BISHOP GENE ROBINSON'S LETTER TO THE POPE

From the Washington Post:

Though our churches differ in many ways, we believe in the same God. As your brother in Christ, it pains me to see Catholics struggle with your response to recent allegations of sex abuse by priests. Since my denomination has also battled these demons, I want to share with you what I have learned as a bishop of the Episcopal Church.
....

The thing victims most want to hear from the church, especially its leadership, is: "I am so sorry. This should never have happened to you, especially here. We are going to do everything in our power to see that nothing like this happens again." Victims live with their horrific experiences and know that their abuse can never be undone. And so they seek assurance that the church will change the system that allows abuse to go undetected and take action to hold perpetrators accountable. Child abusers do not deserve protection; they must be reported immediately to civil authorities and prosecuted.

Read the rest of the letter on what Bishop Gene and the Episcopal Church have learned about abusive behavior within the church and ways to reverse the culture in which abuse takes place.

Although Bishop Gene does not presume to offer advice to the pope, he writes the following cautionary words:

However, I believe it is misguided and wrong for gay men to be scapegoated in this scandal. As a gay man, I know the pain and the verbal and physical violence that can come from the thoroughly debunked myth connecting homosexuality and the abuse of children. In the media, representatives of and advocates for the Roman Catholic Church have laid blame for sexual abuse at the feet of gay priests. These people know, or should know, that every reputable scientific study shows that homosexuals are no more or less likely to be child abusers than heterosexuals. Psychologically healthy homosexual men are no more drawn to little boys than psychologically healthy heterosexual men are drawn to little girls.

Bishop Gene is quite right, and I'm pleased he wrote his letter and included the words about scapegoating gays.

I presume to give advice: Physician, heal thyself; cease all scapegoating; and take responsibility for your actions as the first and vital step forward to reverse the severe damage to your church.

Thanks to John for the link.

O MARY WE CROWN THEE....

Around the blogosphere I see posts celebrating May Day from Counterlight, Episcopelican, and MadPriest, who is nothing but a damn Commie, along with Counterlight, and I wondered that the celebrations of the day didn't resonate. After pondering a bit, I realized that we did not celebrate May Day. In Roman Catholic tradition, at least in the ancient days of my youth and childhood, the whole month of May was dedicated to the Virgin Mary, and instead of a maypole or the crowning of the May Queen, we crowned a statue of the Virgin Mary as Queen of May.

Each day, a different girl was assigned to bring a flower wreath and have the privilege of placing the wreath on the head of a statue of Mary. A boy, unless it was an all-girls school, carried the wreath on a pillow in step with the girl who was to do the crowning at the head of a procession from our school to the statue. As we processed, we sang the hymn, "Bring Flowers of the Rarest". Our statue, with Mary wearing a white robe and a blue cloak, was quite tall and stood on a pedestal. To reach the head of the statue, the girl had to climb a short ladder. Some families created homemade wreaths, while the more well-to-do ordered theirs from the florist.

In the video below, Mary Flower sings the hymn.

BRING FLOWERS OF THE RAREST

Bring flowers of the rarest
bring blossoms the fairest,
from garden and woodland and hillside and dale;
our full hearts are swelling,
our glad voices telling
the praise of the loveliest flower of the vale!


Refrain:

O Mary we crown thee with blossoms today!
Queen of the Angels and Queen of the May.
O Mary we crown thee with blossoms today,
Queen of the Angels and Queen of the May.


Our voices ascending,
In harmony blending,
Oh! Thus may our hearts turn
Dear Mother, to thee;
Oh! Thus shall we prove thee
How truly we love thee,
How dark without Mary
Life's journey would be.

Refrain.

Image at the head of the post from St. Patrick's Parish in Onalaska, Wisconsin.

UPDATE: I love the hymn, and writing and arranging the post was a poignant trip down Memory Lane to arrive at a place named Nostalgia with a catch in my throat.

Alleluia, alleluia! Christ is risen! And I believe that Jesus approves when we honor his mother.

PRAISE THE LORD, AND PASS THE AMMUNITION

From the The Huffington Post:

People qualified to carry concealed weapons should be able to keep them strapped on in a church or temple as a way to enhance security, a [Louisiana] state House committee decided Wednesday (April 28).

The House Committee on the Administration of Criminal Justice voted 8-3 for bill that would allow a church to hire a security force or create its own by authorizing the church's board or pastor to tap parishioners who have concealed weapons permits to bring them to church.

I'm fairly certain that the bill will make its way successfully through the legislative process and be signed into law by Gov. Bobby Jindal. In the spirit of the new law, in churches which allow congregants to pack heat, the opening hymn for each and every service shall henceforth be "Praise the Lord, and Pass the Ammunition".

H/T to Andrew Gerns at The Lead and to Ann for sending me the link.

BOBBY JINDAL, THE HYPOCRITE?

The picture above is Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal at the press conference yesterday on the oil spill off the Louisiana coast. You can't see them in the photo, but Jindal is surrounded by the folks in picture below, Dept. of the Interior Secretary Dan Salazar, Dept. of Homeland Security Sec. Janet Napolitano, and Lisa Jackson, EPA Administrator.



Bobby Jindal fulminates against the over-sized federal government; he decries taxes to pay for the functions of the bloated federal government, but when he is in trouble, he's quick to call for help from that same federal government, admitting that some problems like Katrina and the federal flood and the oil spill are too big for a state to handle on its own. I know Jindal was not governor when Katrina struck, but he's asked for ongoing help with recovery. In my eyes, Bobby Jindal looks like a hypocrite. How will he run on shrinking the federal government, when he's had to call for help from that same federal government on many different occasions?

BP HAD NO PLAN

WWL-TV:

British Petroleum downplayed the possibility of a catastrophic accident at an offshore rig that exploded, causing the worst U.S. spill in decades along the Gulf coast and endangering shoreline habitat.

In the 52-page exploration plan and environmental impact analysis, BP repeatedly suggested it was unlikely, or virtually impossible, for an accident to occur that would lead to a giant crude oil spill and serious damage to beaches, fish, mammals and fisheries.

BP's plan filed with the federal Minerals Management Service for the Deepwater Horizon well, dated February 2009, says repeatedly that it was "unlikely that an accidental surface or subsurface oil spill would occur from the proposed activities."

And while the company conceded that a spill would "cause impacts" to beaches, wildlife refuges and wilderness areas, it argued that "due to the distance to shore (48 miles) and the response capabilities that would be implemented, no significant adverse impacts are expected."

So much for accuracy in BP's assessment. What's inconceivable to me is that the Minerals Management Service found the no-plan acceptable and permitted BP to move forward to build and operate the rig.

HUSBAND OF THE YEAR AWARDS

The honorable mention goes to

The United Kingdom

 

followed closely by...

The United States of America

 

and then...

Poland

 

but, 3rd Place must go to...

Greece

 

it was very close but the runner up prize

was awarded to....

Serbia

 

but the winner of the husband/partner of the year is...

Ireland, ya gotta love the Irish

The Irish are true romantics. Look, he's even

holding her hand....

 

My readers will hear a good deal about the oil spill in the near future, and I'm quite concerned about what will be, indeed is already, a tragedy of huge proportions, but I needed a humor break, and thanks to Ann, here is my offering.

"SUDDENLY EVERYTHING CHANGED"

From The Huffington Post:

WASHINGTON — Suddenly, everything changed.

For days, as an oil spill spread in the Gulf of Mexico, BP assured the government the plume was manageable, not catastrophic. Federal authorities were content to let the company handle the mess while keeping an eye on the operation.

But then government scientists realized the leak was five times larger than they had been led to believe, and days of lulling statistics and reassuring words gave way Thursday to an all-hands-on-deck emergency response. Now questions are sure to be raised about a self-policing system that trusted a commercial operator to take care of its own mishap even as it grew into a menace imperiling Gulf Coast nature and livelihoods from Florida to Texas.

The pivot point had come Wednesday night, at a news conference at an oil research center in the tiny community of Robert, La. That's when the nation learned the earlier estimates were way off, and an additional leak had been found.

On Thursday, President Barack Obama set in motion a larger federal mobilization, pledging to deploy "every single available resource" to the area and ordering his disaster and environmental leaders to get down there in person. Only a few days after the Coast Guard assured the country there was "ample time" to protect the coast if oil came ashore, warnings from the government were newly alarming.
....

Throughout last week and into this one, the government was deferring to BP on what was being done at the site and on assessments of progress.

The Coast Guard was not doing its own independent, firsthand assessment of the seabed rupture. Landry repeatedly asserted that BP was the responsible party and would shoulder the costs and organizational duties associated with the cleanup effort while the Coast Guard monitored things and approved the numbers of vessels working the scene and the methods of control.

On Monday, Landry offered assurances that the Gulf Coast should be safe. "This is ample time to protect sensitive areas and prepare for cleanup should the oil impact this area," she said. And at sea, BP officials were "doing their best."

That the government agencies deferred to BP to assess the situation on their own is quite troublesome. Perhaps the federal agencies would have come to the same conclusion at the time, but to rely only on the investigation and reports by the oil company seems far from wise. Is it possible that the president and the federal agencies learned a lesson about trusting oil companies?

President Obama said that the Interior Department would be sending SWAT teams to inspect all 30 deepwater rigs in the Gulf, and the inspections would be completed within a week. That seems rather fast for a thorough inspection, but what do I know?

LOCAL FISHERMEN WANT TO HELP

From WWL-TV:

SHELL BEACH, La. – British Petroleum workers are heading out on boats with oil booms and taking them into sensitive marsh and coastal areas in an effort to protect the area from a huge oil slick headed towards the coast, but some fishermen say they are frustrated they aren’t being used more.

Many of the parish's 330 commercial fishermen said Thursday they were ready to fight the spread of the oil spill, and help clean up the damage. Over 200 offered their boats, docks and other aid. Gov. Bobby Jindal showed support for the initiative, saying the fishermen know the marshes better than anyone.

But while St. Bernard officials say they turned over the list of volunteers over to BP, they say their hands are tied, since BP is the company handling the oil spill and it’s up to them to decide whether or not they want to use the volunteers.

“People around here, they know the marsh. This is what they do here every day,” said Kevin Heier, a fisherman in St. Bernard. “They know how to get from one place to another using the safest route with the weather condition. Why waste your time with people who don’t know the area trying to do the work, while we can get you there and back without a problem?

“We have all these boats available, people will be out of work – the fishing industry I’m sure is going to go to hell – we just don’t understand why they’re going to get outside contractors to do the work.”

Nor do I understand why the local fisherman are denied the opportunity to help and, at least, work with the outside contractors. The fishermen are out of business for now and perhaps for a long time because of the failure of BP equipment, so the least BP can do is put the local folks to work and pay them for their efforts.

OIL SPILL MAY HAVE REACHED LOUISIANA COAST

From WWL-TV:

VENICE, La. -- Plaquemines Parish President Billy Nungesser said based on his observations from a Coast Guard helicopter just a short while ago, the spill could be hitting the Mississippi River Delta now.

Responders played beat the clock Thursday, trying to get as much containment boom out in the marsh before the oil hits the Louisiana coast.
According to the Coast Guard, all of the oil spill fighting equipment they could muster is now on the Gulf Coast being deployed as soon as it hits the dock.

Read more at the link.

DISASTER LOOMS FOR LOUISIANA COAST

From the Advocate:

Louisiana agencies are preparing for the worst from an oil slick steadily heading toward the state’s shoreline and marshlands.

Some experts estimate it could reach Pass a Loutre wildlife management area as early as Friday and Breton Sound on Saturday, Gov. Bobby Jindal said Wednesday.

“Just like we do in a hurricane, we are preparing for the worst and hoping for the best,” Jindal said at an afternoon news conference.

Earlier in the day, Jindal said he had been briefed by the U.S. Coast Guard, the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration and BP who are involved in the cleanup and containment of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

About 42,000 gallons of oil a day are leaking into the Gulf from the Deepwater Horizon oil rig which exploded April 20, burned and then sank two days later. Eleven workers are missing and presumed dead.

Jindal said federal and state officials are scrambling to do what they can to prevent the oil from reaching the state’s fishing and wildlife areas, but on Wednesday predictions had the oil headed toward the state.

“It’s still early and these tracks could change,” Jindal said. “We will know more tomorrow.”

Pass a Loutre and Breton Sound where the oil slick could hit are home to concentrations of wildlife, especially nesting birds, Jindal said.

Yesterday, I wrote about the restaurant industry rebound in New Orleans after Katrina and the federal flood. A major disaster for the Louisiana coast looms with the approach of the oil slick. What about the oysters, shrimp, crabs, and fish in the coastal waters and marshlands? What about the birds and animals? What about those who make their livings from fishing and harvesting seafood?

We can point fingers at the oil companies and the oil supply companies. We can blame the federal and state governments for permitting offshore drilling. But, in the end, we must point to ourselves, and our greed for energy, and our failure to seriously address conservation and demand that our government do the same, and our failure to pressure our leaders to implement policies to find and subsidize the development of safer alternative sources of energy.