Andrew Gerns, at The Lead, has a brilliant post comparing the views of two bishops of Rochester, Bishop Prince Singh of the Episcopal Diocese of Rochester (New York) and Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali of the Anglican Diocese of Rochester in England.
Bishop Singh:
Video from IntegriTV.
Bishop Nazir-Ali:
"We want to uphold the traditional teaching of the Bible. We believe that God has revealed his purpose about how we are made.
"People who depart from this don’t share the same faith. They are acting in a way that is not normative according to what God has revealed in the Bible.
"The Bible’s teaching shows that marriage is between a man and a woman. That is the way to express our sexual nature.
"We welcome homosexuals, we don’t want to exclude people, but we want them to repent and be changed."
The bishop added that it is not just homosexuals who need to repent, but all who have strayed from the Bible’s teaching.
He said: "We want to hold on to the traditional teaching of the Church. We don’t want to be rolled over by culture and trends in the Church. We want a movement for renewal. We need a reformation of the Church and the life of the Communion."
From Thinking Anglicans.
Which message is life-giving? Which message is the Good News?
Monday, July 6, 2009
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Karen Akers - "Somewhere" (West Side Story)
Grandpère and I have seen Karen perform four times, twice in theaters, and twice at Le Chat Noir, a small cabaret in New Orleans. She's a terrific singer, with a poised and graceful presence. She's beautiful and quite tall, at least six feet. Her style is much better suited to the ambiance of a cabaret, rather than a theater. On one occasion at Le Chat, she came over to our table and sang to Grandpère, to his intense embarrassment.
Karen sings beautifully in French, too, having attended school with the Mesdames of the Sacred Heart, where French lessons were compulsory from early on and having listened to Edith Piaf's records played by her mother throughout her childhood and youth. She's married to a Frenchman and lives part of the year in France.
UPDATE: She's going to be at Le Chat Noir in New Orleans while I'm at the convention in Anaheim. Had I known, I may have skipped the convention. I'm on her email notification list now for future performances.
More Prayers For Roseann
Sue sent you a message.
Subject: Roseann
June,
I had gotten a note from Roseann this afternoon, saying the doctors are having a hard time getting the right drug to treat her staph infection, the nausea is raging again so she is remaining on the feeding tube.
I see entries on FB for the mafia wars that she has been playing, so that is a good sign, I hope.
I'll keep you posted.
Sue
Subject: Roseann
June,
I had gotten a note from Roseann this afternoon, saying the doctors are having a hard time getting the right drug to treat her staph infection, the nausea is raging again so she is remaining on the feeding tube.
I see entries on FB for the mafia wars that she has been playing, so that is a good sign, I hope.
I'll keep you posted.
Sue
Dare We Hope?
From The Hill via Americablog:
by Joe Sudbay (DC) on 7/05/2009 05:04:00 PM
The thing about Senator Chuck Schumer is that he's a political creature. All Senators are to some extent, but Schumer sees all things through a political lens. So, when Schumer supports the public option in legislation to reform health care, it makes political sense. And, Schumer not only supports the public option, today, he guaranteed it:
We already know the policy reasons for including the public option. Nothing says the public option is good politics more than Schumer's blessing.
I do hope that Schumer is right.
by Joe Sudbay (DC) on 7/05/2009 05:04:00 PM
The thing about Senator Chuck Schumer is that he's a political creature. All Senators are to some extent, but Schumer sees all things through a political lens. So, when Schumer supports the public option in legislation to reform health care, it makes political sense. And, Schumer not only supports the public option, today, he guaranteed it:
The healthcare reform bill that emerges from Congress this year will include a government-run public health insurance option, regardless of the bipartisan negotiations seeking a compromise in the Senate, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Sunday.
"Make no mistake about it, the president is for this strongly. There will be a public option in the final bill," Schumer said on CBS News's "Face the Nation."
Schumer made his prediction just days before the Senate returned to the work of getting a bill passed by the first week of August amid significant disagreement between Democrats and Republicans -- and among Democrats themselves -- over controversial issues such as the public option.
We already know the policy reasons for including the public option. Nothing says the public option is good politics more than Schumer's blessing.
I do hope that Schumer is right.
Franken's Noise Will Hurt Broder's Tender Ears
From the Washington Post:
Now that the Minnesota Supreme Court has ended the long count on the 2008 Senate race by awarding the seat to Al Franken, Democrats -- at least on paper -- have the power to pass whatever bills they want, without a single Republican vote.
Nothing would be a bigger mistake.
Franken, the loud-mouthed former comedian, will be the 60th member of the Senate Democratic caucus -- just enough for them to cut off any filibuster threat if they can muster all their members. With solid majorities in both houses, the Democratic leaders, Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi, could dismiss Republican objections to any bill without a second thought.
So. According to the wisdom of Dean Broder, if the Democrats CAN do it, they shouldn't. All bills must be bipartisan, or else.
Yet when it comes to the big initiatives -- energy, health care and the rest -- the risks of such a choice are obvious. When no Republican votes are in play, the price individual Democratic legislators can extract from the White House goes up. We saw plenty of that with the stimulus bill and the energy bill, both of which were weakened substantively by the concessions Obama had to make to get the last Democratic votes.
It's true that bills may be weakened substantively by the concessions Obama will have to make to the likes of the Blue Dog Dems, but does Broder believe that Republicans can be brought on board without concessions? He doesn't make any sense. Time to think about taking a long vacation, David.
Press on Mr. President and Democrats, and dare to take risks for the sake of doing the right thing, even the enormous risk of not being bi-partisan.
Now that the Minnesota Supreme Court has ended the long count on the 2008 Senate race by awarding the seat to Al Franken, Democrats -- at least on paper -- have the power to pass whatever bills they want, without a single Republican vote.
Nothing would be a bigger mistake.
Franken, the loud-mouthed former comedian, will be the 60th member of the Senate Democratic caucus -- just enough for them to cut off any filibuster threat if they can muster all their members. With solid majorities in both houses, the Democratic leaders, Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi, could dismiss Republican objections to any bill without a second thought.
So. According to the wisdom of Dean Broder, if the Democrats CAN do it, they shouldn't. All bills must be bipartisan, or else.
Yet when it comes to the big initiatives -- energy, health care and the rest -- the risks of such a choice are obvious. When no Republican votes are in play, the price individual Democratic legislators can extract from the White House goes up. We saw plenty of that with the stimulus bill and the energy bill, both of which were weakened substantively by the concessions Obama had to make to get the last Democratic votes.
It's true that bills may be weakened substantively by the concessions Obama will have to make to the likes of the Blue Dog Dems, but does Broder believe that Republicans can be brought on board without concessions? He doesn't make any sense. Time to think about taking a long vacation, David.
Press on Mr. President and Democrats, and dare to take risks for the sake of doing the right thing, even the enormous risk of not being bi-partisan.
Oklahoma Folks Still Like Bush
From the LA Times via the AP:
Woodward, Okla. -- Former President George W. Bush was greeted by thunderous applause on the Fourth of July as he told thousands of spectators in a rural Oklahoma rodeo arena that the U.S. was "the greatest nation on the face of the earth."
Bush was given six standing ovations as he spoke in GOP-friendly Woodward, a town of about 12,000 residents in northwestern Oklahoma.
About 9,200 tickets were sold for the event -- the biggest crowd for Bush since he left office in January.
Bush spoke of the bravery of injured troops he had met as president, and thanked members of the military for their service. He told the crowd it was nice of them "to give a retired guy something to do."
You should thank the brave troops, George. You sent them to fight.
Please! Give the retired guy something to do. I wonder if Laura is yet tired of having him underfoot.
I wonder, too, if God has the same opinion about the US being "the greatest nation on the face of the earth".
UPDATE: A little bird told me that Ellie was not in the crowd applauding.
Saturday, July 4, 2009
Clerical Group In Iran Challenges Election Results
From the New York Times:
The most important group of religious leaders in Iran has called the disputed presidential election and the new government illegitimate, an act of defiance against the country’s supreme leader and the most public sign of a major split in the country’s clerical establishment.
The statement by the Association of Researchers and Teachers of Qum represents a significant, if so far symbolic, setback for the government and especially the authority of the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, whose word is supposed to be final. The government has tried to paint the opposition and its top presidential candidate, Mir Hussein Moussavi, as criminals and traitors, a strategy that now becomes more difficult — if not impossible.
“This crack in the clerical establishment and the fact they are siding with the people and Moussavi in my view is the most historic crack in the 30 years of the Islamic republic,” said Abbas Milani, director of the Iranian Studies Program at Stanford University. “Remember they are going against an election verified and sanctified by Khamenei.”
....
The clerics’ decision to speak up is not itself a game changer and could fizzle under pressure from the state. Some seminaries in Qum rely on the government for funds, and the supreme leader and the man he has declared the winner of the election, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, have powerful backers there.
....
The clerics’ statement called not only for the election results to be thrown out, but also chastised the leadership for failing to adequately study complaints of vote rigging and lashed out at the government’s use of force in crushing public protests over the election.
Perhaps more threatening to the supreme leader, the committee called on other clerics to join the fight against the government’s refusal to reconsider the charges of voter fraud. The committee invoked powerful imagery, comparing the 20 protesters killed during demonstrations with the martyrs who died in the early days of the revolution and the war with Iraq. In doing so, they effectively cast the government as betraying the ideals of the revolution.
Fareed Zakaria answered a question put to him at CNN:
CNN: What about a military strike?
Zakaria: It would be bizarre to bomb Iran-- which means bombing Iranians -- now that we have seen the inside of that country. Moussavi and his supporters want a less confrontational approach to the world. So do many members of the establishment.
Moussavi attacked Ahmadinejad repeatedly for his aggressive foreign policy. So we now know the answer to the question, "Are there moderates in Iran?" Yes, millions of them.
For years now, I've read that there were a good many moderates amongst the people of Iran, but the members of the Bush maladministration were having none of it. Attack was the way to go, and since Iran is quite a large country, invasion was out of the question. What was the alternative? Attack with bombs and missiles from the air and sea.
The most important group of religious leaders in Iran has called the disputed presidential election and the new government illegitimate, an act of defiance against the country’s supreme leader and the most public sign of a major split in the country’s clerical establishment.
The statement by the Association of Researchers and Teachers of Qum represents a significant, if so far symbolic, setback for the government and especially the authority of the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, whose word is supposed to be final. The government has tried to paint the opposition and its top presidential candidate, Mir Hussein Moussavi, as criminals and traitors, a strategy that now becomes more difficult — if not impossible.
“This crack in the clerical establishment and the fact they are siding with the people and Moussavi in my view is the most historic crack in the 30 years of the Islamic republic,” said Abbas Milani, director of the Iranian Studies Program at Stanford University. “Remember they are going against an election verified and sanctified by Khamenei.”
....
The clerics’ decision to speak up is not itself a game changer and could fizzle under pressure from the state. Some seminaries in Qum rely on the government for funds, and the supreme leader and the man he has declared the winner of the election, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, have powerful backers there.
....
The clerics’ statement called not only for the election results to be thrown out, but also chastised the leadership for failing to adequately study complaints of vote rigging and lashed out at the government’s use of force in crushing public protests over the election.
Perhaps more threatening to the supreme leader, the committee called on other clerics to join the fight against the government’s refusal to reconsider the charges of voter fraud. The committee invoked powerful imagery, comparing the 20 protesters killed during demonstrations with the martyrs who died in the early days of the revolution and the war with Iraq. In doing so, they effectively cast the government as betraying the ideals of the revolution.
Fareed Zakaria answered a question put to him at CNN:
CNN: What about a military strike?
Zakaria: It would be bizarre to bomb Iran-- which means bombing Iranians -- now that we have seen the inside of that country. Moussavi and his supporters want a less confrontational approach to the world. So do many members of the establishment.
Moussavi attacked Ahmadinejad repeatedly for his aggressive foreign policy. So we now know the answer to the question, "Are there moderates in Iran?" Yes, millions of them.
For years now, I've read that there were a good many moderates amongst the people of Iran, but the members of the Bush maladministration were having none of it. Attack was the way to go, and since Iran is quite a large country, invasion was out of the question. What was the alternative? Attack with bombs and missiles from the air and sea.
Yankee Doodle Dandy
I felt a little guilty, thinking that I may not have posted enough about the holiday, so here's more for you.
Mwah! Happy Fourth!
Making It Real - From Марко (Mark)
From Mark in the comments:
Марко Фризия said...
I have seizures from a traumatic brain injury I suffered in the U.S. Army. I also have been diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. I am on the Department of Defense email list and I receive casualty reports. Each name is very painful to read. The last four casualties (all from the same North Carolina National Guard unit) died June 29 in Baghdad from an improvised explosive device planted by the roadside. Their names: SFC Edward Kramer, SGT Roger Adams, SGT Juan Baldeosingh, SPC Robert Bittiker. These men were all in their 30s. I posted a pic of me in uniform taken when I served as a United Nations peacekeeper:
Mark's picture and comment show us a real person behind the numbers mentioned in Mark Harris' post below.
May Edward, Roger, Juan, and Robert rest in peace and rise in glory. May God give comfort, consolation, and the peace that passes understanding to all those who loved them.
Mark, may the ever-powerful love of God heal you in spirit, mind, and body.
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