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It is becoming increasingly obvious to me, a priest who reads the scientific press, religiously, every week, that the likes of Dick Dorkins are not promoting a new, peaceful humanity free of religious dogmatism, but are advocating a return to the scientific arrogance of the late 19th. Century that gave rise to eugenics and eventually the wars, the dictatorships and the genocide of the 20th. Century. All they now need is a modern day Wagner to give them a musical accompaniment.

Their is an excellent article by Paul Vallely today in
THE INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY which examines the causes of this bitter scientism. It begins by relating the story of Professor Reiss, a non-stipendiary priest, who was hounded out of his job as chief education officer for the Royal Society:

''A clergyman in charge of education for the country's leading scientific organisation – it's a Monty Python sketch," pronounced Britain's top atheist, Richard Dawkins, recently.

The problem was that Reiss, as well as being an evolutionary biologist and population geneticist, is a non-stipendiary priest in the Church of England. When he said recently that science teachers should answer questions about creationism if pupils asked them he was deemed to have been advocating the idea that British schools should teach the idea that the world was magicked up (complete with fossils and ancient geology) just 6,000 years ago – and then tell pupils to make their own minds up between that and the theory of evolution to which the overwhelming scientific evidence points.

The hapless Reiss made it clear that he insists creationism is scientific nonsense. But a handful of the Royal Society's most eminent members began a campaign to have him sacked. Sir Harry Kroto, Sir Richard Roberts and Sir John Sulston said in a letter to the president of the Royal Society: "We gather Professor Reiss is a clergyman, which in itself is very worrisome." We must all now be on the look-out, it now seems for Revs under the beds.

If you do not find this as worrisome as the thought of Mrs Palin becoming vice president of the U.S. then what the feck are you doing hanging around my blog?

Vallely then goes on to explain how American fundamentalism, with its need to control, has created the backlash of atheistic fundamentalism, with its own, just as unyielding, need to control. He finishes his article with the following paragraph, the reading of which should make you want to rush over and read the original article in full:

Perhaps the conflict is not between science and religion but between good and bad ways of doing both. In all of us there will always be a struggle between the craving for certainty, purity and closure and the acceptance of mystery, brokenness and provisionality. At their best, both scientists and people of faith are in a permanent state of awe-struck humility before the wonder and strangeness and messiness of things. At their worst, they are arrogant, dogmatic, and incurious. There's a bit of both in all of us, of course.

Don't miss this not-quite-three-minute "debunking" of the Yes on California Proposition 8 lies ...



... which deserves WIDE distribution!

Ready ... Set ... FORWARD!!!!!
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If JCF is right (for the first time in his life), IT and BP are getting married out there in sunny California today. I send all my love, prayers and best wishes to the two lovebirds and I really hope the day is the best day of their lives - until tomorrow, and the day after that, and the day after that...

Actually, it always surprises me when two lesbians actually "get to the altar" (so to speak). I have visions of them always getting no further than the door -

"After you."

"No, after you."

"No, after you."

"No, after..."

I see that they are thinking of
putting up netting along the
Golden Gate Bridge to catch
people when they jump off.
Unfortunately it won't be in
time for any San Franciscan
readers of this blog who press
play on the following audio-clip.

Should a fundamentalist, Bible-believing murderer, possessed by a demon, be found guilty of murder?

My wife likes the relaxing white noise of football games between teams she cares nothing about. (She gets involved in rooting only for LSU and Illinois. And even I retain some feeling for Illinois teams, as much as I despise the mixture of big-time sports and education.)

Anyway, she just informed me of the latest culinary delight which is being sold at the Texas-Oklahoma football game in Dallas today.

My blood runs cold. We're doomed. Surely, "death to the infidels" will soon be a fact, not just a threat.

My haiku on the end of days:

I've heard the last knell.
Doom. They sell, we consume. But...
Chicken-fried bacon?

Medic!!

My stent's clooging up at the thought...

I'd prefer death by chocolate.

Bill

This week's Friday update is coming out on Saturday ... we've been in Anaheim for a meeting with the Claiming the Blessing Steering Committee and a site visit for General Convention 2009.
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The content of this week's "Witness" is also slightly different.
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Tomorrow, October 12, 2008, is the 10th anniversary of the death of Matthew Shepard. In observance of that date and in celebration of Matthew's life, Integrity past-president Michael Hopkins offers the following reflection:

Matthew Shepard and the Church
by the Reverend Michael Hopkins

Ten years ago a young gay man, Matthew Shepard, was beaten and left to die in rural Wyoming. Two days later he did die. His death received national attention, joining with the death not too long before of an African-American man, James Byrd, dragged behind a truck in Texas.

The two deaths revealed the intolerance and hatred of "minorities" that still lies just below the surface of America. It can be said that we have come farther along in these last ten years both in terms of sexual orientation and race, but hate crimes continue as a sign that we have many miles to go.

I had a personal relationship with the death of Matthew. Besides being a gay man myself, Matthew was also an Episcopalian, as, of course, I am. In addition, I was President of IntegrityUSA (for all of ten days) at the time of his death. I felt compelled to attend his funeral at St. Mark's, Casper, on behalf of his sister and brother gay and lesbian Episcopalians.

There I came face to face with the hatred that killed Matthew in the guise of protestors from a church in Kansas led by a man named Fred Phelps. They held signs proclaiming Matthew was a "fag" who was even now burning in hell, and their verbal taunts were even more horrific. The only consolation was a group of good souls standing silently between them and those of us waiting in line in the cold outside the church.

Mr. Phelps and his followers are in the extreme even in the realm of those Christians who are of the opinion that sex between men or between women is intrinsically sinful. And yet the entire church that remains ambivalent about lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people is culpable in the physical, psychological and spiritual violence inflicted on us. This includes my own beloved church, much as most of it would term itself "progressive." Real discrimination continues and discrimination is at least spiritual violence, pure and simple.

In the Episcopal Church, one of the options for the general confession in our liturgy includes repentance for "the evil done on our behalf." It is a powerful phrase, although the church has barely begun to unpack the many ways it is true and face up to them, which is the only way for repentance to be genuine. The awful truth is that the death of Matthew Shepard was part of the "evil done on our behalf." Any amount of ambivalence or hostility toward lgbt people is in collusion with such an evil act.

Someone at the time of Matthew's death, on various listservs on which Episcopalians can be found, emotionally declared that the church had "blood on its hands." The statement was met with a great deal of protest and even outrage. As a leader, I myself distanced myself from the remark, its own collusion. It was, however, the truth.

My deep prayer as I contemplate this anniversary is that one day, in my lifetime, the church (at the very least, my church) will own up to this truth, repent of it, apologize, and finally amend its life to erase the ambivalence. As Matthew showed us, it is a matter of life and death.

Matthew Wayne Shepard
December 1, 1976 - October 12, 1998

May he rest in peace and rise in glory

=============

In the News

• We rejoice at the news from Connecticut on the Supreme Court ruling there in favor of marriage equality. Integrity's statement, issued shortly after October 10th ruling, applauded the decision as one "in favor of marriage and against bigotry."
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• Meanwhile, in California, the work continues to defeat Propostion 8 and protect marriage equality. The shift in the poll numbers in California indicate that the multi-million dollar full-of-lies ad campaign launched by the resolution proposers has been influential. No on 8 forces are working hard to respond and Integrity is working with them. The margin is still "razor thin" ... visit the No on 8 website to see how you can help save marriage equality in California on November 4th.
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• We also want to note the courage of the witness of Roman Catholic priest Fr. Geoff Farrow in coming out and speaking out against Prop 8 in Fresno, CA. Read about his witness here ... and give thanks for all those who risk so much to speak truth to the powers that continue to oppress and marginalize LGBT people everywhere.
  

Upcoming Events

• Creating Change will take place January 28-February 1, 2009, in Denver. On January 29th the conference will include a day-long institute titled "Empowering and Working with People of Faith." Is is geared for people of faith and religious organizers who want to build a more powerful faith-based movement for LGBT equality and for secular activists who want to build stronger relationships with communities and leaders of faith. This year's Institute will emphasize the strength of multi-faith organizing and will explore sexual liberation, sexuality, and the ways in which religion and spirituality are resources. Conference registrations are now being accepted. The early bird registration rate of $250 is available until November 30, 2008. Integrity encourages all local leaders and inclusion activists to attend.
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• Looking further ahead, the 76th General Convention of the Episcopal Church will be held in Anaheim CA from July 8-17. Some information is already available on the General Convention 2009 web pages. Check them out and bookmark them for future reference as we move toward GC'09.

October 11, 2008
NY Times Op-Ed Columnist
Dear Old Golden Dog Days
By GAIL COLLINS

I miss the good old days. Remember when the presidential campaign was all about oil drilling? That sure was fun.

I miss August. August was neat. The Dow was over 10,000 and nobody had ever heard of Sarah Palin.

Remember how we used to joke about John McCain looking like an old guy yelling at kids to get off his lawn? It’s only in retrospect that we can see that the keep-off-the-grass period was the McCain campaign’s golden era. Now, he’s beginning to act like one of those movie characters who steals the wrong ring and turns into a troll.

During that last debate, while he was wandering around the stage, you almost expected to hear him start muttering: “We wants it. We needs it. Must have the precious.”

Remember when McCain’s campaign ads were all about his being a prisoner of war? I really miss them.

Now they’re all about the Evil That Is Obama. The newest one, “Ambition,” has a woman, speaking in one of those sinister semiwhispers, saying: “When convenient, he worked with terrorist Bill Ayers. When discovered, he lied.” Then suddenly, with no warning whatsoever, she starts ranting about Congressional liberals and risky subprime loans. Then John McCain pops up to say he approved it. All in 30 seconds! And, of course, McCain would think it’s great. For the first time, the Republicans appear to have captured his thought process on tape.

The Republican campaign strategy now involves sending their candidates to areas where everybody is a die-hard McCain supporter already. Then they yell about Obama until the crowd is so frenzied people start making threats. The rest of the country is supposed to watch and conclude that this would be an enjoyable way to spend the next four years.

Maybe the Republicans should have picked somebody else. I miss Mitt Romney. Sure, he was sort of smarmy. But when Mitt was around, the banks had money and Iceland was solvent. And, of course, when we got bored, we could always talk about how he drove to Canada with his Irish setter strapped to the car roof.

I miss the old George W. Bush. When he came out of the White House and made an announcement, you would usually think that whatever he wanted to do was a terrible idea. But at least you thought he could actually make the terrible idea happen.

I miss the old American public that was too busy shopping to worry about the state of the world. Now everybody is getting scared and weird. They’ve been racing off in great numbers to see “Beverly Hills Chihuahua.” And nagging Target to take the Little Mommy Cuddle ‘n Coo dolls off the shelves because people think that when it gurgles you can hear the baby say “Islam is the light.”

I miss the old Cindy McCain. The one who used to go to rallies and sit huddled in the corner looking as if she thought the audience had a communicable disease. Now, she’s right up there on stage, standing behind her husband and making disgusted faces when he rails on about the opposition. And she’s started railing herself. (The family that rants together ...) Obama is waging “the dirtiest campaign in American history.” His votes on Iraq were votes “not to fund my son when he was serving.”

Remember when the McCains wouldn’t talk about the fact that their son was in Iraq? Oh well.

Maybe Cindy is trying to hold her own against Sarah, who is with John almost as much as she is. I miss the old guy-guy McCain who had so many male pals around he looked like a walking fraternity reunion. Now, he’s starting to resemble an ambulatory patient accompanied by female attendants on an outing.

Palin has been pressing the line that people don’t really know “the real Barack Obama,” and who could make the argument better than a woman who we’ve already known for almost six weeks? Really, she’s like one of the family.

We’ve gotten so close we’ve already learned that she didn’t actually sell the plane on eBay, didn’t actually visit the troops in Iraq and didn’t really have a talk with the British ambassador. As soon as we get the Trooper thing and Alaska Independence Party thing and the tax thing figured out, she’ll be an open book.

And she’s got a point about Obama. True, he’s been campaigning for 19 months and has been interviewed by everybody from “Meet the Press” to “Men’s Health.” Which would be O.K. if we were talking about somebody from a small town rather than, as a McCain campaign co-chairman noted delicately, a “guy of the street.”

Back in August, women politicians were afraid of going negative because it might have made them look too strident. Amazing, the things you wind up being nostalgic for.

For most of my ordained life, the entrance to the Convent of Order of St. Helena at Vails Gate has stood for me as a portal into a deeper understanding of hospitality and solitude, of deeper spirituality and prayer, and of understanding what it means to live in religious community.

The bench outside the entrance is the place of quiet expectation - either as one makes an entrance or one is returning back into the world.

The sisters and their guests often gather on the patio outside, to share meals or to catch up on stories, or to find a quiet place to sit and enjoy "God's Chapel".

This was also the site of the Annual July 4th Celebration - Sr. June Thomas on grill, Sr. Ann Prentice on desserts (except for Sr. ES who makes a mean pecan pie), and yours truly on the Bombay Sapphire Gin and Schwepps Tonic - with fresh slices of lime.

The two guest houses on the property were often used for church groups to gather. A few of the CTB (Claiming The Blessing) working retreats were held there, in our earlier days. Ms. Conroy and I would often stay here - with our beloved boxer, Bogart. Dogs were "not exactly allowed" said Sr. June Thomas, but she always made an exception for Bogart. After Bogart died, one of the first people we called was June Thomas. She must have cried for five minutes with us on the phone.

The hermitage has served as a place used by sisters as well as guests, including poets and authors. I have done some of my best writing there.

Come with me into the chapel - one of my favorite places in the Convent.

Not to worry. One of the sisters will call you when it's time for community prayer
by pulling the rope which will ring the bell.

The chapel has no organ. The sisters believe that the human voice is really the only instrument one needs to glorify God.

As good Anglicans, they have an equally high doctrine of Word and Sacrament.

I have always loved the way the light comes into the chapel and dances on the altar, the walls, the pews and the people. Even on rainy or snowy days, the light has always taught me more about prayer than anything I ever learned in seminary. It's amazing what you can learn if you stop talking.

The statue of a woman in prayer never ceases to draw me closer to the heart of prayer.

I will always treasure the days when I would come up on Friday afternoons for spiritual direction and retreat and then rejoice in the privilege it is to preside at the altar and preach.

For a season, I was able to stay through Sunday and
preside at the principal celebration of the Eucharist.

My favorite memory of this altar is the first time Sr. Ellen presided at Eucharist. It was Easter Day. She was so serious, it almost broke your heart. Ms. Conroy would have nothing to do with that. She hid an Easter Egg in the chalice.

I can still see the look on Sr. Ellen's face when she found it. As Ms. Conroy said to her, "If Jesus can trick the Devil out of death, we can trick you into joy!"

These are the views from the sacristy where I would peak out to see who was in the congregation. I don't know why I did that. The sisters always sat in the same pew. Still, it was a treat to peak out expectantly and watch my sisters gather in expectant prayer. I think some of my best sermons were given there.

This stands just outside the Chapel which faces the Monastic Enclosure.
One sister said to me about her new home in Augusta, GA,
"I just can't imagine it! Twenty-three sisters in the same Monastic Enclosure!"
She rolled her eyes and added, "Quiet is one thing. Solitude is quite another."

Whether meals were taken during The Great Silence or in boistrous celebration, the Refectory was always a place where the ministry of Hospitality continued.

The Great Vigil of Easter began well before sunrise and in the Refectory. I will never forget the Easter morning shortly after Sr. Ruth had gotten her hearing aids. In the midst of the last of the readings, Ruth gasped out loud, "I can hear the birds singing!" And, so they were. It was evidence enough that Christ had risen. He had risen, indeed!

The enclosed porch was a wonderful place where silence didn't have to be maintained. Telling jokes and laughing quietly sometimes proved to be harmful to one's rib cage!

Sr. Ellen created this icon of St. Helena, who was, of course, Emperor Constantine's mother (c. 255-c - 350). A Christian, she made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land where she identified many of the sites associated with Jesus; she also believed she had found the true cross.

In the early 1980's, the sisters began to feel the frustration of the masculine language in the psalms and began to change the language of the psalms. They understood that whatever changes they made could not be purely academic or intellectual, but must grow out of their shared prayer in community.

The result was a the Saint Helena's Psalter, published by Church Publishing in 20004. By Eastertide, 2006, they published the first inclusive/expansive Monastic Breviary which is one of my very favorite ways to pray the Divine Office. Not only have they kept the integrity of the architecture of monastic prayer, they have also expanded images of God.

As Sr. Pemberton writes, "seeing God as a mother was not a new idea; from Augustine of Hippo, through Sts. Bernard and Anselm, the maternal side of both the first and second persons of the Trinity has been invoked."

What was specifically new to the Sisters, however, was using the material from Dame Julian's writing in the form of canticles which they assigned to the season of Advent - a celebration of motherhood as we await the celebration of the birth of Jesus.

You can order your own St. Helena's Breviary or Psalter here.

I will close this tribute to them in grateful thanksgiving for all they have contributed to my priestly formation with their trinitarian antiphon:

Glory to God,
Source of all being,
Incarnate Word and
Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning,
is now and will be forever.
Amen.

"Interpreting our state constitutional provisions in accordance with firmly established equal protection principles leads inevitably to the conclusion that gay persons are entitled to marry the otherwise qualified same sex partner of their choice."


JUSTICE RICHARD N. PALMER, of the Connecticut Supreme Court, writing for the majority in a 5-4 ruling.

My friends, there is an elephant in the stock exchange. To be exact, a great, big, galumphing, pink elephant. Yet everybody is pretending it isn't there.

I would have thought by now that one of our wise and respected bishops would have spoken out about it. Carlisle and Rochester spring to mind. But no, there is just an eerie, politically correct silence.

But MadPriest is never found cowering under the cosh of the pc police. Oh, no. And today he is naming names.

Fellow upholders of traditional, Biblical standards of decency, MadPriest can now reveal to the world that the "Credit Crunch" and the resulting collapse of the international money markets is entirely the fault of those evil ne'erdowells who dedicate their lives to promoting the homosexual lifestyle. The gay agenda, the homosexual stance, whatever you wish to label it, has crawled up the backside of the free market and screwed us all.

If only we had tattooed the buggers, as that great prophet and priest, Father Pedro Mullet (undercover chaplain of the English Stock Exchange) so courageously suggested, we would be, even now, enjoying the fruits of speculative capitalism and those fortunate enough to be born in the right place to the right parents could have enjoyed their God-given wealth until the cows came home.


















But there is still something that needs sorting out. Although we now know who is responsible for the financial mess that is sending us all to hell in a handbasket, I have failed to discover exactly how the promoters of gaiety achieved it. And that is this weekend's competition. I am looking for good, sensible, watertight theories detailing how this horrendous crime was carried out.

So, as you are obviously the people to come up with the goods, over to you.

FATHER GEOFF FARROW has been suspended by his bishop for disagreeing, publicly, with his political ideas. The arrogance of the Roman Catholic hierarchy knows no bounds. The vast majority of its members are not pastors, fathers in Christ. They are merely the political functionaries of an aggressive foreign state. Provincial dictators with a disregard for the consequences of their actions that would embarrass Kim Il-sung.

The following is from Father Geoff's most recent post. It is extremely important that you all continue to visit his blog regularly. You do not have to leave a comment. You do not have to stay long. You just need to keep the number of hits on his statometer sky high. The Vatican will try to isolate him and make him feel alone so that he crumbles (it's a form of torture - see Guantanamo Bay). But your support of his blog will show him that wonderful gift of grace that we have all discovered through our blogging - that he is not alone.

Dear Friends,

In a letter which I wrote to our bishop early this week. I explained that I intended to take a private retreat and then, unless I heard otherwise from him, resume my duties at St. Paul's this weekend. Today, I heard from the bishop that I have been suspended as a priest and removed as pastor of the Newman Center. In all candor, I had anticipated that response which is why, I had removed my personal property from the parish house and offices. I bear no personal animosity to the bishop for his decision.

Thanks to Brian R for, so speedily, alerting me to this new post from Father Geoff.

I recently read that Berkeley Breathed is retiring his wonderful character, Opus, after almost 30 years of creating wonderful gentle satire of American culture and politics. Opus is part of a long tradition in comic strips of sharp political satire. From Al Capp and his comic strip Li’l Abner, to Gary Trudeau’s Doonesbury, to Aaron McGruder’s Boondocks, a few comic strips in each generation have taken on the politicians, celebrities, and wall street financiers that dominate the nation’s news. One of the first cartoonists to tackle political subjects in his work was Walt Kelly in his comic strip Pogo. It has the reputation of being one of the best comic strips to ever grace the news page.

Walt Kelly was born on August 25, 1913 in Philadelphia. He drew his first cartoons while he was in high school for the local Bridgeport Post. In 1936 Kelly moved to California and began work in Walt Disney studios, where he worked on the films Pinochio, Fantasia, The Reluctant Dragon, and Dumbo. He left Disney studios during a bitter strike and moved to New York to work in the comic book industry. It was in a comic book in 1942 that Walt Kelly first introduced the world to his famous character, Pogo the Possum.

read more

Palin abused power, probe finds

Alaska Governor Sarah Palin is guilty of abuse of power, according to a probe by the state legislature.

The Republican vice-presidential candidate was accused of sacking a senior state official, Walter Monegan, in connection with a family feud.

But the McCain-Palin campaign team said that the report showed Mrs Palin acted within "proper and lawful authority".

The report could have a significant effect on Republican hopes of winning next month's US presidential election.

Mrs Palin has always denied any wrongdoing, and her supporters say the charges are motivated by her political opponents.

She stood accused of dismissing Mr Monegan for refusing to sack a state trooper who was in a bitter custody battle with her sister.

The report concluded a family grudge was not the sole reason for the dismissal, but was a likely contributing factor.

Speaking after a bipartisan investigating panel reached its decision on what has become known as Troopergate, Mr Monegan said he felt "vindicated".

"It sounds like they've validated my belief and opinions," he said. "And that tells me I'm not totally out in left field."

Ethical violation

The panel found Mrs Palin in violation of a state ethics law prohibiting public officials from using their office for personal gain.

"I find that Governor Sarah Palin abused her power by violating Alaska Statute 39.52.110 (a) of the Alaska Executive Branch Ethics Act," investigator Steve Branchflower concluded in the panel's 263-page report.

But Mrs Palin's lawyer said that the report had not been conclusive.

"In order to violate the ethics law, there has to be some personal gain," said Thomas Van Flein.

"Mr Branchflower has failed to identify any financial gain."

And Alaskan state Senator Gary Stevens, a Republican, said there were "some problems" with the finding.

"I would encourage people to be very cautious, to look at this with a jaundiced eye," said Senator Stevens, after the report's release was announced.

Several Republican politicians had earlier attempted to have the investigation stopped on the grounds that it was politically motivated.

The investigation into the affair began before Mr McCain selected Mrs Palin as his running mate in August.

The US presidential race has now become so polarised both Republicans and Democrats will likely see the report's findings as vindication for their own trenchant views about Mrs Palin, says the BBC's Richard Lister in Washington.

Alaska's governor will either be seen as the victim of a Democratic party hatchet job, or a hypocrite.

Most voters, for now at least, seem more concerned about who will extract them from the current economic crisis, than any questions about political infighting in far-off Alaska, our correspondent adds.

Violent trooper?

Mrs Palin maintains she fired Mr Monegan in July over a budgetary dispute.

But Mr Monegan said he was dismissed for resisting pressure from Mrs Palin and her husband, Todd, to fire State Trooper Mike Wooten, Mrs Palin's former brother-in-law.

Mr Monegan said he simply wanted the truth to be made known.

"The governor did want me to fire [Mr Wooten], and I chose to not," he told the Associated Press news agency.

"He didn't do anything under my watch to result in termination."

Todd Palin has admitted he did publicise what he called the "injustice of a violent trooper keeping his badge".

But he said his wife, who did not give evidence to the enquiry, then told him to drop the matter.

The McCain campaign on Thursday issued its own report, written by its staff, stating that the Alaska governor was not guilty of any wrongdoing.

"The following document will prove Walt Monegan's dismissal was a result of his insubordination and budgetary clashes with Governor Palin and her administrators," campaign officials wrote. "Trooper Wooten is a separate issue."

The 21-page report suggests that the allegations against Mrs Palin stem from a conspiracy planned by a former campaign opponent of hers, Andrew Halcro, and Mr Wooten.

"It is tragic that a false story hatched by a blogger over drinks with Trooper Wooten led the legislature to allocate over $100,000 of public money to be spent in what has become a politically-driven investigation," it concludes.

The McCain campaign says the inquiry has been muddied by innuendo, rumour and partisan politics.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/americas/7662820.stm

Published: 2008/10/11 02:00:12 GMT

This past Tuesday, I was at our Annual Fall Clergy Women's Brunch, sitting next to a colleague who has been in this diocese almost as long as I have. She was chatting with me about the new home she and her husband just purchased "south" of NJ in anticipation of retirement, and telling me in very excited terms about how much less the cost of living is there and how we can get some "really good deals."

I looked at her and smiled and said, "Thanks for that information. It does sound great. You and your husband must be thrilled."

"BBBUUUUTTT?????" she said, "What's not to love about this?"

I smiled again and said, "Well, you see, Ms. Conroy and I couldn't retire there."

"Why not?" she asked.

"Well, because there's probably less than an ice cube's chance in hell that she and I would have our MA, CA, or soon, please God, CT or NJ marriage seen as valid there, much less have our present domestic partnership validated. And, well, the older we get . . . . . well, we just can't take the chance that one of us might get sick and hospitalized and . . . well . .. .."

Our conversation ended as the meeting was called to order but a few minutes into it, I felt my sister's arm on mine. When I looked at her, she was crying and saying, "I'm so very sorry. That's just so not right. I'm so sorry."

On October 13 we will celebrate the 32nd anniversary of the covenant we made with each other to live in faithful, loving, monogamous relationship. God has richly blessed us with a wonderful family - six children and five grandchildren, some heartbreaks and challenges that have helped us to grow, and great, deep joy that warms our hearts and souls at the memory of them.

God is good. All the time.

We live in sure and certain hope - which is now even more sure and certain in CT.

But elsewhere? Hmmmmmm . . . .Not so much.

And so, the struggle continues.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

October 10, 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Integrity Applauds Connecticut Supreme Court Decision

Integrity applauds today’s Connecticut Supreme Court ruling in favor of marriage equality. "Today's decision is a decision in favor of marriage and against bigotry," said Integrity President Susan Russell.

"It is another step forward toward making this a nation of liberty and justice for all -- not just some -- and it is a cause for celebration for all Americans.

It is also a source of great encouragement for those of us working to preserve marriage for all in California."

"Integrity is committed to continue to work toward full inclusion for the LGBT faithful in the Episcopal Church and to advocate for equal protection for LGBT Americans -- and we give thanks for those who made today's Connecticut Supreme Court decision possible."

(The Reverend) Susan Russell, President
president@integrityusa.org
714-356-5718 (mobile)
626-583-2741 (office)


John Clinton Bradley, Executive Director
johnclint@integrityusa.org
800-462-9498