You’re absolutely right.  Even the bible can become an idol, when its importance is lifted above pesky things like loving one’s neighbor and pulling the log out of your eye before pointing out the sawdust in another’s.

Why aren’t we talking about Christ’s radical love?  About God living in relationship with us, so that we can live in relationship with each other?  About what it might mean to include God in one’s marriage?  Do we have to be so hung up on the buttsex?  REALLY?

furnaceofdoubt:

This is just my thought. Because too much of the obsession about homosexuality and Christianity occurs in the Evangelical “Bible-only” world we become over obsessed with arguing about those dreadful clobber verses. But I think that’s giving too much ground. Demonstrating to…

lavitafermata:

authorlauralee:

The draft rites are here, and the part that everyone’s curious about (from the traditional “I know pronounce you man and wife”) looks like this:

“Inasmuch as N. and N. have exchanged vows of love and fidelity in the presence of God and the Church, I now pronounce that they are bound to one another in a holy covenant, as long as they both shall live. Amen.”

And the vows:

In the name of God, I, N., give myself to you, N. I will support and care for you: enduring all things, bearing all things. I will hold and cherish you: in times of plenty, in times of want. I will honor and keep you: forsaking all others, as long as we both shall live. This is my solemn vow.

I LOVE MY CHURCH SO MUCH RIGHT NOW

I know it’s Lent, and even a Friday in Lent, but I’m going to say this anyway:

HALLELUJAH!

This is true and will be quite sensational in some circles.  However, the real story here is this:

“Because of the ongoing civil and criminal investigation … my attorney told me not to discuss the receipts or anything about the receipts,” he said.

The receipts were provided to state auditors in hopes of decreasing the approximately $170,000 they have demanded Davis repay the city for improper charges to both his city-issued and personal credit cards. Auditors asked city aldermen, who approved the expenses, to review the receipts before making a decision on accepting them to reduce Davis’ payments. Davis has paid $96,000 so far.

That’s right, Mayor Greg Davis was apparently using city funds for personal expenses (and vice versa), and is under criminal investigation as a result.  I, personally, don’t care whether he is gay or whether he likes *ahem* toys, but misuse of taxpayer money — the money that his town’s taxpayers entrusted to his keeping — is really bad.

I know that having access to such a big pot of cash is tempting.  I know that many of us are weaker than we might think, that when we’re strapped for cash in our personal accounts, it would be a huge temptation to just spend this $20 for lunch, and we talked about city business at that lunch, didn’t we? So it’s okay, right?

Mayor Greg Davis, Undercover Nun is praying for your immortal soul.

And everyone who sensationalizes this story as a Big Gay Deal?  Yeah, I’m praying for your soul, too.

“The only apology I would make to my supporters if they are upset is the fact that I was not honest enough with myself to be honest with them. But I have lived my life in public service for 20-plus years, and in order for me to remain sane and move on, I have got to start being honest about who I am.”

R. Clarke Cooper, executive director of the Log Cabin Republicans, a national organization for gay and lesbian conservatives, said he hoped Davis would still be seen as the same person.

“What would be helpful to the mayor is if the community recognizes that he is still the same person,” Cooper said. “This is a part of who he is that people just didn’t know.”

(Source: jasencomstock)

gaywrites:

Virginia’s Board of Social Services approved on Wednesday certain measures relating to adoption that will aid in blocking same-sex couples from adopting kids. 

A previous version of the regulations included an anti-discrimination policy that kept adoption agencies from discriminating against potential parents based on sexual orientation, among other factors. But a new version of the policy, which will take effect in May, does not include protection for any characteristics except race, color or national origin.

This means that adoption agencies can legally discriminate against prospective parents based on sexual orientation, age, gender, disability, religion, political belief, and family status. To top it off, the state already bans adoption of children by same-sex couples, but not by gay individuals - this changes that exception.

The Advocate article above points out that more than 1,500 children in Virginia are waiting to be adopted. Why deny children the chance to be adopted by loving, capable parents? Why? 

Well, Fahrvergnügen!  Sometimes I’m ashamed to live in Virginia.

Board of Social Services, Undercover Nun is praying for your immortal souls.

(via lukehackney)

This column by Becky Garrison of the Washington Post is a quick, excellent read.

Recently, I heard sex columnist Dan Savage speak at Union Theological Seminary as part of “Pro-Queer Life,” a series of conferences on sexual diversity and the Catholic Church. I wish those godly leaders who vilify Dan Savage could turn down the white noise and listen to stories about his childhood faith. They would discover a devout boy who found he could no longer believe in a church that did not accept him after he decided to live out his life authentically as an openly gay man. After hearing Savage speak about the need to combat the epidemic of LGBT suicides, maybe they would watch at least a few of the videos gathered as part of the It Gets Better project. Perhaps seeing LGBT folks in person instead of yelling at them from the picket lines or in cyberspace might somehow open their heart just a little bit until like the Grinch, their love just explodes.

I’m particularly fond of Mr. Savage’s response, when asked about the ongoing feud between Rick Santorum and himself:

“I love the idea that I’m “bullying” Rick Santorum. All he wants to do is write anti-gay bigotry into the Constitution to prevent me from being at my partner’s bedside in a medical emergency, get in a time machine to prevent me from being able to adopt my son, reinstate Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell—literally destroy my life. I made a joke at his expense. But I’m the bad guy and he’s the victim. All he wants to do is beat us to death. How dare we tease him?”

(emphasis mine)

But then, I was astonished and disappointed at Ms. Garrison’s wording here:

[Catholic Online] refused to recognize a moral and legal equivalency between homosexual partnerships and authentic marriage.

Tell me, Ms. Garrison, how do you define authentic marriage?  This wasn’t in quotation marks, so these are your words.  What prevents a monogamous, committed, covenanted union from being an authentic marriage? You talk about the silence that kills, but you used words that kill right here.  By contrasting homosexual partnerships and authentic marriage, you’ve created two classes, only one of which is the real deal.

So yeah, it’s long past time that Christians extended respect and dignity to our LGBTQ brothers and sisters, who are beloved children of God.  It is a grave corporate sin that we force people to live in dishonesty and fear, because it is not safe for them to live openly and honestly. 

May God have mercy on our souls.