Making things right - Ash Wednesday

Yesterday was Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent. On Ash Wednesday we focus on repentance and reconciliation.

Ninety years ago a tragedy took place in Birmingham; the murder of Father James Edwin Coyle by a Methodist preacher.  The Catholic priest had married the preacher's daughter to a Puerto Rican man. The crime was about race, religion, and hatred. The trial that ensued was about ignoring justice, the Ku Klux Klan, and scandal. The Methodist Church was about silence.

 Father James E. Coyle

The United Methodist Church has finally made things right.

At Highlands United Methodist Church last night Bishop William Willimon delivered a message of repentance for a crime committed so long ago.  In prayer, he offered:

"We ask forgiveness for the indifference of our beloved Methodist Church in the unjust death of Father James Coyle, a servant of God among us, whose ministry was tragically ended. Heal us, we pray, of dissension and hatred for brothers and sisters of other faiths. Reconcile us to those whom we have wronged or who have wronged us. Embolden us to witness to the love of Jesus Christ by loving others as he loved us."

The Methodist clergyman, E. R. Stephenson, had ties to the Ku Klux Klan. The KKK at the time was very anti-Catholic, and in Birmingham there existed a secret anti-catholic political society called the True Americans. Father Coyle defended the Catholic Church and promoted racial harmony amid public persecution of the Church.

Father Coyle had married Stephenson's daughter to a Puerto Rican man, Pedro Gussman. Stephenson's acquittal was a nationwide scandal; a black eye for the city of Birmingham, which has seen so many black eyes.

There is no record of the Methodist Church or any other group ever disciplining Stephenson for this crime.

Now that has been corrected. Through this service the grace and forgiveness of God has been unveiled in a most profound way.

The service included the Rev. Alex Steinmiller, C.P., president of Holy Family Cristo Rey Catholic High School, who said (and I'm paraphrasing), "There is no statute of limitations on forgiveness and reconciliation."

James Pinto, the director of The Father James E. Coyle Memorial Project, spoke as well. He had earlier in the day spoken to a 100 year old woman who had been a parishioner of  Father Coyle and who remembered being ministered to by the priest. This provided a connection to the event, and to a time very different from our own in so many ways, but not unlike ours in others.

Mr. Pinto also read some letters from Catholic officials. One of these mentioned that all of the "disenfranchised" now stand in "solidarity with Father Coyle."

During this Lenten season let the Church (Catholic, Methodists and others) consider the disenfranchisment of the LGBT community. We stand in solidarity with Father Coyle, and with a Jesus who brought his love and extends grace to all.

I look forward to the day when the church extends an apology to the LGBT community and seeks reconciliation with those who it has estranged from its ranks. As was said, there is no statute of limitations for reconciliation. If ninety years of silence can be erased, two thousand years of wrongdoing can be also.

In the meantime, read John Shore's Open Letter From Christians to Gay People.

Catholic Influence

Catholic ideology is really in the news this week, mostly as a result of the HHS policy that requires employers to provide birth control at no cost. As it stands now, Catholic and other churches are exempted, but Catholic owned hospitals and universities are not. The premise is that churches employ members of their own religion, but hospitals do not, and their employees (like everyone else) should have access to contraception.

Also in the news was the overturning of Prop 8 in California by a Federal Appeals Court. This is being framed by conservatives ( including Republican presidential candidate and Catholic Rick Santorum) as a split court decision overturning the will of 14 million voters in California.

What do Catholics think about these issues?

Several reports state that 98% of Catholics use or have used in the past some form of birth control.

Now we learn that most Catholics support the White House position on the issue.

Public Religion Research Institute released a poll yesterday which asked participants to respond to the following: 

All Employers should be Required to Provide their Employees with Health Care Plans that Cover Contraception or Birth Control at No Cost

Fifty eight percent of Catholics agree. That is higher than the percentage of “All Americans" (55%) that agree with the requirement.

At the same time 59% of all Catholics (and 57% of all Americans) agree with the exemption for Catholic churches and other places of worship.

The same polling group also reports that the majority of Catholics (52%) as well as mainline protestants (51%) now favor allowing same sex couples to marry. White evangelical Protestants and African American Protestants still oppose same sex marriage (76% and 60% respectively).

I don’t believe that the Catholic Church is in danger of losing its position as a worldwide power of religion.

But it does look like the Catholic church is losing its influence over Americans.

In the same poll, 69% of Millennials (18-29 year old) agree that religious groups are alienating young people by being too judgmental about gay and lesbian issues.

And Catholic women are ignoring Church teaching in their use of birth control. 

Here's the deal. Many religious leaders, including the Pope and other Catholic Bishops, ignore hard science and social science in their policy development. 

Science and sociology tell us that birth control is necessary and warranted in this country (and world wide) to help prevent unwanted and unplanned pregnancies as well as for population control in other overcrowded countries.

Science also tells us that gay people are here because of  natural reasons and not by choice and that acceptance of LGBT people contributes to better mental and physical health for the group.

Religion needs to catch up with its followers in living in the 21st Century. This can be done while still holding to the core values of their faith traditions. This applies not just to the Catholic Church, but to the United Methodist Church and other denominations as well. 

Religion by its very nature tries to adhere to the status quo. But all one has to do is look back at the early Christians or Christianity in the Middle Ages or Christianity in Early America or Christianity at the turn of the 20th Century to realize that the Church can, and does, and will, change.

Lowe's sinks to new lows

Lowe's Home Improvement has succumbed to the pressures of right wing fringe groups and cancelled advertising on the TLC show "All American Muslim." The Florida Family Association (which obviously does not think much of Muslim families in their state) pressured the retail giant into pulling its ads and not re-instating them.

If you are not familiar with the show, here is a trailer.




The group said that the program was "propaganda that riskily hides the Islamic agenda's clear and present danger to American liberties and traditional values."

In other words, Lowe's fell victim to the same type of stereotyping and  hate mongering that the show is trying to dispel. California Senator Ted Lieu stated,

"We want to raise awareness so that consumers will know during this holiday shopping season that Lowe's is engaging in religious discrimination."

"Lowe's is engaging in religious discrimination." Think about this when you need a piece of plywood or a new light fixture for your front porch.

And I say that the Florida Family Association is engaging in spreading the type of hatred and intolerance that gets people killed. 

Lowe's is already on thin ice with progressives because of their lack of LGBT awareness. The Human Rights Campaign gives them a rating of 15 (on a scale of 0 to 100) compared to The Home Depot, which has an rating of 80. The rating is a measure of the level of support for LGBT persons in a company's policies.

I'll drive a little further to shop at Home Depot now, unless of course the toilet springs a leak and the bathroom is flooding and time is of the essence.

Here are some Home Depot employees from Sacramento at an event in Stockton, CA having some fun. Michael Jackson?

Hey, we are not invisible

Pride

Photo credit - Joe Openshaw


Central Alabama Pride just produced one of the most memorable Pride celebrations the city of Birmingham has ever seen. Did you see any coverage on the news or in the paper? No. Were they notified of the events? Yes. Did they cover the events in the past? Yes. Are they negligent in refusing to cover the events this year? Yes.

A comment on facebook: "Imagine the difference in the outcome of the civil rights era if MLK and Rosa Parks were swept under the rug and ignored...this is our time!"

Larry Kramer said it last night in his acceptance speech at the Tony Awards: "Dearest loving mother, Daryl Roth and generous Paul Boskind, thank you, and everyone, for this magnificent production. To gay people everywhere, whom I love so, The Normal Heart is our history. I could not have written it had not so many of us so needlessly died. Learn from it and carry on the fight. Let them know that we are a very special people, an exceptional people, and that our day will come."

Here is a column I wrote for Noise Magazine about Pride. Interspersed are pictures of Equality Alabama in the parade this year.

Pride artwork by Benjamin Faucher

June is the month that LGBT Pride is celebrated in Birmingham and many other communities across the country. This commemorates the Stonewall riots in Greenwich Village that occurred on June 28, 1969 that many designate as the start of the modern gay rights movement.

Photo credit - Joe Openshaw

Pride means different things to different people. For some in the LGBT community the Pride celebration is a way to let others know that “we’re here, we’re queer, get used to it.” For others, it is a chance to blossom into a role that they don’t play every day. And for still others, it’s a chance to party. But for some, Pride celebrations are thought of as silly, unnecessary or even hurtful to our cause.

Photo credit - Chris Wilson

Definitions of pride include references to dignity and self esteem and self respect. None of these words; pride, dignity, self esteem, or self respect, mean the same thing to everyone.


We all come from a different place, physically and emotionally, in our journey. But most will agree that somewhere along the way, our pride suffered and our dignity, self respect and self esteem were low.

Photo Credit - Chris Wilson

Photo Credit- Joe Openshaw

Almost all injustices toward the LGBT community have a basis in religion. Whether one is a member of a particular church or denomination, we all still feel the effects of prejudices and misunderstandings that come from the pulpit. Even though many denominations and individual places of worship are becoming more friendly or affirming toward the gay community, the attitudes of the conservative religious sects continue to affect elections and laws and policies that affect us negatively.

Photo Credit - Joe Openshaw

Equality Alabama has compiled a list of “welcoming” places of worship in our state. The list is incomplete and is evolving. If you know of a place of worship that should be included but is not on the list, please let us know. What we have tried to do is create a database of places where an unsure person could go and seek comfort and be allowed to worship without fear that they would walk away feeling condemned. Because that is exactly what has happened to many of the LGBT people in our state.

Rejection by the church has led to feelings of not belonging, being un-loved and un-wanted, and the inability to accept one’s self. Dignity is lost. Self respect and self esteem are lost. Depression and its sometimes awful consequences are the result.

LGBT Pride is a chance to counter those feelings, whether one is experiencing them now, or has experienced them in the past. Show the world, and those who would seek to oppress you, that you are proud to be gay, proud to be lesbian, proud to be bisexual, proud to be transgender, or proud to be a straight ally.

It is not a coincidence that Equality Alabama has compiled their list at this particular time. The list should be posted on Equality Alabama's site by the time Pride takes place in Birmingham. It is Equality Alabama’s offering in the spirit of Pride, that the LGBT community is not going to let religion inspired prejudice take away the opportunity for us to worship in peace, should we choose to do so.

Celebrate Pride in June, but have pride all year long. Because you are who you are; you were created, or made this way; and it does get better. We have made tremendous strides toward equality in this country over the last few years; in part because of the visibility and message that we send by showing we are proud of ourselves. And by continuing to show our Pride, we will push the arc of justice a little further along.

Central Alabama Pride is celebrated in Birmingham June 3-June 12, and Bessemer Pride is on June 25.

Photo Credit Joe Openshaw

Photo Credit - Joe Openshaw

Healing the community

Healing can take place on several levels. There is physical healing, as when one has a broken bone or a kidney infection. There is emotional healing, as when one has been hurt by the actions of their lover. And there is community healing, something Birmingham has been struggling with since the 1960's. But more recently, since the April 27 storms, communities are broken in a different way and are in need of a different kind of healing.

On Sunday our pastor delivered a sermon titled "Building a Healing Community." (Her May sermon series was developed before the storms.) She based her sermon on the story of Jesus healing the paralytic (Mark 2: 1-12) and she spoke of the different types of healing mentioned above, including community healing.



Also on Sunday the Birmingham News published "A Special Report" titled Reinventing Our Community, stating "...metro Birmingham just might be ready to move beyond a decade of division, disparity and corruption." Almost every section of the paper had articles outlining the broken history of our city, the huge opportunity that has been laid out in front of us, and ideas for moving forward, with urgency, toward meaningful change. Everyone in Jefferson County should read Sunday's paper. Click here for the entire Special Report. There is a lot to read, plan to spend some time there.

The storms of April 27 may have been the spark that ignites a movement. Relief and recovery efforts have ignored real or perceived boundaries without regard to race or religion or sexual orientation or football affiliation, and there is a common call for the rebuilt communities to be better than the ones that are no more.

The Bessemer Cutoff OFA Team (Bessemer's 2012 Obama team), sent volunteers on Saturday to work at the Pratt City Resource Center. (Bessemer Cutoff OFA on Facebook)



The Resource Center is staffed by dozens of officials from various agencies and scores of volunteers. Residents who have been affected by the storm can pick up supplies such as tarps or cleaning supplies as well as household items, water and food. Services offered by FEMA and the Red Cross could be accessed, and internet access and some health services were offered for residents who needed it.

In addition, donations of water and food and other items were constantly being dropped off.

In other words, hundred of people created a steady stream of cars coming into the facility, which had to be directed to the proper areas in order to avoid confusion. And with hundreds of residents coming in, and volunteers that were working for hours, food needed to be provided. Arby's was there feeding folk, as was Jim & Nicks Barbecue. Several church groups were there cooking; Christ Way Church of God members grilled hamburgers for volunteers and residents, who shared tables set up near the grills.



You can volunteer for the Pratt City Resource Center through Hands on Birmingham.

Among the religious groups helping were people from Mennonite Disaster Services.



They were in Pratt City after storms in 1998, and are back again. "This will be a long-term project," Disaster Response Coordinator Jerry Klassen said.

ICNA Relief had volunteers there also.



Islamic Circle of North America is a Muslim organization that recognizes their call to help and support the needy as a religious responsibility. The man I spoke with was also an Auburn fan and an Obama supporter, but his work there had nothing to do with either of those choices. They were there to help, just like the rest of us.

Presbyterians were there. Catholic groups were there. There were Baptist and evangelical groups there. All were there to help a community get back on their feet again.

Reinventing Birmingham is sort of like reinventing the Black Belt region of Alabama. Talk, talk, talk, talk, talk...people easily tire of hearing about their problems and not seeing any action to make improvements. Things are slowly, and finally, changing in the Black Belt, thanks in part to Bob Riley's Black Belt Action Team and Congresswoman Terri Sewell. But change there is not happening there overnight, nor will it in Birmingham.

In fact, if won't happen at all if people don't leave behind the thing that divides us the most - religion.

I don't mean people need to give up their faith, far from it. Just don't let your faith get in the way of doing what is right for our community. Of course, your faith may dictate that you help your community by providing educational services or assisting in health care education or restoring neighborhoods.

But if your faith says you are better than someone else, or that you are closer to God than someone else, or that you have better access to God than somebody else, and you come in with that kind of attitude, then you are part of the problem that has been holding Birmingham back for decades.

We just ask that you get out of the way while we carry our city into the future.

Love Wins

I don't generally follow super pastors that lead mega-churches in part because I don't think one person influencing that many people who often blindly follow is a good model.

I think a better model is one person leading a few. Sort of like Jesus did.

Anyway, Rob Bell is the pastor of Mars Hill Bible Church in Grandville, Michigan, a church that attracts 10,000 worshipers a week.

So when I hear that Southern Baptist pastors and others are calling Bell a heretic I think he must be saying something right.

Bell has a new book, Love Wins, that explores heaven and hell and God.

He explains the book here.





That's the promo video, the cleaned up version.

Here he is explaining the book to his own flock.



It's uplifting that Christians are finally beginning to understand that God and Christianity are about love. That might be hard to see when one considers that Crusades and slavery and James Dobson and such, but it becomes a very simple story.

And if God is really about love, then how can he send so many of the people that he created to everlasting hell and damnation?

So I don't really believe in hell, and here is a writer and pastor that might have released a book that backs up my beliefs. I haven't really made up my mind about heaven, but I can tell you that from my (sketchy) theological training that my understanding of biblical hell and heaven has more to do with suffering and poverty versus fulfillment in the current life than some mysterious afterlife. I think Bell explores this a bit in the book, as well.

I am going to purchase the Kindle version (I have Kindle on my laptop, not the hand held version). I'll let you know what I think.

An interesting church

While in Charleston, South Carolina I became interested in St. Michael's Church, which is the oldest church edifice in the City of Charleston. It stands on the site of the first Anglican Church built south of Virginia.



My interest in the church was generated by a cookbook at an aunt's house. The book is called Faithfully Charleston and has some interesting recipes but also some bits of information about the church, including this description of an epitaph from the graveyard:

Another tells of the mother of nine children, who died, "age 17 years and 27 days."

Do the math.

Anyway, we went to the church the next day so I could purchase a cookbook.

Later during the day we returned and walked through the sanctuary.

Look at this pulpit in the middle of the room.




From the church information flyer:

The pulpit is the original one, remarkable for its height and the massive sounding board supported by two Corinthian columns. Its prominence bears out the fact that at the time the church was built, the center of interest in the service was the sermon, conflicting with the central place planned for the altar...Although the present reading desk was given in 1892 as a memorial, it is in the location of the original desk, and together with the pulpit above it makes up what is called a "double-decker."

Here is the Tiffany chancel decoration. The window was installed in 1893, and shows St. Michael casting out the dragon.



Here is the organ, originally installed in 1768, but altered several times and restored in 1994.



Something didn't feel right as I walked through the church.

I later learned that the Diocese of South Carolina is in a "battle" (their word, not mine) with the leadership of the Episcopal Church, over the acceptance by the church of homosexuals, and in particular the ordination and consecration of a partnered lesbian as bishop suffragan of the diocese of Los Angeles.

Bishop Mark Lawrence has said that he and Episcopal Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori “stand looking at one another across a wide, deep and seemingly unbridgeable theological and canonical chasm.”

He has declared the diocese sovereign within the church.

Shades of South Carolina's secession from the Union. And (as a distraction), now a South Carolina lawmaker wants the state to issue its own currency. What is going on with the people of that state?

The Diocese has not split from the Episcopal Church as of yet. I hope they realize that the conservatives in this situation are the ones causing the divide...they are the ones breaking away.

Anyway, for those Episcopalians who don't believe that God makes mistakes and want an inclusive and welcoming church in South Carolina, there are several on this list of welcoming churches, including St. Marks in Charleston.

From their web site:

We welcome all Christians to full participation in the St. Mark's Parish family without regard to gender, age, marital status, sexual orientation, disability, race, or cultural heritage.

Back to the cookbook

Onion Pie, John's Island Tomato Pie, and St. Michael's Staff Party Chicken are a few of the recipes that caught my eye, and will be among the first to try. And when I feel like baking, I'll try my hand at The Lady Irene Charleston Cake.

Got religion?

Remember Antoine Dodson, the Huntsville guy whose interview became an internet sensation?



Well now the hit doggie costume at New York's Halloween Dog Parade is Antoine Dogson.



Photo credit Jim Kiernan

Here is an "It Gets Better" video from three United Methodist pastors. It's good to see the church, any church, getting involved.



Alex Day is a smart young guy. He frequently posts videos that are interesting. Here Alex talks about religion and skepticism and atheism and the history of the universe (what happened at 11:45 PM on December 31?). I like young smart people. They are going to be in charge one day.



So he "doesn't need religion to make the world seem more impressive than it is."

A lot of young people feel that way, it seems. Drew Dyck wrote a book that examined why young people stop going to church. The book is titled Generation Ex-Christian: Why Young Adults Are Leaving the Faith...and How to Bring them Back. (And I thought my book had a long subtitle). The author was interviewed by Greg Richter of the Birmingham News.

Dyck says that there are several categories of church leavers.

1. Post-modern leavers reject Christianity because of its exclusive truth claims and moral absolutes.

2. Recoilers leave because they were hurt by the church.

3. Modernists reject supernatural claims.

4. Neo-pagans leave for earth based religions.

5. Spiritual rebels leave to indulge in behavior that conflicts with their faith.

6. Drifters just drift away as God becomes less important to them.

Wow. There are a lot of reasons for a someone who does not just follow like a sheep to leave a church, it seems.

Did you leave the church? For one of these reasons? Or another? Post a comment on this blog.

Dyck also addresses the question we often hear about American culture causing young people to leave the church. Nope, he says. It's what happens inside the church that pushes young people out, rather than peers and pop culture pulling them.

The fact is that most churches today do not fit into the modern world, for whatever reason. Some will claim that they are supposed to be separate from the world, and don't want to fit in. But they run the risk of becoming a sort of anachronism in the way that many view the Amish today.

The churches should look at that list of reasons and, without changing their doctrines, address them in ways that answers young people's questions. That is, and will continue to be, a challenge.

Headed toward marriage equality

Yesterday was a banner day for equality, and two stories in The Birmingham News reflect this.

On the front page is the story about the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) voting to allow non-celibate gays to serve as clergy.

Actually what they voted for was to evaluate candidates on the basis of "calling, gifts, preparation and suitability."

There is no mention of sexual orientation or sexual ethics in the proposed language.

Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is the nations 10th largest Christian church in the United States, with 2.8 million members.

A majority of the church's 173 U. S. presbyteries still must approve the policy change. Two years ago, 94 presbyteries voted against the change.

Here is the news as reported on the church web site.

The church did, however, vote to retain their discriminatory definition of marriage as being between a man and a woman.

But progress is slow, especially in churches, so let's celebrate this small (huge) victory.

In an unrelated action (but related to yesterday's post), the Presbyterian assembly voted to "refrain from holding national meetings in states where travel by immigrant Presbyterians or Presbyterians of color might subject them to harassment due to legislation."

Good for them!

In other marriage related news, and probably the biggest story, is that a federal court has ruled that the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) is unconstitutional. The ruling only applies to Massachusetts, which challenged DOMA on the basis that it forced discrimination on the state's same sex married couples. But it gives encouragement to other states that permit same-sex marriage, and gives heart to the LGBT community at large.

It is unclear as to whether the ruling will be appealed. The U. S. Justice Department would file the appeal, but President Obama has stated that the law is discriminatory and wants it overturned. So let's just see how that plays out.

Here is the DOMA decision. You can click on "full screen" to read the entire thing.

DOMA Decision

Here are reactions from pro-equality organizations.

Equality opponents are blaming SCOTUS nominee Elena Kagan (who filed a brief in the case for upholding DOMA when she was solicitor general) for deliberately sabotaging the case.

Why Rick and Bubba matter

Emails are flying and phone calls are being made to sponsors about Rick and Bubba's anti-LGBT Pride rant. Some are questioning what the big deal is, after all, its a free country and we have freedom of speech here.

No one denies that. Let the phobic minority spin the scriptures and rally their armies all they want. That's not the real issue.

On the other side of the country the closing arguments in the Prop 8 trial took place yesterday. By all counts, Ted Olson hit a home run, and the Prop 8 defender Charles Cooper struck out.

I kept up throughout the day by following the closing arguments on Prop 8 Trial Tracker where live blogging by several fast typists kept me informed.

Kate Kendall from the National Center for Lesbian Rights was in the courtroom, and in her remarks afterwards, she made a very good point.

She said,

"...Yes, people feel uncomfortable about gay people. Yes, people may be nervous about, gosh, if their kids think its ok for gay people to marry maybe they'll think about being gay. But you know what, we just have to deal with all those issues. We have to have those conversations. We have to show them real data. And people have to understand, it's OK to be gay. And that was really the central thrust of what Ted Olson was saying....The entire push behind Prop 8 was to say that being gay is not OK. Its bad, its something to be afraid of, its something we don't want our kids to be exposed to. and it was that motive, those emotions, that voters brought with them to the ballot box when they passed Prop 8."

Hear her comments following the closing arguments, including the part I quoted.




That pretty much explains why combating Rick and Bubba is important.

Attitudes in this state need to change. People here in Alabama agree with the 2008 voters in California.

It is not OK to be gay.

And Rick and Bubba perpetuate this message. Rick Burgess may claim that the message was to his like minded Biblical World View Christians.

But the airwaves reach mom's of gay children driving in their cars. Quite possible a questioning kid is in the back seat hearing it. "It's not OK to be gay", the mom and her son hear. The son decides to hide his feelings from his mom. He has no one to turn to.

Whether one is a progressive Christian or is not, we should not accept the hurtful (notice I said "hurtfull", not "hateful") message of religious right wingers to spread their message unchallenged.

Changing the conversation from, "It's not OK to be gay", to "It's OK to be gay," is the name of the game. And Rick and Bubba win the game, if we don't fight.

And if we lose the fight, the young man who feels that he can't talk to his mom, may end up like Bobby did in Prayers for Bobby. (A true story)

The Bible and Homosexuality, Part 2

Part 2 of this series would have been a column in the Western Tribune had it not folded. The series is four parts long.

Here is Part 1 (Leviticus) in case you missed it. After all of the parts are published here, I will edit them into a single article with a link under "Popular Posts."

The Letters of St. Paul (Romans)

Part 2, The Bible and Homosexuality : Romans

This is my second in the series on homosexuality and the Bible.

Another group of verses often used against homosexuals, these from the New Testament, are found in the first chapter of Romans.

“Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion.” Rom 1:26-27

When these words were written, it was not understood that homosexuality was the natural orientation of some members of the human species as well as almost every other animal species known. Science has shown us that homosexuality occurs in most mammals, and some birds and fish as well. It occurs in nature, naturally.

So it could be said that the men referred to in this verse were heterosexual men, who were having sex with other men, unnaturally. It says nothing about “naturally” homosexual men. The same can be said for the women; some are naturally heterosexual and some are naturally homosexual. The natural sexual activity for a homosexual man would be with another homosexual man, and for a homosexual woman, with another homosexual woman.

But why would a naturally heterosexual man be having sex with another man?


The Apostle Paul by Rublev

Paul is attempting to show the Gentiles how they have turned from God to idols. Later he shows how Jews have turned to self-righteousness and hypocrisy and harsh judgments on others. What he is trying to show is that all of us have sinned and fall short of the glory of God rather than trying to set apart a particular category of people as the worst possible type of sinners.

During the time of Paul homosexual activity was usually associated with adultery when a married man might have a young male lover on the side. Male prostitution was common. An adult male could choose a legitimate sex partner of either sex. The sexual activity between them accentuated their differences in social class and certainly could be viewed as a misuse of sex and power.

This is quite different than the love between two men or two women of equal social status, and this is not addressed in Paul’s letter to the Romans.

Next: The love between Jonathan and David

The Bible and Homosexuality, Part 1

This Western Tribune column (March 17, 2010) is the first of a four part series on the Bible and homosexuality. One way to look at this, the Washington Post featured a five part series on homosexuality in 1965 (from which I got the idea for my book,which should be available in April) and the Western Tribune is featuring a four part series in 2010. Sure to raise some eyebrows, but you know what happens when eyebrows are raised? Eyes open!

The Torah inside the former Glockengasse synagogue in Cologne.

How the Bible looks at homosexuality

I have been asked to show the verses in the Bible that mention same sex activity that are not critical of homosexuality. This column is the first of four that will address this issue.

The trouble with taking the words of the Bible without careful study of the language and customs of the time is that often this leads to the wrong conclusion. We only have to look at how the Bible was used in the past against blacks or against women to realize this. Currently, the same approach to biblical interpretation is used to point judgmental fingers at the gay community.

If we incorporate science and history into biblical interpretation we don’t find such condemnation.

Verses in Leviticus that are part of Israel’s Holiness Code include certain specific instructions on sexual matters, but also contain instruction not to eat shellfish, not to wear blended fabrics, not to plant fields with two kinds of seeds and more.

Along with certain male homosexual acts, adultery and sexual intercourse with a woman during her menstrual period are forbidden.

These proscriptions were given for several reasons: to separate Israel from other nations and their practices; to avoid idolatry and the practices associated with it; and to avoid ceremonial uncleanness.

Ritual purity was one of the ways the people of Israel set themselves apart from others for God. The avoidance of things unclean was part of the purification process.

Semen was looked on as critical to the ongoing of human life and thus was an important part of ceremonial law. The emission of semen during intercourse with a menstruating woman or even during an involuntary nocturnal emission was forbidden.

There were pagan rituals in which semen was offered up to the gods, so in order to set Israel apart a code was developed for this people at this time in their history and any use of semen that violated this code was forbidden. If this code is to be enforced against the homosexual community today, should we not also be enforcing the code against eating shellfish, wearing wool blends or having intercourse during a woman’s menstrual period?

These verses do not speak out against loving and committed relationships between modern gay or lesbian persons. They are about violations of a code that was set for a particular group of people and that, by the way, was replaced by the life and teachings of Jesus.

Next: Romans

Western Tribune column January 13, 2010: Avatar

This is my Western Tribune column for January 13, 2010. I have seen Avatar twice, and probably will see it one more time. There are so many lessons to be learned from this film, it's hard to explain in 400 words. Here goes:

Picture credit: James Cameron's Avatar Wiki page

I will assume that most readers have seen the movie Avatar, but just in case someone reading this has missed the record breaking sensory feast, there will be no spoiler here. The details that I reveal have already been mentioned in news stories.

On Pandora, the planet like moon where the story takes place, a world is seen where the creatures and plant life – nature – are in tune and exist in a sort of harmony that still allows an acceptance of death and sorrow.

But in the year 2154 our planet has become “brown” and humans have found a new source for resources that are much needed on earth.

With that set up in mind, some conservative and religious leaders are claiming that there is a hidden message promoting a liberal tree-hugging, anti-Christian agenda.

Hardly. I mean, the message is not hidden; it’s the theme of the movie, with a love story entwined.

Nature is a powerful force, and we witness this every year with hurricanes and tsunamis and mudslides and such. Nature affects us in other ways as well, from the microbes that help us digest our food to the diseases that we seek to conquer.

On Pandora, rather than battling nature, the Na’Vi (the indigenous blue-skinned stars of the film) enjoy a spiritual connection to the other species with a simple understanding of the circle of energy and life.

We have tried to separate ourselves from the rest of nature, in part due to religious beliefs that promote us to a status above the animals over which we have dominion and just below the God we worship, but also because of what we have accomplished with the larger brains and opposable thumbs we developed.

In doing so, we link God and nature together in much the same way the Na’Vi link their natural life with their spiritual force, Eywa. We, or most of us, just don’t admit it.

Oddly enough, we have chosen to abuse our planet and ignore the signs of peril and the results are becoming evident, through climate change, and epidemics and such.

Nature versus God, or nature equals god, are arguments as old as humanity itself.

But as in the movie, nature “does not take sides.” Yet we will continue our attempts to shift the balance of life in our favor.

We may have to wait on the promised Avatar sequels to learn how that works out.

Religion and Spirituality

Parade magazine released a survey of our spiritual and religious values and the results are quite interesting.

Here are the complete results of the poll.

Here is Parade's article.

Below are the highlights.

Only 45% consider themselves religious. 24% consider themselves spiritual but not religious.

38% are less religious than their parents.

59% believe that all religions have validity. Only 12% believe their religion is the only true religion.

Only 53% think the world would be worse off without religion.

Only 30% attend religious services once a week or more. 50% rarely or never.

76% say their faith has not been affected during the current economic situation.

58% say religion and politics should not mix.

43% believe we go to heaven or hell after we die depending on our actions on earth.

62% expect to contact loved ones after they die.

I've posted Brett Dennen video's before, but this seems like a good place to replay "Heaven." Recently Brett re-recorded the song with Natalie Merchant.

"Whatever faith you practice, whatever you believe..." Brett's lyrics mirror the American public's beliefs.

Torture and Prayer

Torture

A poll by the Pew Forum has shown that frequent churchgoers are most likely to support torture.White Evangelical protestants are the religious group most likely to agree.



Here are the poll results.

What gets me is that 15% of Americans (18% of Evangelical Protestants) think torture can be justified often. Let's not elect these people to office...please! But just as important, let's not select them to stand in the pulpit.

I guess what this indicates is that attending a weekly church service messes up one's moral compass, at least as far as human ethics and such are concerned.

That is not to say that there are not churches out there that respect humanity enough to teach that torture is wrong (notice that 25% of weekly churchgoers believe torture is never justified).

Prayer

With the National Day of Prayer coming up (May 7)here's some poll results on prayer, also from Pew.


Notice, the older one is, the more likely one is to pray daily, females are much more likely than males, and the more income one makes, the less likely. God v. mammon, I guess.

Religion in Alabama

The following column was written by Mark Durm, a professor of psychology at Athens State University. The column appeared in The Decatur Daily on Saturday, Feb 14, 2009. (Be warned, you can't read the articles online unless you are a paid subscriber.)

The poll referred to in the column is here. There you can compare the religiosity of all the states.

This interested me because I am so tired of hearing the New England States being criticised for their liberal views and the South, particularly Alabama, being praised for its Southern Baptist values. For all of our religion here in Alabama, what has it gotten us? Never mind our rankings in public education, our drop out rates, our regressive taxes, our rates of disease related to over consumption and smoking. Let's just look at the following:

Just how religious is Alabama?

Mark Durm

I read with interest the article that appeared in the Feb. 7 issue of The
Decatur Daily, “How Religious Are You? Gallup Poll confirms it – Alabama is
highly religious and Vermont is not – but why?” This story reminds me of a
statement by Francis Bacon, “Man prefers to believe what he prefers to be
true.”

I argue that if one judges a state’s religiosity by its behavior (its
“walk,” not its “talk”), then Vermont is much more religious than Alabama.

Please understand I am as Southern as one can get; I was born and
raised in the South, and I have attended schools in four different southern
states. We in the South, however, do not walk our religion as well as we
talk it. I offer the following as food for critical thought, not
criticism.

Let’s compare Alabama to Vermont because that was the case in the
previous article. This comparison will be done by the rate of certain
behaviors per 100,000 population in both states, according to the 17th edition
of “State Rankings,” a reference book published by Morgan Quitno.

An individual is more than twice as likely to get murdered in Alabama
as compared to Vermont. Our state ranks 18th while Vermont ranks
34th.

Moreover, a woman is more apt to be raped in Alabama than in
Vermont. Alabama ranks 18th in this category while the New England
state comes in at 41.

Alarmingly, an individual is 11 times more apt to be robbed in Alabama
than in Vermont, and concerning aggravated assault, one is three times more
likely to be assaulted in Alabama.

The property crime rate is almost double in Alabama when compared to
Vermont. Likewise, an individual is almost twice as likely to be
burglarized in our Southern state.

On other personal issues, an Alabamian is three times more likely to
file personal bankruptcy than is a Vermonter. If one is religious,
shouldn't he pay what he owes his fellow man?

The divorce rate is higher in Alabama then the state up North.
Alabama ranks fourth in the nation on divorce while Vermont ranks 21st. If
a person is religious, should not he or she be less apt to divorce?

Moreover, more babies are born to unmarried women in Alabama than
Vermont. Alabama is above the national average on this issue; Vermont is
below it.

Concerning AIDS, living in Alabama poses a threat of getting this
dreaded disease seven times higher than living in Vermont.

Therefore, someone living in Alabama is more apt to be murdered, raped,
assaulted, robbed, have a child out of wedlock, file bankruptcy, be divorced and
get AIDS than if living in Vermont.

So just how religious is Alabama?

But, then, recalling Bacon’s words, maybe Alabama prefers to believe
what Alabama prefers to be true.

Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships

Congratulations to Hank Tyler, fellow columnist for The Western Tribune for picking up the Charles A. Long Outstanding Civic Award at the Bessemer Chamber of Commerce Banquet last night.

Picture Credit: The Western Tribune

President Barack Obama established (yesterday at the National Prayer Breakfast ) his office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. Read what Obama said including his testimony at the link.

Read the press release and learn who some of the members of the council are here.

This will be a little more in line with the U. S. Constitution than W's effort, which seemed to put a condition on helping that you believe certain beliefs and share those beliefs with those you are helping or don't help them at all. Something like that.

Anyway, this office will reach out to charities and organizations "no matter their religious or political beliefs" and will be "making community groups an integral part of our economic recovery and poverty a burden fewer have to bear when recovery is complete."

Joshua DuBois, a 26 year old Pentecostal minister, will head the effort. "We're also going to make sure we have a keener eye toward the separation of church and state," he said.

Good.

Notes on Religion

The Birmingham News at the end of last year had an article on the religion page about what a pivotal year 2007 was. Too bad I can’t find a link, but the article mentioned the deaths of James Kennedy, Jerry Falwell and Tammy Faye Bakker Messner as a “passing of the guard among religious conservatives".

The article also mentioned The Christian Coalition sitting out the 2008 presidential race, the president of the National Association of Evangelicals stating that he’d rather conduct a funeral (or wedding) than meet with presidential candidates and Pat Robertson’s coziness with Rudy Giuliani as indications that things are changing.

But are they really? Here’s a few thoughts on recent stories in the news.

Baptists

Kentucky Southern Baptist Seminary president Albert Mohler Jr. is being considered to head the denomination. Remember this is the guy who wants to carry the Ex-gay movement into the womb, suggesting that changing the sexual orientation of fetuses would be acceptable. What next, Albert? Examining fetuses and changing their race, gender and handedness to produce only straight white right-handed males? After all, their view of denomination domination includes treating women as second class citizens too.

I hope Baptists find a more compassionate, peace loving and tolerant person to lead them. But that would mean following the teachings of Jesus. That would require a paradigm shift for the Baptists and I don’t think they will go that route.

Methodists

North Alabama Conference Bishop William Willimon led a revival of sorts among Methodists urging a return to the roots laid down by John Wesley. Pretty good suggestions. “Wesleyans believe that our relationship with God is totally dependent on God,” Willimon said. “Wesleyans believe you are here because of God. God is an active force…We believe everybody is being loved and attracted by God even if they don’t know it.”

“He (Wesley) believed in religion of the heart, but he believed that the test of the heart is religion of the hands, not only how we believe in Christ, but how we follow Christ.”

My roots are in Methodism also, and I can’t argue with Bishop Willimon. Whether one is a Methodist or other denomination or no denomination or whoever, this statement, “the test of the heart is religion of the hands” is worth consideration.

Mormons

The Mormons are trying to play catch up as they change the words of their sacred text so match what science has shown us: that Native Americans are not direct ancestors of a lost tribe of Israel.

Previous editions of The Book of Mormon stated “After thousands of years all were destroyed except the Lamanites, and they are the ancestors of the American Indians.”

Then came DNA, evidence of which contradicted their scripture. So now the scripture says the Lamanites “are among the ancestors.”

So the Mormons are conceding that science is accurate? Then when will they accept the science regarding sexual orientation and stop excommunicating members who are gay?

I’m not holding my breath, but we did buy one of these.

Episcopals

Presiding Bishop Katherine Jefforts Schori is in town to preside over the consecration of Rev. John McKee Sloan as suffragan or assistant bishop for the diocese of Alabama.

Here is what Jefforts Schori says about the war. “My understanding of Jesus’ ministry is that he told us not to go to war, and that he is at heart a peacemaker. We understand our mission as a church to be reconciliation. There may be times when it is appropriate to go to war. I’m not convinced of that, but we live in a world that is not perfect.”

“We pray for the troops constantly, even as we pray for peace and reconciliation in Iraq.”

She has a daughter who is a first lieutenant in the Air Force who was recently deployed to the United Arab Emirates, so I am sure she has given lots of thought to this war and war in general.

Give credit to the Episcopals for promoting peace.

Near Death Experiences

On Sunday The Rev. John McKee Sloan was elected the new bishop suffragan of the Episcopal Diocese of Alabama. Here is the news from The Episcopal Church online . Good fortune to "Kee" as he is known, and to the Church in general.

I read something about a person's "near death experience" recently and it got me to thinking. You always hear about such experiences from a Christian perspective, but what about those of other religions or no religion who almost die. What do they see. CECW (conventional evangelical Christian wisdom) would tell us that they would not see the same bright light of God and feel welcomed and at peace and all the different things you hear about.

Since the Muslim religion is the "suspect religion" de jour, I thought I would start there. Seems when they have a near death experience, it is much the same as Christians.

Here is the experience of a Muslim woman and also the story of "Muhammad's Journey to Heaven."

Let's see, now who else do the evangelicals say is condemned...oh yeah, gay and lesbian folk, even if they profess to be Christian. So here are some gay and lesbian near death experiences to ponder.

Both of these links come from one source, near-death.com, where you can find a wealth of information about near death experiences of Hindus, Buddhists, Native Americans, Jews, athiests, celebrities, children and more.

My conclusion is that we all experience nearly the same thing when we die or almost die, part of which is based on memory and the experiences we have had, part of which is based on physiology and what is going on in the body with neurotransmitters and other chemicals responding to changes in oxygen levels and temperature and such, and part of which is coming from the not fully understood realm of our common source, which, if you really think about it, would have no reason to treat any of us any differently, or put one group above any other group, and would "welcome each person back" whether it is through a spiritual embracing of a "spirit" or/and a physical re-joining with the chemicals that make up the earth.

In other words, we all return to that from which we come. And that should be enough to make anyone look at death, not with fear, but with a yawn, realizing that it's just another step in the journey.