This Week: The Episcopal Church & Presbyterians search for courage, how not to fix Kansas' image & the evolution election continues

Featured Posts:

Diane Silver
An ad in Times Square can’t cure Kansas’ problems -- but we can!

Nancy Jane Moore
It was too good to last: The Episcopal Church backs down

Mainline Churches Search for Moral Courage
Fairness for gays and women: The fallout from the Episcopal votes
The Episcopal Church is in for a bumpy ride
Lesbians and gays are just “bargaining chips in the game of Anglican politics”
The Episcopalians are doing the right thing in a difficult time
An act of moral courage: Presbyterians ease restrictions on gay and lesbian clergy
Hooray for the Episcopal Church for refusing to bow to hatred
The Episcopalians pick a woman. Why is this even a controversy?

The Evolution Election
The Kansas Evolution Election: Johnson County forum highlights the culture war
The Kansas Evolution Election: State Board of Education candidates face voters in tiny Iola

What would life be like if the religious right contolled everything?
Lousy schools, bad parks & a multitude of messes would mark Kansas county if the far right were in control

Also, more Kansas politics, activist judges, dyke memoirs and progressive Christians
Candidate for Kansas’ top election job specializes in violating election laws
Justice O'Connor on judicial independence
Whither the Supreme Court on fairness for gays?
Alison Bechdel's dyke memoir called "pioneering" by The New York Times
CrossWalk America presents progressive Chrstian view in upcoming Kansas events

Fairness for gays and women: The fallout from the Episcopal votes

Here are a few of the interesting editorials and stories that showed up today as the mainstream media mulls the impact of this week’s actions by the Episcopal Church.

AP
Anglicans near split over gay issue

Los Angeles Times editorial
Battling Over Bishops

The Telegraph from Britain
Pressure Growing on Williams To Take Action on Schism

Christian Science Monitor
An Agonized Vote To Try To Unify A Church

Washington Post
African Anglicans slam U.S. Church as Gay Row Deepends

In This Moment’s take on the issues are here and here and here.

Justice O'Connor on judicial independence

Retired Justice Sandra Day O'Connor was on the Diane Rehm radio program this morning, talking about the threats to judicial independence. I missed most of it, but fortunately it is available online.

The right wing attack on judges is a matter of great concern to me (see "Activist judges? What activist judges?"). While Justice O'Connor was never as moderate as she has been portrayed by both liberals worried (with good reason) about her replacement and the religious right, she displayed solid and careful reasoning as a judge, and her opinions on the assault on the judiciary are well worth considering.

Candidate for Kansas’ top election job specializes in violating election laws

By Diane Silver

I’m not certain commentary is necessary on this news. It speaks for itself, but I can’t restrain myself when it comes to Republican state Sen. Kay O’Connor. Among other things, O’Connor once claimed that women should not have the right to vote. In case you missed it, Kay is most decidedly a woman who voted and presumably got elected because other women voted, but I do digress.

O’Connor’s latest antic is to campaign for the office of Secretary of State. In Kansas, one of that official’s duties is to run elections. The problem for O’Connor is that her campaign to become the keeper of the state election laws keeps tripping over a little problem called, ah, election law.

For the second time in a year, O’Connor has been fined by the Kansas Governmental Ethics Commission for violating state campaign finance law. This time she received the maximum fine of $5,000 fine for violating the same law again. The first time she violated the provision, she received a $3,000 fine.

O’Connor told her hometown newspaper, The Olathe News, that the fine was “excessive” and that she is considering appealing it.

"I do believe it is nothing more than political harassment,” she reportedly told the newspaper.

Meanwhile, The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that she didn’t appear at the hearing, but “signed a decree in which she agreed to pay any fine imposed.”

Given that O’Connor believes, among many other religiously radical things, that I have no legal rights because I’ve committed the sin of loving a woman, I will never be her biggest fan. On the other hand, I continue to be amazed with her approach to politics and life.

She seems to believe that the law doesn’t apply to her. I suppose O’Connor, like all people, have the right to their delusions, but you would think she would at least toe the line on election laws while she is running to be the keeper of the state elections. Common sense, right?

The Kansas Evolution Election: Johnson County forum highlights the culture war

A forum for the three Republicans running in the Kansas Board of Education 3rd District highlighted a split between the challengers who are running on “traditional Republican values” and the incumbent who they say is fighting a culture war at the expense of the state’s children.

Challengers Harry McDonald and David Oliphant will face off against incumbent John Bacon in the Aug 1 primary.

Bacon is one of the “radical six” majority on the state board that has voted to dilute the teaching of evolution. Among their other activities, the radical right majority on the board also hired a state education commissioner with no education experience and an anti-public-education track record.

Red State Rabble has good reports and photos from the forum here and here and here. You can find The Olathe Daily News report on the forum here.

The Episcopal Church is in for a bumpy ride

A final note on the Episcopalians: The resolution to "exercise restraint" is not binding. According to The Washington Post, Bishop John Chane of the Diocese of Washington has already announced that he will not follow it. The Washington diocese is known as very progressive and is also highly influential due to its location in the nation's capital.

By attempting this compromise, the church annoyed its progressive base while failing to appease its critics. Frankly, I think they made things harder on the new presiding bishop and church leadership. I hope the end result is positive, but I foresee a bumpy ride.

Lesbians and gays are just “bargaining chips in the game of Anglican politics”

By Diane Silver

The Episcopal Church’s retreat on consecrating lesbian or gay bishops pleases no one, solves little, but does apparently keep the wheel spinning in a long-running game of international religious politics.

The New York Times provides new perspective today on yesterday’s vote. In that action, American Episcopalians backed down in the face of pressure from the worldwide Anglican Communion and voted, in essence, to refrain from picking any out lesbian or gay bishops, at least, for the moment. The controversy was touched off in 2003 by the elevation of openly gay Rev. V. Gene Robinson to become bishop of New Hampshire.

In This Moment’s Nancy Jane Moore, who was raised in the church, commented here.

The Times quotes Rev. Susan Russell, president of Integrity, an advocacy group for gay and lesbian Episcopalians.

"It's absolutely not the end of anything," she said. "It's part of a long conversation. Those who wanted an up-or-down vote on gays in the episcopacy didn't get any clarity, and they're not happy. Liberals aren't happy. And gays? Well, we're being treated like bargaining chips in the game of Anglican politics."

More perspective on the true purpose of the voting comes from the Times.

"Although many of us fully support Bishop Robinson, this is the price we unfortunately had to pay to keep the church together and keep it at the table with the Anglican Communion," said Bishop Kirk S. Smith of Arizona, who voted for the resolution but said he supported gay men and lesbians in the episcopate. "It was the price of a ticket to admission for further work with the Anglican Communion."

Why Do We Care About This?

Although In This Moment doesn’t primarily concern itself with religion, among our primary topics are the politics of civil rights and the fight for fair laws for ALL people, including lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgendered people. Thus, we often focus on religion because some religious beliefs and certain religious institutions are the primary promoters of prejudice and discrimination.

It was too good to last: The Episcopal Church backs down

By Nancy Jane Moore

Alas, I posted too soon. In an unusual joint session this morning, the Episcopal House of Bishops and House of Deputies (which includes both lay and clergy members) adopted a resolution that agrees to "exercise restraint by not consenting to the consecration of any candidate to the episcopate whose manner of life presents a challenge to the wider church and will lead to further strains on communion."

That is, they are agreeing to hold back on appointing any more gay bishops. Although the statement they approved is milder than the one that was voted down earlier in the convention, it amounts to the same thing. I, for one, am very disappointed.

I realize that the church is trying to make peace with the rest of the Anglican Communion; in fact, the reports on the convention by the Episcopal News Service on the church website indicate that the primary reason the current presiding bishop, Frank Griswold, called the special session was that he thought the church had to go farther in answering complaints from the rest of the Anglican churches. And perhaps they are hoping to forestall efforts by individual Episcopal churches to split off.

Newly appointed Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori told the deputies.

I am fully committed to the full inclusion of gay and lesbian Christians in this church. . . . I certainly don't understand adopting this resolution as slamming the door. I think if you do pass this resolution you have to be willing to keep working with all your might at finding a common mind in this church. I don't find this an easy thing to say to you, but I think that is the best we are going to manage at this point in our church's history.

That is, it's a compromise. And that's a mistake. They're not going to get that common mind the bishop is asking for by backing down. History shows us that it's pointless to wait for those who aren't ready when dealing with issues of human rights. They're never going to be ready. You can't wait for them; you have to lead them.

In the end, I don't think those who oppose gay bishops – and let's not forget that some of those same people also oppose female bishops – are going to change their minds just because the Episcopal Church said they'd exercise "restraint." They're just going to demand more.

So I'm disappointed. But I'm still proud to note that the Episcopal Church includes openly gay priests and bishops in its clergy – including some in active relationships. Most other mainstream churches are dragging their heels on the issue; some will allow gays so long as they remain celibate; others won't allow them at all.

I'm hoping that by the next Episcopal general convention, the church stops compromising and goes back to taking a firm stand. We have plenty of compromisers in this country. What we need are leaders.

The Episcopalians are doing the right thing in a difficult time

By Nancy Jane Moore
Here's something crucial we all need to recognize about the recent actions of the Episcopal Church: They haven't just elected their first female presiding bishop -- something that shouldn't even be controversial at this point. They haven't just reaffirmed their commitment to consecration of bishops who are in committed same-sex relationships -- that is, not just gay bishops, but gay bishops who are in active relationships.

But they have done both these things while threatened with serious disapproval from the rest of the worldwide Anglican Communion and possible schism within the U.S. church. By taking these actions, the church is setting itself up for some difficult times ahead. New Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori has her work cut out for her.

A report by the Episcopal Church news service shows that much of the debate over whether to continue to approve gay bishops was focused on strategy -- that is, arguments that perhaps it was not the time to push the issue, not arguments over whether it was right or wrong. But the delegates to the convention decided to hold firm.

And it could cost them, in dollars, people, and worldwide connections. Make no mistake, they're taking a risk.

You can support the church in this difficult time. If you are a Christian whose church is not as inclusive as the Episcopal Church, check them out. You might find a better home there.

If you follow a non-Christian religion, or aren't religious at all, you can still show your support financially. The Episcopal Church maintains a relief and development fund that provides disaster and other kinds of assistance. They do good work and can be trusted to spend your money wisely.

An act of moral courage: Presbyterians ease restrictions on gay and lesbian clergy

By Diane Silver
I have been pondering the true meaning of morality lately. I have to admit that today’s news from the Presbyterian Church makes me think that truth, beauty, the American way and, yup, just a touch of morality are finally working their way into the governing bodies of the mainline Protestant churches.

First we got good news from the Episcopal Church. Tonight, Reuters reports that the largest U.S. Presbyterian organization has just approved a proposal that would “open the way for the ordination of gays and lesbians under certain circumstances.”

Via the Washington Post, Reuters says:

The new policy was approved on a vote of 57-43 percent among 500 church representatives at the biennial meeting of the Presbyterian Church U.S.A. It gives local church organizations more leeway in deciding if gays can be ordained as lay deacons and elders as well as clergy, provided they are faithful to the church's core values.

The article quotes opponents of the proposal, but also quotes Kim Clayton Richter of the Columbia Theological Seminary in Atlanta. Richter says it's wrong to interpret the Bible literally on homosexuality.

"You cannot pick out two or three passages to prove your point. You have to look at the whole witness of Jesus Christ. We've changed our mentality on slavery and the role of women. We have to change with reality," Richter said.

Condemning consenting adults for the crime of loving each other is neither moral nor an example of Christian compassion.

I believe sexual orientation itself is morally neutral. How a person chooses to express that orientation and whether he or she is abusive, neglectful or a loyal and loving to a partner is the real issue.

As a culture, I believe we do ourselves grave harm by focusing on the red herring of sexual orientation. What we should really be looking at is how we act within our relationships. Do we treat people as loving partners or as objects? Do we use or sexuality to hurt others? If we are in a loving relationship, how do we negotiate the myriad of issues that arise between any two people?

Simply entering into a same-sex relationship doesn't make two people wrong anymore than particpating in a heterosexual relationship makes them automatically right. It's time our culture grew up and looked at the real issues we face. Focusing on false "sins" only wastes our time, hurts innocent people and keeps us from solving our real problems.

Tuesday Headlines: Political nightmares, the Supreme Court & gays, Episcopal sanity, a moving memoir and the evolution election

Lousy schools, bad parks and a multitude of messes would mark Kansas county if the far right were in control

Whither the Supreme Court on fairness for gays?

Hooray for the Episcopal Church for refusing to bow to hatred

Alison Bechdel's dyke memoir called "pioneering" by The New York Times

The Kansas Evolution Election: State Board of Education candidates face voters in tiny Iola

Lousy schools, bad parks and a multitude of messes would mark Kansas county if the far right were in control

It’s not often that I agree with Steve Rose of the Johnson County Sun in suburban Kansas City, but I have to say that I admire a column he wrote earlier this month about the impact of the religious right.

In an open letter on the occasion of his late father’s birthday, Rose talked about the changes that have occurred in the last decade as the far right has gotten stronger in the county.

Referring to a recent meeting of the Johnson County Community College Foundation, Rose writes:

Many of the people in that room were the very ones who helped build our library system and our parks. I wonder, Dad, if the Far Right had been in control all those years (ago when schools and parks were built), what kind of county we would have now. I suppose taxes would be lower. But I doubt we would have the community college, the excellent libraries, the parks, College Boulevard, outstanding schools or our quality of life. I have never met an individual from the Far Right, or read about such an individual, who ever proposed ways to improve the community, to invest in it, to envision anything but lower taxes and overthrowing the "power elites."

Rose’s full column is worth reading. It’s one of the few pieces I’ve seen that describes how rule by the far right hurts everyone.

Whither the Supreme Court on fairness for gays?

Detroit News writer Deb Price sees the glass as half full, or maybe half empty or, well, maybe slightly invisible in her column about the future of Supreme Court cases involving lesbian and gay Americans. Price mulls over the impact of the new conservative justices.

Hooray for the Episcopal Church for refusing to bow to hatred

Three cheers for the Episcopal clergy and lay delegates who today defeated a demand that they put a moratorium on electing gay bishops. The action by the House of Delegates comes a day before they plan to adjourn their national meeting in Ohio.

Our very own Nancy Jane Moore, who was raised in the Episcopal Church, earlier discussed the importance of this week’s events, which include the election of the first woman presiding bishop.

Alison Bechdel's dyke memoir called "pioneering" by The New York Times

It’s not often that I let In This Moment veer away from politics and into culture, but I had to make note of a marvelous New York Times review of cartoonist Alison Bechnel’s graphic memoir Fun Home.

That’s “graphic” as in a book of drawings as well as words. The Times reviewer praises Bechdel for her writing as well as her art. It’s a review, and I suspect, a book that is well worth reading.

I picked up a copy of Fun Home when I was at WisCon, but haven’t had a chance to look at it yet. The Times reviewer has renewed my urge to crack it open and partake of its depths. I have been a long-time admirer of Bechdel’s delightful “Dykes To Watch Out For” cartoons, but judging from the review, her memoir is not the romp I was expecting.

It’s a serious examination of her complex relationship with her family, and particularly, her father. He died in a car accident that Bechdel believes may well have been a suicide brought on by her admission that she is a lesbian.

I don’t believe there’s a human being on this planet who hasn’t struggled with her life. I look forward to reading Bechdel’s exploration of her journey.

The Kansas Evolution Election: State Board of Education candidates face voters in tiny Iola

This November Kansas voters will not only pick a new state Board of Education, but will determine the future of evolution and science education in the state. This will be the first chance voters will have to register their opinion since the radical six on the state board voted to de-emphasize the teaching of evolution.

At a recent candidate forum in Iola – population 6,083 and in a county of only 14,385 people -- voters seemed interested in the debate.

Thoughts From Kansas brings us one report via his reader Joe Myers, who attended the forum at Iola’s Greenery Restaurant.

Red State Rabble links us to The Iola Register’s account and this paragraph:

Brad Patzer, Neodesha, left little doubt that he would step into the ultra-conservative Republican role his mother-in-law, Iris VanMeter, filled the past four years on the board. Jana Shaver, Independence, was every bit the moderate Republican her supporters claim. Dr. Kent Runyan, Pittsburg, was easily distinguishable as a middle-of-the-road Democrat.

Hat tips to TfK and RSR.

Monday's headlines: Ad outrage, progressive Christians, a curious church controversy

Today... fury, hope, progress:

An ad in Times Square can't cure Kansas' problems

CrossWalk America presents progressive Christian views in Kansas events

The Episcopalians pick a woman. Why is this even a controversy?

An ad in Times Square can’t cure Kansas’ problems

By Diane Silver
Kansas is not nearly as reactionary as most people probably believe. However, today's news that the state has spent $40,000 on a Times Square ad to spiff up our image is an occasion for anger, a bit of despair and yes, when I think about it more, even a smidgen of hope. But that hope doesn't have a darn thing to do with the state's new commercial.

The Lawrence Journal-World reports that a 30-second commercial will begin running Thursday on the 26-foot-tall CBS Super Screen in New York City. The newspaper notes:

State tourism and business development officials said today they hope the ad will dispel some of the negative news that has come out of Kansas in recent months, citing coverage of the BTK serial murders, the political fight over evolution and military funeral picketing by a Kansas church family.

I am not a native Kansan, and I’m not certain whether that makes my view of my adopted state more objective or more jaded. After more than 20 years of living in the Sunflower State, though, my first reaction to this news is anger.

Despite the fact that people think spin and advertising can cure any problem, no amount of spin can turn garbage into a rose. The truth is that Kansas has been wallowing in garbage for years.

The problem isn’t a lack of decent TV commercials, or even one serial killer. (Note to government officials in Topeka: Other states have had serial killers and survived with their reputations intact.)

The real problem is far deeper and more complex.

The first part of our predicament comes from a tightly organized minority of mega-churches and religious radicals. They don’t appear to believe in freedom of religion, democracy, the Golden Rule or the ideals of the Enlightenment. Actually, they don’t seem to have noticed that we now live in the 21st Century.

What these folks do believe in, though, is good, old-fashioned, precinct-by-precinct politics. They’ve done something we, their opposition, haven’t: They’ve worked like mad, and they’ve figured out how to tell their story and win elections.

But the work of the religious right isn’t the only difficulty this state faces. We -- the moderate and progressive people of Kansas -- have failed, and we’ve done it in a big way.

Many moderate Republicans, for example, once colluded, and some still do, with the radical right in the mistaken idea that the radicals would help them keep power. For their efforts, most GOP moderates have been booted out of positions of authority in the state party. Many moderates also can’t get past the religious radicals who run against them in Republican primaries.

Meanwhile, some (many?) progressive Democrats and independents have decided, unwisely, that winning in Kansas is impossible. Perhaps, we have simply forgotten how to do the hard work of political organizing.

Progressive ideals and approaches are seldom discussed around this state, while the far right seems to have a continuously droning megaphone. If the public is not educated about our ideas and policies, how can we possibly win an argument, let alone an election?

Kansans are fine people.

Many of us work hard for our ideals, but many more fail to stand up to bullies like Topeka’s Fred Phelps and his clan. (Those infamous church-family picketers mentioned in the news story.) Far too many appear to have suffered a catastrophic failure of courage in the face of the constant onslaught of hate from people like Phelps.

I witnessed that first hand last year when I was communications chair of the Kansans For Fairness campaign to defeat a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage. Our group struggled to find an office to rent in Topeka, the traditional home of statewide campaigns.

No one would rent to us because no one was willing to have our name up in their window. The concern, as I understood it, was that Phelps and his kids would show up with their nasty signs. After a long search, we finally found an office, and yes, it was in Topeka. However, we were only allowed to use that office on one condition – that we would tell no one about our location or who had rented to us.

I won’t break that confidence today. However, the fact that no one had the courage to openly rent to us is merely one sign of an insidious cowardice that has infected Kansas for too long. No television commercial – no matter how brilliant – can change that.

The good news is that every day there are signs that Kansans are waking up from their long sojourn in the land of fear.

The signs include Republican leaders jumping to the Democratic Party, new organizations like the Mainstream Voices of Faith and the snowballing effort to defeat the religious radicals on the state Board of Education. Western Kansas farmers Don and Betsy Hineman, their Kansas Alliance for Education along with Kansas Families United for Public Education are working beside the MAINstream Coalition to overthrow the radicals on the state board.

One of the signs I find most encouraging is the health of the fledgling Kansas Equality Coalition. (I’m not objective. I helped create the coalition.) Pushing for fair laws for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered Kansans, the Equality Coalition has organized chapters in more liberal college towns like Lawrence and Manhattan, but it has also organized in Johnson County, Wichita and even in the cowboy country around Dodge City.

I know I’m missing some of the progressive work that’s going on in Kansas right now, but you get the idea.

The good news for our state is that transformation is possible. Even more important is the fact that as individual Kansans, we are not helpless. The power to change the reality and with it, to change the image of Kansas is in our hands. No TV commercial, no matter how big or beautiful, can do that.

CrossWalk America presents progressive Chrstian view in upcoming Kansas events

[corrected 7 pm CST]

CrossWalk America is new to me, but the group looks like it may well be the real deal: A Christian organization that actually practices compassion and the Golden Rule. CrossWalk is visiting Kansas and has so far set two events in Lawrence and Johnson in the next week.

Tuesday, June 20 * Lawrence
Potluck Dinner 6:00 pm in the Roger Williams Room
First Baptist Church
1330 Kasold
Lawrence KS 66049
Phone: 785-843-0020
Bring a dish to share and tableware
Representatives of the group will discuss their “Walk Across America” tour and discussion of the Phoenix Affirmations

Wednesday, June 28 * Prairie Village, KS
CrosswalkAmerica.org comes to Asbury UMC at noon
5400 W. 75th Street
75th and Nall
Prairie Village, KS 66208
Call (913) 432-5573 and let them know you're coming!
Forum and Discussion on The Phoenix Affirmations and moderate/progressive Christianity in America today.
Forum is Free * Lunch is $ 5.00

CrossWalk’s web site posts a copy of their founding principles, the Phoenix Affirmations, and describes the group this way.

If you could change the face of Christianity in America, what would be different about it? Would it be more compassionate? More in touch with everyday life? More justice-oriented? Would the kind of Christianity you embrace include Jesus’ authentic welcoming of diverse people and viewpoints?

CrossWalk America is part of an emerging Christian movement - one that joyously embraces the love of God, neighbor and self (Jesus' core values). We stand for:

• openness to other faiths
• care for the earth and its ecosystems
• valuing artistic expression in all its forms
• authentic inclusiveness of all people - including God's lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender (lgbt) community
• opposing the commingling of Church and State
• promoting the values of rest and recreation, prayer and reflection
• embracing both faith and science in the pursuit of truth

The Lawrence Journal-World has a story here about the group’s appearance in Lawrence on Sunday.

The Episcopalians pick a woman. Why is this even a controversy?

By Nancy Jane Moore
[updated at 4 PM EDT]
The Episcopal Church of the United States chose a woman to serve as presiding bishop in an election on June 18. Katharine Jefferts Schori, currently bishop of the Diocese of Nevada, is the first woman to act as presiding bishop, though the Episcopal Church has been ordaining women priests since 1976 and has other women bishops.

You wouldn't expect that putting a woman into a top job would be all that controversial in 2006, but the press coverage I saw focused on whether this would be another step toward schism in the church, both in the U.S. and in the worldwide Anglican communion. Incredibly, Anglican churches in some other countries do not even ordain women as priests.

Here's the Associated Press story on the selection of Jefferts Schori, which is typical of the news coverage given her selection.

Of course, part of the controversy goes back to the selection of Gene Robinson, a gay man, as bishop for the Diocese of New Hampshire several years ago. Bishop Jefferts Schori is a supporter of Bishop Robinson and the Diocese of Nevada blesses same-sex unions.

Having a woman head one of the major groups of the Anglican communion should shame those member churches that don't ordain women. It's time they recognized that women are a full part of all branches of society -- including religion.

I was raised and confirmed in the Episcopal Church, so I take personal pride in its continued progressive leadership.