one another had it not been for this crazy internet thing…and thank you all for reading the blog and letting me know my words actually do matter.  God bless–lots– to my friends and family, old, new, and yet to be known.  I think this may be a small taste of what heaven will be like.

English: Jesus ascending to heaven

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Jesus is a Jerk!

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Reblogged from Life of a Sinner:

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IP Man

Tonight, I got the great opportunity to re-watch one of my all time favorite movies, IP Man 2(Both IP Man 1, and 2 are in my top all time favorites). If you have never seen IP man, or even heard of it, I strongly recommend watching it; you can find it on Netflix. Make sure you don’t watch the version with english subtitles!

Read more… 456 more words

OKAY now lest I get a "flood" of responses saying JESUS IS A WHAT!!!??? you need to keep reading...this is a wonderful re-blog from my new online friend Joshua Huffman. It should be all of our theology... [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="125" caption="Image via Wikipedia"]Theology Today[/caption]
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ETTA JAMES–with her Maker AT LAST…

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Shortly after President Obama was elected, Beyoncé was asked to sing this famous song at one of his excessively many Inaugural Balls. Etta later made some disparaging remarks, and many people “wondered why.” Bitter old woman, they thought.  Obviously  I do not know the full circumstances behind this macabre choice, but I will forever find it a sad irony that this African-American pioneer blues singer, who had popularized this song in 1961 (the year of Obama’s birth incidentally), was passed over for an honor that was so obviously hers and hers alone.  In Etta’s own words:

Somehow our “ever inclusive” President had someone I personally consider to be less than full of integrity, who had portrayed Ms. James in the  movie Cadillac Records, sing it to him on his special day for the first dance as President. In my view, that would be like having an Elvis impersonator performing at your wedding reception when the real Elvis Presley was still alive and had offered to share his legendary talent and status for you, now wouldn’t it?

This year, on January 20,  the 3rd anniversary of this sad event, Etta James passed away from terminal leukemia, just 5 days before her 74th  birthday. She died watching from afar the first African-American President who had so rudely ignored her. And, while she apologized for her remarks, to my knowledge he never apologized for his choice.  No doubt she, like so many, had dreamed of seeing ”at last” a minority President, and knowing her own song was performed in front him by a “younger and prettier” version of herself had to hurt deeply. And if you doubt Etta could still have pulled it off with style and grace, check out this clip from Dancing With The Stars later that same spring. She was a class-act legend then and now.

We can commit adultery in all kinds of ways, and I think a great. great wrong was done to this amazing and fine woman whose voice did not waver even in later years.  It sadly says a lot about our values when Beyoncé is chosen over Etta to do Etta’s own song, and further done so at a party Etta literally helped to create by her pioneering spirit in the days before racial integration even seemed likely, much less a black President in her lifetime. I will always hurt for her over it.  And for the record I would have made a few “disparaging remarks” myself. RIP Etta James.

At Last!

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Take 5 (I think) “Religion and Jesus”…As Well As Jazz, Chant, Rock, and Rap Just for Starters

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I keep thinking I am done with a topic and then more, more, and more, comes up that is just too good not to share.  So this post is going to be an improvised composite, just like the smooth sax and piano of Dave Brubeck‘s famous “Take Five” of jazz fame, of some love and truth that are continuing to spread throughout the Internet and blogging world regarding the two things we are most called to do as Catholic Christians–spreading God’s love and sharing His truth. Either one alone is shallow at best and damning at worst. Both together may one day get us all thrown into prison.  And I am not sure that is a huge exaggeration either.   But it is the risk we must take as modern “keepers of the ancient Faith.”

Portrait of Dave Brubeck, with sheet music as ...

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First I submit to you yet another video, cleverly done, very “rap-like,” and using Gregorian Chant in a way that I am sure Pope St Gregory the Great never once expected…take a listen.

Second I would refer you to Brent Stubbs and his fine blog, “Almost Not Catholic.”  He and author Devin Rose shared a podcast on this topic today, and it is well worth listening to as well.  Do not let the title of their broadcast fool you.  It is not about fatherhood or being a parent.  But they show why “accepting Jesus” can and does bring us to the Catechumen stage (somewhat akin to being a caterpillar in cocoon) but not the “butterfly” stage of actual ”born from above” Christianity, which comes through our baptism. They do not use that terminology but you hopefully will get the idea.  It is around 20 minutes but well spent time. I learned from it, and it increased my appreciation for the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church–and for having been “born from above” just 7 days after my Christmas Day arrival to this world in 1955.

http://www.almostnotcatholic.com/2012/01/catholic-dads-on-tap-first-podcast.html

And last but not least, “Bad Catholic” Marc Barnes, who has referred more bloggers to this site than any other one person in its short history, has this absolute gem on the David Crowder band–and David’s possible journey towards the Faith we as Catholics espouse. After his link I will also share the comment I placed on his page.

an-open-invitation-to-david-crowder-to-join-the-roman-catholic-church.html

And my comments on this amazing article…

 ”This is one of the clearest and most passionate appeals towards a real understanding of what it actually means to become a “Catholic Christian.”  I would submit that few of us, even as Catholics, understand what is written here.  It is essentially the heart of Catholicity. If I had understood this at all, I would never have left Rome in order to ‘follow Jesus.’ And been gone for 35 years.  And even then questioned that decision a few times after my return quite sadly. But no more–I know where I belong.  Catholicism is tough–but it is the fullest and clearest expression of Christianity which exists on this earth. And that does not in any way ‘unchristianize’ our separated brothers and sisters who are Orthodox or Protestant. But it should challenge them.  We do not think we are ‘better’ than other Christians, but we do contend that our theology has been passed down from Christ and the Apostles.  And that is either true or not. I believe it is.”

Lastly but slightly off-topic, Blessed Martin Luther King holiday to you all. His heritage continues with his well-known niece, Dr. Alveda King, who humbly but boldly shares the Pro-Life message daily to a culture of death and crazed world. She indeed carries on the dream:
*
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May God bless us all, and help us to be purveyors of life, not death, on this fallen earth we live in.  Peace.
Martin Luther King, Jr.

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Tackling the “Big One”–Santorum’s Remarks on Homosexuality and Gay Marriage

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Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum (right) los...

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OKAY time for me to tackle the “big one…”meaning BIG ISSUE that is!!! So here goes…  how can I as a same-sex attracted man ever support this guy–and why would I want to?  Even before listening to this video clip my heart told me that Rick Santorum was not anti-gay, at least not on a personal level, in any way at all. I believe he would break bread with me as his brother in Christ any day, campaign or no campaign. His concerns are the very same ones that the Church and traditional Christianity raises (in a less blunt way however) but nevertheless real ones, I believe. He clearly takes the time to separate the acts from the feelings, and for that one statement he was smeared viciously by columnist Dan Savage, whose despicable action apparently was “just fine” in some people’s minds. It is that kind of supposed activism that is not activism at all–just childish maliciousness. I found Savage’s campaign disgusting then and I do now.  Call me naïve on my views but I do not think I am. I have been around enough radical activists within the LGBT community to know how what is sheer “campiness” if said within the community becomes utter character-shredding when printed outside of it. And Savage knew this well when he started his attacks. I lived within the LGBT world for 15 years. Unbridled “gay liberation” did not help my life. I let it wreck my marriage and the “greener pastures” did not turn out to be so, at least for me. And no I do not wish to lose hard-earned rights to employment or “living and letting live” which are appropriate to all people. Nor do I think that, as President, the rights of the actively LGBT would suddenly or even slowly disappear under Santorum’s watch either, whatever his personal views may be. What he would and does oppose is PROMOTING the lifestyle and the issue today is “gay marriage.”  That is what he was addressing here. No more and no less. And on that topic I have come to agree with him long before deciding to support his growing campaign. I have written extensively about this on my blog so please be free to look up my articles on the topic. John King actually does him a favor here, in that he allows him to answer each of his “questionable” statements and Santorum does so with dignity and clarity. Will he win?  I do not know nor is that even the main issue here. Does he have my support?  You can bet on it and I do not plan to ease up. And, if you know me at all, you will realize I am not a bigot nor a hater. I have friends and family on all sides of these issues. But this is my view.

jk-santorum-on-the-issues.cnn

DISCLAIMER–I neither endorse nor deny the following links, they simply relate to topics brought up in the article and video. Please read with caution.

English: Sex advice columnist, journalist, and...

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