Google WWW Talk To Action


The Indian River Incident : What You Can Do

link > The "Stop the ACLU Coalition" Shaming Project
How you can help stop "Stop The ACLU" just by sending a few emails



 'Left Behind' video game imageThe Shaming Project

does the violence of "Left Behind: Eternal Forces" bother you ? If so, what can you do ? Well, to begin with you can email Jonathan Hutson's stories to people you know. That will help to bring more public scrutiny of the game. Public shaming really works ! Just click on the "email" icon and link at the top or bottom of the story and you'll be taken to a form that will allow you email the first story, The Purpose Driven Life Takers or the latest installment without leaving this site. Thanks. 'Left Behind' video game image




Them Again: Faithful and Welcoming
By John DorhauerMon Apr 10, 2006 at 10:36:36 PM EST
topic: Battle For Mainstream Faith section:Shadow War On Mainline Churches printable version print this story
Image hosting by Photobucket
I wrote about this newest of `renewal movements' within the United Church of Christ a few weeks ago. There is more to say.

Sometimes I forget how important is this work of exposing attacks on our churches from the right. Many people will contact me each week asking me to stop doing this for one reason or another - and I will confess there is a small part of me that wishes I didn't have to do this.

And sometimes you get to wondering if you are not just seeing things that aren't there because you have been looking for them so hard for so long. You wonder if you aren't as paranoid as your accusers say you are.

But while sitting at our Association Council Meeting last week I was reminded why this work was so important.

We were talking about who was going to set up displays at our upcoming Annual Meeting when the question arose about whether or not we would let a renewal group set up a display. Much discussion followed. But for at least one around the table, this was more than a philosophical discussion: a GLBT (Gay, Lesbian, Bi, or Trans) pastor of a predominantly gay church. Such churches and such pastors experience these attacks in a whole different way than most of us do. There was real fear, real anger present in the concerns raised by this pastor.

And so, yes, there is more to say about this newest renewal group: Faithful and Welcoming.

At there coming out party held on the campus of Eden Seminary in St. Louis on March 16, right smack dab in the middle of their Power Point presentation, a slide appeared that stayed on the screen for quite some time as Brandon Woosley (the evening's spokesperson of this movement) continued to speak: it read "Faithful and Welcoming... TO ALL!"
I did not add or embellish their presentation of those words at all: the ellipsis, the caps, and the exclamation point are all theirs.

Which means this lie they are telling is done all the more egregiously. Choosing not to sell this particular piece of garbage with subtlety, they want to embellish it with emphasis and fanfare. You see, they will not accept into their membership or fellowship any churches, individuals, Associations, or Conferences that have declared themselves to be Open and Affirming.

A brief interruption, if you please: Open and Affirming is the official designation of those bodies within the United Church of Christ who have voted that when it comes to full participation in the life of their church, they will not discriminate based on sexual orientation. It is how the GLBT community knows that they might be safe, loved, and affirmed when they enter a particular church. (I say might knowing that some churches that have voted to be OnA aren't really experienced as such when gay men and women show up there).

And because the United Church of Christ - in its National Settings, Offices, and through its General Synod - has declared itself to be Open and Affirming, and for that reason continues to consistently support movements, positions, and communities that demonstrate justice for ALL and a welcome... TO ALL! (this group means it), Faithful and Welcoming continues to attack it.

One of the handouts given to those who attended their coming out parties (held in 16 locations throughout the east and Midwest - and Hawaii) is entitled "Crisis in the UCC." For this group, the entire crisis is supposed to have been generated around one sole issue: Open and Affirming. For this reason alone, their welcome is modified so as not to include quite as many as ... TO ALL! would imply. And for this reason alone, the UCC is "in Crisis." Which makes the United Church of Christ a lot like Jesus: we too find people willing to kill and destroy us simply for those whom we choose to love and to whom we choose to extend a less calculated, more extravagant welcome. Kind of ironic, isn't it: a group known as Faithful and Welcoming isn't, and is built to dismantle a group that is.

Are kill and destroy too strong words to use for an organization that is `welcoming' and that purports only to want to renew the UCC?

You be the judge. In their handouts and on their website churches are invited to consider, believe, or enact the following:

·    The primary reason for a church to identify itself as Faithful and Welcoming is to distance the local church from the controversial resolutions and marketing of the national and regional settings of the church.
·    Consider delaying a vote to withdraw until after July 2006 in order to connect with other UCC churches and members who share your concerns.
·    Change your church's bylaws to require acceptance of the UCC Basis of Union with Interpretations, Preamble to the Constitution, and Lexington Confession (I will write something about this soon) by pastors, and to disallow avowed practicing homosexuals as clergy and disallow same sex marriages and civil unions in the church.
·    consider redirecting or designating funds marked for the UCC.
·    Refuse to be intimidated! Note the following clear provision in the UCC Constitution, Article V, Paragraph 18 - which includes this phrase: "Nothing in this Constitution and the Bylaws of the United Church of Christ shall destroy or limit the right of each Local Church to continue to operate in the way customary to it; nor shall be construed as giving to the General Synod, or to any Conference or Association now, or at any future time, the power to abridge or impair the autonomy of any Local Church in the management of its own affairs, which affairs include, but are not limited to, the right to withdraw by its own decision from the United Church of Christ at any time without forfeiture of ownership or control of any real or personal property owned by it."

An organization that announces its primary reason for being is to distance churches from its national setting; that asks churches to delay their vote to withdraw until they all gather together in July; to stop funding the denomination of which they are a part; and to remind churches they can vote to leave any time they want and no one can stop them: I ask you, is this a group hoping to renew, or more intent on destroying the denomination of which they are a part?

I can promise you this: for our Open and Affirming churches and for our GLBT clergy and members, this is much more than a philosophical discussion. They have experienced a lifetime of such vitriol - and it matters not to them how slickly and how subtly the hatred is packaged: it feels the same either way.




Display:
Sometimes I think that I could use a Secret Decoding Ring to decipher the real meanings of some of the phrases used in these various organizations.

Open and Affirming= Everyone is really welcome.

Faithful And Welcoming= Everyone except GLBT people and those who love them.

Fair And Balanced= Neither. You must be smoking something to believe that!

Sigh... Great post, by the way.

by Lorie Johnson on Tue Apr 11, 2006 at 11:30:43 AM EST


Thanks for this post.  What I find troubling is the willingness of so many christians to automatically deny other children of God a place at the table.  


by glendenb on Tue Apr 11, 2006 at 02:39:43 PM EST

No, not paranoid. There was a big turnout for a counter-rally at an Exodus "pray the gay away" event recently. A significant percentage of participants were LGBT Christians from OandA UCCs, MCC, Oasis (their OandA) Episcopal, the 5 unofficially OandA local Catholic parishes. Not to mention some turnout from one of the local seminaries. A genuine OandA policy is the difference between staying unchurched or being a rare visitor/communicant, and being an enthusiastic participant in church life.

by NancyP on Tue Apr 18, 2006 at 11:29:07 PM EST

Left Behind: Eternal Forces: Installments of Jonathan Hutson's Talk To Action expose series on the "Left Behind: Eternal Forces" video game have been viewed by up to 1/2 million people. See our site section featuring Over 35 original articles covering the controversial "Left Behind: Eternal Forces" video game that has provoked a boycott by a coalition of religious groups and a letter writing campaign urging Walmart to stop selling the game. Media inquiries click here
(image: detail from Francoise Dubois' rendition of the Bartholomew's Day Massacre reveals the actual nature of religious warfare)

Audio Recording of McCain's Political Endorser John Hagee Preaching Jews Are Cursed and Subhuman
Yesterday I discovered an astonishing audio recording of a sermon, by controversial McCain endorser Pastor John Hagee, in which Hagee elaborates on his view......
By Bruce Wilson (0 comments)
Parsley, Hagee, John McCain and Time
The Wall Street Journal reports that controversial McCain backer John Hagee has apologized to Catholic leaders in person, and in a letter to crank......
By Frederick Clarkson (6 comments)
Lost Weekend: Religious Right Seeks Two-Day Ten Commandments Confab
Gas is inching up to $4 per gallon, rice has doubled in price, home foreclosures continue to spiral and more than 80 percent of......
By Rob Boston (2 comments)
Interview with the Author of The Family Part 2
Jeff Sharlet's ground breaking, forthcoming book: The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power, will be published on May 20th by......
By Frederick Clarkson (1 comment)
The Real Issue Behind Jindal's Religious Beliefs
One of the names being floated as a possible running mate for John McCain is Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal. With that in mind, I......
By Frank Cocozzelli (6 comments)
Interview with the Author of The Family -- Part 1
Jeff Sharlet's ground breaking, forthcoming book: The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power, will be published on May 20th by......
By Frederick Clarkson (1 comment)
Goading Churches into Defying Federal Tax Laws
The Religious Right has long made abuse of the priviledge of federal tax-exemption for churches and other non-profit organizations a political tool. While most......
By Frederick Clarkson (5 comments)
Mai Tai Dogs: Bush Administration, McCain-Endorser Hagee Caught Schmoozing at Chinese Restaurant
The year was 2004. It was summer, July. The 12th. Occasion ? Pappy Bush's 80th, and after pappy floated down from the sky, parachuted......
By Bruce Wilson (5 comments)
With the Founding Fathers as Our Press Gang
Jill Lepore has a wise and erudite article in The New Yorker about four recent books about the Founding Fathers and their approach to......
By Frederick Clarkson (1 comment)
Evangelical Angst: `Moderate' Evangelicals Worry About The Movement's Image
How do you react when people tell you they're evangelicals? Do you think that they simply want to share their faith - or do......
By Rob Boston (3 comments)
Ex-prez Bush hosts cult leader at Texas A&M!
Jeremiah Wright? Come on. The Moonies have just trumpeted the latest delegation of their dreaded leader, Sun Myung Moon, to the Bush presidential......
By John Gorenfeld (1 comment)
What the Hardcore RR Thinks about McCain
I first ran across Texe Marrs through a book circulating in my Senior Adult department in church. Texe had published a book he claims......
By wilkyjr (4 comments)
Clinton Compares Catholics and Jews, White Supremacists and Jihadists
It was as if Barry Lynn or some ACLU imp had temporarily seized control of Hillary Clinton's brain and vocal cords, causing her to......
By Bruce Wilson (2 comments)
Creationists and Christian Zionists to Hold Conference in California
WND touts the upcoming "Southern California Strategic Perspectives Conference": WND founder Joseph Farah joins "Left Behind" author Tim LaHaye, former terrorist Walid Shoebat, evangelist......
By Richard Bartholomew (3 comments)
A Sacrament Abused
The Catholic Right, Part Fifty-six On Tuesday I read the news that Cardinal Edward Egan (Archdiocese of New York) criticized former Mayor Rudy Giuliani......
By Frank Cocozzelli (2 comments)
Biblical support for abortion, who knew?
It turns out that our present legal understanding of when a life is entitled to legal protection is consistent with the Old Testament Biblical understanding of when a fetus becomes a 'life' warranting legal......
By TMurray (1 comment)
2001 John Hagee Film Shows Gangsterish Rabbi, Foppish Catholic Priest In League With anti-Christ
The following somewhat satirical video is built around a brief excerpt from Texas megachurch pastor John Hagee's 2001 55-minute film "Vanished", which followed the prophetic, premillennial plot line of Tim LaHaye's and Jerry Jenkin's......
By Bruce Wilson (0 comments)
PBS "Carrier": A Mixed Blessing
Watching the PBS miniseries "Carrier" was a revelation, but not always a pleasant one... ......
By bughouse square (0 comments)
Will We Ever Learn?
Ever looked at something or did something which at the time seemed good and beneficial only to learn that it was not what you thought?  If we could all have the opportunity to live......
By truthngrace (0 comments)
McCain-Endorser's Church Casts Out "Demon of Anal Fissures", Teaches Vomiting Evil Spirits
[NOTE: for a related story, see Mai Tai Dogs: Pics Show Bush Administration, McCain-Endorser Hagee Schmoozing at Chinese Restaurant] I have to admit, on one level it sounds more entertaining than a church full......
By Bruce Wilson (3 comments)
Bush 41 salutes Sun Myung Moon's effort to subdue the planet.
Sun Myung Moon's end time political front, the Universal Peace Federation had a summit from April 28 to May 2 in Washington DC. The participants took a tour of the Moon owned Washington Times......
By Lou (2 comments)
Advancing The Kingdom
Over the past four years, I've researched the darkest regions of the Christian right for the non-fiction film Silhouette City. The film tracks the movement of apocalyptic Christian nationalism from the margins of American......
By MichaelWWilson (2 comments)
Newspaper Profiles Army of God Spokeman
We have written a great deal about the anti-abortion terror organization, Army of God. One recent post prompted God Tube to take down videos posted by the proprietor of the Army of God web......
By Frederick Clarkson (0 comments)
Judicial Council Chief James Holsinger and $20 million of UMC Money
Dr. James Holsinger, a leader in the IRD-linked Methodist renewal movement has, until now, been best known for his crack-pot anti-gay views. - FC Dr. James Holsinger, the Bush nominee for Surgeon General  and......
By AJWEAVER (0 comments)
No Constitution Party home for Keyes
Well, that didn't take long.  All the speculation about Alan Keyes finding a home with the rabidly right-wing Constitution Party has quickly come to naught as the CP convention picks radio talk show host,......
By tacitus (0 comments)
Florida Christian License Plate
Well, Florida is at it again. They're considering a "Christian" license plate.  It's supposed to have a cross and a stained glass window on it with the words "I Believe!" More below the break!......
By ArchaeoBob (3 comments)
The Alleged 'Atheist Delusion'
John Gray's ample Saturday Review column in the March 15th edition of London's  Guardian newpaper diagnosed the current climate surrounding religion as one of `moral panic'.  This is true only of the irrational fear......
By TMurray (0 comments)
A Real GI Bill of Rights
As much as I admire Jim Webb and Chuck Hagel for their efforts to reform the military, I respectfully submit that their proposed bill doesn't go far enough... ......
By bughouse square (2 comments)
Mikey's War
There comes a time when ordinary citizens need to step up and openly challenge the perverse Christianization of our national instutions, particularly the military. What follows is an introduction to someone who is doing......
By bughouse square (1 comment)
For McCain, Silence on Religion is Golden
Just one day before lambasting Barack Obama over his recent comments about religion, John McCain was a no-show at Sunday's CNN Compassion Forum on faith.  That's because when it comes to discussing his own......
By Jon Perr (0 comments)
Christian Right Flees Randall Balmer's Challenge On Torture
At the Daily Kos website, I have written what so far is a four part series [1, 2, 3, 4] on the Bush Administration and torture. My series covers the structure of the National......
By Bruce Wilson (3 comments)
Just *what* is "The Family" so desperate to hide?
Over the past few days, I've done some writing expressing concern regarding some revelations that Jeff Sharlet will be discussing extensively in his new book "The Family"--including information regarding apparently widespread and systemic use......
By dogemperor (7 comments)
The *other* members of Hillary's "Family" cell
On Friday, news reports started coming out to the effect that Hillary Clinton may be a member of a cell-church group run by the secretive "Family" nee "Fellowship" org; as the import of this......
By dogemperor (1 comment)
Hagee donating 6 Million dollars to Irael
Today it was reported in the local paper that John Hagee has donated 6 million dollars to Israel.  http://www.theledger.com/article/20080406/API/804062669 It appears to be a big publicity stunt.  The article says that "Hagee... brought hundreds......
By ArchaeoBob (0 comments)
"The Family" and its use of cells, explained
A few days ago, I wrote a post expressing concern re Hillary Clinton's reported involvement in a cell-church group operated by the longest-running political dominionist group in existence--some folks considered this a wee bit......
By dogemperor (1 comment)
The Politico's Half-Story on McCain's Religion
[bumped from diaries - ed]In the Politico this morning, Jonathan Martin offers what the New Republic deemed a "smart piece" about John McCain's religious beliefs.  But in describing McCain's reluctance to speak publicly about......
By Jon Perr (1 comment)
The Fellowship, cell churches, and coercive tactics
There's been a lot of good writing recently in regards to what is probably the oldest continuously running political dominionist group in the US today--a secretive org called "The Fellowship" or "The Family", and......
By dogemperor (1 comment)
Dobson at it again
As most of you may know, Dobson has a history of misusing (and distorting) scientific research to further his own nefarious goals.  Well, he's done it again- this time claiming that "Anthropologists agree on......
By ArchaeoBob (0 comments)
The "Walid Shoebat Foundation" Con Game--Exposed!
Over the past few days, we've had a lot of people (including Bruce Wilson) writing about a con game being promoted by the Walid Shoebat Foundation--namely, the claim that they are supposedly ex-PLO terrorists......
By dogemperor (0 comments)
Open Letter to Hillary, Obama, McCain and News Editors TV, Radio and Print
"Observe good faith and justice towards all nations; cultivate peace and harmony with all...and passionate attachments for others should be excluded; and that, in place of them, just and amicable feelings towards all should......
By eileen fleming (0 comments)
Of Gideons, Public Sidewalks, and Missing the Point
Gideons have been handing out Bibles in school or adjacent to schools for longer than I have been alive.  Does the fact that they now stand on public sidewalks really mitigate the legality of......
By Irrevelations (0 comments)
Happy Birthday Israel: Company is Coming and they are Carrying UN Flags!
[Israel Palestine] As Hagee's man, candidate McCain pandered to militants and fundamentalists during his trip to Jerusalem, giving firm "support for Israel's military response"...Ziad Abu Ein, a senior Fatah operative and Deputy Minister for......
By eileen fleming (0 comments)
Florida Bills for funding Focus on the Family
There are two bills before the Florida Legislature that need to be stopped. Florida House bill 707 and Florida Senate bill 630 both provide for Florida's Department of Transportation to solicit $1 contributions from......
By ArchaeoBob (2 comments)
Rare Washington Times dinner disaster video (1997)
A special treat awaits after the jump. So the big story out of Rev. Moon's Washington Times is that the new editor, John Solomon of the AP, will supposedly be remaking it into......
By John Gorenfeld (0 comments)

More Diaries...