http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/07/opinion/07mon2.html?_r=1

A Bishop's Words

Preparing our Hearts and asking for the Grace
We prepare this week by stepping up the longing.  We move through this week by
naming deeper and more specific desires.

Each morning this week, if even for that brief moment at the side of our beds,
we want to light a second inner candle.  We want to let it represent "a bit more
hope."  Perhaps we can pause, breathe deeply and say,

"Lord, I place my trust in you."

Each day this week, as we encounter times that are rushed, even crazy, we can
take that deep breath, and make that profound prayer.  Each time we face some
darkness, some experience of "parched land" or desert, some place where we feel
"defeated" or "trapped," we hear the words, "Our God will come to save us!"

The grace we desire for this week is to be able to hear the promise and to
invite our God to come into those real places of our lives that dearly need
God's coming.  We want to be able to say:

"Lord, I place my trust in your promise.  Please, Lord, rouse your power and
come into this place in my life, this relationship, into this deep
self-defeating pattern.  Please come here and save me."

Each night this week we can look back over the day and give thanks for the
moments of deep breath, that opened a space for more trust and confidence in
God's fidelity to us.  No matter how difficult the challenges we are facing -
from the growing realization of our personal sinfulness, to any experience of
emptiness or powerlessness, even in the face of death itself - we can give
thanks for the two candles that faithfully push back the darkness.  And, we can
give thanks for the graces given us to believe that "Our God will come to save
us" because we were given the courageous faith to desire and ask boldly.

Come, Lord Jesus.  Come and visit your people.
We await your coming.  Come, O Lord.

http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/Advent/secondweek.ht\
ml

The "Manhattan Declaration" has just passed the quarter-million mark in signatures.  Please respond by supporting the Manhattan Refutaion.

For those of you not following this controversy, an explanation.  I am not as in the know as I would like to be, but here is what I understand:  In short, the "Religious Right" crafted a document, supposedly to support:

1. the sanctity of human life
2. the dignity of marriage as the conjugal union of husband and wife
3. the rights of conscience and religious liberty.

It is called the Manhattan Declaration.

Progressive Christians have created a response, The Manhattan Refutation, in order to distinguish the difference between supporting religious freedom and condoning laws that are biased.

Here is an explanation of the latter group from their Facebook page:

http://www.facebook.com/posted.php?id=1373450818&share_id=193335561573&comments=1#/group.php?gid=213683684151

"We are an ecumenical group of Christians who stand in opposition to the myopic and bigoted statements found in the recent "Manhattan Declaration".

While we readily affirm the preamble of the Manhattan Declaration, which states "Christians are heirs of a 2,000 year tradition of proclaiming God's word, seeking justice in our societies, resisting tyranny, and reaching out with compassion to the poor, oppressed and suffering," we find that the the Declaration is in keeping with other, more unfortunate Christian traditions; those of marginalizing those who differ from the perceived "norm" and pronouncing judgment upon others.

This group was begun by members of the Progressive Christian Alliance; a post-denominational network of Christian ministries; to refute the bigotry and intolerance found in the Manhattan declaration.

All are welcome to join with us in this effort."

We Needed a New Approach in Afghanistan — and This Isn't It

by Jim Wallis 12-02-2009


The decision by President Obama to send additional troops to Afghanistan saddens
me. I believe it is a mistake, it is the wrong direction for U.S. foreign
policy, and it is disappointing to many of us in the faith community and our
friends who spearhead the on-the-ground development efforts in Afghanistan and
around the world.

We needed a new approach to the very difficult and complicated situation in
Afghanistan, and this isn't it. We were promised fundamental change in the
direction of U.S. policy around the world, and this isn't it. We were promised
change we can believe in, and this military escalation is not something many of
us as faith leaders can believe in. This is still a primary reliance on military
solutions and occupations to defeat terrorism — a strategy which has not
succeeded. The defeat of violent extremism is a necessary goal of the
international community — but old thinking, old ideas, old strategies, have
failed time and time again to do that. And we have no reason to believe it will
succeed this time.

Two weeks ago, we delivered to the White House an open letter to the president
calling on him to lead with a different kind of "surge" — a surge of strategic
and focused international development, diplomacy, and targeted humanitarian
assistance (and, yes, the necessary security to support it), rather than again
relying on more military escalation. Seventeen thousand people have signed on to
that letter. We heard little of that new approach in this announcement of
sending more troops to fight terrorism. To undermine, isolate, and roll back the
influence, capacity, and power of groups like al Qaeda is a necessary goal, but
we still fail to fully comprehend how the presence and consequences of foreign
military power serve to strengthen the extremism we seek to weaken.  The plan
that the president announced last evening is still the wrong kind of surge, and
the emphasis of this policy is still in the wrong place. The history of the
troubled country of Afghanistan, the lack of a reliable governance partner, the
absolute failure of every other occupation of that nation, and the consistent
mistake of leading with military solutions all predict sad outcomes for this old
approach. Our nation's growing skepticism about this war is well-founded.

Ultimately, only a whole new approach to Afghanistan will have any chance of
success. And many of us will continue to call for that, in the hope that the
Obama administration will eventually listen. In the meantime, we will pray for
our servicemen and women who will continue to sacrifice for a tragic strategy,
for more innocent civilians in Afghanistan who will die from more military
escalation, for a president whose deepest instincts we still trust, and for the
soul of our own nation. May God save us from our well-intentioned mistakes.

http://blog.sojo.net/2009/12/02/we-needed-a-new-approach-in-afghanistan-and-this\
-isn%e2%80%99t-it/

Advent, like its cousin Lent, is a season for prayer and reformation of our
hearts. Since it comes at winter time, fire is a fitting sign to help us
celebrate Advent...If Christ is to come more fully into our lives this
Christmas, if God is to become really incarnate for us, then fire will have to
be present in our prayer.Our worship and devotion will have to stoke the kind of
fire in our souls that can truly change our hearts. Ours is a great
responsibility not to waste this Advent time. -- Edward Hays, "A Pilgrim's
Almanac"

From "Praying Advent:"

Shopping during Advent

Dear God, as I look through my gift shopping list, I hold up to you each person
listed on it. Slowly, one by one, I ask that the fire of your abundant love burn
within each of them.  I pray that the gift I find for each person will bring joy
into that life.
But, help me to keep a balance this season, Lord. Let me keep my buying in
perspective, not to spend more than I need to or can afford.  Let me not give in
to the pressures of this world and not equate love with money spent. Let me
always remember the many, many people who have so much less in material things.
Help me to buy wisely, so that my choices will not burden those in other
countries who are so deeply affected by this country's economy.

And finally, loving God, help me to find time in the frantic moments of each day
to become centered on you.  Walking through a store, riding on the bus, hurrying
down a street: let each of these times be moments when I can remember your
incredible love for me and rejoice in it.

Obama's Declining Popularity

By: Michael Lerner


While Obama is still hailed around the world in almost messianic tones, recent
polls indicate his approval rate is below 50% in the U.S. How could a man who
aroused so much hope be losing support so dramatically? And what lessons can be
learned for politicians all around the world?

Obama was swept to office precisely because he spoke to the deepest aspirations
of the American electorate. He made "change" his major campaign mantra, and when
people said that significant change was impossible, he added the mantra "Yes we
can." He captured the Democratic Party nomination by contrasting his own
anti-war perspective to that of Hillary Clinton who had voted for the war in
Iraq. And his very being as a progressive African-American in a society that has
not yet overcome its racism, coupled with his history as a community organizer,
led tens of millions of Americans to believe that this time there was really
something new happening.

Most people on the planet, of course, have heard a story about human reality
that portrays us as surrounded by selfish others whose commitment to advancing
their own interests has led them to seek to dominate or control everyone else,
lest they themselves be dominated.  This worldview, floating around the world
for the past several thousand years, got even greater prominence in the past few
decades when the ethos of solidarity that had prevailed for a few decades in the
labor movement began to fade as globalization weakened the capacity of workers'
to resist the pressures of the capitalist marketplace. Increasingly working
people began to experience their work world as filled with co-workers who were
seeking to advance their own interests without regard to the consequences for
others.  And political leaders used the Cold War, and then the rise of militant
Islam, to convince many that the world was filled with evil forces and that our
only protection would be to dominate them before they succeeded in wiping out
our way of life. The worldview of fear and the consequent need to dominate and
control others gave new strength to the old stories of an unsafe world.

Yet there has always been a competing vision of human beings that emphasizes the
possibility of love and caring for each other. None of us would have survived
our first few years without receiving the love and caring of a mothering-other
whose generous outpouring of love to us was not based on a rational assessment
of likely "good return" on her/his investment of time and energy. That
experience lent credence to the picture that emerged in spiritual and religious
communities of human beings as capable of building loving connections, and of
security as achievable through mutual caring and cooperation on the individual,
national and global levels.

Both of these worldviews  contend in most of us all the time, and the power of
Obama was that he was willing to challenge the worldview of fear and domination
and suggest that policies could actually be based on love and generosity and
mutual caring.

No wonder, then, that many Americans have felt deeply betrayed when Obama
supported pouring hundreds of billions of dollars into the existing banking
system without requiring reform, without legislating a freeze on expelling
people from their homes who could not meet mortgage payments, or creating a
national bank to provide interest-free loans to small businesses that could
employ the rising army of the unemployed. Things got worse when instead of
embracing "Medicare for All" or some system that would eliminate the profiteers
from health care, he allowed the lobbyists whom he had promised to eliminate
from government to pour millions into shaping a very problematic heatlh care
reform.  He backed an environmental "And then Obama turned his promise to chase
Bin Laden and capture him in Pakistan or Afghanistan into a full-scale war with
human and economic costs that could be enormous.

Obama had enormous political credibility that could have been used to put
forward a new vision for homeland security based on generosity and a Global
Marshall Plan, could have chased the profiteers out of health care, could have
could have used the economic meltdown to once and for all expose the false
promises of the competitive capitalist marketplace. Failing to do that, many
Americans reverted to the more fearful worldview, and on that terrain, the Right
often seems to be more consistent. Ironically, the political Right is now able
to present itself as the populist voice of anger at a Democratic Party  which
promised real change and then has legislated policies that actually largely
continued the status quo. This is a ticket for political backlash that may be
felt not only in the 2010 Congressional elections but in the Presidential race
in 2012.

http://blog.beliefnet.com/progressiverevival/

Advent, Apocalypse Now?

By: Diana Butler Bass


"There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on the earth
distress among nations caused by the roaring of the sea and the waves,"
proclaims Jesus in the Gospel of Luke. He continued:

People will faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming upon the world, for
the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then they will see 'the Son of Man
coming in a cloud' with power and great glory. Now when these things begin to
take place, stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing
near (Luke 21:25-28).

On the first Sunday of Advent, the traditional lectionary texts do not direct
our attention toward the joys of Christmas. No anticipation of the sweet infant
mild, a beautiful young mother, angelic choirs, or a star-filled winter sky.
Silent Night is absent from this scene. Instead, Advent 1 slaps us with the
uncertainty and violence of human history--signs of dread, floods, earthquakes,
and "distress among nations," that cause people to "faint with fear." Those
awaiting Luke's lovely story of Jesus' birth will be disappointed; this is less
Luke and more like the Apocalypse.

For many of us raised with The Late Great Planet Earth or the Left Behind
series, images of apocalypse are worrisome. Progressive Christians shy away from
preaching on texts like these. Over the last thirty years, we've seen end-times
fears manipulated into the powerful political movement of a Christian American
Right--complete with its careless disregard for the planet, the poor, and peace.
Those of us attracted to the vision of the Beatitudes may find Luke's end-times
vision a little hard to take. We've had too much experience with a callous form
of faith that does not seek to redeem the world and only wishes to escape it.

Long before what we know as end-times theology, however, our liberal Protestant
ancestors believed that Advent was the most appropriate part of the liturgical
year to consider the signs of the times and preaching on the comings (yes,
plural) of Christ. They appreciated the poetic interplay of the first coming of
Jesus with the anticipation of the second coming of Christ. Were these two
distinct events, separated in time? What, exactly, is an "end"? How is
Christmas, the most beloved of Christian holy days related to the wild
depictions of cosmic desolation? The quiet coming of the gentle Lamb Jesus and
the mighty roar of the Christ-the-Lion? The book of Revelation even conflates
the two: "See the Lion of the tribe of Judah...Then I saw a Lamb."

Part of the problem with end-times theology is that western people have defined
time as a line. We think in terms of beginning, middle, and end. Thus, to
consider the "end times" is to anticipate the end of the world-as-we-know it; a
universal devastation on the scale of 2012, when history ceases to be. Events
follow one another in a cause-and-effect, logical sort of way. But the biblical
texts of Advent point in another, more mysterious direction--that time is not a
line. Rather, time exists in the being of God. Indeed, from this perspective,
time is timeless. Think about it for just a moment: What do the divisions past,
present, and future really mean? When does the present slip to the past? When
does the future arrive? When is the now of the present? Isn't time much more of
a wonder than a line?

If we enter the Advent journey with a different understanding of time, the
apocalyptic texts speak afresh. Indeed, the words of the liturgical prayer
weekly reminds us of the mystery of God's redemptive time: Jesus has come; Jesus
comes; Jesus will come. This is the dance of time, grace-filled steps that enact
God's vision that the end-times are all times; that all times are the end-times.
In this spirit of times-enfolded-in-time, we walk through Advent. Jesus has been
born, but we act as if we are still waiting. Christ will return, yet Christ has
already come.

What words better describe our world than those of Luke? "People will faint from
fear and foreboding of what is coming upon the world." These are not words of
some far-off moment in time. They are words of NOW: Our cities and churches are
full of people who are afraid--afraid of loss of their jobs, of income, of
health care, of decency, of safety, of change, of pluralism, of... of ... of ...
The list of fears is nearly endless. Yet--be honest--has there ever really been
a time in human history when we've not been filled with such fears? Luke's words
are also the words of all our yesterdays. We may imagine that the past was
better, safer, cleaner, or more stable, but that is not the case. We are a
fragile lot, we humans, and our history is roiled with fear--and the stupid
things that we humans do when we are afraid. And sadly, enough, they are
probably the words of many of humanity's tomorrows. Apocalyptic theology does
not augur escape; rather, it provides a profoundly realistic view of history--a
view that should plunge us more deeply into the shalom of God-in-the-world.

Jesus says, "When you see these things, do not cower in fear, for your
transformation is drawing near." Advent teaches us that in the darkest places of
human oppression, the pain of hunger, and political distress that God's reign is
among us. "Do not be caught off-guard by the fear-filled tides of history,"
Jesus warned. "But be mindful, praying for strength, that you may escape the
fears that roil the earth, and may stand with God" (Luke 21:36).

This Advent, hold these three practices: Be mindful. Pray. Stand. And do not be
afraid.

http://blog.beliefnet.com/progressiverevival/

28 Nov 2009

In fact, US military spending is almost half (48%) of the world total! Yes, that means that we spend more on war than pretty much all other countries in the world put together

New Film in Theaters Soon

"The End of Poverty"

http://www.TheEndofPoverty.com

******************************

http://www.sojo.net

New Film in Theaters Soon

"The End of Poverty"

http://www.TheEndofPoverty.com

******************************

http://www.sojo.net

Once again this year I want to remind everyone of the great resource "Praying
Advent."  They have many great daily and weekly prayers, reflections,
meditations, even audio retreats and reflections.  It is such a great wealth of
resources for the advent season.  Here is the weekly prayer for the first week
of Advent:

Father, all powerful and ever-living God,
we do well always and everywhere
to give you thanks
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
When he humbled himself to come among us,
he fulfilled the plan you formed long ago
and opened for us the way to salvation.

Now we watch for the day,
hoping that the salvation promised us will be ours
when Christ will come again in his glory.

And so, with all the choirs of angels in heaven
we proclaim your glory
and join in their unending hymn of praise:

Holy, holy, holy Lord,
God of power and might,
heaven and earth are full of your glory.
Hosanna in the highest.
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord
Hosanna in the highest.


http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/Advent/

CLERGY GONE WILD

http://www.clergygonewild.com

A Native American (Haudenosaunee) Prayer of Thanksgiving



The People

Today we have gathered and we see that the cycles of life continue. We have been
given the duty to live in balance and harmony with each other and all living
things. So now, we bring our minds together as one as we give greetings and
thanks to each other as People.

Now our minds are one.


The Earth Mother

We are all thankful to our Mother, the Earth, for she gives us all that we need
for life. She supports our feet as we walk about upon her. It gives us joy that
she continues to care for us as she has from the beginning of time. To our
Mother, we send greetings and thanks.

Now our minds are one.


The Waters

We give thanks to all the Waters of the world for quenching our thirst and
providing us with strength. Water is life. We know its power in many forms -
waterfalls and rain, mists and streams, rivers and oceans. With one mind, we
send greetings and thanks to the spirit of water.

Now our minds are one.


The Fish

We turn our minds to all the Fish life in the water. They were instructed to
cleanse and purify the water. They also give themselves to us as food. We are
grateful that we can still find pure water. So, we turn now to the Fish and send
our greetings and thanks.

Now our minds are one.


The Plants

Now we turn toward the vast fields of Plant life. As far as the eye can see, the
Plants grow, working many wonders. They sustain many life forms. With our minds
gathered together, we give thanks and look forward to seeing Plant life for many
generations to come.

Now our minds are one.


The Food Plants

With one mind, we turn to honor and thank all the Food Plants we harvest from
the garden. Since the beginning of time, the grains, vegetables, beans and
berries have helped the people survive. Many other living things draw strength
from them too. We gather all the Plant Foods together as one and send them a
greeting and thanks.

Now our minds are one.


The Medicine Herbs

Now we turn to all the Medicine herbs of the world. From the beginning, they
were instructed to take away sickness. They are always waiting and ready to heal
us. We are happy there are still among us those special few who remember how to
use these plants for healing. With one mind, we send greetings and thanks to the
Medicines and to the keepers of the Medicines.

Now our minds are one.


The Animals

We gather our minds together to send greetings and thanks to all the Animal life
in the world. They have many things to teach us as people. We see them near our
homes and in the deep forests. We are glad they are still here and we hope that
it will always be so.

Now our minds are one.


The Trees

We now turn our thoughts to the Trees. The Earth has many families of Trees who
have their own instructions and uses. Some provide us with shelter and shade,
others with fruit, beauty and other useful things. Many peoples of the world use
a Tree as a symbol of peace and strength. With one mind, we greet and thank the
Tree life.

Now our minds are one.


The Birds

We put our minds together as one and thank all the Birds who move and fly about
over our heads. The Creator gave them beautiful songs. Each day they remind us
to enjoy and appreciate life. The Eagle was chosen to be their leader. To all
the Birds - from the smallest to the largest - we send our joyful greetings and
thanks.

Now our minds are one.


The Four Winds

We are all thankful to the powers we know as the Four Winds. We hear their
voices in the moving air as they refresh us and purify the air we breathe. They
help to bring the change of seasons. From the four directions they come,
bringing us messages and giving us strength. With one mind, we send our
greetings and thanks to the Four Winds.

Now our minds are one.


The Thunderers

Now we turn to the west where our Grandfathers, the Thunder Beings, live. With
lightning and thundering voices, they bring with them the water that renews
life. We bring our minds together as one to send greetings and thanks to our
Grandfathers, the Thunderers.

Now our minds are one.


The Sun

We now send greetings and thanks to our eldest Brother, the Sun. Each day
without fail he travels the sky from east to west, bringing the light of a new
day. He is the source of all the fires of life. With one mind, we send greetings
and thanks to our Brother, the Sun.

Now our minds are one.


Grandmother Moon

We put our minds together and give thanks to our oldest grandmother, the Moon,
who lights the night-time sky. She is the leader of women all over the world,
and she governs the movement of the ocean tides. By her changing face we measure
time, and it is the Moon who watches over the arrival of children here on Earth.
With one mind, we send greetings and thanks to our Grandmother, the Moon.

Now our minds are one.


The Stars

We give thanks to the Stars who are spread across the sky like jewelry. We see
them in the night, helping the Moon to light the darkness and bringing dew to
the gardens and growing things. When we travel at night, they guide us home.
With our minds gathered together as one, we send greetings and thanks to all the
Stars.

Now our minds are one.


The Enlightened Teachers

We gather our minds to greet and thank the enlightened Teachers who have come to
help throughout the ages. When we forget how to live in harmony, they remind us
of the way we were instructed to live as people. With one mind, we send
greetings and thanks to these caring Teachers.

Now our minds are one.


The Creator

Now we turn our thoughts to the Creator, or Great Spirit, and send greetings and
thanks for the gifts of Creation. Everything we need to live a good life is here
on this Mother Earth. For all the love that is still around us, we gather our
minds together as one and send our choicest words of greetings and thanks to the
Creator.

Now our minds are one.


Closing Words

We have now arrived at the place where we end our words. Of all the things we
have named, it was not our intention to leave anything out. If something was
forgotten, we leave it to each individual to send such greetings and thanks in
their own way.

Now our minds are one.


http://www.firstpeople.us/html/A-Haudenosaunee-Thanksgiving-Prayer.html

--- In On_A_Left_Wing_and_A_Prayer@yahoogroups.com, "Stephen"
<stephenmarykay@...> wrote:
>
... I think this list forgot one really good option. The Denise option:
Move to Europe.
>
>
>
>


I was not prepared for that last line... I may have awakened the whole
bldg, laughing!

For the record, my move had nothing to do with politics, and it's fun
seeing American Politics through "German Eyes".

I've been thinking about this article more and more as we get closer and closer
to the holidays. Last year Aunt Limbaugh was there in her new Sarah Palin
glasses as she praised the wonder that is Glenn Beck with all the other
ditto-heads.  She then turned to criticized the movie on TV -- turning a
Christmas movie about the value of family into a rant about Hollywood's hatred
of capitalism.  Something inside my fevered brain snapped.  I felt like the
Grinch, "Why for fifty three years I've put up with this now. I must stop this
(nonsense) from coming, but how?"  You must understand that this is my wife's
family and I barely say two words when I'm there.  I blurted out the only two
words that were in my fevered mind.  "Elephant Shit!"  This is my term for
Republican B.S.  The room grew eerily quiet as they stared at the strange
twitching progressive in the room.  I'm certain they wondered why, when I hadn't
said two words in twenty years I suddenly blurted out those two words like I had
Tourettes or something.  Not impressed by the reason and logic of my argument,
they picked up the conversation right where they had left off.  I'm not looking
forward to Thanksgiving.  I think this list forgot one really good option.  The
Denise option:  Move to Europe.





--- In On_A_Left_Wing_and_A_Prayer@yahoogroups.com, "denise_ny_1"
<thalia1959@...> wrote:
>
>
> I liked this article and it speaks (with humor) to some of the issues we
> left of the aisle Christians deal with in the Holiday Season:
>
> http://airamerica.com/really/11-19-2009/how-debate-republican/

Cosmic dave (and others), if you're on facebook, you should know about the group where I found the link.  It's called

Yes, I am Christian, and Yes, I Support Gay Marriage.

and it's at http://www.facebook.com/#/group.php?gid=2297152916

d.

Psalm 109:8 ¡ª A Prayer to Destroy Obama?
by Diana Butler Bass 11-17-2009


During the last few days, Psalm 109:8, a Bible verse in the form of a ¡°prayer
for Obama,¡± has topped the Google trends chart:  ¡°May his days be few; may
another take his office.¡±  Evidently, a bumper sticker emblazoned with this
verse has popped up in various parts of the country.  It is a sort of right-wing
Christian equivalent to the old ¡°01.20.09¡å stickers looking forward to the end
of the Bush era.

It was, most likely, intended as a joke.  But it isn¡¯t really very funny. 
Especially since the next verse reads, ¡°May his children be orphans, and his
wife a widow.¡±  The passage goes on the same way ¡ª asking God to pulverize
this poor fellow ¡ª that he lose all his worldly goods, that his orphans be
abandoned, that his father be remembered as a sinner, and finally, that ¡°his
memory be cut off from the earth.¡±

Thus, the ¡°Prayer for Obama¡± does more than anticipate that he leaves office;
it entreats God to destroy the president.

Psalm 109 belongs to a special category of the psalms known as ¡°imprecatory¡±
prayers ¡ª it is a lament in the form of petition to destroy one¡¯s enemies.  It
is the personal prayer of an individual, someone who has been dealt an injustice
by another (usually more powerful) person.  The words of Psalm 109 are those of
deep agony, the longings of a victim for retribution and justice.  This psalm is
considered one of the most difficult of all the psalms ¡ª full of violent images
of vengeance and death.   Many a biblical critic has struggled with its words,
and not a few ¡ª including Roman Catholic and mainline Protestant theologians ¡ª
recommend it not be used in public worship, much less as a bumper-sticker
political slogan.

In his marvelous book, Reflections on the Psalms, C.S. Lewis observed:

In some of the Psalms the spirit of hatred which strikes us in the face is like
the heat from a furnace mouth.  In others the same spirit ceases to be frightful
only by becoming (to a modern mind) almost comic in its naivety.  Examples can
be found all over the Psalter, but perhaps the worst is in 109 (p. 20).

Lewis suspects that it may be best to leave such psalms alone.  But then he says
that we must face ¡°facts squarely.¡±

The hatred is there ¡ª festering, gloating, undisguised ¡ª and also we should be
wicked if we in any way condoned or approved it, or (worse still) used it to
justify similar passions in ourselves (p. 22).

Lewis refers to these psalms as horrible, devilish, cruel, hateful, and evil. 
He believes that Psalm 109 ¡ª and the poetry of its kind in the psalter ¡ª
should point us back to the evil we carry within and teach us each how to behave
with goodness, humility, and love.

According to the venerable C.S. Lewis, then, a ¡°Prayer for Obama¡± is really a
prayer for ourselves to go beyond ¡°festering, gloating, undisguised¡± hatred. 
¡±If the Divine does not call to make us better, it will make us very much
worse,¡± he reminded his readers.  ¡°Of all bad men, religious bad men are the
worst.¡±


Diana Butler Bass is pretty much a postmodern progressive. In addition to
blogging here, she also blogs at Progressive Revival and is the author of the
new book, A People¡¯s History of Christianity: The Other Side of the Story.

http://blog.sojo.net/2009/11/17/psalm-1098-a-prayer-to-destroy-obama/

Good editorial from The Washington Post

http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/panelists/john_bryson_chane/2009/11/a_christian_case_for_same-sex_marriage.html

Episcopal Bishop of Washington

John Bryson Chane

A Christian case for same-sex marriage

Most media coverage of the D.C. Council's steps toward civil marriage equality for same-sex couples has followed a worn-out script that gives the role of speaking for God to clergy who are opposed to equality. As the bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, I would say respectfully to my fellow Christians that people who deny others the blessings they claim for themselves should not assume they speak for the Almighty. And to journalists I would offer a short history of changing Christian understandings of the institution of marriage.

Christians have always argued about marriage. Jesus criticized the Mosaic law on divorce, saying "What God has joined together let no man separate." But we don't see clergy demanding that the city council make divorce illegal.

Some conservative Christian leaders claim that their understanding of marriage is central to Christian teaching. How do they square that claim with the Apostle Paul's teaching that marriage is an inferior state, one reserved for people who are not able to stay singly celibate and resist the temptation to fornication?

As historian Stephanie Coontz points out, the church did not bless marriages until the third century, or define marriage as a sacrament until 1215. The church embraced many of the assumptions of the patriarchal culture, in which women and marriageable children were assets to be controlled and exploited to the advantage of the man who headed their household. The theology of marriage was heavily influenced by economic and legal considerations; it emphasized procreation, and spoke only secondarily of the "mutual consolation of the spouses."

In the 19th and 20th centuries, however, the relationship of the spouses assumed new importance, as the church came to understand that marriage was a profoundly spiritual relationship in which partners experienced, through mutual affection and self-sacrifice, the unconditional love of God.

The Episcopal Church's 1979 Book of Common Prayer puts it this way: "We believe that the union of husband and wife, in heart, body and mind, is intended by God for their mutual joy; for the help and comfort given one another in prosperity and adversity; and, when it is God's will, for the procreation of children and their nurture in the knowledge and love of the Lord."

Our evolving understanding of what marriage is leads, of necessity, to a re-examination of who it is for. Most Christian denominations no longer teach that all sex acts must be open to the possibility of procreation, and therefore contraception is permitted. Nor do they hold that infertility precludes marriage. The church has deepened its understanding of the way in which faithful couples experience and embody the love of the creator for creation. In so doing, it has put itself in a position to consider whether same-sex couples should be allowed to marry.

Theologically, therefore, Christian support for same-sex marriage is not a dramatic break with tradition, but a recognition that the church's understanding of marriage has changed dramatically over 2,000 years.

I have been addressing the sound theological foundation for a new religious understanding of marriage, because it disturbs me greatly to see opposition to marriage for same-sex couples portrayed as the only genuinely religious or Christian position. I am somewhat awed by the breadth of religious belief and life experience reflected among more than 200 clergy colleagues who are publicly supporting marriage equality in D.C.

But it's important to emphasize that the actions taken by the D.C. Council do not address the religious meaning of marriage at all. The proposed legislation would not force any congregation to change its religious teachings or bless any couple. Our current laws do not force any denomination to offer religious blessing to second marriages, yet those marriages, like interfaith marriages, are equal in the sight of the law even though some churches do not consider them religiously valid.

Existing laws require religious organizations that receive public funding to extend the same benefits to gay employees as to straight ones. In many instances, that includes health care for spouses. This has led some religious leaders, who believe same-sex marriage to be sinful, to threaten to get out of the social service business. I respect these individuals' right to their convictions, but I do not follow their logic. The Catholic Church, for instance, teaches that remarriage without an annulment is sinful, yet it has not campaigned against extending health benefits to such couples. Additionally, several Catholic dioceses in states that permit same-sex marriage have found a way to accommodate themselves to such laws.

D.C.'s proposed marriage equality law explicitly protects the religious liberty of those who believe that God's love can be reflected in the loving commitment between two people of the same sex and of those who do not find God there. This is as it should be in a society so deeply rooted in the principles of religious freedom and equality under the law.

John Bryson Chane is Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington DC, and a member of the Chicago Consultation, which works towards the full inclusion of gays and lesbians in the Anglican Church.

By John Bryson Chane  |  November 16, 2009; 8:12 AM ET

I liked this article and it speaks (with humor) to some of the issues we left of the aisle Christians deal with in the Holiday Season:

http://airamerica.com/really/11-19-2009/how-debate-republican/

How To Debate A Conservative

Thursday November 19, 2009 1:54 a.m.

SARAH PALIN TAKES AIM AT VEGETARIANS

http://www.vegsource.com/news/2009/11/sarah-palin-takes-aim-at-vegetarians-i
n-going-rogue.html

Sarah Palin's highly anticipated memoir, GOING ROUGE: AN
AMERICAN LIFE, will hit the bookshelves November 17.  In
the book, Palin traces her experiences from small town
Alaskan girl  to being on the national stage as the GOP vice
presidential nominee.

Besides addressing her views on the McCain campaign and
the media, Palin, a passionate Alaskan hunter, takes aim at
vegetarians. Palin states, "If any vegans came over for
dinner, I could whip them up a salad, then explain my
philosophy on being a carnivore: If God had not intended for
us to eat animals, how come He made them out of meat?"

The accommodating host went on to explain, "I love meat. I
eat pork chops, thick bacon burgers,  and the seared fatty
edges of a medium-well-done steak. But I especially love
moose and caribou. I always remind people from outside our
state that there's plenty of room for all Alaska's animals -
right next to the mashed potatoes."

Unfortunately Palin's viewpoints on vegetarianism is not only
narrow minded but is also widely shared.  The cliche' portrait
of a vegetarian meal predominately includes a huge bowl of
salad flanked only by a glass of water and carrot wedges.
The plethora of food options available to those who have
forgone meat is endless but mostly ignored by the masses.