This is a movie from the Courage Campaign in California. It is truly poignant. I encourage all, no matter your thoughts on same-sex marriage, to see this video and ponder the effects of potentially being forced to divorce your spouse.
Or, you can go to http://www.couragecampaign.org/page/s/divorce
Perhaps this begs a question. If you don’t believe they should be married to each other, who do you believe they should marry?
Catching up on some old reading, I came across an article, “The Land Ethic” by J. Baird Callicott, that stirred my juices for discussing some aspects of environmental ethics. I do this from time to time, it’s part of my ‘illness’ to engage in something for sheer geekfest value. If this interests you – hmmm, well, I wouldn’t want to criticize. Continue reading ‘Land Ethic – A Model for Environmentalists?’
While I understand religious people’s dismay with social issues like abortion, teen pregancies and other sexuality issues, the track record for abstinence only sex ed has been worse than abysmal. If we are truly concerned about protecting young people from these life-changing situations that potentially challenge their emotional, spiritual and physical well-being, we will scream long and hard that education include effective prevention techniques as well as help young people to reach a reasonable level of maturity with regard to the ways in which their bodies function. Continue reading ‘Speaking Out on Comprehensive Sexuality Ed’
… building a better place for all.
What is community?
The first, and most important, ingredient of community is people. A community is a group of people who share a common sense of belonging to something. That commonality is most likely a place like a neighborhood or village. Sometimes there are micro-communities that form into a community – smaller groups of people with common interests who cooperate with other groups to achieve broader goals. This is actually the most common definition of a healthy community. Continue reading ‘Towards a More Robust Community’
Moving Towards the Reality of Empowered People …
Marx conceived of a day when the disenfranchised proletariat would rebel against the powerful gentry and communalize all real holdings. The intermediate step would require a socialist structure, before the final step to communism would be possible. The leaders of this nation would be accountable to the proletariat, operating purely in the collective best interest of the larger community and the resulting government would be very democratic. In the instances where Marxism has been exercised to any degree, virtually the opposite has occurred. In the end, a new bourgeoisie developed – an elite group of politically minded people living in stark contrast to the general populace – that was more oppressive than that which it replaced. Productivity in countries without private ownership decreased rather than increased. The result was squalor, hunger, poverty and disillusionment – the very conditions Marx wished to overcome. Continue reading ‘Marx on Religion & its Role in Oppression (Part 3)’
Did Disillusion Foster More Illusions?
Criticizing Marx on particulars is relatively easy, especially since there has been a considerable expanse of time between his writings and the current social, economic and political climates. It becomes easier yet when using proof-texts upon which to base the critique, as opposed to performing a broad study of Marx’s ideas. The latter would obviously be outside the scope of this paper. While further criticisms will undoubtedly develop, it would be appropriate to concentrate largely on integrating the three subjects previously discussed into a dialogue that may be useful to the very people that Marx wrote against – capitalists and Christians. Continue reading ‘Marx on Religion & its Role in Oppression (Part 2)’
I would like to point you in the direction of a brief article that takes a different tack on the marriage issue.
It is brilliant in it’s simplicity, and makes a cogent point easy to understand.
It can be found at http://www.religiondispatches.org/blog/sexandgender/755/.
Enjoy the chuckle, but give serious thought to the implications.
I’ll probably need to unpack that title a little. I was hired, as the minister, to give away the church I serve. It’s not that the congregation doesn’t want it anymore – it’s that they’ve gotten quite small in number – small enough, in fact, that “common” sense would ordinarily dictate closing down and moving in with another church. There’s only basic problem with that – this is the only church found within the community and it’s located close to the center of this particular neighborhood in Schenectady. So, I have been charged with inviting in a whole new congregation who would adopt the church as their own and, in the process be adopted by the current members as heirs of the church. The basic scenario looks like this: Continue reading ‘Any Ideas on Giving Away a Church?’
Continued from here or go to Table of Contents.
A LIBERATION THEOLOGY FOR THE “FIRST WORLD”
A major roadblock to a serious discussion of liberation theologies in dominant culture is the assertion that they are essentially Marxist in nature. This accusation has been proffered by not only “First World” governments, but by the Western churches including the Roman Catholic Church. Since explicating the philosophies of Marx is not the point of this paper, it will have to suffice to address the barest of arguments. First, the West in general, and the U.S. in particular, is somewhat irrational in its fear of Marxism. Marx was, first and foremost, a philosopher – albeit one who believed in praxis. The philosophy of Marx does not line up particularly well with what the West understands as Marxist politics, namely Communism as practiced in the 20th century: Continue reading ‘Liberation Theology and Globalization – Part 5’
Continued from here or go to Table of Contents.
THE UNDEVELOPMENT OF THE DEVELOPED WORLD
The dominant U.S. theology of entitlement seems to conflict with not only liberation theologies, but most theologies that include political and social action as essential tenets. Such European notables in political theology as Jurgen Moltmann, Johannes Baptist Metz, and Dietrich Bonhoeffer were joined by Reinhold Niebuhr and John Howard Yoder of the U.S. In his 1972 book The Politics of Jesus, Yoder detailed the biblical evidence which justified his belief, “Jesus is, according to the biblical witness, a model of radical political action …”[1] Disturbed by theological thought that separated Jesus from the political sphere, he attempted to prove that faithful Christian disciples should adopt Jesus’ political approach. Continue reading ‘Liberation Theology and Globalization – Part 4’
Continued from here or go to Table of Contents.
USING THEOLOGY TO PROSPER
As in the U.S. women’s battle for the vote, the fall of the Berlin Wall and the ‘end’ of apartheid in South Africa, to name a few momentous occasions in recent social history, change of this magnitude requires partners. In each of these instances of striving for justice, significant numbers of allies within the dominant Western cultures had to be enlisted. Men voted to recognize (not give) women’s right to vote; pressure on East Germany and South Africa from other countries seem to have played a substantial role in changes experienced in those areas. Allies, from within the U.S. and European cultures, are likely to be needed, in the long run, to aid in the battle against widespread impoverishment. Continue reading ‘Liberation Theology and Globalization (Part 3)’
Continued from here or return to Table of Contents
THE ECONOMICS OF OPPRESSION
It may be, on one hand, quite right to point out that the general populations of these dominant cultures have neither made the decisions to dominate nor benefited directly in the economic spoils of domination. Actions empowered by monarchs and popes have been replaced by those instituted by presidents, prime ministers and corporate moguls. It may even be true that the portion of the U.S. or European populations that has profited the most is the elite – those with significant holdings of stocks, bonds and privilege.[1] While these things may be true, for the general population to claim no enrichment or complicity is to turn a blind eye to the obvious truths of economy and quality of life. Continue reading ‘Liberation Theology and Globalization (Part 2)’
Today, I received an e-mail communication from New York Pride Agenda announcing Governor Paterson’s appointment to fill the seat left open by Hillary Clinton. The announcement read: Continue reading ‘Gillibrand to be New York Senator’
As we have entered the blogosphere, new vistas have been realized for Rev Jenna Zirbel, my wife, and me. On one hand, new opportunities for getting our writings out in public have become obvious. On the other, new considerations of personal and ethical conduct have reared their heads. For this post, the subjects are (i) the difference between authoring, writing and posting written materials, and (ii) the issue of attribution, being the way you show who really contributed to the article. Continue reading ‘Authoring vs. Writing vs. Posting’
Continued from: God as Mother – more traditional than you might think. Or go to Table of Contents
WHAT DID JESUS DO?
The most common reason given for calling God “God the Father”, “Father God” or “Father” is that Jesus did, and told us to do so as well. That is true, of course, only when you read a translation of the New Testament in something other than Greek. Greek had some interesting abnormalities that affect translation – unusual facets that were easy to miss, or to ignore, depending on your perspectives or intentions. Continue reading ‘God as Mother – lost in later tradition (Pt 2)’
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Rev Andy Little
MINISTRY FROM TWO POLES 
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