Religious Left

CBC News A documentary looks at Iran's heartbreaking "solution" to homosexuality Filmmaker Tanaz Eshaghian has long been fascinated by gender issues, so when she read a New York Times story about how the Iranian government was dealing with homosexuality, she was completely transfixed. Iranian-born herself, the New York-based filmmaker learned that in Iran, homosexuality is a crime punishable by death. But the government has provided a way out for the nation’s gays and lesbians: a sex-change operation. Fully paid for by the state, the procedure would allow these people to conform to Iran’s theocratic standards of sexuality. Eshaghian decided she had to interview some of those involved in this gender-reassignment program. The result is a devastating documentary called Be Like Others . Shot in verité style, the film captures the pain and brutality of a regime that is pushing sex-change operations as the path to a final solution to homosexuality. full article

By D. DIONNE BATES The Southern Voice Atlanta My girlfriend and I recently went to see Oprah Winfrey’s presentation of Alice Walker’s “The Color Purple” at the Fox Theatre. I must admit that when I heard that a musical was made to depict one of the best books and films of the 20th century, I was not at all excited. I know it is Oprah, but given the subject matter of the story, I could not (no, I would not) allow myself to believe that someone (not even Oprah) would be bold enough to tell the story on stage and stay authentic to the book when covering issues such as infanticide, domestic violence, incest, infidelity, racial and religious oppression, patriarchy, misogyny, love, and yes, even same-sex love. The book helped me better understand the scene where Shug Avery and Miss Celie kiss, as well as one of the last scenes where they appear to live together. The kiss between Shug and Miss Celie was not just endearing (as the film would lead one to believe). The kiss was that of love, as

Homosexual activists praise Obama at DNC’s LGBT Caucus Several hundred Democratic National Convention delegates and observers gathered at the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgendered Caucus in Denver on Monday to discuss their political concerns and how to advance them. Big Media Endorses Homosexual Activist Agenda Thus, the nation's major news providers demonstrated that they have bought into the central proposition of homosexual activists: that people engaging in ... Floridians rally to defend marriage from homosexual attack And yet, a handful of homosexual activists and unrestrained, activist judges are trying to redefine marriage and force that new definition onto the rest of society. We believe that our children’s future is too important to let this ... The battle for the schools The new policy seeks to identify “barriers” to the full participation of the so-called LGBT community and will redesign curriculums and programs to ensure those barriers are removed. Local homosexual

Commentary by HEIDI GOOD, The Irish Times Madam, - I was disappointed by Susan Philips's Rite and Reason article of August 19th. She dismisses the laws of Leviticus and Paul's teaching on the role of women in the church as "recommendations" but implies that the biblical teaching on homosexuality belong to "deep foundational commands on how to live a life pleasing to our Creator". She says it would be "intellectually dishonest for any serious student of the Bible to confuse" the two. I am a local preacher in the Methodist church. I have a degree in theology and I am studying for a master's in leadership and pastoral care. I consider myself a serious student of the Bible, and I find myself frustrated when people put forward such glib arguments. Who is Susan Philips to say that Paul's teaching on women is merely cultural and that his teaching on sexuality is eternal? Remember too that Ms Philips is a member of that Protestant tradition which c

by Val Walton The Birmingham News Central Alabama Pride Inc. filed a federal lawsuit today against Birmingham Mayor Larry Langford in his official capacity, contending he discriminated against the group when he refused to allow city workers to hang banners supporting Gay Pride Week. The suit said the city has hung flags or banners in support of many diverse events in Birmingham, including City Stages music festival and the Magic City Classic. The 20th Gay Pride Parade was held June 7 in Five Points South. Langford refused to issue a proclamation for Gay Pride Week and denied permission for banners on city property. The mayor said he denied the request because it is inappropriate for a government to endorse a lifestyle, and his decision should not have surprised anyone familiar with his personality and religious views. full article

I pulled up to the fuel pump to fill my car. On the pump was a religious tract called “Doom Town”, from Chick Publications. Chick publications is the creation of Jack Chick. On their website, www.chick.com the description of “Doom Town” says: Story of Sodom. Delivers a compassionate plea to repent of homosexuality. In the form of a comic book, the first page sets the stage. It’s a gay group meeting and they are threatening to pollute the nations blood supply. Depicting a gay group as blood supply terrorists is compassionate? After a few pages, it gets into the story about Sodom and Gomorra. Of course impact is more important then truth. Conveniently the story ends before the part where Lot has sex with his two daughters. View the full tract

By Robert Verkaik, The Independant, UK The Catholic Church is under growing pressure to abandon the "homophobic" exhumation and reburial of the body of one its most famous cardinals, in defiance of his wish to lie for eternity next to the man he loved. Gay rights campaigners have accused the Vatican – which has ordered the disinterment in the first step towards beatification – of attempting to cover up the sexuality of Cardinal John Henry Newman, who died in 1890. Opposition to the reburial among some British Roman Catholics has been bolstered by a new poll organised by The Church Times which shows that a majority of Anglicans are now against the separation of Cardinal Newman, a former Anglican clergyman, and Father Ambrose St John who lived together as "husband and wife" for most of their late adult lives. Yesterday, the gay rights campaigner Peter Tatchell told The Independent: "The Vatican's decision to move Cardinal Newman's body from its resting pl

The Jerusalem Post Jerusalem mayoral candidate Arkadi Gaydamak said Monday that as mayor he would be "ready to die," by laying down in the road so that the marchers would have to drive over him, to stop Jerusalem's gay pride parade from taking place. Gayadamak at annual luncheon of Friends of Bikur Holim in a Kibbutz Ramat Rahel dining room. "I will never let such an event take place," he said. He charged Mayor Uri Lupolianski with being a "professional politician" when he allowed homosexuals to have their parade. Gaydamak said he had nothing against them personally and that they had a right to live in the city, but what they do "goes against Jewish tradition" because "they don't procreate." full article

posted by ThosPayne, Colfax Record A Kiev art museum contains a curious icon from St. Catherine's Monastery on Mt. Sinai in Israel. It shows two ro bed Christian saints. Between them is a traditional Roman ‘pronubus’ (a best man), overseeing a wedding. The pronubus is Christ. The married couple are both men. Is the icon suggesting that a gay "wedding" is being sanctified by Christ himself? The idea seems shocking. But the full answer comes from other early Christian sources about the two men featured in the icon, St. Sergius and St. Bacchus, two Roman soldiers who were Christian martyrs. These two officers in the Roman army incurred the anger of Emperor Maximian when they were exposed as ‘secret Christians’ by refusing to enter a pagan temple. Both were sent to Syria circa 303 CE where Bacchus is thought to have died while being flogged. Sergius survived torture but was later beheaded. Legend says that Bacchus appeared to the dying Sergius as an angel, telling him to be b

Bruce Ward, The Ottawa Citizen The Bible says the meek shall inherit the Earth, but there was no trace of meekness in Faytene Kryskow and her passionate preaching yesterday on Parliament Hill. "We're going to turn Parliament Hill into the Wailing Wall," Ms. Kryskow told about 400 followers spread out on Parliament's front lawn. The prayer gathering is known as The Cry, a rally for fundamentalist youth who believe mainstream Canadian society is morally bankrupt. Ms. Kryskow, one of The Cry's leaders, urged the young people in the crowd to send out "prayer waves" that would incite a revolution against Canada's secular humanism. The rally began at Jacques Cartier Park in Gatineau with music and prayer, followed by a "prayer march" across the Alexandra Bridge to Parliament Hill. A Cry leaflet handed out at the rally urged people to "Pray for all those who are involved with Gay Pride week in Ottawa, pray that they would know the love of God

by Christof Maletsky, allAfrica.com THE United Nations has rapped the Namibian Government over the knuckles and demanded that hate speech against minority groups must stop. The UN Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD) released its annual report yesterday in which it bemoans the fact that the 1998 Racial Discrimination Prohibition Amendment Act continues to restrict action against those practising hate speech. The committee pointed out that hate speech, mostly by politicians, continued at an unacceptable rate and must be stopped. full article

by Brian Heap Eyewitness News Everywhere Earle, AR -- Eyewitness News Everywhere is uncovering new information about rape and molestation accusations against an Earle pastor who was killed in Memphis, including claims of a cover-up by the COGIC church. Stories about Pastor Ronald Paige's sexual involvement with teenage boys started surfacing after a confession by his accused killer that aired Tuesday on the cable TV documentary, "First 48". In the confession, 21 year-old Andre Harris told Memphis homicide detectives that Paige tried to rape him after taking him in off the street. Harris said he stabbed the 50 year-old pastor while fighting him off. Since the episode aired, the Memphis Police Department and Eyewitness News Everywhere have been in contact with people who claim Paige was molesting young boys at Earle Church of God in Christ as far back as 1984. full article

LankaWeb Homosexuality is the tendency to be sexually attracted to persons of the same rather than the opposite gender. According to the ancient Indian understanding, homosexuals were thought of simply as being 'the third nature' (tritiya prakti), rather than as perverted, deviant or sick. With its emphasis on psychology and cause and effect, Buddhism judges acts, including sexual acts, primarily by the intention (cetana) behind them and the effect they have. A sexual act motivated by love, mutuality and the desire to give and share would be judged positive no matter what the gender of the two persons involved. Therefore, homosexuality as such is not considered immoral in Buddhism or against the third precept, although this is not always understood in traditional Buddhist countries. full article

Reported by: Staci-Lyn Honda WETM 18 ELMIRA--The lawyer for the protesters says they have the right to express their religious beliefs. But they say that right was taken away from them at June's gay pride event. No one was arrested. But the protester's attorney says police told not to hold signs or pass out literature on Christianity. He says one of the protesters was also told to take off a shirt with the words "liberated by the blood of Jesus." These are the same protesters that were found guilty of disrupting a gay pride event last year. That ruling has been appealed by the protestors. But no ruling has been made yet. full article including video report

By Daniel Burke, Religion News Service USA Today A Presbyterian minister who officiated at a lesbian wedding in 2005 is heading for church court again, two years after charges against her were dismissed on a technicality. The Rev. Janet Edwards of Pittsburgh will again face possible expulsion if convicted by the Permanent Judicial Commission of the Pittsburgh Presbytery. Edwards will appear before the commission Oct. 1, to answer charges that she defied her ordination vows and Presbyterian Church (USA) rules by officiating at the Pittsburgh wedding of a lesbian couple in 2005. "I am trying really hard to speak clearly about how what I did reflects Jesus' love and justice, and so I hope the permanent judicial council acquits me," Edwards said. full article

by Mary Poletti The Missourian COLUMBIA — Rejected by her fundamentalist Christian mother, a young lesbian woman ended her pain by hanging herself in a closet 11 years ago. Now, her faith and worldview transformed by her loss, that mother — Mary Lou Wallner — has made it her mission and ministry to help other Christian gays and lesbians avoid the same painful ending that her daughter’s story had. It’s a message she’ll bring to Columbia this Friday night in cooperation with Missouri United Methodist Church’s prominent ministry to gays in the community. Wallner took her story and its message on the road under the name TEACH Ministries, an acronym for “To Educate About the Consequences of Homophobia,” after her own faith-based homophobia drove a fatal wedge between herself and her elder daughter, Anna Wakefield. After Anna’s death, Wallner and her husband, Bob, began to look more closely at the issues that affected Anna toward the end of her life. After three years and a great deal of pra

by Jack Hafferkamp EDGE Great Lakes Regional Editor After a slow start, the campaign against demagogic homophobe James Dobson’s induction into the National Radio Hall of Fame appears to be gaining steam as word spreads and time counts down to the induction awards dinner in Chicago planned for Saturday, November 8, 2008. While Dobson is not the only right wing radio star in the hall’s history - Rush Limbaugh was inducted in 1993 - the argument with Dobson is that he is a special case whose hate speech is beyond acceptability in a civil society. Dobson is the power behind Focus on the Family, a daily syndicated fundamentalist radio show that claims 4000 stations internationally. His over-the-top anti-gay outbursts on the radio, in lectures and books have created a backlash charge initially led by Truth Wins Out’s executive director, Wayne Besen, but which is now spreading. One difference between this year’s election process and that previously in place has been jumped on by anti-Dobson c

UK Gay News Uganda The following is an ‘open letter’ from a gay Ugandan to the President of his country, Yoweri Museveni. It comes after President Museveni publicly praised Anglican bishops for resisting homosexuality, as reported last weekend in New Vision . Dear Sir, First, I would like to thank you for your inspirational leadership of our beloved country Uganda. I am personally disappointed in your support for the Church of Uganda’s crusade against homosexuality. That is because I am a homosexual myself. A gay Ugandan No. I am not a foreigner. I am not white. Actually, my beloved dad used to infuriate me by making me cram my genealogy back ten generations of pure bred Africans. Now, dear beloved leader, you are the elected president of all Ugandans. Not just the good Ugandans, as you describe them. You are the president of all of us Ugandans. Even, homosexual Ugandans. Saying that we are foreign puzzles us. We are Ugandans. Through and through. Why do you call us foreigners,

By Rachel Charman Pink News UK Westboro Baptist Church (WBC), the anti-gay Christian organisation, has voiced the opinion that John Edwards is "cursed" by God. Edwards, the former Senator for North Carolina, has been part of the campaign to end the U.S. military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy regarding LGBT members of the armed forces. The WBC claimed on Saturday 16th that Edwards is a "fag enabler", who attacked the WBC for "preaching God's holy truth about fags." full article

Christian Plagiarism PART ONE: PART TWO: PART THREE:

by Greg Moran UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER The California Supreme Court ruled Monday that doctors can't use their religious beliefs as a reason to refuse treatment to patients because doing so violates the state's anti-discrimination law. The unanimous decision came in the case of an Oceanside lesbian couple who are suing two doctors at a North County clinic. They claim the doctors would not perform a certain artificial insemination procedure because their strong Christian beliefs prevented them from impregnating a lesbian couple. full article

George Carlin on Religion

Today on Seattle’s KING 5 TV show, Up Front, Governor Christine Gregoire was asked about her personal beliefs on gay marriage. Her first and foremost statement was her belief in equality. She proudly stated her advocacy of civil unions. Reminding us civil unions were legalized on her watch. The interviewers mentioned civil unions were not marriage. Governor Gregoire responded, reluctantly, “I believe that is a religious issue”. If we didn’t know before, we now know Governor Gregoire feels civil marriage is a religious issue.

by James Hipps GayAgenda.com A Texas man convicted of killing a male flight attendant was given a life sentence and was also found guily of a hate crime. Terry Mark Mangum, 27, of Cypress, killed Kenneth Cummings, 46, because he “hated homosexuals” was the Wednesday verdict delivered by a jury. Mangum pleaded not guilty due to insanity. One psychologist said he was “a cauldron of hate.” Another said he wanted to “rid the world of a harvest of sin.” Jeremy Warren, the prosecutor saidm “The sin he focused on was homosexuality.” Mangum has been associated with the infamous church of Fred Phelps . full article

Stuart Shepard is the managing editor at CitizenLink. CitizenLink is a registered trademark of Focus on the Family. In the video Stuart Shepard asked members to pray for torrential rain to drown out Obama's nomination at the Democratic Convention that is to be held at Invesco Field at Mile High, Colorado on August 24, 2008. Stuart Shepard: " Would it be wrong to ask people pray for rain? Okay, not just rain -- abundant rain, torrential rain.... 'Why would I pray for that?' Well, I'm still pro life, and I'm still in favor of marriage as being between one man and one woman. And I would like the next president who will select justices for the next Supreme Court to agree. So, I'm praying for unexpected, unanticipated, unforecasted rain that starts two minutes before the speech is set to begin. '' Although the video has been removed, as of this moment we can still see the text in a google cache version of the webpage: http://209.85.173.104/search?q=cache

By Lillian Kwon The Christian Post The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)'s highest governing body voted Friday in favor of a proposal that would allow for the ordination of non-celibate gays and lesbians. The 218th General Assembly, meeting in San Jose, Calif., this week, voted 380-325 to send the overture – that would delete the requirement that clergy live in "fidelity within the covenant of marriage between a man and a woman, or chastity in singleness" – to the denomination's 173 presbyteries for approval. Adding to the blow to conservatives, the Assembly also adopted a supplementary authoritative interpretation of the PC(USA) constitution that would allow gay and lesbian candidates for ordination to conscientiously object the current "fidelity and chastity" standard and the local ordaining body to discern whether the declared objection is disqualifying. Also on Friday, the Assembly approved a new authoritative interpretation of the Book of Order - which conta

By John Corvino, columnist, 365gay.com “Why do you need other people’s approval?” The question came from an old (straight but gay-supportive) friend, as we sat over breakfast discussing progress in the gay-rights movement. He meant it sincerely. “After all,” he continued, “if you like rap music, and I hate rap music, you don’t need my approval to pursue your tastes. Indeed, even if I think listening to rap music is a mind-numbing waste of time, so what? Live and let live.” That’s true. But when it comes to gay rights, “live and let live” may no longer be enough. full article

The Sydney Morning Herald Cardinal George Pell's determination to deny compensation to an abuse victim was uncompromising, writes Erik Jensen. The cardinal was not budging. Anthony Jones, a religion teacher at a Catholic high school in Sydney's south when he claimed he was the victim of attempted rape by a Catholic priest 26 years ago, would be offered no church compensation. Not a cent. First, some background. Jones was 29 in January 1982 when he was fondled by a local priest, Terence Goodall, who then attempted to have sex with him. Jones claims he reported the incident to the church within a month and, 20 years later, when nothing had been done, he again wrote a formal complaint to the church. That sparked an internal church investigation of Goodall. A second complaint against Goodall, received from a victim who cannot be named because he was a minor at the time of the offence, was included in the investigation. Contrary to his investigator's advice, Pell wrote to Jones

The Daily Citizen Letter to the editor by Beverly Payne; What is wrong with people? I have family that is homosexual. I've ate, played, lived and had some of the most wonderful times of my life with them, and it didn't rub off on me! They didn't teach me to be a homosexual, they showed me how to love unconditionally. I was born straight as society describes the nature of it. Oh no, let us not put our children in the foster care of homosexuals for the fear they will make them homosexuals. Lets put them in good, straight family care, where they are put in cages, molested, given drugs and raped. Oh yes, we've all read the stories in the newspaper and seen them on TV! What the heck is wrong with all of you? Homosexuality does not rub off on people anymore than the color of our skin. Homosexuals are some of the kindest, caring people I've ever met on this earth, more than the many so called straight people I've known all my life. You Christians better read your Bible

By GayNZ.com News Staff A statement issued this week to guide Catholics in the upcoming general election says children need the attention of both a mother and father, because "each contributes differently to their development", and suggests voters identify which "political views on same-sex couples conflict with this wisdom". Auckland couple Liz and Di Harding have been together 18 years and are the proud parents of 11-year-old boy-girl twins. Liz, believes current evidence clearly shows no difference in the outcome of children raised by same-sex as opposed to heterosexual parents – "so I am surprised by the Bishops' announcement," she tells GayNZ.com. "Maybe the Catholic Church are basing this statement on studies other than those found in mainstream research.It seems to me that they have some odd ideas from time to time anyway, such as not using condoms or birth control. I don't take much notice of such statements, nor do many people I know.

There is a wonderful guest commentary, on the Greely Tribune , written by Jonathan Bellman (a professor of music at the University of Northern Colorado). Here's a couple excerpts: We listen, yet we don’t object; when we don’t object, we tacitly endorse The real demonization of the word “liberal” dates from Reagan’s first presidential campaign against Jimmy Carter. The term was misapplied, but Republican strategists knew a winning strategy when they saw one, and liberal as an evil epithet — entirely decoupled from any real meaning it previously had — has for decades been routinely applied to anyone who frightens the social absolutists among us. Here in Greeley, bumper stickers say, “A vote for the Democratic Party is a vote for radical Islam,” and I saw a well-crafted, homemade sign on a pickup truck that read “Democrats=Defilement.” Editorialists and letter-writers to The Tribune vilify not only political liberals but also religious liberals: those who refuse to subscribe to the da

By Rachel Charman Pink News UK Hilleil Weiss, a Bar-llan university professor, has been indicted for public homophobic remarks made regarding Jerusalem Pride 2005. Professor Weiss said in an interview two weeks before Jerusalem's Pride parade: 'This abomination should be expelled from the Holy City by any means necessary.' There were later violent protests at the pride parade, in which a marcher was stabbed. full article

Thanh Nien Daily Vietnam His name means bravery, and that’s what it took for Nguyen Van Dung to talk about life in “the third world” – a reference in Vietnam not to poverty but to the gay and lesbian community. At 41, he has decided to lay bare almost everything in a tell-all diary called “Bong,” a slang term for homosexuals, written by two local journalists after more than 300 hours of taped interviews with him. Very few gay people publicly come out in Vietnam. Homosexuality is still a largely taboo subject in the traditionally patriarchal society, long ruled by Confucian social mores and Buddhist beliefs. Many gay men, Dung says in the book, have struggled with deep shame for not meeting societal expectations – marrying, building a family, taking over the house, caring for their ageing parents and producing male offspring. “If you were born gay,” he writes, “no matter whether you are a man or a woman, you were born at a bad time, on a bad day, in a bad month, in a bad year, under a

by Mindy Boggs The Huntsville Times We cannot simply dismiss the recent Knoxville Unitarian church shooting with "There's another lunatic among us, and you just never know, so let's beef up security in the parking lot." No, we need to do much more than that. We need to examine "public opinion" and the people and institutions who "shape" that opinion. You do not have to be "crazy," or the town lunatic, to commit murder, as this man did. You just have to believe strongly enough about something. When someone places all responsibility for society's ills (or their personal ills), as they define them, on a group of people who share a different ethnic background, religion, or political beliefs, one may come to hate this group so much, it triggers the desire to commit a crime and "sacrifice" oneself, along with the "guilty" ones. Generalizing, stereotyping, blaming can lead to ideological fanaticism. When we hear it, read

by Rachel Charman Pinks News UK The deputy leader of Barking and Dagenham council has been cautioned by police after using homophobic language. Senior Labour councillor Liam Smith is said to have said to a political rival's mother 'shut up you f***ing fat dyke' and 'go back to the farmyard', reports the Evening Standard. Mr. Smith was cautioned by police after the matter was investigated as a hate crime. He was ordered write a letter of apology to Mrs. Connelly. Mrs. Connelly, however, told 24News.com that this apology was 'not worth the paper it's written on'. 'If he wanted to apologise he would have apologised the following day. 'This was only because the police said if he didn't sign the caution he would go to court.' full article As a side note, a commenter stated " Had senior Labour councillor Liam Smith said to a political rival's mother 'shut up you f***ing fat nigger' and 'go back to where you came from'he

The Melbourne Community Voice Members of a support group for gay and lesbian Mormons are demanding that the leaders of their faith, the Church of Latter Day Saints, make a precise and all-encompassing statement about homosexuality at the church’s upcoming General Conference. The members of Affirmation, as the group for LGBT Mormons is called, want their church to state that homosexuality is neither a sin nor a disease, and to call on the parents of LGBT Mormons to love and respect their children. full article

Audra Ang at the Associated Press reports ; Qin Gang, a China Foreign Ministry spokesman, insisted last week that Chinese citizens have complete religious freedom. Hua Huilin said he and his brother, Hua Huiqi, a member of Beijing's underground Christian church, were stopped by security agents in two black cars on Sunday on their way to the Kuan Jie Protestant Church around dawn. The pair was taken away in separate cars, and Hua Huilin said he was released a few hours later. He said his brother, however, remained missing. China allows worship only in officially approved churches. In a more recent story by Andrew Jacobs at the International Herald Tribune ; Hua Huiqi, a religious dissident who was detained by the authorities Sunday as he made his way to a church service where President George W. Bush was scheduled to pray, has escaped from the police, according to human rights advocates and family members. Hua said the officers had confiscated his Bible and watched him as he prayed.

Ruth Gledhill, Religion Correspondent The Times UK Rowan Williams believes that gay sexual relationships can “reflect the love of God” in a way that is comparable to marriage, The Times has learnt. As Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Williams recommitted the Anglican Communion to its orthodox position that homosexual practice is incompatible with Scripture at the Lambeth Conference, which closed on Sunday. However, in an exchange of letters with an evangelical Christian, written eight years ago when he was Archbishop of Wales, he described his belief that biblical passages criticising homosexual sex were not aimed at people who were gay by nature. He argued that scriptural prohibitions were addressed to heterosexuals looking for sexual variety. He wrote: “I concluded that an active sexual relationship between two people of the same sex might therefore reflect the love of God in a way comparable to marriage, if and only if it had about it the same character of absolute covenanted faithful

In my wanderings I came across a financial planning blog. One wouldn't think to find much more then financial info, but as I scrolled through the story there was a human side to it which was beautiful. The article was written by P V Subramanyam, here are some excerpts; He was a 63-year-old bachelor, who had lived life in full and was now at the fag end of his life. Literally at 30 cigarettes a day, he really was at the fag end. He had a net-worth of Rs 25 lakh (Rs 2.5 million) and a cash balance of Rs 15,000. The net-worth was a nice flat in Colaba. No cash to last him for even one month, let alone money for food, medicines, taxi to his sister's house. He had no cash. It took him three months to tell me about his financial condition. But I was touched. He was too proud to ask. I blasted his nephew the first time I saw him. Not a great way to start a relationship, surely not as a client and a planner. I suggested the nephews who were rich (okay, a relative term but all of them h

CTV.ca News Staff Shirley Phelps-Roper, the daughter of the founding member of the Westboro Baptist Church, told CTV.ca a group of seven members was turned away when they tried to cross the U.S. border into Canada Thursday night. But she said other members managed to get through at another border crossing, although she would not say how many. Phelps-Roper and her church have outraged Canadians by planning to protest Tim McLean's funeral. Members of the ultra-conservative Christian church claim McLean, who was decapitated by a fellow-passenger on a Greyhound bus last month, deserved his fate. Although no member of the group ever met McLean, they claim he lived an immoral and godless life, just like all other Canadians. full article

Another great article by Pastor John Shuck . Here are some excerpts: Because so much time is spent in arguments with people who don't get it, it often seems we are spinning our wheels. We think that people are frozen with their views. Because of that, we think the church or society is polarized and it is a matter of winning or losing. What does it mean to "get it?" Getting it is making the connection between religious language (whether that language is vulgar or sophisticated) and the lives of real lgbtq people. Discrimination, violence, etc. is connected to what is heard from the pulpit which in turn comes from theological statements from authoritative people and documents (such as church policies). full article

by Stuart MacDonald UK Times Online Sir Ian McKellen and Simon Callow accuse leading Catholic of homophobia Sir Ian McKellen and Simon Callow, Britain’s most prominent gay film actors, have launched an outspoken attack on Bishop Joseph Devine, the second most senior figure in the Scottish Catholic church, accusing him of preaching “homophobia” from the pulpit. McKellen and Callow strongly criticised a speech made by Devine earlier this year, in which he singled out the decision to award McKellen an honour from the Queen as an example of the dangers of the increasing power of the gay lobby. During his speech at St Aloysius college in Glasgow, Devine said: “In this new year’s honours list, actor Ian McKellen was honoured for his work on behalf of homosexuals. A century ago Oscar Wilde was locked up and put in jail.” Callow said senior religious figures could not accept the changing attitudes in society towards gay relationships. “The bishop is in my view a profoundly ignorant and stupid

by Fiona MacGregor The Scotsman Gene Robinson, the first openly gay Anglican bishop, came to Scotland this week to debate homosexuality and religion. He has maintained his dignity in the face of hostility from the Church, but tells Fiona MacGregor his patience may be running out. "I am losing my patience. I have tried to play by the rules and be respectful and sometimes it would be nice to be shown a little respect back. I try to keep my sympathy (for Williams] and I do worry and pray for him. I don't believe this (refusal to recognise homosexual relationships can have a place within the church) is what's in his heart – unless he's changed very much since he became Archbishop of Canterbury." "As more and more Christians make themselves known to us as gay or lesbian, the more we realise they are not outside the embrace of God – I think that will prove itself over time. But I caution people all the time to be very careful of anyone who says they know what God&

Paul Gackle, Winnipeg Free Press WINNIPEG -- Residents rallied Thursday to protect the family of a young man murdered on a Greyhound bus last week from a posse of radical religious protesters planning to portray Tim McLean's death as God's wrath. Earlier this week, the Westboro Baptist Church - an organization branded as a hate group and infamous for protesting the funerals of slain U.S. soldiers - announced they would picket Mr. McLean's funeral to let Canadians know that his decapitation was God's response to Canadian policies enabling abortion, homosexuality and adultery. But Shirley Phelps-Roper, daughter of church's founder, Fred Phelps, said a small group of protesters was stopped at the Canada-U.S. border on Thursday afternoon. "They won't let us in, but we have a group that will cross in another spot," she said. "They'll have to strip search everyone who crosses that border or they won't know who we are. They'll have to see the

by Joal SameSame.com.au There’s a new cabaret production opening in Toronto, Canada tonight, but the high camp theatrics are likely to begin long before the curtain goes up. It’s the premiere of The Pastor Phelps Project: A Fundamentalist Cabaret, and guess who’ll be picketing outside? You guessed it. The Phelps. Homophobe pastor and inspiration for the play, Pastor Fred Phelps, has said he and his congregation will be picketing outside the play with their placards, ‘God Hates Fags’ and ‘God Hates Canada’. A self proclaimed ‘primitive Baptist’ preacher, Phelps’ views couldn’t be any more old-school, preaching that America’s failure in the Iraq war and environmental disasters like Hurricane Katrina are due to the ‘moral decline’ of the US. And his biggest problem with his own country? Its acceptance of homosexuals. full article

by Patrick O'Neill Independent Weekly The Barack Obama campaign opened its downtown Raleigh headquarters July 22 to much fanfare, but just around the corner the same night, the Obama celebration was outdrawn almost 3-to-1 by Jesus. A "campaign stop" of the Jesus for President book tour was led by evangelical progressives Shane Claiborne, 33, and Chris Haw, 26, whose book, Jesus For President, was published this spring by Zondervan. The new movement represents one of the most exciting shifts among Christian evangelicals. The Raleigh gathering at First Baptist Church on Wilmington Street, the 19th stop on a 21-city, 10,000-mile veggie-fueled bus tour, drew a crowd of mostly 20-somethings. Mixed in were old-guard progressive Christians, many affiliated with the N.C. Council of Churches. Claiborne said he offers "a refreshing message for post-Religious Right America," adding some young evangelicals are turning away from the often harsh and unloving messages—such as

by Will Moredock The Charleston City Newspaper When Jim Adkisson walked into a Unitarian Universalist church in Knoxville, Tenn., on July 27 and opened fire with a 12-gauge semiautomatic shotgun, he said he did it because he was angry at "liberals." Among the Americans who called themselves Unitarians were Thomas Jefferson, John and John Quincy Adams, Henry David Thoreau, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Adlai Stevenson. There are too many hate-mongers in the pulpits and on the airwaves in America, telling people like Jim Adkisson that the source of their pain is liberals or blacks or homosexuals. (He probably found all three at the Tennessee Valley UU Church on July 27.) So when we hand out responsibility for this tragedy, let's not forget Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, and Pat Robertson. Without the culture of hate they have been brewing over the last 20 years, this could not have happened. full article

By MARTYN McLAUGHLIN The Scotsman Gene Robinson, the openly gay American bishop barred from attending the Lambeth Conference, yesterday praised the "inclusive" outlook of Scots clergy as he spoke of his belief that worldwide Anglican Communion would eventually recognise "all God's people". "I think the Communion will survive. It will change, but the Church has changed many times in its history. We should not be fearful of that," he said. In Glasgow yesterday to deliver a sermon, he said Scotland represented a "very appropriate" location for his return to the altar, given it was the Scottish Church that consecrated a bishop for Connecticut in the 18th century, effectively planting the foundations for the Anglican communion in the country. full article

from The Freedom From Religion organization A "stained glass" billboard bearing the message, "Imagine No Religion," has just gone up in Seattle for a month. The colorful billboard appears on Denny Way Hill, east of Stewart Street, in the Capitol Hill/Broadway area of Seattle. The billboard is sponsored by the Freedom From Religion Foundation, the nation's largest membership association for freethinkers (atheists and agnostics), which is also a state/church separation watchdog. The Foundation has more than 12,000 members. "So far as we know, this is the first-ever freethinking billboard to be placed in the Seattle area. We consider Seattle fertile ground," said Foundation co-president Dan Barker, author of Losing Faith in Faith: From Preacher to Atheist. Barker noted that polls and surveys invariably reveal that unbelief is highest in the Pacific Northwest. "Wherever you go, our roadsides of full of religion and religious symbols," said Found

Henry McDonald, Ireland editor The Observer Iris Robinson, the Democratic Unionist MP who believes homosexuality can be cured by psychiatry, made a 'guest' appearance at yesterday's annual Gay Pride parade in Belfast. The Strangford MP appeared in the 'guise' of several marchers wearing Iris masks in what turned out to be Northern Ireland's largest Pride rally for years. One float called the 'Iris Mobile' joined the procession through Belfast city centre with a giant papier-mâché image of Robinson on the front. The parade took place in a city labelled the most homophobic place in the UK or Ireland. Changing Attitude Ireland, a new organisation representing gay Christians throughout the island, said they had decided to join Pride in response to the MP's remarks. 'This is the first time our banner has been displayed at Pride in Belfast because it was important to increase our visibility and to show people that there are alternative Christian views

KCRA 3 News SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Sacramento County's district attorney won't retry a hate crime claim against a man convicted of playing a part in a fatal fight at Lake Natoma. A jury found Aleksandr Shevchenko guilty of misdemeanor assault and disturbing the peace for his role in the death of Satendar Singh. However, authorities said Andrey Vusik is believed to have struck the fatal blow that killed Singh. Shevchenko was sentenced Friday to 150 days in prison, three years probation and fined $100. full article Related Articles Other Related Article

Exclusive by Hans Zeiger in Canterbury Virtue Online News CANTERBURY -A distinguished liberal theologian who led a series of seminars for Anglican bishops about human sexuality has compared the orthodox position on homosexuality to past arguments for slavery and apartheid. The Rev. Dr. Richard Burridge, Dean of Kings College London, said at a Lambeth Conference "fringe" event this week that both sides in the debate over homosexuality claim Scriptural authority, but that the side most often associated with the Bible can be likened to British and American advocates of chattel slavery and South African advocates of apartheid. The title of Burridge's lecture, sponsored by Inclusive Church , was "Being Biblical: Slavery, Sexuality, and the Inclusive Community." Burridge said that it can be simplistic to draw exact parallels between the debates over homosexuality and the debates over past injustices, but "a lot of the rhetoric is very familiar." He said that

What does Christianity, 911 and The Federal Reserve all have in common? (note: the first few minutes of this video is audio only) embed code Please grab the embed code (above) and post this video on your site. Every american should see this video as soon as possible! Visit their website

Dr. Steven Weinberg: "Religion is an insult to human dignity. Without it, you'd have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. For good people to do evil things, it takes religion."

Editorial The Anniston Star On Sunday, a gunman shot up Knoxville's Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church, killing two worshipers and injuring a half-dozen more. Jim David Adkisson, the man police are charging in the shooting, was on a mission. Authorities say he picked the Knoxville congregation "because of its liberal teachings and his belief that all liberals should be killed because they were ruining the country, and that he felt that the Democrats had tied his country's hands in the war on terror and they had ruined every institution in America with the aid of major media outlets." His views line up with the nasty, dehumanizing invective found on countless outlets, including talk radio, Fox News and conservative Web sites. On Monday, police reported that a search of Adkisson's residence revealed three book titles: The O'Reilly Factor by Bill O'Reilly, Liberalism is a Mental Disorder by Michael Savage, and Let Freedom Ring: Winning the War of

by James Nimmo OpEd News On Sunday, July 27, in Knoxville, TN a Unitarian Universalist Church was turned into an abattoir by a deranged man who shot seven people. Two, so far, have died. The killer is in police custody after being subdued by others in the building. The church, Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church, had just recently advertised itself as a welcoming gay/lesbian affirming congregation which means exactly what it sounds like. When was the last time an openly gay/lesbian opened fire on a collection of bible fundies hot with the fire of righteousness for the cause of religious purity? When did you last hear an openly gay/lesbian legislator use their personal privilege on the floor of their state legislature or Congress to lobby for the passage of a bill that would limit any demographic group's aspect of their protection of the law as outlined in the Bill of Rights? To commemorate, but not to honor, this twisted manipulation of the public forum and society I&#