Gov. Jindal, Pay Your own Way To Church - Pt. 2

Once again from the Advocate:

Gov. Bobby Jindal on Thursday defended his taxpayer-funded visits to churches and dismissed criticism from a national religious organization.

Jindal rejected suggestions by the Interfaith Alliance that he should reimburse the state and apologize for using a state helicopter to worship at Protestant churches in north Louisiana.

Interfaith Alliance, based in Washington, D.C., alleged that Jindal’s taxpayer-funded worship trips blurred the constitutional line separating church and state.

The governor said his trips are “absolutely appropriate.”

Aren't we all surprised that Jindal defends his actions? It seems that yesterday's article from the Advocate went viral in the regular media and on blogs on the internet, including mine. Rachel Maddow invited the president of Interfaith Alliance, the Rev. Welton Gaddy, to appear on her show. The video is here. (Thank you, Pseudopiskie.) Note that the Rev. Gaddy is from Monroe in the Gret Stet of Loosiana. He's a man after my own heart.

Back to the Advocate:

Between March 2 and July 20, Jindal traveled to churches, mostly in north Louisiana, on a state helicopter at a cost to the taxpayers of about $45,000, according to State Police records.

In May, June and July, there was rarely a Sunday when Jindal did not fly a taxpayer-funded helicopter to church services in a remote part of the state. Two aides usually accompanied him along with his security detail and pilots.

The Governor’s Office refuses to tell the media ahead of time about Jindal’s church visits.

The governor rarely pays attention to criticism outside his narrow circle of insider advisers, who rarely disagree with him.

Gov Jindal is a Roman Catholic. Does he never attend his own church on Sunday?

Seven Bishops To Meet With The Episcopal Institute

This announcement was posted by Tom Woodward to the House of Bishops/Deputies listserv on behalf of The Episcopal Institute, and as you can see below he has given permission for it to be published offlist, under the conditions he specifies. I wonder whether any of you might be interested in reposting it on your blogs.

I attach a clean plaintext copy.

Regards,

Paul (A.)

The Episcopal Institute has announced its plan to meet with seven moderately progressive bishops of the Episcopal Church to respond to the current meeting between the Archbishop of Canterbury and seven American bishops who have publicly expressed their dissatisfaction with the democratic process in the Episcopal Church.

The two sites under active consideration for the upcoming meeting are the recently dedicated Athanasius Room at the recently reclaimed Diocesan House in Fort Worth and the Starbucks located across the street from the Trinity School for Ministry in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

The agenda for the consultation is to consider several alternatives to the rumored Canterbury proposal of a "two-tiered" Anglican community. A spokesperson for the Episcopal Institute noted that "The problem here is three-fold. First, the notion of 'two tiers' is more appropriate to a football stadium than an international worshiping community. Second, if the concept of tiers is really accepted, it will not be long before we have between thirty-five and forty-seven different tiers given the nuances of the multiplicity of issues such as human sexuality, social justice, the authority of the laity, and differing styles of ecclesiastical vesture that are before the Church. Third, the notion of a multi-tiered Christian group has been tried before -- with women, racial minorities and others -- and has always proven inadequate to maintaining status quos."

A different and more subdued spokesperson for TEI revealed that two different orderings of the Anglican Communion will be proposed at the upcoming meetings. The first is to divide the Anglican Communion into three different groups: PLATINUM, GOLD and BRONZE. PLATINUM membership would be for those who agree with The Episcopal Institute's goals, including the full inclusion of all Baptized members in all ministries of the church. GOLD members would include those who embrace most of TEI's goals while respecting their differences with TEI as part of Anglican Comprehensiveness. BRONZE membership will be reserved for those who insist on a single interpretation (their own) of key parts of the Bible and who regard all Tradition as Absolutely Binding, except the parts they don't like. There will also be an additional SILVER category for the lay people throughout the Communion who wonder what the problem is when the core doctrine of the historic creeds is not at issue. SILVER members will possess all the rights, responsibilities and regard as Gold or Platinum members.

The second proposed ordering of the Anglican Communion, favored by older members of the Institute, is the radical notion of Comprehensiveness, with differing provinces respecting the differing experience of other provinces while considering the unity of the Communion inhering in a common belief in Jesus Christ and the decision to share with one another in the Sacrament of Holy Communion.

The Episcopal Institute has requested that attending bishops be accompanied by several clergy and lay people from their dioceses in recognition of the importance of the full ministry of the Episcopal Church and the uncommon wisdom of the laity.

Does this count as a "press release" for offlist distribution purposes?
Possibly Jake and certainly MadPriest might be interested in promulgating.

Cordially,

Paul (A.)


Yes, this is a document you can use any way you wish. I will try to get it onto Rowan's desk early next week. I'm sure he will be regretting that he hadn't read this before agreeing to meet with the Dissenting 7. You can attribute it to The Episcopal Institute. Let me know who you send it to - the other members of TEI would like to see the responses.

Tom

Thank you, Paul (A.) for forwarding this very important announcement from TEI. I forgive you for not specifically mentioning my name to Tom Woodward, because you were kind enough to forward the press release anyway, after you left my name out.

"What am I doing here?"

When I was in my 50s and folks asked me what I wanted to do in my retirement, I'd say that I want to travel, I want time to read books that I've been putting off for a long time. I'd say that I want to do exactly what I want to do, in other words to be thoroughly selfish. That's right. I'd been responsible my whole life, and I looked forward to a time for myself. In truth, throughout my adult life, I've wanted to run away from responsibility and be a FREE SPIRIT. I'm laughing as I type the words, because my adult life turned out to be so pedestrian and so unlike what I picture as the life of a free spirit.

Ever since our first child was born, I felt burdened with a huge responsibility. Within a few years, there I was with three little ones, me a bookish, absent-minded, dreamy type. My little ones were precious to me, more precious than my own life, but they were an awesome responsibility. I take responsibility far too seriously, and I suspect that's why I so often feel the tug to run away from it. I'd look at my babies and think, "How did this happen? How did I get here?" Of course, how I got there was my doing, my choice, but, nevertheless, I had the sense that I was plucked up and set down in someone else's life. "What am I doing here?"

Mothering was never easy for me. Following my inclination, I took the job too seriously, and, of course, I never measured up to the ideal in my head of what a mother should be. If only I had relaxed and enjoyed my children more. That is the major regret of my child-rearing years. It's not that we never had fun as a family, because we did, but I was too damned serious about motherhood and too messed up in my head with my picture of the ideal mother, who never turned out to be me.

Taking care of children would have been far down on the list of my "What I want to do in my retirement" story. I love all my grandchildren, and I enjoy spending time with them, but anything like major child care for them was not in the picture. And yet, here I am a part time mother again. And although it's not easy, I'm enjoying it far more than I would ever have dreamed. A sense of a late life calling is the best way that I can describe my commitment to the two children. That I care for them with such a good heart, I can only attribute to grace, God's free gift, to do that which he calls me to do. Don't misunderstand. I have my moments of impatience and short-temper, but I'm more forgiving of myself and of the children than I was in my younger days, which, in turn, makes me more relaxed and able to enjoy the good times. Thanks be to God.

God's grace amazes me more and more, the older I get. It's a life-changing free gift which keeps coming, the value of which I can appreciate only in part.

Of course, I still do a good bit of traveling, and I still read, but it's not so much the children who get in the way of more reading but the blog, which is another great surprise in my life, and which I enjoy immensely, but, at times, feels like another responsibility from which I sometimes want to run. Once again, I think, "What am I doing here? Surely this is someone else's life."

The Seven Bishops And Canterbury

From Episcopal Life:

Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams held a private meeting September 2 with seven Episcopal Church bishops at Lambeth Palace, his London residence.

The bishops attending the meeting were Mark Lawrence of South Carolina, Gary Lillibridge of West Texas, Edward Little of Northern Indiana, Bill Love of Albany, Michael Smith of North Dakota, James Stanton of Dallas, and Bruce MacPherson of Western Louisiana.

A spokesperson in the Lambeth Palace press office confirmed that Williams had hosted the seven Episcopal bishops, but said that the meeting was private.

When asked for his reflections on the meeting, MacPherson told ENS that the bishops will have "something forthcoming soon."

We shall see. As St. Gilda Radner said, "It's always something".

Gov. Jindal, Pay Your own Way To Church

From the Advocate in Baton Rouge:

A national group that lobbies Congress on religious issues asked Gov. Bobby Jindal to apologize and reimburse taxpayers for the state-funded helicopter trips he takes on Sundays to visit churches.

The Rev. Welton Gaddy, who is the president of the national Interfaith Alliance, said Jindal is overstepping the line of separation between church and state.

“If you were traveling to these churches to worship with the various congregations, you should have paid your own expenses to get there as did the other worshippers,” Gaddy wrote to the governor in a Sept. 1 letter.

“It appears you owe the people of Louisiana an apology and the treasurer of the state a reimbursement of at least $45,000,” Gaddy wrote. “No taxpayer money should have been used for your travel.”

What the Rev. Gaddy says sounds about right to me. Here's a link to the text of the entire letter.

Gaddy also is pastor of Northminster Baptist Church in Monroe.

I am somewhat surprised that the president of the Interfaith Alliance pastors a church in north Louisiana. I checked out the church's website, and it is, indeed, quite an interesting community. From a sermon by the Rev. Gaddy:

As you may know or surmise, here at Northminster Church, generally the biblical texts that drive Sunday sermons are taken from scripture passages recommended by the Common Lectionary. Such a discipline ensures that a preacher deals with the whole sweep of biblical literature and does not just always gravitate to personal favorites among texts and themes.

From Northminster's church covenant:

The freedom of the individual, led by God's Spirit within the family of faith, to read and interpret the Scriptures, relying on the historical understanding by the church and on the best methods of modern biblical study.
....

The servant role of leadership within the church, following the model of our Servant Lord, and to full partnership of all of God's people in mission and ministry.

As you see, not all Baptists are cut from the same cloth. I lost my focus in the middle of the post, because I was caught up in exploring the church's website, where I found much to admire.

Back to the Advocate:

The Alliance, which Gaddy heads, touts itself as a celebrator of religious freedom and a counter to the “radical religious right.”

"...touts itself"? What does the writer, of the story, Ms Millhollon, imply by that phrase? She sounds a tad doubtful that the group is what it claims to be. What about that Ms Millhollon?

Anyway, I'm with the Rev. Gaddy. Jindal should pay his own way to church. That he schedules a meeting with local officials while he's in town, seems more like following the letter of the law rather than the spirit. One wonders how much of Jindal's helicoptering around the state is really campaigning, which seems a never-ending activity for the governor.

My Friend (?) The Barred Owl

Remember the owl that I've talked about seeing on my walk? Tonight the bird swooped down and was flying head-on toward me. When the bird was three or four feet away from my face, I screamed, and the owl turned and flew up onto a tree branch. On the way back, I saw the owl fly low to the ground a few yards in front of me, apparently after prey. You can believe that I moved past quickly. I searched on the internet to see if the birds attacked humans, and apparently they do, but not deliberately, according to Canada.com. They see something on humans that looks like prey, like a pony tail swinging. "Anything dangly could draw an attack if the owl mistakes it for a smaller bird or a rodent." I didn't have anything dangly, but that owl was coming for me. The solution: wear a cap, which I will certainly do until the season is over. September is the time when most attacks occur.

UPDATE: Image from Wiki

Myron's Day On 9/1 - From Sue

Hello Everyone,

Myron had another busy day yesterday with chest x-rays and a CAT scan of his chest. His pneumonia still has not resolved and he continues with a productive cough.

He had his eyes open and was able t blink when asked, and was moving his right hand and arm and was able to squeeze ones hand.

He was fitted with his back brace, and to do that he had to get out of bed and sat in a recliner. He didn't seem to be any more alert in the recliner than in bed, but doing physical exercises like that are exhausting, so I'm not too surprised. His pain medication has been changed and when he yawned a couple of times Mary and Stephanie noticed that his front 2 teeth (which are caps from a childhood accident) were missing and a tooth was broken, so there will be dentistry in his future also.

There is some new progress made each day, and that is perfect.

I'll be in touch later on,

Sue

Sue, I'm pleased that you were able to visit Myron. Sue is still not able to visit. That's why she said "squeeze ones hand". It was not her hand.

Speaking Of Superior Wisdom....

"Seven diocesans meeting with Rowan Williams"

The headline is from a story in The Lead. At his blog, Fr. Dan Martins states that seven bishops of the Episcopal Church are presently meeting with Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams. The bishops are all members of the Communion Partners, and all signed the Anaheim Statement, which was read at GC09 of the Episcopal Church after the vote on C056 (on blessing faithful, same-sex unions), and which says in part:

* We reaffirm our constituent membership in the Anglican Communion, our communion with the See of Canterbury and our commitment to preserving these relationships.

* We reaffirm our commitment to the doctrine, discipline, and worship of Christ as this church has received them (BCP 526, 538)

* We reaffirm our commitment to the three moratoria requested of us by the instruments of Communion.

* We reaffirm our commitment to the Anglican Communion Covenant process currently underway, with the hope of working toward its implementation across the Communion once a Covenant is completed.

Archbishop Williams, in his reflection on GC09, states the following about his two-track system idea for those provinces who sign the Covenant and those who do not:

25. It is my strong hope that all the provinces will respond favourably to the invitation to Covenant. But in the current context, the question is becoming more sharply defined of whether, if a province declines such an invitation, any elements within it will be free (granted the explicit provision that the Covenant does not purport to alter the Constitution or internal polity of any province) to adopt the Covenant as a sign of their wish to act in a certain level of mutuality with other parts of the Communion. It is important that there should be a clear answer to this question.

In my humble opinion, the ABC opened up a huge can of worms with the statement, not just for the Episcopal Church, but for other provinces in the Anglican Communion, including his own Church of England.

What promises, encouraging words, etc., etc., etc. will the seven bishops take away from their meeting with the ABC? I have no idea. I said in a similar vein in my previous post on President Obama and health care reform, perhaps the Archbishop of Canterbury is operating on superior wisdom that's not obvious to me.

UPDATE: Too good to be hidden in the comments:

Lapinbizarre said...

Could it be that one of these days he'll balance his continuing meddling in the internal matters of TEC and, as an example, look into the extent of Nigerian Anglican complicity in the Yelwa massacre. While obviously this does not compare with the abomination of homosexuality - and slaughtering ones enemies is unquestionably Biblical - maybe, as a "communion" thing, it merits a little attention. Have no doubt that Akinola and his lackeys would welcome the inquiry with open arms and cooperate to the fullest.

UPDATE 2: According to Fr. Martin in the comments to his post, the seven bishops are Little, Lawrence, McPherson, Stanton, Lillibridge, Smith (N.D.), and Love.

Obama Will Speak On Health Care Reform

From TPM:

President Barack Obama plans to tell the country, in more precise terms, what it is he wants to see in a health care reform bill. According to White House adviser David Axelrod, Obama will not put anything new on the table, but will be more specific about his key goals.

That means that Obama will, again, not be insisting on a public option--a development (or a non-development) that's sure to give his progressive base some heartburn.

According to the Associated Press, Obama may give a speech in the next week or two as part of an effort to regain control of the health care reform debate, after losing it during a month of grueling politics.

It's about time. It's past time. But perhaps President Obama is operating on superior wisdom that's not obvious to me. The bully pulpit, Mr. President! You stand at the bully pulpit.

The link within the story, which I included, goes to Politico, which a good many folks say is a right-leaning source, so take it with a grain of salt. However, I think it's probably correct that Obama will not insist on the public option. And that will give Mary Landrieu and her Blue Dog companions great cover.

The crunch may still come if the more progressive members of Congress refuse to yield ground and a bill which includes the public option comes to a vote. If, by some miracle, such a bill makes its way through the Congress to the president's desk, he will surely sign it into law.

However, I'm losing hope that a bill with a "robust" public option will make it through Congress. I'm pleased to see that Democrats, for the most part, have given up on the idea of a bi-partisan bill. The Republicans don't want to play. They want to stop, delay, or do anything to keep any sort of health care reform from happening now, in the hope that it will never happen.

When Obama takes to the bully pulpit, I'd suggest that he use story after story of real people who suffer from the present chaotic system that we call health care, which, for too many, means no care until it's too late. The stories, Mr. President! Bring to the fore the tragic stories of real people who are denied health care.

Story Of The Day

I say go ahead and build stuff anywhere
you want. If I want nature, I'll watch
Discovery Channel.

From Storypeople.