Category Archives: Uncategorized

Rev. Roy Bourgeois Facing Excommunication Over Support for Women Priests

Posted on November 14, 2008 | Leave a comment

I have always supported Father Roy and the closing of the School of the  Americas.  I have met Father Roy on several occasions, here in Utah and at Ft. Benning, GA in 2007, as have many others of us.  Please  read the post from the Christian Radical below and consider supporting him in his support  of women being ordained into the Catholic Church.
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 Rev. Roy Bourgeois Facing Excommunication Over Support for Women Priests
http://thechristianradical.blogspot.com/2008/11/rev-roy-bourgeois-facing.html

Bill Quigley
November 11 2008
PLEASE READ AND CIRCULATE

Friends:

Here is the latest communication, dated November 7, 2008, from Fr. Roy Bourgeois
regarding the threat of excommunication by Rome for refusing to stop speaking out in
favor of Women Priests in the Catholic Church.

I have also enclosed some action items with addresses where people can write. Please take
the time to read this and take action. Please feel free to send this to all the justice
people you know.

Bill Quigley

Rev. Roy Bourgeois, M.M.
PO Box 3330, Columbus, GA 31903
November 7, 2008

TO THE CONGREGATION FOR THE DOCTRINE OF THE FAITH, THE VATICAN

I was very saddened by your letter dated October 21, 2008, giving me 30 days to recant my
belief and public statements that support the ordination of women in our Church, or I
will be excommunicated.

I have been a Catholic priest for 36 years and have a deep love for my Church and
ministry. (…)

When I was a young man in the military, I felt God was calling me to the priesthood. I
entered Maryknoll and was ordained in 1972.

Over the years I have met a number of women in our Church who, like me, feel called by
God to the priesthood. You, our Church leaders at the Vatican, tell us that women cannot
be ordained.

With all due respect, I believe our Catholic Church’s teaching on this issue is wrong and
does not stand up to scrutiny. A 1976 report by the Pontifical Biblical Commission
supports the research of Scripture scholars, canon lawyers and many faithful Catholics
who have studied and pondered the Scriptures and have concluded that there is no
justification in the Bible for excluding women from the priesthood. Continue reading →

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Protests this weekend in Salt Lake City and Logan as part of Nationwide Effort against Prop 8

Posted on November 13, 2008 | Leave a comment
Logan - Join the Impact: Find Your City

Logan:  City Hall: 255 N Main Street Logan Ut, 84321 – 11:30am
Salt Lake City:  451 S State St # 304, Salt Lake City, UT 84111 – 11:30am
                            elaineballfr@gmail.com – (801) 654-7614

http://image.wetpaint.com/image/1/acDWQbxCTWIsxJeWSO3gpw33876/GW765H137

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How Would It Be?

Posted on November 13, 2008 | Leave a comment

Continue reading →

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Dang those Gays!

Posted on November 12, 2008 | Leave a comment

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“Happy” Veterans Day

Posted on November 11, 2008 | Leave a comment

Iraq and Afghanistan War Veterans Join The Homeless

 

Ethan Kreutzer joined the Army at the age of 17 and fought with the 19th Airborne in Jalalabad, Afghanistan. When he retuned home, he had no money, no education and no civilian job experience. He soon became homeless. He slept in an alley off Haight Street, behind two trash cans.

June Moss drove from Kuwait to Iraq as an Army engineer in a truck convoy. When she returned to the United States, she lost her home, and drove her two young children from hotel to hotel across Northern California.

Sean McKeen, a hardy, broad-shouldered 21-year-old with a wide smile, went to Iraq to clear land mines, and to get money for college. When he returned home, he became homeless in less than a week. He found himself sleeping in a cot in a crowded homeless shelter in San Francisco.

They are all part of a growing trend of homelessness among returning war on terrorism veterans.

Read More

 

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Equality Utah takes LDS Church at its word

Posted on November 11, 2008 | Leave a comment

Primary Contacts:                                                               
For Immediate Release

    Mike Thompson, Executive Director                                              Monday, November 10, 2008

Cell: 801.879.8880

 

Stephanie Pappas, Board Chair

Cell:  801.450.0660

 

Other Contacts:

Senator Scott McCoy – Cell: 801.809.3566

Representative Christine Johnson – Cell:  801.661.3489

Equality Utah announces Press Conference for Noon Monday

 Equality Utah will ask the LDS Church to demonstrate its conviction on rights for same-sex couples.

 

            Time:                          Noon

Location:        Equality Utah Office

                        175 West 200 South, Suite 3001 – third floor, Salt Lake City

           

Throughout the recent election cycle, the LDS Church has demonstrated its willingness to participate in political issues by asking its members to do all they can do, including donating their means and their time, to support California’s Proposition 8, which amended the state constitution and eliminated same-sex couples right to marry by defining marriage as between a man and a woman.

 

The LDS Church has articulated it is not “anti-gay” but rather pro-marriage and it “does not object to rights for same-sex couples regarding hospitalization and medical care, fair housing and employment rights, or probate rights.” On November 5th, Elder L. Whitney Clayton stated the LDS Church does not oppose “civil unions or domestic partnerships.”  In response to these statements, Equality Utah is drafting legislation for the 2009 General Session of the Utah Legislature to address each of the issues mentioned by the LDS Church.

 

During this press conference Equality Utah will be asking the LDS Church to demonstrate its conviction on these statements as well as its willingness to secure such rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Utahns.

 

Today we have a great opportunity before us to begin to bridge the divide between the gay community and the LDS community and to seek out common ground.  I take LDS Church leaders at their word that they are not anti-gay and that they sincerely understand that gay and transgender individuals and their families are in need of certain legal protections and basic benefits.  I appreciate their statements that they do not oppose legal protections for gay people like those already enacted in California law that do not conflict with their genuinely held beliefs about marriage.  This is our chance to come together and work to enact basic legal protections for gay Utahns.  I am hopeful that the LDS Church will accept our invitation to heal our communities by bringing its considerable social and political influence to bear in support of laws that prevent discrimination and provide for the legitimate needs of all Utahns and their families.

 ~Senator Scott McCoy

 

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References

 

 

California and Same-Sex Marriage

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

Newsroom

June 30, 2008

http://newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/commentary/california-and-same-sex-marriage

 

 

The Divine Institution of Marriage – Introduction

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

Newsroom

August 13, 2008

http://newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/commentary/the-divine-institution-of-marriage

 

 

Church Responds to Same-Sex Marriage Votes

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

Newsroom

November 5, 2008

http://newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/news-releases-stories/church-responds-to-same-sex-marriage-votes

 

Mormon Leaders Urge Respect for Foes in Gay-Marriage Debate

The Salt Lake Tribune

Brooke Adams

November 5, 2008

http://www.sltrib.com/ci_10907306?IADID=Search-www.sltrib.com-www.sltrib.com

 

LDS Official Lauds Work for California’s Prop. 8
Deseret News

Carrie A. Moore

November 6, 2008

http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,705260852,00.html?pg=2

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Hope for New Orleans: Support Malik Rahim December 6th

Posted on November 9, 2008 | 1 comment

(Reposted from my piece on the Green Pages blog)


Yes we are a rich nation; yes we are one of the most powerful nations. But, the greatness of our nation is not in our government—it is in our people. I have seen the essence of that greatness in those who made sacrifices to come down to help us in our time of need. – Malik Rahim

Green Party candidate for U.S. House of Representatives in New Orlean’s 2nd Congressional District Malik Rahim is working towards the December 6th election which was postponed from November due to Hurrican Ike.

Malik Rahim is the founder of Common Ground Relief Collective, the mission of which is to provide short term relief for victims of hurricane disasters in the gulf coast region, and long term support in rebuilding the communities affected in the New Orleans area.  The collective was formed shortly after the flooding that occured as a result of Hurrican Katrina in 2005.

From Malik  Rahim’s Campaign website:

Malik Rahim, born and raised in New Orleans’ Algiers neighborhood, has worked as an organizer for decades around housing and prison issues. During Hurricane Katrina, Malik stayed to assist the community and has been speaking out about racism and the failures of government exposed by the Katrina disaster.

Malik Rahim founded and operated the Algiers Development Center and Invest Transitional Housing. He is co-founder and outreach organizer of “Housing is a Human Right” in San Francisco, California and co-founded Common Ground Relief in September 2005, with Scott Crow and Brandon Darby. Since Hurricane Katrina, nearly 13,000 volunteers have gutted over 3000 homes in the Ninth Ward of New Orleans through their efforts.

Malik Rahim is quoted at the Nola.com blog regarding the Common Ground Relief Collective and the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina:

We started with $50 at my kitchen table. Now, by the grace of the most high, we have been able to serve well over 150,000 people in direct services and maybe another 400,000 in indirect services. We started three health clinics, and helped start another three health clinics. We work under the premise of restoring hope, while teaching civic responsibility. We have challenged and have broken the stereotype of racial divide. We have had over 10,000 volunteers, with maybe over 9,000 being Caucasians working in African-American and minority communities…. We can make this a better world. It’s all about restoring hope.

Malik Rahim’s Campaign is focusing on these issues:

Malik Rahim spoke at the 2008 Annual National Meeting of the Green Party of the United States in Chicago:

There are many ways to help with the campaign to elect Malik Rahim to Congress.  Visit the campaign’s Take Action page to find out how you can help get him elected.

For information on the elections in Louisiana, visit the Secretary of State’s website.

Other sites offering information about the Malik Rahim:

Green Party of Louisiana

On The Wilder Side

Green Party Watch

Facebook

Independent Political Report

 

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The Mormon Church on “moral” issues

Posted on November 8, 2008 | 2 comments

I find it interesting that the Mormon Church went to great lengths to not only openly support the passage of Proposition 8, but financed an advertising campaign urging voters to support it which included messages to voters, believe it or not, such as if gay marriage is permitted, kindergärtners are likely to be educated on gay sex acts.  The ads were filled with lies and deceptions, particularly at the last minute, and opponents did not have adequate time to respond.

From Alternet News: Why the Prop 8 Gay Marriage Ban Won

Ad after ad told voters that without Prop 8, their churches would be forced to perform same-sex unions and stripped of their tax-exempt status; that schools would teach their children to practice homosexuality, and, perhaps most effective, that a smiling Barack Obama had said, "I’m not in favor of gay marriage." This last bit went out in a flier by the Yes on 8 campaign targeting black households.

From the Deseret News – LDS official lauds work for California’s Prop. 8-Elder Clayton says leaders ‘grateful for the sacrifice’
 
 
Elder L. Whitney Clayton, a member of the church’s Presidency of the Seventy who helped lead the church’s support for Proposition 8, told reporters during a press conference Wednesday that he doesn’t have a total for how much money was donated by Latter-day Saints. He did say it was "considerable and generous" and that church leaders are "grateful for the sacrifice" made by members who participated in the campaign.

“We believe it’s a moral issue and we reserve the right to speak out on moral issues. We of course disapprove when people take exception to us having spoken out, but we are well within our rights and we are glad to have done so, we believe it was the right thing to do,” Clayton said.
Here is a link to the "statement" by the LDS church on Prop 8

Yet when it comes to other "moral" issues (the LDS church’s defense on Prop 8 is that it is a "moral" issue) such as the act of killing in war, and in particular the illegal war and occupation of Iraq, the LDS church remains silent.

I cannot find any declaration or statement against the Iraq War from the LDS church.  So why, then, is it permissable to remain silent on killing and the violation of human rights by the U.S. and other countries in war and occupation, while supporting efforts to violate human rights on other issues?  Could it be that the LDS church has hidden financial benefits to profits from war?

And now, thanks to this campaign to violate the rights of human beings in America, Utah faces a boycott of its tourist industry which will affect citizens adversely.

And shame on other religious communities for marching in step with the LDS church.

The LDS church has overstepped its stance on "moral" issues by bringing this issue into the political arena – an issue that should remain out of politics- thereby violating the principle of separation of church and state.  By virtue of its support on the gay marriage issue in the realm of politics, it has demonstrated to the world that an institution’s values can be imposed on a population of people with the right amount of money to influence how people should vote throught the pscyhological impacts of advertising.
 

 
 

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Lation Radio Talk Show Host Speaks on Latino Vote on Prop 8

Posted on November 8, 2008 | Leave a comment

I find it interesting what communities have supported to take away the rights of other human beings. Below is a commentary by a latino radio talk show host on the Latino vote for Proposition 8.

Commentary: Latinos should see gay marriage a civil right

By Fernando Espuelas
Special to CNN
Editor’s Note: Fernando Espuelas is the host and managing editor of Café Espuelas, a Los Angeles Spanish-language radio talk show and a media entrepreneur.


In spite of what seems to be sweeping approval for a progressive agenda, Latino support of Prop. 8  has exposed an entrenched bias against homosexuality at once profound and confounding.

A marginalized minority — Latinos — voting to take away the rights of another marginalized group — gays and lesbians — is like the kid who’s picked on in the third grade and only makes some headway when a punier kid comes along to take the punches instead.

Espuelas comments on the blitz of advertising swaying voters to vote against Prop 8 for really insane reasons:

Throughout this campaign, in an avalanche of Spanish-language commercials, Latinos were exhorted to vote "Yes" on Prop 8. A calm voice — a voice that could be selling baby wipes or low-fat cookies — told us that we should check yes "for the good of our families," that we must save everything that is good and decent about America.

Take away the civil rights of gays and lesbians so that we can be safe. But safe from what? The low-fat cookie voice of the radio commercial did not really say.

Latinos were asked not just to look away as these rights would be withdrawn, but to actively vote for the demolition of someone else’s family. We were implored to look at "them" as the unredeemable "aliens" that must be expurgated from our society. And we did.

Once you start the process of taking away other peoples’ fundamental rights — like food and water in a jail cell, or the right to drive and listen to whatever music you like — you must ask yourself where to draw the line, and who will draw it? What — and whose — rights will be next on the chopping block?

As Martin Luther King Jr. said, "Injustice anywhere is injustice everywhere." You’d think that as Latinos, proud and strong and willing to fight for our own rights,- we’d refuse to turn against the "punier kid," wouldn’t you?

That we might in fact stand up for that kid, tell the bullies to back off, the same way we told the bullies of racism and "the real America" to take a hike — and in the process carried Obama to triumph.

 


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Posted on November 8, 2008 | Leave a comment

Historic for Some, Same Old Shit for the Rest of Us

(excerpts from this Huffington Post piece by Harvey Fierstein)

While we dance in the streets and pat ourselves on the back for being a nation great enough to reach beyond racial divides to elect our first African-American president let us not forget that we remain a nation still proudly practicing prejudice.

We can still get married, just not to each other. Yes my friends, Florida and California have now made it legal for gay men and lesbians to marry as long as we don’t marry our partners. How much sense does that make?

Now, before you rise up on your high horse to holler, "We’re not against Civil Unions, just Gay Marriage", let me once again explain that THE SUPREME COURT HAS STATED THAT SEPARATE BUT EQUAL IS NOT EQUAL. And even if it were, civil unions are simply not equal to marriage.


So, while we rightfully celebrate the election of our first African American president, let us take a moment to mourn the passage of three new laws legalizing prejudice. Of course there will be those who claim that voters were only protecting the institution of marriage to whom I would suggest it is just as likely that Obama’s supporters were only voting against W. Breaking the lock on my door doesn’t make your home any more secure.

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