Civil rights activist now focuses on gays

by Steve Haycox
Printed in Anchorage Daily News 2.29.09
http://www.adn.com/opinion/comment/story/811905.html

From the early days of the civil rights movement, John Lewis was a symbol of the fight against segregation, inequality and inhumanity. He was publicly beaten senseless by state and local police on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala., on "Bloody Sunday," March 7, 1965.

A key figure in the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, Lewis has represented Atlanta and vicinity in the U.S. Congress for more than 20 years. He has been called the "conscience of the U.S. Congress." He is a graduate of the American Baptist Theological Seminary, as well as Fisk University.

John Lewis opposes restrictions on the freedom of gays and lesbians, particularly their freedom to marry.

His stand is rooted in the liberal triumphs of the 1960s. The civil rights and voting rights acts, the advance of personal choice through women's rights and the youth movement, and new and effective environmental regulation all changed America permanently. The changes redefined equality, expanding the definition of who is an equal human being under the U.S. Constitution and the laws of the nation.

Teachers of history recognize that change whenever they query students on the meaning of the Declaration of Independence. No longer will students settle for an abstract definition of equality in which the male head of the household, under the concept of paterfamilias, took responsibility for everyone in the household.

"All men are created equal" inevitably prompts students' protests that neither women nor blacks nor Indians nor other minorities were included in Jefferson's conception. For most students, the fact that people in the 18th century lived by a different cultural standard doesn't justify what they interpret as discrimination, discrimination by powerful, dominating white males.

These students, who are the citizens of today and tomorrow, read history differently than the generation of Southern bigots who persecuted John Lewis, and the generations who argued that a single source of authority could and should speak for those labeled dependents. These young citizens focus on Elizabeth Cady Stanton's reworking of the declaration in 1848 to read that "all men and women are created equal." They are impressed with Abraham Lincoln's call at Gettysburg in 1863 for a "new birth of freedom," the abolition of slavery. They celebrate the Indian Citizenship Act of 1924 as the beginning of a redress of the legitimate grievances of America's indigenous people.

In the history of Alaska, they note that the first law passed by the first Alaska territorial Legislature granted the voting franchise to women. They note that the Alaska District Court established the right of an Alaska Native to vote the year before the Indian Citizenship Act. They react with pride and approval that the Alaska territorial Legislature, lobbied uncompromisingly by Elizabeth Peratrovich, passed an anti-discrimination act in 1945, nine years before the U.S. Supreme Court's Brown v. Board of Education decision. And they note also that in 1970, at the height of the reform era, Alaska, under the courageous leadership of Sen. John Rader, became one of only five states to make abortion available upon the request of a woman and her doctor.

During the 2008 presidential campaign, John Lewis, who aggressively supported Barack Obama, was asked about gay rights. His statement is powerful and arresting.

"It is unfortunate," he said, "that a segment of our society fails to see that we all should be treated like human beings ... I fought too long and too hard against discrimination based on race and color not to stand up and speak out against discrimination based on sexual orientation."

He continued, "You call it what you want, discrimination is discrimination and we have to speak up and speak out against discrimination. You have too many people in this society saying they're against same-sex marriage. If people fall in love and want to get married, it is their business."

Like John Lewis, many students today equate gay rights and civil rights, gay rights and minority rights. The history of American equality would suggest that the future lies with them, and not with those who would condemn and attempt to curtail rights based on sexual orientation.

Out, out, demon hatred

Pr. Prevo is once again trying to scare the "hell" out of people with his campaign to stop civil rights legislation from passing in the Anchorage Assembly. His web site www.sosanchorage.com is an example of everything non-churchgoers say is wrong with the church. It now has a counter. John Aronno and Heather James have a new blog www.alaskacommons.com and have launched a counter to Prevo's site at www.sosanchorage.net Good stuff, Check it out.

move Gitmo to a Lutheran church parking lot and get all the answers to all the questions

Fascinating piece coming in tomorrow's TIME magazine. Reporter Bobby Ghosh writes, “The most successful interrogation of an al-Qaeda operative by U.S. officials required no sleep deprivation, no slapping or ‘walling’ and no waterboarding. All it took to soften up Abu Jandal, who had been closer to Osama bin Laden than any other terrorist ever captured, was a handful of sugar-free cookies.”

Former interrogator/member of the FBI Ali Soufan, who testified to Congress last month, tells TIME: “He was a diabetic ... We had showed him respect, and we had done this nice thing for him .... So he started talking to us instead of giving us lectures.” Ghosh points out, “Defenders of the Bush program, most notably Cheney, say the use of waterboarding produced actionable intelligence that helped the U.S. disrupt terrorist plots. But the experiences of officials like Soufan suggest that the utility of torture is limited at best and counterproductive at worst.”

Perfect love casts out fear

Intolerance has raised its ugly head again in Anchorage, spearheaded once again by Pastor Prevo. The web site SOS Anchorage (http://www.sosanchorage.com/) leaps onto the bandwagon of fear with its vitriolic messages that would not be tolerated in any civil society, except that the fear is that of homophobia: the last “respectable” prejudice. I offer some quotes from a chapter named the same from Wm. Sloane Coffin’s book The Heart is a Little to the Left in response.

“The opposite of love is not hatred but fear. “Perfect love casts out fear.” Nothing scares me like scared people; for while love seeks the truth, fear seeks safety, the safety so frequently found in dogmatic certainty, in pitiless intolerance.

So I believe the captives most in need of release, those today whose closet doors most need to be flung open, are really less the victims than their oppressors – the captives of conformity – the racists, the sexists, the heterosexists, all who live in dark ignorance because their fears have blown out the lamp of reason.”

“Just as African Americans have proved that the problem all along was one of white racism; and women, that the problem all along was one of male chauvinism; so gays, lesbians, and bisexuals are proving that God’s creation is far more pluralistic that the eyes of many straights have wished to perceive.

So here’s to the gay community and to all it’s doing for all of us. And praise the Lord who brings liberty to the captives of conformity and recovery of sight to the blindly prejudiced.”

Never alone

John 15:26-27, 16:4-11

What shall we do without you
here
to guide us?
To set us straight and hold our hand
to show us the way we are to go?
We will be lost
we will perish
without you Christ
all that you have taught us
all that you have lead us to
all that we have come to know
feel
love
lost
and Jesus turned to them
my children
I will love you as you have been loved
from the beginning of time
when the breath of spirit brought life
I will be with you as from the beginning of time
when the spirit of life was breathed
into your mother and father
I will be with you as from the beginning of time
and you will know
feel
love
the presence of the living God
listen and follow
as from the beginning of time

Spiritual Rosetta stone

Sunday May 31st, Acts 2: They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. Speaking in tongues was not for the gratification or uplifting of those speaking, it was a gift of the Holy Spirit for the purpose of spreading the good news of God new chapter in the salvation story to the gathered multitudes. The spirit moved the disciples out of the locked upper room where they were hiding and into the streets where they encountered the needs of the people. The spirit gave them the ability to minister to the needs of the people. So too, the spirit gives us the ability to minister to the needs of those around us, the hungry, the poor, those left out of the American dream as well as to those caught up in the relentless pursuit of the American dream to the point where they can’t see the needs of the poor. The spirit opens our eyes and hearts as well as our ears, and calls us to see one another as brothers and sisters in Christ, and truly love one another, in action, as we would love Christ. Sometimes the Spirit moves us out of our hiding places and into the world where we find opportunities to minister, and to be ministered too. Without that two way street, we are only preaching, and of that the world already has too much.

hear Gospel, live Gospel, be Gospel

Monday June 1st, Acts 2: Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. Utterly amazed, they asked: "Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans? Then how is it that each of us hears them in his own native language? Not only were these Galileans speaking to multiple nationalities in their own language, but they were Galileans for heaven’s sake! Why would anyone want to listen to Galileans while in Jerusalem? The Spirit breaks our misconceptions about one another by bringing us in contact with one another. It is a round robin, the Spirit leads us to Christ, Christ leads us to the world, where through the Spirit, and we not only lead, but are lead back to Christ, only with our eyes a bit more open this time. It is not just to our own that we are called to minister; it is to the children of God throughout the world, where in the process, we find ourselves ministered to, and wall broken asunder. This is the message of Christ, this is the call of Christ, to go into all the world to preach and teach the good news, starting at home and moving outward to the ends of the earth. We are also called to go into all the world and “do” the Gospel, to bring hope, justice, and peace, where we find we receive hope, justice and peace. We are called to do this, not because we will gain from it, but because all the children of God will live in hope because of it.

Creator, Creature, Creation

Tuesday June 2nd, Romans 8: 22 We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 23 Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. We live in the mean time. Christ has given us a glimpse of the kingdom, where all are welcome, all are cared for and loved and all are the children of God, now we are sent by the spirit to bring about that reality in this world. It is not just the people of this world that long for the redemption of the world, it is creation itself. We are all created in a threefold relationship, a relationship with God the creator, a relationship with one another symbolized by the creation of community as Eve was created from Adam, and a relationship with the creation symbolized by the creation of humanity from the dust of the earth. In this mean time, before the final glory of the fully inclusive New Jerusalem (Revelation 21) with her twelve open gates and food, healing and glory open to all, we are called to bring about peace and justice for all of humanity and all of creation, on this side of the resurrection. We do this because the Spirit leads us back to our relationship with the Creator, the Creature, and the Creation from which we were formed. That is how it all ends, that is God’s plan. We can get on board now and live in this loving relationship (heaven) or fight it, insisting on our walls and legalities of separation and a broken relationship with Creator, Creature and Creation (hell). What is amazing is the number of people who claim a relationship with the creator, while dissing the other two (fantasy hell).

F..bomb prayer

Wednesday June 3rd, Romans 8: 26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. One of the deepest, most honest prayers I witnessed was when a friend of mine lost his mother suddenly and let out long and loud the F..bomb, with fists clinched and face turned heavenward. I do not promote swearing as a regular part of prayer, but sometimes, in the intensity of the moment, words just seem unimportant. God knows, God understands, God hears and God loves. Don’t worry about what to say in prayer, just say it from the heart, like on Pentecost, God will hear it in God’s on language.

don't practice

Thursday June 4th, John 15: 26"When the Counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, he will testify about me. 27 And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning. This is a message to the disciples, and through the spirit, the Gospel, the saints, to us. Christ has been with us from the beginning and we are sent to testify about the love of Christ. You say you don’t know what to say? Good!! All those practiced speeches end up sounding like, well, practiced speeches. Let the Spirit intercede, though it may not sound like it to you, most likely, the one you are with will hear pure Gospel.

Graduation day

Friday June 5th, John 15: 7 But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. Graduation day is upon us. Soon our children will be going their own ways. Over the next couple of years, the parents will grow wiser and their lessons more meaningful in the lives of these youthful travelers. So it is in the kingdom. As long as Jesus was with us, the disciples could call upon him for answers. Now the Spirit leads us to come up with contextual answers on our own, looking to Christ for guidance through the word and the world. I wonder if the disciples and scripture writers wish they had listened more intently, taken better notes, asked more questions? I suspect, through the Spirit, what they heard and what we hear is all that is needed. I suspect it is the Spirit leading us through the process of wrestling with the issues that we hear the Gospel the best. It is in doing the Gospel (remember the final vision) that others, and we ourselves, hear the teachings of Christ in every imaginable situation. The Gospel in the world is our text book, the final vision with the gates of the new Jerusalem open to all is the equivalent of the answers in the back of the book.

The Spirit interceeds

Saturday June 6th, John 15: 8 When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me; 10 in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; 11 and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned. One of the jobs of the Spirit is to convict us of our sin. It is not for us to convict “Others” of their sins. When we try to live our lives focus on the sins of others, we keep chipping away at life, forcing ourselves into an ever smaller and smaller world. In convicting us of “our” sins, especially the one of making the world smaller and smaller we find ourselves at the foot of the cross looking up at Christ. It is there we find salvation. The Spirit leads us to Christ by removing the scales of sin from our eyes.

Liberty University bans College Dems

(CNN) – Liberty University, the evangelical school in Virginia founded by the late Rev. Jerry Falwell, is drawing heat Friday for its decision to revoke recognition of the College Democrats' chapter on campus.

According to the Lynchburg News & Advance, the school decided a week ago the organization "stood against the moral principles" held by the school and therefore could no longer be sanctioned.

Maria Childress, the staff adviser to the club, told the paper the school — which opposes abortion rights and gay marriage — had issues with the Democratic Party platform.

Childress says she was told by Mark Hine, the vice president of student affairs, that "'You can't be a Democrat and be a Christian and be a university representative.'"

In a conference call with reporters Friday, Terry McAuliffe — the former chairman of the Democratic National Committee who is running for governor of Virginia — sharply criticized the move.

The university did not return CNN's request for comment.

When did corporations start to become too big to fail? In the late 1800's

Wisconsin had a law that stated: "No corporation doing business in this state shall pay or contribute, or offer consent or agree to pay or contribute, directly or indirectly, any money, property, free service of its officers or employees or thing of value to any political party, organization, committee or individual for any political purpose whatsoever, or for the purpose of influencing legislation of any kind, or to promote or defeat the candidacy of any person for nomination, appointment or election to any political office." The penalty for any corporate official violating that law and getting cozy with politicians on behalf of a corporation was five years in prison and a substantial fine.

Prior to 1886, corporations were referred to in US law as "artificial persons,"

But after the Civil War, things began to change. In the last year of the war, on November 21, 1864, President Abraham Lincoln looked back on the growing power of the war-enriched corporations, and wrote the following thoughtful letter to his friend Colonel William F. Elkins:
"We may congratulate ourselves that this cruel war is nearing its end. It has cost a vast amount of treasure and blood. The best blood of the flower of American youth has been freely offered upon our country's altar that the nation might live. It has indeed been a trying hour for the Republic; but I see in the near future a crisis approaching that unnerves me and causes me to tremble for the safety of my country.

"As a result of the war, corporations have been enthroned and an era of corruption in high places will follow, and the money power of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices of the people until all wealth is aggregated in a few hands and the Republic is destroyed. I feel at this moment more anxiety than ever before, even in the midst of war. God grant that my suspicions may prove groundless."

Now corporation have become too big to fail. Just how powerful have corporations become? Scale is a telling measure. The biggest ones are so big that in 2001 fifty-three of the world's hundred largest economies were corporations and only forty-seven were nations. For example, the annual sales of Wal-Mart that year exceeded the gross domestic product of Sweden. And corporations are growing: Five years earlier, only fifty-one of the planet's biggest economies were corporations; since then corporate expansion crowded two more nations out of the Top 100. To apply another measure, an analysis of corporate earnings reports and government statistics shows that the combined revenues of just the fifty largest American corporations exceed the budgets of all governments in the United States combined—the federal government, the fifty states, and the thousands of local governments—by more than half.

full articles: http://www.commondreams.org/views03/0101-07.htm
and: http://www.uuworld.org/2003/03/feature1a.html

MEMORIAL DAY PRAYER by William Sloane Coffin, Jr.

Gracious God, whose own Son's term of service to humanity was so full that its brevity was no distress, we call to mind on this Memorial Sunday those who will not grow old as we are left to grow old, those whose lives were too brief for us but long enough, perhaps, for thee. Forgive us that they died so young because we were too unimaginative, too imperious, too indifferent, or just too late to think of better ways than warfare to conduct the business of the world. Gratefully, we remember the generosity that prompted them to share the last of their rations, the last pair of dry socks, to share in the course of one hour in the foxhole more than most of us care to share with one another in a lifetime. And we recall the courage that made more than one of them fall on the grenade there was no time to throw back.

Grant, O God, that they may not have died in vain. May we draw new vigor from past tragedy. Buttress our instincts for peace, sorely beleaguered. Save us from justifications invented to make us look noble, grand and righteous and from blanket solutions to messy, detailed problems. Give us the vision to see that those nations that gave the most to their generals and least to their poor were, throughout all history, the first to fall. Most of all, give us the vision to see that the world is now too dangerous for anything but truth, too small for anything but love. Through Jesus Christ our Savior, who became what we are to make us what he is. Amen.

Jesus Christ nominated to Supreme Court

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxq2s93QffM&feature=player_embedded

Selectively literal

Opinion piece today in the Anchorage Daily News http://www.adn.com/

cartoon from http://www.nakedpastor.com/

by ELISE PATKOTAK
http://www.elisepatkotak.com/

There are referances to Pastor Prevo, for those not from Alaska he is the pastor of the Anchorage Baptists Temple and is a strong voice opposed to gay rights as well as a significant voice local and state politics.

This Sunday I am preaching on the summer question of literal vs. non-literal interpretation of scripture. I thought this fit well. I have never met anyone who preaches a literal translation of the Bible, only those who claim to.

Thanks to the Taliban and other religious extremist groups, I'm probably not the only person around who is starting to have their fill of prejudice and hate disguised as some god's love. Because of my upbringing, I find this especially heinous when coming out of the mouths of Christians.

A recent ordinance introduced in the Anchorage Assembly would prohibit discrimination against homosexuals. In my world, that should just be a given. None of us should be discriminating against another based on whether they look like us, love like us or have purple toes and green fingernails. Gay people are hardworking, contributing members of our community and using their sexual orientation to judge them simply makes no sense. If you doubt this, check out the recent action by the U.S. military against Dan Choi, a West Point graduate and veteran of Iraq, who is fluent in Arabic. He's just been discharged by the military from his job as a translator for coming out of the closet. So, as Jon Stewart pointed out so rightly on "The Daily Show" recently, our morality has reached the point where it is all relative and every line can be crossed to protect the homeland. Want to eavesdrop on Americans? Be my guest. Never know if they might be turncoats. Want to suspend the writ of habeas corpus? Sure, if that makes us safer. Want to torture? Go ahead. There may be a ticking bomb. But, and here is apparently where we won't cross the line, we will not tolerate translation of the tortured person's screams by someone who is gay.

It's nice to know we still have standards, isn't it?

And, of course, wading into the fray here in Anchorage is our very own Jerry Prevo, who apparently feels that forcing people to treat others fairly is nothing more than a nefarious plot by homosexuals to foist their agenda on the hapless citizens of Anchorage. And he's right of course. So long as you understand that their agenda is nothing neither more nor less than the right to be treated fairly and without prejudice.

Prevo also believes that the gay community is trying to force its values on everyone else. I'd love to know what he thinks the gay community's values are that makes them so different from everyone else. I'm betting most gay people want a community that is safe, clean, law abiding, compassionate and doesn't have dog poo on all its trails. Oh wait. That's right. They do live together in sin without the benefit of marriage. I wonder why that is?

After hearing what Prevo had to say, it seems to me that he's the one trying to shove his Christian agenda down my throat. I don't particularly care if his church discriminates against gays. I'm willing to bet there aren't a lot of gays clamoring to get in anyway. But in public life and public discourse, our constitution guarantees that we are all treated equally.

And those Biblical quotes that keep getting thrown at us to prove God doesn't like gays? Well, I for one am sick and tired of preachers who pervert the message of Christ to love one another as we would be loved by going back into their Bible to yank out quotes from an ancient culture that also thought eating meat from animals with cloven hooves was a sin. For every quote they hurl that justifies hate, there is another quote that contradicts it.

I'm sick of how conveniently these Christians decide which Biblical injunctions are still relevant today. The same Bible they quote to justify discriminating against gays also justifies slavery and killing your kids if they sass you. Do they have some secret access to God in which she tells them which ones should still be enforced?

Prejudice is ugly and hateful. It is used by groups all over the world to justify murder and mayhem against those who do not look the same, think the same or speak the same as they do. I hope that Anchorage is a better place than that.

Jesus spent his life on earth wandering in poverty amidst the outcasts of his society preaching a gospel of love and inclusion. When did people like Jerry Prevo lose sight of that?

Two state solution fell on deaf ears

US calls for a two-state solution "fell on deaf ears", the Palestinians' chief negotiator with Israel has said.

Speaking to Al Jazeera on Tuesday, the day after the first official meeting between Barack Obama, the US president, and Binyamin Netanyahu, Israel's prime minister, Saeb Erekat indicated that Palestinians had low expectations of the outcome.

In their talks in Washington, Obama told Netanyahu to stop expanding Jewish settlements and grasp the "historic opportunity" to make peace with the Palestinians.

"We appreciate very much what Mr Obama said ... [But] I'm sure this fell on deaf ears. Mr Netanyahu will continue to be in a state of denial," Erekat told Al Jazeera.

"He will not accept the two-state solution, he will not accept agreements signed. He will continue with settlement activities and he thinks he can beat about the bush by more vagueness and linguistics and public relations campaigns."

In four hours of talks with Obama, Netanyahu refused to publicly commit to an independent Palestinian state. He told Obama that Israel was "ready" to resume negotiations with the Palestinians, which stalled during Israel's 22-day offensive in the Gaza Strip, but avoided endorsing the two-state solution.

"If we resume negotiations then I think the Palestinians will have to recognize Israel as a Jewish state and also enable Israel to have the means to defend itself," Netanyahu said. Following the meeting, Netanyahu said: "I did not say two states for two peoples." He also said that Israel did not want to govern the Palestinians. "We want them to govern themselves [minus] a handful of powers that could endanger the state of Israel," Netanyau said.

But Erekat rejected this as rhetoric. "Really, when he [Netanyahu] says that he wants Palestinians to govern themselves by themselves - Mr Netanyahu I have a question for you: How can I govern myself by myself under your wall, settlements, incursions, assasinations, roadblocks?" he told Al Jazeera.

full story: http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2009/05/200951973745705990.html

Dear Dr. Laura

For a summer series, I have asked the congregation for questions they always wanted to ask a pastor or areas they wish to explore. This Sunday's question is simply stated: Literal and non-literal understanding of the Bible. In thinking about the traps of literal interpretation I pulled up an old letter that has been going around the net called "an open letter to Dr. Laura."

Dear Dr. Laura:

Thank you for doing so much to educate people regarding God's Law.

I have learned a great deal from your show, and try to share that knowledge with as many people as I can. When someone tries to defend the homosexual lifestyle, for example, I simply remind them that Leviticus 18:22 clearly states it to be an abomination. ... End of debate.

I do need some advice from you, however, regarding some other elements of God's Law and how to follow them.

1. When I burn a bull on the altar as a sacrifice, I know it creates a pleasing odour for the Lord - Lev.1:9. The problem is my neighbours. They claim the odour is not pleasing to them. Should I smite them?

2. I would like to sell my daughter into slavery, as sanctioned in Exodus 21:7. In this day and age, what do you think would be a fair price for her?

3. I know that I am allowed no contact with a woman while she is in her period of menstrual uncleanliness - Lev.15: 19-24. The problem is how do I tell? I have tried asking, but most women take offence.

4. Lev. 25:44 states that I may indeed possess slaves, both male and female, provided they are purchased from neighbouring nations. A friend of mine claims that this applies to Mexicans, but not Canadians. Can you clarify? Why can't I own Canadians?

5. I have a neighbour who insists on working on the Sabbath. Exodus 35:2. The passage clearly states he should be put to death. Am I morally obligated to kill him myself?

6. A friend of mine feels that even though eating shellfish is an abomination - Lev. 11:10, it is a lesser abomination than homosexuality. I don't agree. Can you settle this? Are there 'degrees' of abomination?

7. Lev. 21:20 states that I may not approach the altar of God if I have a defect in my sight. I have to admit that I wear reading glasses. Does my vision have to be 20/20, or is there some wiggle room here?

8. Most of my male friends get their hair trimmed, including the hair around their temples, even though this is expressly forbidden by Lev.19:27. How should they die?

9. I know from Lev. 11:6-8 that touching the skin of a dead pig makes me unclean, but may I still play football if I wear gloves?

10. My uncle has a farm. He violates Lev. 19:19 by planting two different crops in the same field, as does his wife by wearing garments made of two different kinds of thread (cotton/polyester blend). He also tends to curse and blaspheme a lot. Is it really necessary that we go to all the trouble of getting the whole town together to stone them? - Lev.24:10-16. Couldn't we just burn them to death at a private family affair like we do with people who sleep with their in-laws? (Lev. 20:14)

I know you have studied these things extensively and thus enjoy considerable expertise in such matters, so I am confident you can help.

Thank you again for reminding us that God's word is eternal and unchanging.

Your adoring fan,

7th Sunday after Easter

John 17:11-19

As we are drawn
into the name
of God
with the same power
that created time
we are made one

With our wars
--designed in irony
--to solve conflict
we are one

With our hunger
in a world spending million
trying to look thin
we are one

In our jokes
rising from our inner fear
that point up our differences
we are one

With the power
that came to our world
to create
--and save
and to sustain we are one
Created in Your Name
Sanctified in Your Name
Sustained in Your Name

We are one
we thank you Lord
for the truth
that binds together
the many truths
--we have created
and that
We are One

Law and Gospel

Sunday May 24th, Psalm 1: Blessed is the one who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers, but rather blessed is the one whose delight is in the law of the LORD. Lutherans tend to not talk much about delighting in the law of the Lord. We use the excuse of works righteousness, which is a caution well worth heeding, especially given the strangle hold works righteousness has on American civil religion. But the law is important, and rather than letting the works righteousness voice dominate and frame the discussion, perhaps being bold in our discussion of law is the better avenue. Luther in his small catechism changed the way we look at the law from a list of don’ts to a list of do’s, with its inherent vision of a vengeful god (lower case intended because the very act is to bring God down and put ourselves in charge, the original sin), to the gift of possibilities in living the life of a child of God. Instead of not “bearing false witness” we are asked to take it upon ourselves to speak well of others and interpret what they do in the best light. Instead of not committing adultery, we are asked to respect others sexuality in all that it means, up to and including rights of all, regardless of sexual orientation, to live in the blessed state of matrimony. Instead of not stealing, we are asked to help our neighbor take care of all they have, which might just include some serious consequences for those who had stolen our economy into its present crisis through the guise of deregulation. Delighting in the law is celebrating the gift of God in our lives and joyfully wanting to do what God wants us to be doing in this world. We only fear the law when we are trying to get away with something.

Don't be shabby

Monday May 25th, 1st John 5: 11 This is the testimony in essence: God gave us eternal life; the life is in his Son. We are called to live in the knowledge of this testimony, in the knowledge of being a child of God, in the knowledge of knowing we are saved, deep down in your heart knowing God will never leave you. Know with every essence of your being that life eternal with God is yours. Now that you don’t have to do anything, what are you going to do? That is the question. The danger isn’t not earning salvation; the danger is leaving it along the wayside as we go off after something else, some new fancy trinket that sparkles. Fanatics and atheists may not have their thinking on straight but at the very least, they care deeply about what they believe. It is the agnostics that I am concerned about. They have heard it all not faced with conviction, it means about as much as yesterdays ham sandwich. What they are missing is knowing that their life is drenched in God’s love in their hearts, in their souls, in the essence of their beings. Putting on a good set of clothes do not make the man, or the woman, it is what happens inside, in the darkness of doubt that counts.

Have life

Tuesday May 26th, 1st John 5: 12 So, whoever has the Son, has life; whoever rejects the Son, rejects life. A good part of having life is to live it. Henry David Thoreau puts it “I went to the woods because I wanted to live deliberately, I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, To put to rout all that was not life and not when I had come to die Discover that I had not lived.” In Christ we are given life, now and life to come. When we get caught up in being in charge rather than letting God be in charge, we keep busy, we even have some enjoyable moments, but somehow the why behind it all eludes us. Life becomes less than the gift intended in creation. A Christian is necessarily better or better off than anyone else, except that in some half baked way, they have some idea who to thank. In the process, they find that makes all the difference in the world. It’s what gives life, life and the freedom to live it in such a way so as to suck the very marrow out of it. (if the idea of marrow disgusts you, there is a session of Iron Chef America you might be interested in).

Know beyond the shadow of a doubt

Wednesday May 27th, 1st John 5: 13 My purpose in writing is simply this: that you who believe in God's Son will know beyond the shadow of a doubt that you have eternal life, the reality and not the illusion. It is not something to hope for, it is not something to work for, it is something to live in. Luther said to sin boldly, but rejoice more boldly still. Knowing salvation is ours frees us for service, not from service. Knowing salvation is ours sends us out into the world to bring that knowledge to others, and if in the process, we act very human and make mistakes upon mistakes, then rejoice more boldly still in God’s salvation, you tried and did your best. This is not freedom from trying, it is the freedom to get out there and take risks for the sake of the Gospel, and if you fall on your nose, celebrate that you took a risk for the sake of the Gospel and try it again (though you may want to tweak it a bit). So believe beyond the shadow of a doubt that you have eternal life and then live life to its fullest and take the risk of living and telling others of that gift from God in all that you think, do and say. And by all means, enjoy yourself in the process.

Knowing the heart of God

Thursday May 28th, John 17: They know now, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that everything you gave me is firsthand from you, for the message you gave me, I gave them; What we have from Jesus is all God wants us to know about God. We can speculate all we want about God up there in heaven and all we have is speculation. What God revealed to us in Jesus is that God comes to us in weakness (as the babe in the cattle stall) and is open to all (from the lowest of shepherds to the royal representatives from afar). God rejoices at the slightest turning from sin to Him (Luke 15) and has little patience with those who are full of themselves (Pharisees, Sadducees and those with power and wealth) and came to bring the message of political, social, economic and religious reform (Luke 4). To know the heart of Jesus is to know the heart of God and that should bring comfort and Joy to all. Listening to the prevailing religious rhetoric of today one gets the feeling comfort and joy for all is not in the hearts of many. Rejoice Lutherans, we have work to do, put some Joy back in the lives of others. It is the work of the church.

one heart and one mind

Friday May 29th, John 17: Holy Father, guard them as they pursue this life that you conferred as a gift through me, so they can be one heart and mind as we are one heart and mind. That being one heart and one mind can be a little tricky. Sometimes it even tastes like eating crow. In a world that is reeling from the affects of tax cuts for the wealthiest among us coupled by benefit cuts for the poorest among us, some signs that we, as the children of God are not yet of one heart and mind might be found in this from www.thehungersite.com. “It is estimated that one billion people in the world suffer from hunger and malnutrition. That's roughly 100 times as many as those who actually die from these causes each year. About 20,000 people die every day from hunger or hunger-related causes. This is down from 35,000 ten years ago, and 41,000 twenty years ago. Three-fourths of the deaths are children under the age of five. Famine and wars cause about 10% of hunger deaths, although these tend to be the ones you hear about most often. The majority of hunger deaths are caused by chronic malnutrition. Families facing extreme poverty are simply unable to get enough food to eat. With CEO’s getting bail out packages in the millions and the economy in a tailspin, more and more on the bottom of the economic ladder are trying to get by with less and less, all while the minority party in DC wants to play games saying “no” to any help they can get their hands on while many are unsure of where their next meal will come from. One heart and one mind is about bringing justice into the world. Justice represented by the blindfolded woman holding the scales that are balanced. We still have many large corporations and military industrial complexes pushing up on the bottom of their side of scale while they fill it even higher, and no one seeming to notice.

Brothers and sisters

Saturday May 30th, John 17: In the same way that you gave me a mission in the world, I give them a mission in the world. I'm consecrating myself for their sakes so they'll be truth-consecrated in their mission. The truth is that the Christian mission is not about pro-choice or anti-choice, not about who can get married and what their sexual orientation might be, or any of the other hot button issues out there, it is about living as a child of God, knowing salvation is yours and about living as a child of God, knowing salvation this theirs. When you help the least, lost and lonely, you help a brother or sister in Christ. When you help bring about justice (exemplified by balanced scales) you are helping a brother or sister in Christ. When you consider war as your first option, you are killing a brother or sister in Christ. When God created the heavens and the earth, God called it good. All too often when we see parts of the heavens and the earth out of our control, we do not see them as brothers and sisters in any way and pronounce it bad. Recognizing that God called all of creation good is step one, doing something about it is step two. Celebrating with your new brothers and sisters here now and in the life to come is heaven.

God & Grass

During the summer I preach on Questions from the congregation. This Sunday the worship is on the Care for Creation. I have read this story before and loved it. Thought it would be a good time to share it.

We must really perplex God: he made us a perfect world and we have to change it. Imagine the conversation The Creator might have had with St. Francis on the subject of lawns.

GOD: Frank, you know all about gardens and nature. What in the world is going on down there on the planet? What happened to the dandelions, violets, thistles, and stuff I started eons ago? I had a perfect, no-maintenance garden plan. Those plants grow in any type of soil, withstand drought, and multiply with abandon. The nectar from the long-lasting blossoms attracts butterflies, honeybees, and flocks of songbirds. I expected to see a vast garden of colors by now. But all I see are these green rectangles.

ST. FRANCIS: It's the tribes that settled there, Lord. The Suburbanites. They started calling your flowers "weeds" and went to great lengths to kill them and replace them with grass.

GOD: Grass? But it's so boring. It's not colorful. It doesn't attract butterflies, birds, and bees, only grubs and sodworms. It's sensitive to temperatures. Do these Suburbanites really want all that grass growing there?

ST. FRANCIS: Apparently so, Lord. They go to great pains to grow it and keep it green. They begin each spring by fertilizing grass and poisoning any other plant that crops up in the lawn.
GOD: The spring rains and warm weather probably make grass grow really fast. That must make the Suburbanites happy.

ST. FRANCIS: Apparently not, Lord. As soon as it grows a little, they cut it – sometimes twice a week.

GOD: They cut it? Do they then bail it like hay?

ST. FRANCIS: Not exactly, Lord. Most of them rake it up and put it in bags.

GOD: They bag it? Why? Is it a cash crop? Do they sell it?

ST. FRANCIS: No, Sir. Just the opposite. They pay to throw it away.

GOD: Now let me get this straight. They fertilize grass so it will grow. And when it does grow, they cut it off and pay to throw it away?

ST. FRANCIS: Yes, Sir.

GOD: These Suburbanites must be relieved in the summer when we cut back on the rain and turn up the heat. That surely slows the growth and saves them a lot of work.

ST. FRANCIS: You aren't going to believe this, Lord. When the grass stops growing so fast, they drag out hoses and pay more money to water it so they can continue to mow it and pay to get rid of it.

GOD: What nonsense. At least they kept some of the trees. That was a sheer stroke of genius, if I do say so myself. The trees grow leaves in the spring to provide beauty and shade in the summer. In the autumn they fall to the ground and form a natural blanket to keep moisture in the soil and protect the trees and bushes. Plus, as they rot, the leaves form compost to enhance the soil. It's a natural circle of life.

ST. FRANCIS: You better sit down, Lord. The Suburbanites have drawn a new circle. As soon as the leaves fall, they rake them into great piles and pay to have them hauled away.

GOD: No. What do they do to protect the shrub and tree roots in the winter and to keep the soil moist and loose?

ST. FRANCIS: After throwing away the leaves, they go out and buy something which they call mulch. They haul it home and spread it around in place of the leaves.

GOD: And where do they get this mulch?

ST. FRANCIS: They cut down trees and grind them up to make the mulch.

GOD: Enough. I don't want to think about this anymore. St. Catherine, you're in charge of the arts. What movie have you scheduled for us tonight?

ST. CATHERINE: Dumb and Dumber, Lord. It's a real stupid movie about ...

GOD: Never mind, I think I just heard the whole story from St. Francis.

St. Matthias, Apostle

Luke 6:12-16

Chosen
among the many
twelve who would be there in a special way
twelve
who would help to lead the world
from nowhere
from powerlessness
help to lead the world
with it’s great armies
and nations
and people
who live separate lives
lives
in pain
lives
in need
of the one who chose twelve
just twelve
with no particular greatness
except
being chosen by Christ
who brought salvation
by choosing
you and me!

6th Sunday after Easter

John 15:9-17

In a small forgotten corner of the world
There came one small child
----(love)
born of no one in particular
who lived the greater share of his life
unknown to the world
until
he began to tell others
----(one another)
of the love of their God
and how
--this love
which was known by all in this land
was not just
--a keep things as they are
kind of love
but a
--look what things are
----and could be
kind of love
that is hard for some to hear
----(as)
but brings hope to others
the ones who had much to lose
begin to worry
as they heard the word of God
in a new way
----(I)
and decided to stop
--this message of love from God
by stopping this one
who was showing them this love
and killing him
and they did
----(have loved)
but this one did not remain in death
and neither did God’s love
and the story spread
making more people uncomfortable
--(you)
and others full of hope

river dance

Sunday May 17th, Psalm 98: Let the sea and everything in it shout his praise! Let the earth and all living things join in. Let the rivers clap their hands in glee! Let the hills sing out their songs of joy before the LORD. For the LORD is coming to judge the earth. We are not alone in being loved. When God looked at creation and all that had been made, God said, “It is good.” That pronouncement of goodness was not only for the part of creation “made in God’s image,” but also for the rest of creation. It was less a statement of pride than a proclamation of, and creation of, innate attributes. All people will rejoice at the coming of the Lord. All creatures will rejoice at the coming of the Lord. All creation will rejoice at eh coming of the Lord. We ought, out of respect for God, show a little respect for the rest of God’s creation. The Psalm is about creation, but it is also about calling. A calling to you, to me, and enemy, to see one another as brothers and sisters, created in the image of God. Created in the image of Love. Created for the purpose of the mutual benefit, the Mutual Benefit, of all creation, recognizing the demise of one, being in part, the demise of all.

long term

Monday May 18th, Psalm 98: The Lord will judge the world with justice and the nations with fairness. The Lord’s justice and fairness extends to all because the Lord is the creator of all. Justice is not just taking our side any more than good parenting is loving one child and rejecting the others; it is taking the side of all of creation. It is sometimes to tell the children to stop bickering among themselves and start acting like a family. What if the world one day reached the maturity to live as brothers and sisters, created by the same God, in the image of the same God, loved by the same God? What if the world one day found the benefit of mutual cooperation far more attractive than mutual assured destruction? What if? Perhaps in doing so, short term gains would appear to be lost, perhaps. However, the God who created all, including time, looks at the long term and asks us to do the same.

I saw the light

Tuesday May 19th, Acts 10: 44 No sooner were these words out of Peter's mouth than the Holy Spirit came on the listeners. 45 The believing Jews who had come with Peter couldn't believe it, couldn't believe that the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out on "outsider" Gentiles, 46 but there it was… This is crazy!!, This Holy Spirit thing is Crazy! It is hard to come face to face with our neat tidy boundaries being crossed. We need more border fences to keep “them” out. More guards to patrol them. Then just when we think We feel safe, we stumble as if pushed. Just when we think we understand God, we get pushed to look further. It is still going on. We draw the circle smaller and put up fences to keep people out, God opens gates to let people in. Just what does God want from us anyway, to love everyone? That just seems crazy doesn’t it? Even Peter thought so. Humanity however, for a brief moment thought they saw the light.

wow!! I lost control there for a moment

Wednesday May 24th, Acts 10: Then Peter said, 47 "Do I hear any objections to baptizing these friends with water? They've received the Holy Spirit exactly as we did." 48 Hearing no objections, he ordered that they be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. It was one of those eureka moments, akin to finding gold in California. Finding God in Gentiles sparked one of those moments when everyone was shaking their head wondering what in the world is going to happen now!?! What God was up to in the world was what God had always been up to, but we refused to see. What God was up to was showing brothers and sisters that they are indeed brothers and sisters. Once in a while, in brief moments in history God can break in with a creation moment. Once in a while, humanity lets down it’s guard long enough to open the gates to one another. Once in a while..... and then we go back to business as usual, corporate welfare funneled through military contracts. Love and brotherhood replaced with fear and greed and a profit for a few. But once in a while God breaks through. They are Holy moments. They are creation moments. How are we now fighting what God is trying to show us, who God is trying to introduce us to, How God is calling us to be? How does our current common sense shut the door, or build a wall, against God’s Gospel call and that crazy out of control Spirit that just wants us to love one another? The first step in tearing down a wall is to recognize it exists.

dirty nails

Thursday May 25th, John 15: 12 This is my command: Love one another the way I loved you. 13 This is the very best way to love. Put your life on the line for your friends. Those defined as friends are the same ones that Jesus refers to in other parts of scripture as neighbors, or brothers and sisters or family of God. When questioned about neighbors, Jesus told the story of the Good Samaritan. We are called to love as Jesus loved. Jesus went to the cross, and even there, offered forgiveness and reconciliation. When we hear of the Holy Spirit leading the early church through the stories of Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch or Peter addressing the crowd in Acts this week, we hear God Calling us also. Calling us to break out of rules, out of membership, out of good enough and childish tribalism and calling us into a world that pronounces, along with God, all of creation, good. Within this calling to love one another, how do we let the rubber meet the road on issues such as immigration, war, foreign aid, debt forgiveness in third world nations..... and on and on and on. It is one thing to do the Miss America wave with clean manicured nails and quite another to get down and dirty making it happen. Perhaps one of the best offerings to this God of love is calloused hands and dirty nails, the true sign of beauty.

card carrying

Friday May 26th, John 15: 15 I'm no longer calling you servants because servants don't understand what their master is thinking and planning. No, I've named you friends because I've let you in on everything I've heard from the Father. Along with title comes the responsibility to act on behalf of this loving creating God of all. Knowing that God is constantly pushing out boundaries and boarders and definitions of “the children of God,” we are called to act. Not in our self interest, but in the world’s and in God’s best interest. Emissaries, not mercenaries. How are we doing, those of us who carry the banner of God, in acting as friends of God in God’s whole creation? How are we doing in our job as emissaries of the Good News? We have friends of pets, friends of the earth, but are we as the children of God proud card carrying members of friends of God’s whole creation? Ooooh, maybe there is a children’s sermon in that, card carrying members of friends of God’s Whole Creation.

action fruit

Saturday May 27th, John 15: 16 “You didn't choose me, remember; I chose you, and put you in the world to bear fruit, fruit that won't spoil. The decision theology of most of Protestantism aside, we did not choose God, make a decision to follow Jesus, any more than your children “choose” to be your children. We simply woke up one day to the reality that God chose us. And what God chose for us to do about that is to bear fruit. Fruit of the spirit, fruits of love, fruits of our labor, fruits that provide nourishment and sustenance and growth among the children of God, fruits that help the children and especially the adults in our midst to maintain a healthy diet. From Jesus point of view, what is that fruit that won’t spoil? Is it more weapons? Program cuts for the poor? Jesus chose us as emissaries not mercenaries, and yet, we have all too often let the message of God’s love slide away from us through our silence and inaction. Perhaps it is time for emissary action in a world, a whole world, God has called good.

Mothers Day

Criticism of the corruption of Mothers Day has become as much a cliché as the holiday itself. Most people believe that Mother's Day started out as a private celebration of women's family roles and relations. We took Mom breakfast in bed to thank her for all the meals she made us. We picked her a bouquet of flowers to symbolize her personal, unpaid services. We tried to fix in our memory those precious moments of her knitting sweaters or sitting at our bedside, all the while focusing on her devotion to her family and ignoring her broader social ties, interests and political concerns.

Today, many complain, the personal element in this celebration has been lost. Mother's Day is just another occasion to make money. It is the busiest day of the year for restaurants, and the week that precedes it is the single-best for florists. The real meaning of Mother's Day is gone.

Such lamentation about the holiday's degradation reflect a misunderstanding of its history. It was the education of Mother's Day to sentimentalism and private family relations that made it so vulnerable to commercial exploitation.

The 19th century forerunners of our modern holiday were called mothers' days, not Mother's Day. The plural is significant: They celebrated the extension of women's moral concerns beyond the home. They commemorated mothers' civic roles and services to the nation, not their private roles and personal services to the family. The women who organized the first mothers' days believed motherhood was a political force that should be mobilized on behalf of the entire community, not merely an expression of a fundamental instinct that led them to lavish all their time and attention on their children.

The earliest call for a mothers' day came from Anna Reeves Jarvis, a community activist, who in 1858 organized Mothers' Work Days in West Virginia to improve sanitation in Appalachian communities. During the Civil War, the women she mobilized cared for the wounded on both sides and, after the war's end, arranged meetings to persuade the men to lay aside their enmities.

The holiday's other precursor began in Boston in 1872, when Julia Ward Howe, author of the "Battle Hymn of the Republic," proposed an annual Mothers' Day for Peace. This was celebrated on June 2 in most Northeastern cities for the next 30 years.

The message that Mrs. Howe's mothers sent to the Government was a far cry from today's syrupy platitudes: "Our husbands shall not come to us, reeking with carnage... Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn all that we have been able to teach them of charity, mercy and patience. We women of one country will be too tender of those of another country to allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs."

The connection of motherhood to movements for peace and social justice made particular sense in the 19th century. Despite its repressiveness, the Victorian image of motherhood gave women moral responsibility beyond the household, a duty that for many translated easily into social activism. Women played a leading role in anti-slavery agitation, temperance movements, consumer protection drives and the construction of America's social welfare system. They believed their role as mothers made them especially suited for political and social activities.

After the turn of the century, however, women's expanding political and economic activities beyond the home collided with the growth of a consumer economy. While women won important reforms in the public sphere, their maternal and moral responsibilities were privatized and linked to their role as "purchasing agent" for the family. Sentimentalization of motherhood seemed to go hand in hand with its trivialization.

This was the context in which Anna Jarvis's daughter, also named Anna Jarvis, began a letter-writing campaign to honor her own mother by getting a special day set aside for all mothers. Politicians and businessmen who had opposed l9th century women's reforms embraced an individualistic Mother's Day that could be, as Florists' Review, the industry's trade magazine, put it, "exploited."

The adoption of Mother's Day by Congress on May 8, 1914, represented a reversal of everything the 19th century mothers' days had stood for. Speeches proclaiming the occasion repudiated women's social and political roles, except to emphasize the importance of mothers in teaching their children to obey the state. One antisuffrage leader inverted the original intent of mothers' day entirely when she asked rhetorically: If a woman becomes "a mother to the Municipality, who is going to mother us?"

Its bond with social reform snapped, Mother's Day drifted into the orbit of the marketing industry. Outraged when florist "profiteers" began selling carnations for $1, the younger Anna Jarvis set about combating the commercialization of the day she had worked so hard to establish. Within a few years; however, Florists' Review was able to announce that "Miss Jarvis was completely squelched." For her part, Anna Jarvis became more and more obsessed with exposing those who would undermine Mother's Day with their greed." She was eventually committed to a sanitarium, where she died in 1948, just before the real takeoff of Mother's Day commercialization in the 1950's.

Women in the 1990's have even more reason than Anna Jarvis to resent those who celebrate Mother's Day by offering store-bought sentiments as a substitute for supporting the basic needs of mother's and children. The Government devotes a smaller proportion of its resources to financing children's education than any other major democracy. A majority of American mothers now work for pay, but they still face a second shift at home and lack adequate parental leave policies or childcare facilities. Poor American mothers, have lower incomes relative to the rest of the population, less assistance with job placement and childcare and less medical coverage than in any other advanced industrial nation.

But this disrespect for mothers will not be solved by forgoing the Mother's Day all-you-can-eat buffets and retreating even further into the nuclear family. Such a move would only revive the most stultifying, repressive aspects of 19th century domesticity while jettisoning the elements that made it bearable: motherhood's connection to larger social and political ideals of peace and justice.

Mother's Day belongs neither in the shopping mall nor the kitchen, but in the streets and community action groups where it originated.

This and many other wonderful articles by Stephanie Coontz can be found at: http://www.stephaniecoontz.com/articles/

A Mother's Day gift that would mean something

Here's a thought for a Mother's Day gift that would go beyond the complimentary flowers passed out by restaurants and the complementary speeches churned out by politicians every May: Affordable childcare that is operated in accord with high-quality national standards.

It's a gift long overdue. In 1971 the House and Senate overwhelmingly passed a Comprehensive Child Development Act to provide quality child care for working parents. The bill mandated extensive training for child care workers and strict standards, written and enforced with extensive input from parents. But on December 9, 1971, President Nixon vetoed the bill, declaring that publicly-provided child care would be "a long leap into the dark" that might weaken American families.

Since then, American families have indeed taken a "long leap" into an unanticipated world. Forty-five years ago, just 14 percent of working women who bore a child returned to work by the baby's first birthday. Today, 83 percent of working moms do, 70 percent of them at the same hours they worked before the child's birth.

Ten million families of children under 14 pay for childcare. And they often pay a lot, with no guarantee of quality care. Less than 10 percent of day care centers and 1 percent of in-home day cares in the private sector are accredited. In contrast to the childcare centers run by the military, there is no national accreditation or training standard in place for civilian child care.

In 2005, average child care costs ranged from a low of $58 per child per week for a pre-school aged child in Alabama to a whopping $259 per week for infant care in Massachusetts. Parents in Massachusetts spend an average of $802 per month on child care for a four year old, and $1,123 for infant childcare. While their average monthly mortgage bill of $1,645 may seem staggering, if they have two children, the $1,926 monthly day care bill exceeds it by nearly $300.

Meanwhile, the approximately 2.5 million daycare workers in this nation made an average of just $8.65 an hour in 2004. This totals $346 a week, an amount that would not give a childcare worker enough money to put her own child in daycare in many states. Three-fourths of all childcare workers work in a home care setting, and they make even less. This doesn't leave much money for the kind of training that was envisioned by the 1971 bill.

On August 22, 1996 President Clinton, 25 years after the Comprehensive Child Care Act was first proposed, signed The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, which allocated $14 billion dollars in funding for child care subsidies for low income workers. But budget cuts led to the loss of child care funding for 200,000 children in 2003 and 2004, and President Bush has proposed another freeze on child care funding for fiscal year 2009. This will represent a loss of benefits for an additional 200,000 children over two years. Meanwhile little progress has been made in regulating the quality of child care even for families that can afford to purchase it on the open market.

If politicians and businesses would initiate a serious discussion of how to provide quality childcare to America's families, that would be one Mother's Day gift that wouldn't be tossed in the drawer with the guest soaps and tea towels of Mother's Days past.

--Stephanie Coontz and Valerie Adrian

Mothers in Arms - a history of Mothers day by Stephanie Coontz at: http://www.stephaniecoontz.com/articles/article5.htm

Empathy?

Regarding comment that Obama is looking for empathy as one of the qualities in a Supreme Court Judge to replace Souter , Right wing talk show hosts Michael Medved gave some Biblical advice. Obama Should Listen to Leviticus: Don't Confuse Justice and Charity

Now, Michael Medved interprets the Pentateuch like dogs sew. He's, well, he's an idiot. But here's the gist of it:

The core mistake of liberalism involves the confusion of charity and justice ... Leviticus 19:15 declares: "You shall not commit a perversion of justice; you shall not favor the poor and you shall not honor the great; with righteousness shall you judge your fellow." ... The truth is that the Bible - both Old and New Testament--views compassion as a personal obligation rather than a public priority for governmental or judicial policy ... [Obama] specifically indicated he wanted a judge with a "heart" for the poor and downtrodden, and who would concentrate on their specific interests and needs--in other words, precisely the sort of jurist prohibited by Leviticus.

He presumably is interpreting that side comment Jesus made on the cross about today you will be with me in paradise to really mean, today, you will be with others in hell. You should have pulled yourself up by the bootstraps when you had the chance, like… oh…. Herod or Pilate.

Why this tolerance for torture?

By LEONARD PITTS JR.

Between 1933 and 1945, as a series of restrictive laws, brutal pogroms and mass deportations culminated in the slaughter of six million Jews, the Christian church, with isolated exceptions, watched in silence.

Between 1955 and 1968, as the forces of oppression used terrorist bombings, police violence and kangaroo courts to deny African Americans their freedom, the Christian church, with isolated exceptions, watched in silence.

Beginning in 1980, as a mysterious and deadly new disease called AIDS began to rage through the homosexual community like an unchecked fire, the Christian church, with isolated exceptions, watched in silence.

So who can be surprised by the new Pew report?

Specifically, it's from the Pew Research Center's Forum on Religion & Public Life, and it surveys Americans' attitudes on the torture of suspected terrorists. Pew found that 49 percent of the nation believes torture is at least sometimes justifiable. Slice that number by religious affiliation, though, and things get interesting. It turns out the religiously unaffiliated are the least likely (40 percent) to support torture, but that the more you attend church, the more likely you are to condone it. Among racial/religious groups, white evangelical Protestants were far and away the most likely (62 percent) to support inflicting pain as a tool of interrogation.

You'd think people who claim connection to a higher morality would be the ones most likely to take the lonely, principled stand. But you need only look at history to see how seldom that has been the case, how frequently my people -- Christians -- acquiesce to expediency and fail to look beyond the immediate. Never mind that looking beyond the immediate pretty much constitutes a Christian's entire job description.

In the Bible it says, ''Perfect love casts out fear.'' What we see so often in people of faith, though, is an imperfect love that embraces fear, that lets us live contentedly in our moral comfort zones, doing spiritual busywork and clucking pieties, things that let you feel good, but never require you to put anything at risk, take a leap, make that lonely stand.

Again, there are exceptions, but they prove the rule, which is that in our smug belief that God is on our side, we often fail to ask if we are on His.

So it is often left to a few iconoclasts -- Oskar Schindler, the war profiteer who rescued 1,200 Jews in Poland; James Reeb, the Unitarian Universalist minister murdered for supporting African-American voting rights in Alabama; Princess Diana, the British royal who courted international opprobrium for simply touching a person with AIDS in Britain -- to do the dangerous and moral thing while the great body of Christendom watches in silence.
Now there is this ongoing debate over the morality of torture in which putative people of faith say they can live with a little blood (someone else's) and a little pain (also someone else's) if it helps maintain the illusion of security (theirs), and never mind such niceties as guilt or innocence.

Thus it was left to Jon Stewart, the cheerfully irreligious host of The Daily Show, to speak last week of the need to be willingly bound by rules of decency and civilization or else be indistinguishable from the terrorists. ''I understand the impulse,'' he said. ``I wanted them to clone bin Laden so that we could kill one a year at half-time at the Super Bowl. . . . I understand bloodlust, I understand revenge, I understand all those feelings. I also understand that this country is better than me.''

So there you have it: a statement of principle and higher morality from a late nightcomic. That Christians are not lining up to say the same is glaringly ironic in light of what happened to a Middle Eastern man who was arrested by the government, imprisoned and tortured. Eventually he was even executed, though he was innocent of any crime.

His name was Jesus.

Ms. California

She means no offense when she says you should be put to death, very funny:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/juliet-jeske/miss-california-means-no_b_195634.html

Israel blasts UN report on Cast Lead

Israel on Tuesday rejected as "patently biased" a UN inspection committee report which alleged that the IDF had intentionally attacked UN installations during Operation Cast Lead in the Gaza Strip and called on the UN to reassess its modus operandi in "the complex reality in which a terror organization operates in proximity to" its installations.

"Immediately upon the conclusion of Operation Cast Lead, and unrelated to the UN investigation, Israel carried out independent inquiries into the damage caused to the UN installations," the Foreign Ministry said. "The findings of these inquiries were published two weeks ago, and proved beyond doubt that the IDF did not intentionally fire at the UN installations."

The Foreign Ministry's statement cited a letter that UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is expected to send to the Security Council in response to the report, in which Ban praises the "close cooperation accorded the inspection team by the Israeli authorities" and the "coordination between the IDF and the UN during Operation Cast Lead."

full article at Jerusalem Post: http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1239710869089&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

UN slates Israel Gaza 'attacks'

The United Nations has criticised Israel for targetting its installations during its 22-day war on Gaza in a new report.

The UN report, commissioned by Ban Ki-Moon, the UN secretary-general, said the Israeli military intentionally fired at UN facilities and civilians hiding in them during the war, and used disproportionate force.

A total of 53 installations used by the United Nations Relief and Works agency (UNRWA) were damaged or destroyed during Israel's Gaza campaign, including 37 schools - six of which were being used as emergency shelters - six health centres, and two warehouses, the UN agency said.
One strike near a UN school left more than 40 people dead, Gaza officials said.
'Facts ignored'

Israel's 22-day war on Gaza left more than 1,400 Palestinians, including around 400 children, dead, Gaza health officials said, and 13 Israelis killed and left much of the coastal territory in ruins.

The Israeli foreign ministry said in a statement: "The state of Israel rejects the criticism in the committee's summary report, and determines that in both spirit and language, the report is tendentious, patently biased, and ignores the facts presented to the committee.

full story at Al Jazeera: http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2009/05/200955143232389149.html

Line up so we can see who you are...

In addition to Republicans in lock step in opposition to U.S. - based multinational companies paying a fair tax, we now have a growing list of Democrats raising thier voices in protest. At least we now have a list of who is on the take and therefore, who in the next election should be voted out. Perhaps Boxers fear of unentended consiquences is a drop in her re-election fund.

May 5 (Bloomberg) -- President Barack Obama’s plan to end tax breaks for U.S.-based multinational companies drew a skeptical response from fellow Democrats on Capitol Hill, indicating that his plan may face obstacles on its path through Congress.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, a Montana Democrat, called for “further study” of Obama’s proposals within minutes of the president’s announcement yesterday. Representative Joseph Crowley, a Democrat on the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee, said he’s wary because the tax changes would hurt Citigroup Inc., his New York district’s largest private-sector employer.

Natalie Ravitz, a spokeswoman for Senator Barbara Boxer, a California Democrat, said that any tax overhaul should not lead to “unintended consequences.”

5th Sunday after Easter

John 15:1-8

Every line in his face
in wandering arcs
tells of a story
marked in time
a story of life
not always easy
and a time
we wished
would not have to have been
back then
before we reached that threshold
beyond which
we dared not to venture

Each line
now marks the focus
of grandchildren on his knee
hanging on every word
silence
and look
that tells with joy
and thankfulness
of when we stepped
beyond our comfort
a time
when we stepped into fear
with only the hand of Christ
to keep us from falling back
a time
without which
life would lose its meaning
its life

When the Spirit says go......

Sunday May 10th, Acts 8: 26Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, "Go south to the road—the desert road—that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza." 27So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians. You could say that when the Spirit says go, you had better be packed and ready, because off you go. In Acts the disciples were charged with spreading the Good News beginning in Jerusalem, or close to home, then Judea or next door to home, and then the Samaria or enemies of your home and then on to the ends of the earth. In this story the Spirit intercedes to make the ends of the earth, and with it, to a Jewish mind, the ends of humanity, happen. Not only is Ethiopia far enough away to where they don’t even know them well enough to call them either friend or enemy, but a Eunuch, come on God what the hell do you think you are doing to us? Well, God does know and what God is doing is saving us, from our tendency to categorize others and even judge who belongs in hell and who doesn’t, but also those whom we have judged. God is serious about this ends of the earth thing, both geographically and with our own sensitivities, or should we say insensitivities. When God created the world and called it good, that is exactly what he meant to say and that is exactly what we are called to live.

What about a membership class?

Monday May 11th, Acts 8: 36 As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, "Look, here is water. Why shouldn't I be baptized?" 38 And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him. No preparation, no belonging to a church, no profession of faith, no born again experience, no category on the ELCA form A or any other denominational reporting form, just “Wow, Water, why shouldn’t I be baptized” and no answer other than to do it. That is how the spirit calls us to to control is that wild, out of control, loving, all inclusive spirit of God. After all, if we really let the spirit lead us then we would have to love one another, more on that later.

it is just the beginning

Tuesday May 12th, Acts 8: 39 When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him again, but went on his way rejoicing. 40 Philip, however, appeared at Azotus and traveled about, preaching the gospel in all the towns until he reached Caesarea. No time for reflection, no time to change your mind either. Philip finds himself moved from the Philistine area in the southern Gaza to the northern Gaza area of Azotus and then he travels either up the coast to Herod’s town of Caesarea by the sea or north of the Galilee to Caesarea Philippi. The love of God is as wide as the East is from the West, and now apparently as deep as the South is from the North. This is not accidental, this is the ever expanding world of the Grace of God that we are called to be a part of. Where would the ends of the earth be for us today?? Would it be limited to earth, galaxy, solar system? These stories tell us that the only limit to God’s love are the limits you and I place on our discovering of that love that already exists beyond any limitation any of place, ever!!!! Whenever you think you see the end, it is just the beginning.

Oh! to believe that

Wednesday May 13th, 1 John 4: 7 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. O that we believed this and acted upon it. I get a kick out of the literalists who want to quote chapter and verse to support hatred in God’s name. I also get a kick out of Coffin’s comment in “letters to a young doubter” where he recalls asking the head of a “Jesus” group on campus how their prayer list differed from their shit list. All too often that is the case. We are not called to judge, we are called to love. Judging is easy, judging is fun, judging is empowering, but alas, judging is God’s, and God already answered that question by sending Jesus. Name someone who doesn’t love. Those terrorists…. They most likely have families they love, so do most of the others we might be brave enough to mention. I have met a few who don’t love, they do exist. Bottom line, God loves them and they just haven’t figured it out yet. In the end, all will succumb to the love of God and end up in the sweet bye and bye. It is God’s providence to accomplish such. In the mean time, and I do mean “mean” time, we all have to face the fact that the biggest obstacle to God’s love is you and I.

Wow

Thursday May 14th, 1 John 4: 13 We know that we live in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. 14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15 If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God. 16 And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. Wow, if “anyone” acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God?????? That is way too inclusive for me. The next thing you know, God will extend the time limit on that way beyond our comfort level. What if heaven was not complete until the likes of Adolf Hitler finally succumbed to the love of God????

What excesses do you carry around

Friday May 17th, John 15: 1"I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. I need to lose 40 pounds. Step one is to admit that I am fat. There are other things about myself that would be best if they were changed also, I will not mention them here. We are always in the process of pruning, cutting this back, encouraging growth here, discouraging this from taking over our self. We get that. All too often when we read these texts however we think the pruning is cutting out the other person, rather than the God guided refining of the self. Perhaps that is what we most need pruned.

now or later

Saturday May 16th, John 15: 5"I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. What part of your life remains outside of God and God’s control?? It is not long, God will change that. God will prune and perfect you in this life or the next. You have a choice. Do you want to live as a child of God now, fully aware of God’s blessing, or do you want to waste your whole life on some illusion and change it later? As far as choices go, we all have that one.

My Love

OK, I know this is a little crazy, but after going over the Acts 8 text for Sunday the song, "My Love" by Patulia Clark popped into my head. I tweeked the words a bit and this is what I came up with. Have fun. Let me know if you have any improvments and what they are. I think I will have the congregation sing it on Sunday. later note: I called someone in the congregation to help find the music and she found an old St. Olaf Lutheran Youth hymnal that had very similar words. I went to Luther, we don't need no hymnal, pout, pout!!!! But I still think I will sing these words on Sunday after the sermon on Acts 8.

God’s love is warmer than the warmest sunshine
Softer than a sigh.
God’s love is deeper than the deepest ocean
Wider than the sky.
God’s love is brighter than the brightest star
That shines every night above
And there is nothing in this world
That can ever change God’s love

Something happened to my heart the day that I met you
Something that I never felt before
Sometimes I just want to hold you close and not let go
But the Spirit calls me to lo-ve more and more

God’s love is warmer than the warmest sunshine
Softer than a sigh.
God’s love is deeper than the deepest ocean
Wider than the sky.
God’s love is brighter than the brightest star
That shines every night above
And there is nothing in this world
That can ever change God’s love

Once I thought God’s love was meant for only those like me
Once I thought that I had found the way
Now it only goes to show how wrong we all can be
And now I have to tell it everyday

God’s love is warmer than the warmest sunshine
Softer than a sigh
God’s love is deeper than the deepest ocean
Wider than the sky
God’s love is brighter than the brightest star
That shines every night above
And there is nothing in this world
That can ever change God’s love

God’s love is warmer than the warmest sunshine
Softer than a sigh
God’s love is deeper than the deepest ocean
Wider than the sky
God’s love is brighter than the brightest star
That shines every night above
And there is nothing in this world
That can ever change God’s love

???

Usually reserved for those for whom Viagra is not enough

auto politics

Why does it seem that our government is more and more like a car? You put it in "D" or "L1" or "L2"and you move forward, you put it in "R" and you go in reverse.

we just love that cross so much

Cartoon by David Hayward at www.nakedpastor.com

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The more often Americans go to church, the more likely they are to support the torture of suspected terrorists, according to a new survey.

More than half of people who attend services at least once a week -- 54 percent -- said the use of torture against suspected terrorists is "often" or "sometimes" justified. Only 42 percent of people who "seldom or never" go to services agreed, according to the analysis released Wednesday by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life.

White evangelical Protestants were the religious group most likely to say torture is often or sometimes justified -- more than six in 10 supported it. People unaffiliated with any religious organization were least likely to back it. Only four in 10 of them did.

The analysis is based on a Pew Research Center survey of 742 American adults conducted April 14-21. It did not include analysis of groups other than white evangelicals, white non-Hispanic Catholics, white mainline Protestants and the religiously unaffiliated, because the sample size was too small.

The president of the National Association of Evangelicals, Leith Anderson, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The survey asked: "Do you think the use of torture against suspected terrorists in order to gain important information can often be justified, sometimes be justified, rarely be justified, or never be justified?"

Roughly half of all respondents -- 49 percent -- said it is often or sometimes justified. A quarter said it never is.

The religious group most likely to say torture is never justified was Protestant denominations -- such as Episcopalians, Lutherans and Presbyterians -- categorized as "mainline" Protestants, in contrast to evangelicals. Just over three in 10 of them said torture is never justified. A quarter of the religiously unaffiliated said the same, compared with two in 10 white non-Hispanic Catholics and one in eight evangelicals.