The Anglican Crisis Over Homosexuality

For the past year, or so, I have been following the developments of the potential split within the Anglican Church (AKA, Episcopal Church, here in the U.S.).
Last night, I read an article, "Saving Grace," in TIME magazine. It was written by David Van Biema and Catherine Mayer, and it is perhaps the best article that I have read on the debate surrounding homosexuality, within the "Anglican Communion."

It's a "must read" because it covers so many issues--the struggle (and wavering) of Dr. Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury; the fierce bigotry-disguised-as-Christlike-ideals of Nigerian Archbishop, Peter Akinola; the fading line of separation of church and state in Nigeria, and the very notion of people actually thinking and deciding for themselves what is "Christlike" or "morally right," rather than accepting authoritative doctrine, without question:

Unlike Roman Catholicism, the Communion lacks definitive doctrine to aid decisive solutions. Nor does it have a universal leader such as the Pope — the Archbishop makes no claims to infallibility and cannot dictate to his flock...

...But Anglicans have foregone Catholicism's useful authoritarianism, staking their unity on a seemingly more attractive continual conversation, based on mutual respect. The sharp debate over homosexuality threatens that unity, and crystallizes a challenge facing everyone in an uneasy, newly wired world: can the North — rich and imbued with an ethos of individual rights — and the poorer South find a constructive interdependence?

...It seems there are people who do not really believe in "freedom." They would rather be told what to do, than to face their ignorance and fear.

Post-Surge Reality Revealed!

Well, surprise, surprise!

With most of the U.S. military's surge troops already in place, the numbers are starting to come in on how well it has succeeded in its goal of reducing sectarian violence in Iraq. And they aren't encouraging. Sectarian violence is nearly back to its pre-surge levels in Iraq — and rising. Recent weeks have seen greater murder rates. And the numbers seem unlikely to go down with so much of Baghdad still uncontrolled; U.S. commanders recently acknowledged that two-thirds of the capital remain unsecured.

Read the full article, "Iraq's Ominous Numbers Game" at www.time.com

Erasure's New Release: Sunday Girl

Here's the lovely acoustic version:


Visit here to hear the AWESOME album version: http://www.erasureinfo.com/sundaygirl

Visit Erasure's MySpace Page to listen to more songs, and check out Erasure's current tour.

You may also want to check out the True Colors Tour

Impeach Gonzales, Part 2: The Crimes

http://impeachgonzales.org

Word to the UK: The Catholics are Coming!

America's "cultural wars" are spreading to the other side of the pond. The Catholic Church now has an aggressive plan for pro-choice politicians in the UK...

Last Friday, June 1st, "Chris in Paris" on Americablog made the following post, "Religious extremism increasing in UK."

"Hopefully the British are more sensible than Americans and reject this movement, though senior leaders in the Catholic church are supportive and are announcing some very aggressive plans. Too often Blair caved in to these people, most recently on the issue of gay rights, so at least he will be removed from the issue.

Anti-abortion campaigners are ready to launch a US-style cultural war against the 40-year-old law that allows women in the UK to choose to terminate unwanted pregnancies - with politicians who are also practising Roman Catholics as their first targets.

MPs and other elected representatives who attend Mass but have not taken a hard line against abortion will be targeted by activists who say they should be disowned by the Church.

The head of the 17,000-strong Life League said yesterday that the organisation will write to every Catholic MP demanding a clear statement that they support the Church's line on abortion and all other "life" issues.

Those who fail to give a satisfactory answer face the prospect of being spied on to see if they are attending Mass."

Read more: http://news.independent.co.uk
Here's a little snippet for you—"Last week, a Manchester court sentenced a 22-year-old Asian woman to a year in prison for having an illegal abortion. Earlier, a GP came under pressure to report one of his patients to the police after she had turned up in his surgery having ended an unwanted pregnancy, apparently illegally. The Royal College of Obstetricians has reported that an unprecedented number of doctors in the UK are refusing to be be involved in abortions." ...Déjà vu.

Long Road for Freedom to Marry

"June 12, 2007 marks the 40th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Loving v. Virginia on June 12, 1967 which struck down the remaining interracial marriage bans in 16 states in the United States, ending race discrimination in marriage."

Read more: www.freedomtomarry.org

It's a bit sobering to hear that it was only 40 years ago that the "freedom to marry" was secured as a civil right for interracial couples wishing to exchange nuptials.

Not suprisingly, the same arguments used 40 years ago to oppose marriage for interracial couples, are being used today against gay couples desiring to marry.

Will bigotry die out in my generation?

The World Spins Madly On (The Weepies)

Wow! I can't believe that I've let so many days go by without a post! Yikes...so much happening... Democratic presidenatial candidate debate (loved John Edwards, BTW)... war in Iraq raging on, and more Republicans insisting that things are "improving" despite record deaths occurring... Darfur tragedy continues beyond human comprehension... under-reported White House-related scandals (getting little, if any, mainstream media coverage)... recent summertime happenings for me in Atlanta: Seeing Annie Leibowitz exhibit at the High Museum of Art (very moving, fantastic)... enjoying organic, vegetarian Thai food at L'Thai (Panang curry, Massaman curry, Pad Thai, and more)... incredible vegetarian (zucchini) enchiladas at the "Rainbow", in Decatur, for lunch today (had awesome Middle Eastern stew over cous cous, yesterday!)... neighborhood swim meets followed by Bruster's banana splits at 11:00 pm—twice now!... baking peach cobbler for friends... also, relationships ever-evolving and changing... C&D are in China—right now—picking up their newly adopted baby girl, "J.J."... B is getting her immigration papers ready for Canadian citizenship...just found out today, that my Mom is having biopsy soon—we hope negative for cancer... and the world spins madly on.

Tonight, one of my most favorite songs deserves to be posted—as a tribute to all the chaos, and beauty, that is Life...